Friday, September 09, 2011

The Path to 9/11 Part 1 (2006)

In 2006 on the 5th anniversary of the infamous terrorist attacks, ABC Television broadcast a dramatization of the events that lead up to them. Since then pressure from the Clinton’s has kept the miniseries from being aired or released on DVD. Top notch acting, direction, and writing make this a must see for every adult American – too bad they can’t.

Path to 911 Part 1 Main Title

ABC’s $40,000,000 risk was controversial at the time, with the Clinton’s doing their best to try to keep it off the air. Originally meant to run with limited commercial interruptions, no advertiser would buy time and so it ran without commercials. This meant no money was made from it which was an effective way to punish ABC for making it. But was the money spent worth it?

Path to 911 Part 1 DisclaimerPath to 911 Part 1 Intro

The first thing on screen hangs there for a very long time. It is clear that fears of lawsuits had ABC nervous. In fact, halfway through Part 1 it is seen again.

The opening credits feature very moody minimalistic music by John Cameron and sets a somber tone. A washed out and nearly B&W tour of New York City’s daily life and landmark set the feeling of normality about to be disrupted.

Path to 911 Part 1 Boarding the PlanesPath to 911 Part 1 John O'Neill

Various Arab men are seen checking in at airline counters on the morning of September 11, 2001. Computer red flags on names are ignored by the check in clerks – the first failure in security shown. Shaky cam and fast cuts typify the style of the miniseries, so get used to it.

At the World Trade Center (WTC), we are introduced to John O’Neill, Director of Security for the WTC. Harvey Keitel portrays the likeable if hard as nails man in charge of protecting the Twin Towers. In many ways this is his story and he is the link between many of the protagonists.

Back at the airports, the airliners are boarded by the nervous hijackers. One of them calls another on cell phone and it is clear he is the leader. While all of this is being shown, the low, dull howl of wind can be heard in the background. It is an unnerving sound and deliberately out of place.

So begins the nearly three hour Part 1, which covers the events from 1993 to New Years Eve in 1999. Part 2 covers events from 2000 to the day of the attack.

Path to 911 Part 1 New York Skyline 1993

In order to understand how America got to 9/11, the production takes us back to the events of the first attack on the WTC in 1993. It is like something out of 24 watching the yellow Ryder van going into the second tower’s underground parking garage and the ensuing events. Except it all really happened.

Path to 911 Part 1 Truck Bomb InteriorPath to 911 Part 1 Truck Bomb Explodes

The mastermind and main villain of  most of Part 1 makes his appearance here in the form of Ramzi Yousef (Nabil Elouahabi), a dedicated jihadi and explosives enthusiast. Having lit the fuse on his own handmade bomb, Yousef jumps into a waiting car with his two accomplices, Mahmoud “The Red” Abouhalim (Youssef Kerkour) and Mohammed Salameh (Enis Esmer).  Their frantic and then exuberant escape from the garage contrast sharply with the carnage they unleash. Six are killed and scores more wounded by the explosion.

Watching the live reports, Nancy Floyd (Katy Selverstone) of the FBI receives a phone call from a very upset informant. Emad Salem (Shaun Taub) is a former colonel in the Egyptian Army and had warned the Feds something was going to happen. It is the beginning of blown opportunities to protect U.S. citizens from terrorists.

Path to 911 Part 1 Ramzi Yousef DisappointedPath to 911 Part 1 Tower Parking Garage Damage

Salem isn’t the only one upset. Yousef thought his bomb would topple the towers like oversized dominos. Adding insult to injury, other organizations are trying to take credit for his work. At the airport on his way out of the country, his pride gets the better of him and he calls in a claim for his organization.

A reporter, John Williams (Barclay Hope), arrives to document the forensic work going on at the bombing site. The miniseries is partially based on his book, The Cell, written with Michael Stone. He’s also a friend of John O’Neill’s as we soon find out. We’ll be seeing a lot of him as he managed to be on the scene for many of the major events depicted.

At the site, NYPD bomb squad officers decide to disobey orders to save evidence from being destroyed. That turns out to be the very famous chunk of metal with the Ryder van’s VIN number on it. Do they get chewed out? Yes. But their bucking the system and taking initiative leads directly to the bombers. The theme of having to bypass superiors to get anything done runs through the story.

Path to 911 Part 1 Mohammed Salameh Demands Money

But it gets better. Proving greed begets stupidity on an epic scale, Salameh files a claim on the rental van deposit claiming it was stolen. This leads to one of the more memorable scenes of the first part. His desire for money is his undoing and he utters one of the most surreal and hypocritical lines I have ever heard.

Not exactly the brightest operatives, these terrorists. I’ve often found myself agreeing with the idea that most evil is of the mundane variety and also think stupidity plays a major part. As things unfold, this is reinforced by the concept that incompetency by those who are tasked to protect us enables evil to succeed despite their stupidity. It was sheer luck that caused Salameh to be caught.

Floyd’s boss, Neil Herman (William Sadler) puts it succinctly: “This was like the Keystone cops versus the gang who couldn’t shoot straight.”

Path to 911 Part 1 Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and Yousef PartyPath to 911 Part 1 FBI Task Force Hunts Yousef

While they get the two accomplices, the authorities still can’t get their hands on the ringleader, Ramzi Yousef. They don’t know he is in the Philippines partying in Manila with his uncle, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (Michael Benyaer), at a nightclub. But he has big ideas in mind, very big ideas involving airliners.

Yousef becomes the most wanted man by the FBI and a task force is put together to go after him. Remember O’Neill? This was his job before working at the WTC. It turns out Ramzi has been a very busy guy, with a failed attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and a successful bombing of a Shia mosque in Iran. We then get to see his latest creation kill one and injure seventeen others on an airplane bound to Japan from the Philippines.

But his help aren’t very bright and that leads to his hideout in Manila being compromised and his plans on a laptop falling into the hands of local authorities. This prevents a suicide bombing attack on the Pope and President Clinton. Once again, dumb luck is the only thing that prevented a planned attack.

Watching this is an exercise in infuriation, at least for me. What I thought would be a fast thing to review has turned into something far more difficult. I have to take breaks due to the anger building up while reviewing The Path to 9/11. You will not have a positive feeling about government after watching this, I can promise.

Path to 911 Part 1 Informer and YousefPath to 911 Part 1 Ramzi Yousef

A man appears in at the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan to turn in Yousef. While he agrees with all of the terrorist’s goals, he cannot abide killing innocents which is something Ramzi enjoys. This is a huge break that leads to his being captured in 1995.

Elouahabi’s performance as Yousef deserves a special mention. His rendition of Ramzi is charismatic, charming, and with the occasional the craziness seeping out. It is very layered and he dominates every scene he is in.

Path to 911 Part 1 Ayman Al-ZawahiriPath to 911 Part 1 Usama Bin Ladin

With prison sentences handed out to the bombers, things shift to the money behind the terror and the trail leads to a wealthy Saudi named Usama Bin Ladin (the spelling used by ABC). Yes, he was the one financing Yousef via his uncle, Khalid. John Miller also re-enters the picture, being the reporter who got the famous interview with Bin Ladin in 1998.

Miller shares what he observed at the Al Qaeda compound with FBI Agent O’Neill and we get a short rundown of what Usama had been responsible for. Things like the Khobar Towers attack and the famous “Blackhawk Down” incident in Somalia. Bin Ladin believes he brought the Soviet Union down and plans to do the same to the United States of America.

Path to 911 Part 1 Ahmed Shah MassoudPath to 911 Part 1 Northern Alliance Fighters

Bickering in the CIA and a desire to avoid accountability by Clinton administration officials lead to difficulties in forming a relationship with the commander of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Massoud (Mido Hamada). A charismatic man with a Western education, he is Bin Ladin’s mortal enemy.

The fear of legalities haunts the Clinton staff so they don’t want Bin Ladin killed and a chance to snatch him is aborted last minute. It sours things considerably despite the work of CIA field agent “Kirk” (Donnie Wahlberg). Kirk is an amalgam of agents who were involved there.

 Path to 911 Part 1 KirkPath to 911 Part 1 Bomb Detonator

And so another opportunity is wasted. The problems with the higher ups frustrates FBI and CIA agents both and at one point O’Neil is asked how you can win a war when it is considered a law and order issue. His blunt response says it all: “You can’t.”

Then comes the U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya. It is depicted in all its gory horror with most of the gore coming from actual news footage. Even though distracted by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Bill Clinton can’t ignore this.

Path to 911 Part 1 Kenya ConfrontationPath to 911 Part 1 President Clinton

An outstanding scene of the take down of the surviving attacker on the embassy is tension filled and is executed like something out of a James Bond film. With him in custody, the administration feels it can go ahead and use cruise missiles to take out targets in the Sudan and Afghanistan. That of course led to a pharmaceutical factory being wiped out with no evidence that chemical weapons were being made there. Sound familiar?

It is amateur hour and it is enraging to watch the decisions come made out of political expedience. Madeline Albright (Shirley Douglas) comes off particularly badly, though CIA Director George Tenet (Dan Lauria) and National Security Advisor Richard Clarke (Stephen Root) prove to be waffling posers. They are all in way over their heads and more concerned about covering their rears politically than protecting the country.

Path to 911 Part 1 Taliban Attack Northern AlliancePath to 911 Part 1 Diana Dean

Retaliation for the failed missile attacks is swift in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda and the Taliban attack the Northern Alliance in brutal scene of limbs being blown off and wounded executed. Massoud tells the CIA that the Pakistani’s tipped off Bin Ladin.

Acrimony amongst the government heads involved comes to a head and they show themselves as being incapable of doing what is needed. While they dither, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed presents a plan to Zawahiri called “the Planes Operation.”

Retaliation comes to the States as well but is foiled by an alert customs agent, Diana Dean (Kathy Bates). It is December 14, 1999 and she correctly senses something is wrong with a man coming over the border from Canada. In the trunk of his car are the ingredients for a fertilizer based bomb and a plot to attack the United States for the Millennium celebrations is uncovered.

Path to 911 Part 1 Times Square New YearsPath to 911 Part 1 Hijacking

O’Neill and Herman can’t get Mayor Rudy Giuliani to cancel the New Years Eve celebration in Times Square and wonder if their luck will hold out. When it does, O’Neill celebrates in a restaurant with friends and that fades out to September 11, 2001 with the hijackers making their move in a surreal and dreamlike sequence.

Path to 911 Part 1 To Be Continued

 

In many ways the whole show feels like a nightmare. From the sound and lighting choices to the quick edits, it has that feeling of something you can’t control or stop. That makes it effective at portraying something that has already happened and I wonder if that was the film makers’ intent.

It strikes me that if this were presented as fiction, it would have been laughed at for being unbelievable. Especially how things kept happening due to coincidence or random luck.

It is rare to see successful censorship or banning of films in current day America and The Path to 9/11 is a choice example of how political power holds massive sway over the media today – if that power is from the Left, that is. With Hilary Clinton’s presidential ambitions, this damning indictment of the Clinton administration’s follies had to be suppressed. While the rookie Bush administration takes a few shots in Part 2, it is clear where the bulk of the blame lies.

This film should be mandatory viewing for all high school kids, but that will never happen.

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Odds and Ends

It is Thursday and I am behind on just about everything I wanted to do this week. Going to the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee last Saturday went well but eventually I had to pay the piper. But I’ll take having it spread mildly out over several days rather than being out of commission for a couple any time.

British newspapers are superior to our dying ones in the States for many reasons. The main one is that they actually do real reporting yet. But I have to say I am envious of Daily Telegraph subscribers right now. They get bonus premiums included with the papers on occasion and this coming weekend’s are doozies. Free Rat Pack CD’s featuring Sinatra, Dino, and Sammy are making me wish I lived over there despite the riots.

The Republican Presidential debate last night was entertaining from an old political hand point of view. Extremely hostile moderators trying to start wars between the candidates made things interesting from the beginning and gave Newt Gingrich an opportunity to shine. From a technical stance, he won the debate but didn’t win the debate. These aren’t real debates, these are forums so command of facts and figures doesn’t matter a whole lot.

Instead I would say Mitt Romney came out with the win due to Rick Perry stumbling badly late during the “lightning round” part of the forum. But many will say he won and I attribute that to Brian Williams screwing up by serving up a batting practice ball of a question on the executions carried out in Texas. Watching him be stunned by the audience’s loud approval of capital punishment was priceless and gave Perry a rare chance to look presidential.

Back to Romney. He had some minor flubs but kept turning the debate back to focusing on Obama. Right there he showed leadership and people will pick up on that unconsciously. The too cautious Romney of 2008 was not to be seen and I was impressed by his poise.

Michelle Bachmann is on her way out despite a carefully restrained performance. But she has shown that women are now accepted as serious candidates, something made possible by Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin the last cycle. Constantly citing the amount of children and foster children she raised got her tweaked last night and deservedly so.

Rick Santorum was there and that is about it. Which is too bad, since I like his stances on most things. In this group he doesn’t have the presence to make it, but he would be someone to consider for VP if Romney doesn’t get the nomination. East coast cred would be of help to a Southern candidate.

Ron Paul was Ron Paul and walked into every trap set by the moderators. That lack of self control always gets him in trouble.

My candidate, Herman Cain, did absolutely great with quite a bit of applause from the audience. It is a pity he isn’t gaining any traction, but the establishment doesn’t want a political outsider. With the mood of “anybody but Obama” on the Right and growing in the center, it looks like a Perry or Romney nomination is coming. Cain had solid answers and plans to deal with the problems we are facing economically and they resonated during the debate. I wish more people would take a good long look at him.

Biggest loser of the debate had to be the moderators. They were vibratingly partisan with irritation and hostility showing in their voices. Audience reactions clearly bothered them as well. Nobody should think MSNBC and Politico are neutral after that.

Now to get to work on a special post for the weekend’s grim tenth anniversary.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

2011 Minnesota Renaissance Festival–Martial Arts Special Edition

Each weekend at the Renaissance Festival has a theme and special acts. While it was a Middle Eastern theme featuring belly dancers, there was a one day only demonstration of martial arts on the schedule. Of course I was curious about it and went over to check it out at the 1 PM performance.

Instead of people kicking and punching while breaking the occasional board, I was delighted to find it was a Japanese sword combat school putting on the display. Even better, it wasn’t bamboo rods but sharpened steel blades being used.

 

RenFest 2011 44 Everybody Is a Critic

Things opened up with traditional drum beating and horn blowing. The latter turned into a comedy routine along the way. A man in full armor (rusty at that) came up to harass the horn blower for not being loud enough.

RenFest 2011 43 Conch Shell Blower

Whereupon the blond belly dancer defended him with a giant foil covered cardboard can opener and chased the knight off. It was bit of levity before things got serious.

RenFest 2011 45 Practice Draws

The master of the dojo instructed his students to sit on the mat, senior students in front, juniors in back. There they performed individual practice draws. Yes, those are sharpened blades.

RenFest 2011 46 Practice Dueling

Following the draws, wooden swords were brought out for practice exercises. To the casual glance it looked like kids fooling around, but if you watched closely you could see they were paired off senior with junior. This was as much instruction as demonstration and done slowly for this reason.

RenFest 2011 47 Serious Duel

Then real duels began. These were much more serious as you can see by the expression on the senior here.

RenFest 2011 48 Evading the SlashRenFest 2011 49 Desperate Parry

Kinetic would be my description of these bouts. They were primarily self judged and the combatants would break off to bow when they thought they would have been cut. Since they are mimicking the effects of fighting with a real blade, evasion and dodging are critical to survival.

RenFest 2011 50 Young StudentRenFest 2011 51 Young Student Succeeds

The youngest student had a hard time of it, but the master kept encouraging her to try again. Eventually she got a cut through the tatami reed bundle, if a ragged one. She was so serious and nervous that you couldn’t help rooting for her.

RenFest 2011 52 Experienced StudentRenFest 2011 53 Effortless CutRenFest 2011 54 Making It Look Easy

A senior student took on two bundles at once. I thought he was moving slowly until I tried to capture him with the camera. What happened is his movements were so graceful and controlled that it only looked like he was slow. He really made it look effortless.

RenFest 2011 55 Not Quite There Yet

It was not a good day for this student.

RenFest 2011 56 Going BigRenFest 2011 57 Half Way

This student came out with a triple the normal thickness bundle. A skeptical master asked him if he really wanted to try this and if he’d done it before. The answer was yes to both and away he went. First cut is shown here and he nearly pulled it off.

RenFest 2011 58 Half Way

The second cut didn’t go as far in as the first, only getting half way. Not looking good.

RenFest 2011 59 Third TryRenFest 2011 60 All the WayRenFest 2011 61 Time for Applause

Third time was the charm and succeeded when he changed the angle of the cut. The master said he didn’t think that was what made the difference, though. Well deserved applause from his fellow students shows the spirit of the school.

This was the highlight of the festival for me and was the last thing I expected to see at a renaissance festival. But as they pointed out, the samurai were still going strong in Japan during the 1500’s to 1700’s. It is nice to know there is a school teaching this here in Minnesota.

2011 Minnesota Renaissance Festival Photo Tour Part 6

The biggest individual event at the festival has to be the joust. We connected with more friends who had come up and agreed to meet there. It is always packed so we thought arriving a half hour early would be perfect.

We were wrong.

It was already crowded and we ended up on the grass by the horse stables. Not a good vantage point at all. So if you go to this, prepare to arrive an hour early and be bored during that hour unless you have little kids participating in the games beforehand.

RenFest 2011 75 Joust Master of Ceremonies

The same master of ceremonies that I remember from ten years ago is still conducting the joust. Technical issues with the wireless microphone setup made his brogue incomprehensible at times.

RenFest 2011 77 Knight

Like I mentioned before, not a good vantage point – especially for taking photos. Between the sun angle and all the floating dust it became apparent I wasn’t going to get the shots I’d hoped for.

RenFest 2011 78 Readying for Combat

The heel of the match, Sir William.

RenFest 2011 79 Horseback Duel

Moving the bars used for the kid games earlier in front of us didn’t help things. I believe our side’s champion was Sir Jacob in the green.

RenFest 2011 80 Dusty Fight

At this point in the afternoon (after 4 PM), the dust was a real pain and not just to taking pictures. Stinging eyes and filled sinuses were the order of the day.

RenFest 2011 81 Readying to Joust

Preparing to joust. These guys really hammered each other on and off horseback. Like professional wrestling it is all staged -- but the physical abuse is staggering.

RenFest 2011 82 Jousting

I never was able to get the actual impact photographed. They converged near the boy who threw the autofocus out of whack. Even when that didn’t happen, my timing on the burst shots never worked out. In this case a direct hit took Sir Jacob out of the saddle with a resounding crash.

RenFest 2011 83 Violinist

Musicians could be found everywhere and we passed this finely dressed lady as we headed out from the joust.

RenFest 2011 84 Snot's Knots

Sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?  Puke and Snot are the vulgar comedy duo that have become a franchise at the festival. One of them died several years ago and has been replaced. Didn’t find any unicorn burgers there, sadly enough.

RenFest 2011 85 Goblets of Fire

Another glass blower shop with the dungeon in the background. We went into the dungeon which turned out to be a nice reprieve from the heat and humidity. The displays inside also gave Amber ideas.

RenFest 2011 86 Watch the Vikings

I got excited when I saw a sign saying something about vikings at the mill. When I found out it was advertising football games at the pub attached to it I was disappointed. Now if they showed Norse berserkers beating each other to a pulp I’s be interested.

RenFest 2011 88 For Christian

Since the exit is the same as the entrance, we had to carefully avoid the legendary and obnoxious pickle guy seen sans shirt at the right. Meanwhile, I’m being given the evil eye by the brunette on the left. Sorry darlin’, you aren’t my type.

RenFest 2011 87 Unicorn and Girl

I was going to write something flippant about the unicorn again, but the delighted expression on the little girl’s face made that impossible to do. Maybe the existence of unicorns can be be justified after all. Bah…

From there we exited and made our way out to the parking lot. It had been a fun day despite some dodgy weather.

For once I was financially prepared and picked up a couple of things including a leather check book cover. Only been shopping for one I’d actually like for fifteen years. This particular one isn’t on the Oh Susanna’s Leather’s website, but I’m pleased enough to link there anyway.

Not the end, for there is a special post dedicated to the martial arts exhibit yet to come.

Click for Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4  Part 5