Similar themes in Osama's tape and Michael Moore's movie
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch posted 2:30 p.m. November 1, 2004]

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden speaks in his latest video message.

OTTAWA — Did Osama bin Laden get a bootleg copy of Fahrenheit 9/11 delivered to his cave? 

That is the question buzzing around in the heads of those who have seen both Michael Moore's controversial film and the Al-Qaeda leader's first videotape message in almost two years, which was released on Friday.  

The most obvious similarity  between the movie and the new video message is  bin Laden's reference to the popular "pet goat" story, which on the surface appears to be lifted from Moore's film. 

After learning a second plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre, U.S. President George W. Bush remained in a Florida classroom for seven minutes to hear a girl read a story about a pet goat. 

Both Moore and bin Laden have now mocked this event. 

But a closer look at the bin Laden transcript and the script for Fahrenheit 9/11 show bin Laden's latest message to Americans is littered with many of the themes contained in the movie. 

Although bin Laden says on the latest tape that neither Bush nor his challenger, Sen. John Kerry, can help Americans, the overall text of the speech is mainly an attack on the sitting president. 

With the political season about to reach its climax, has bin Laden now adopted many of the arguments used by ultra-left, American Bush bashers, including Moore? 

Dave Kopel, a former assistant attorney general of Colorado and a columnist with the Conservative magazine National Review, has chronicled on his Web site what he describes as 59 deceits in Moore's latest film. 

He's not at all surprised about bin Laden and Moore sounding similar.

"It's a poor reflection on both of them," said Kopel in an e-mail response to PoliticsWatch. "Michael Moore presents numerous anti-American falsehoods in Fahrenheit, and Osama bin Laden echoes them. 

"It should not be surprising that bin Laden finds so much in common with Michael Moore. After all, Moore says that Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the Iranian- and Syrian-sponsored who terrorists want to prevent free elections in Iraq, are the equivalent of the pro-freedom 'Minutemen' who won the American Revolution."

Here's a quick rundown of the common themes from the new video based comparing quotes from bin Laden's tape and narration from Moore from Fahrenheit. 

1. Bush's war against the terrorists is not about terrorism. 

Bin laden

"Although we are ushering the fourth year after 9/11, Bush is still exercising confusion and misleading you and not telling you the true reason."

Moore

"Or was the war in Afghanistan really about something else? Perhaps the answer was in Houston, Texas. In 1997 while George W. Bush was Governor of Texas, a delegation of Taliban leaders from Afghanistan flew to Houston to meet with Unocal executives to discuss the building of a pipeline through Afghanistan bringing natural gas from the Caspian Sea."

2. The Bush family has been bought by the Saudis. 

Bin Laden

"The resemblance started when [former President George H.W.] Bush, the father, visited the area, when some of our own were impressed by America and were hoping that the visits would affect and influence our countries. Then, what happened was that he was impressed by the monarchies and the military regimes, and he was jealous of them staying in power for tens of years, embezzling the public money without any accountability. "

Moore

"Okay, so let's say one group of people, like the American people, pay you $400,000 a year to be President of the United States. But then another group of people invest in you, your friends, and their related businesses $1.4 billion dollars over a number of years. Who you gonna like? (video of President Bush and Saudi Prince) Who's your daddy? Because that's how much the Saudi royals and their associates have given the Bush family."

also

"Prince Bandar is so close to the Bushes they consider him a member of the family, and they even have a nickname for him: Bandar Bush."

3. Bush, with the help of his father and his family, stole the 2000 election

Bin Laden

"And Bush, the father, found it good to install his children as governors and leaders."

Moore

"Now what most people don't know is that the man who was in charge of the decision desk at Fox that night, the man who called it for Bush was none other than Bush's first cousin, John Ellis. How does someone like Bush get away with something like this? Well first, it helps if your brother is the Governor of the state in question. Second, make sure the chairman of your campaign is also the vote count woman… It won't matter, just so long as all of your daddy's friends on the Sue-preme Court vote the right way."

4. Bush was foolish for sitting in a Florida classroom for seven minutes after learning the second plane had smashed into the towers. 

Bin Laden

"We agreed with the leader of the group, Mohammed Atta, to perform all attacks within 20 minutes before [President George W.] Bush and his administration were aware of what was going on. And we never knew that the commander-in-chief of the American armed forces would leave 50,000 of his people in the two towers to face those events by themselves when they were in the most urgent need of their leader. He was more interested in listening to the child's story about the goat rather than worry about what was happening to the towers. So, we had three times the time necessary to accomplish the events."

Moore

"When the second plane hit the tower, his Chief of Staff entered the classroom and told Mr. Bush the nation is under attack. (familiar scene of Andy Card leaning in, Bush grimacing, biting his lip) Not knowing what to do, with no one telling him what to do, and no Secret Service rushing in to take him to safety, Mr. Bush just sat there and continued to read 'My Pet Goat' with the children. (Bush looks visibly concerned... clock ticks away in the corner of the screen) Nearly seven minutes passed with nobody doing anything."
  

© PoliticsWatch® 2004. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PoliticsWatch content, including by framing, copying, linking or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Public Interests Research and Communications Inc. (PIRCINC). PoliticsWatch is registered trademark of PIRCINC.