Boycott ABC; cancel "Path to 9/11"

[I sent this email via the Think Progress "Path to 9/11" web page.]

Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Charlie Gibson, ABCNews

Dear Messrs. Iger and Gibson:

I am writing to request that ABC/Disney cancel "The Path to 9/11", scheduled for broadcast September 10-11. There are several basic facts that indicate that the movie is no more than right-wing propaganda:

1. The movie was written by Cyrus Nowrasteh, a conservative supporter of George W. Bush.

2. Advance copies have been distributed only to conservative pundits and bloggers such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, but have been denied to others more critical of the Bush administration.

3. ABC claims that the movie is based "solely and completely on the 9/11 Commission Report". However, the movie directly contradicts that report in several places, including its depiction of the involvement of Sandy Berger and Madeline Albright as calling off an early attempt to kill Osama bin Laden after he attacked the USS Cole, and its claim that the Clinton administration refused to carry out retributive strikes after the USS Cole attack. (In the latter case, the Commission Report found that it was the Bush administration who declined to attack bin Laden.)

4. Former governor NJ Tom Keane, head of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission Report, has expressed reservations about its inaccuracy, as have various members of the Clinton administration, and at least one former member of the Bush administration (Richard Clarke).

A fictionalized and obviously biased movie made by a partisan support of one political party obviously should not be aired on network television at any time, but especially a few months before national elections, unless it is run as a paid political advertisement with equal time for rebuttal offered for opposing viewpoints. The proximity of this propaganda broadcast to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is also shameful.

I know you (Mr. Gibson) have no say in what is broadcast on ABC as entertainment, but surely you must realize the newsworthiness of this decision on ABC's part to broadcast right-wing propoganda in an election season.

I am recommending to all friends and family that they boycott ABC and Disney productions until such time as this propaganda piece is pulled from the air.

I would be grateful for a prompt and meaningful reply to this email. Thank you.