[transcript from ] [minutes 1:19:43 - end] FAHRENHEIT 9/11 WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY: MICHAEL MOORE PART III (sound of door being kicked in; soldiers entering house, guns drawn, flashlights up) (Iraqi woman crying -- some talking over eachother) SOLDIER: Hey Adelle --- (muffled) WOMAN: No... (muffled)... listen to you... (muffled) SOLDIER: No no no, where's she goin'? Where's she goin'? WOMAN: She go, she go to call him. (?) (commotion, can't make much out; screen is dark; there's a bit of talking over one another here) SOLDIER: No no no no, where's she, where's he at right now? (commotion) On the phone? Not on the phone? Is he in the house? Is he in the house? Is he in the house? He is, he is in the house? Where? Get up there, second floor, second floor. Watch out, watch out, go go go! Watch out, Adelle, watch out! Watch out! SOLDIER: A-1 comin' up! (or "Anyone comin' up!" Can't make it out) (a lot of commotion; flashlight on man lying on ground) SOLDIER: That's Zarib? Zarib Aldouri? What is your name? (man turns up.) MAN: Zarib, Zarib... (he might have said something different. Just writing phonetically) SOLDIER: This is Zarib. (screen is dark) WOMAN: (subtitles) What has he done? He is just a college student. SOLDIER: Okay. Alright. Calm down. (commotion, screen is dark again) SOLDIER: We appreciate the... SOLDIER: This is the target. SOLDIER: Zarib Aldouri, bring him out. (cut to AMERICAN SOLDIER #14) AMERICAN SOLDIER #14: As you go back to the old saying, win the hearts and minds of the people. That's our job. We have to, we have to bring the ideal of democracy and freedom to the country, and show them that the American people are not here to rule Iraq. That's what we do. MOTHER/DAUGHTER: (SPEAKING IN ARABIC) MOTHER: (subtitle) Don't be afraid. He's not going to hit you. DAUGHTER: (subtitle) What did he do? Why don't you tell us? God keep you, what did he do? SOLDIER: Can you please be quiet? (DAUGHTER CRYING) SOLDIER: I start doing evidence turn in... that process takes about three hours. So uh, that's going to be it for the night. And that includes Christmas eve. SOLDIER: (to Santa) We all love you, Santa. SOLDIER IN SANTA OUTFIT: Merry Christmas PRT SOLDIER: We'll try to keep the skies clear for you, Santa. (cut to Lila Lipscomb) MOORE: (to Lila Lipscomb) Do you consider yourself a proud American? LIPSCOMB: Absolutely. I'm extremely proud American I think I'm probably more proud than the average joe. When I put my flag up I can't allow it to touch the ground. Because I know the lives that were lost and the blood that was shed so that I could be here and have a flag. MOORE: Right, how often do you put the flag up? LIPSCOMB: Every single day... MOORE: Uh-huh. LIPSCOMB: Every single day. I started when my daughter was in Desert Storm. I have the same flag flying on my front porch and the same yellow ribbons praying and hoping every single day that my child would come home safe and that everybody's child would come home safe. MOORE: And she did. LIPSCOMB: And she did. MOORE: You have other family members that have been in the military? LIPSCOMB: Absolutely. Uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, father. MOORE: A very strong military background in your family. LIPSCOMB: Very strong, my family was-- my family is what I consider part of the backbone of America. It's families like mine and it's not just my family there's hundreds of families, millions of families out here that this country was founded on their backs. I have been known to be a conservative democrat. Yeah, yeah. MOORE: That's what you'd consider yourself now? LIPSCOMB: Yeah. MOORE: It's a great country. LIPSCOMB: It's a great country. It's a great country. The cross that I choose to wear, you'll notice that it's a multicultural-- multicolored cross. That's because I believe that all God's people come in many colors. And my family itself is multicultural. MOORE: You have a daughter who went into the military? LIPSCOMB: Into the military. MOORE: Then your firstborn son in the military? Thats, uh, quite a gift to the country, you know, from your family. LIPSCOMB: That's exactly right. MOORE: So having a son in the Army... pretty proud, uh, thing. LIPSCOMB: Oh, you know what? He made it. MOORE: What was your reaction to the protesters during let's say the Gulf war or Vietnam. LIPSCOMB: I always hated the protesters. I always hated the protesters. It was just a slap in my face. It was just like they were dishonoring my son. And I burned in my soul to tell them you don't understand. They're not there because they want to be there. But then I came to understand that they weren't protesting the men and the women that were there, they were protesting the concept of the war. MALE SOLDIER #1: I know I'm a soldier and I'm here to do a job, and, uh, I've been a soldier for a while. Once you have to go and do your job and you see the things that you see... I'm saying there's some disillusionment in that. FEMALE SOLDIER: Battalion Commander fully expects us to, um, be attacked in some type of way. Before we get to [bird ship?]. I know that so far it's been pretty calm, not much has happened, but be aware that they can and they probably will. MALE SOLDIER #2: They're beginning to organize themselves just in neighborhoods. The kids get together a lot - well, I can't say Kids but - guys about 17-18. Starting to come together and they hate us, just -- why I'm not really sure. MOORE: Immoral behavior breeds immoral behavior. When a president commits the immoral act of sending otherwise good kids to war based on a lie, this is what you get. SOLDIER #1: (tickling prisoner's foot) Hey, is he ticklish? SOLDIER #2: Don't tell me you don't know what it is. SOLDIER #3: Ali Baba still has a hard-on. (laughing) SOLDIER #4: Why are you touching someone else's dick? SOLDIER #5: He touched his dick! (soldier snaps photo with hooded prisoner) SOLDIER #6: To have these people shoot at us, kill us, blow us up, whatever means they can, and I don't understand it. We're trying to help these people and it seems they don't want our help-- 'get out of here'-- but the minute something goes wrong with them 'oh why weren't you here why didn't you do this' you know it's -- I hate this country. SOLDIER #7: You know, you, you, I feel that a part of your soul is destroyed in taking another life. And yeah that statement is very true; you cannot kill someone without killing a part of yourself. MOORE: (to Cpl. Abdul Henderson, USMC): If you get called up will you go back to Iraq? ABDUL HENDERSON: No. MOORE: Why not? HENDERSON: No. MOORE: What repercussions do you face if you don't... HENDERSON: It's possible jail time. That's one possible thing. MOORE: Are you willing to risk that? HENDERSON: Yes. Yes I will not let my person... I will, I will not let anyone send me back over there to kill other poor people. Especially when they pose no threat to me and my country. I won't do it. (cut to President Bush speaking) BUSH: This is an impressive crowd -- the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base. MOORE: While Bush was busy taking care of his base and professing his love for our troops, he proposed cutting combat soldiers' pay by 33% and assistance to their families by 60%. He opposed giving veterans a billion dollars more in health care benefits, and he supported closing veteran hospitals. He tried to double the prescription drug costs for veterans and opposed full benefits for part-time reservists. And when Staff Seargeant Brett Petriken from Flint was killed in Iraq on May 26th, the army sent his last paycheck to his family, but they docked him for the last five days of the month that he didn't work because he was dead. REP. JIM MCDERMOTT: They say they're not gonna to leave any veteran behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind. (video of Walter Reed Army Medical Center) VETERAN: (in wheelchair) To say that we're forgotten -- I know we're not forgotten. But missed? Yes. Yes, you know there's a lot of soldiers that have been missed, you know, they've been skipped over. Um, that didn't get the proper coverage that they deserve. VETERAN: They have the death toll but they're not showing the amount of people that have been injured and been amputated because of the injuries, you know. (subtitle: Nearly 5,000 soldiers wounded in the first 13 months of the war.) VETERAN WITHOUT ARMS: Like I still feel like I have hands. MOORE: Yeah. VETERAN WITHOUT ARMS: And the pain is like my hands are being crushed in a vice. But they do a lot to help it and they take a lot of the edge off of it. And it, it, it just makes it a lot more tolerable. VETERAN: I was injured in late April while on patrol in Baghdad. Um, couple of guys come out and ambushed us. Um, I got nerve damage and stuff like that. I've got a lot of pain. I'm constantly in pain. Um, take a lot of morphine. It helps with that stuff, uh. I'm doing -- doing, you know, just readjusting. Getting life back on track. You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to do what it is I did before. VETERAN: Um, I -- I was a republican for quite a few years. And um, and for some reason they uh -- they, uh, they conduct business in a very dishonest way. I am going to be incredibly active in the Democratic Party down where I live once I get out. So... I'm gonna definitely do my best to insure that the Democrats win control. LILA LIPSCOMB: (with husband) Iraq and Baghdad -- I didn't know anything of those things. And he -- we were in a hallway in the upstairs of our house and he was crying and he said that he was really scared and he didn't want to have to go to Iraq. So we were able to have a whole conversation about sometimes some fear is healthy because it keeps our senses about us. And that's when he told me that he had not told anybody else but he knew he was going to Baghdad. We were as everybody, we were glued to the TV. Just glued completely glued to the television in hopes of seeing a glimpse of him. "Can't you please go over to where the Helicopters are? Can't you please let us see him?" Then that night it was about ten something. I went upstairs to the bedroom and I was laying in bed and I was flipping the channels with the remote and all I heard was "Black Hawk down in south-central Iraq." REPORTER: What I can tell you at this hour is that last night the Army did indeed lose a Black Hawk helicopter. We're being told by officers on the ground that there were six occupants inside the Black Hawk. LIPSCOMB: Well the next morning I got up and I said, "You push those sadthoughts out of your mind. Okay Jesus, I need you to come in. I need you Jesus, you've got to help me through this." The Army called me and I remember getting on the phone and him saying -- asking me was I Lila Lipscomb, and I said yes, and he said "mother of Sargeant Michael Patterson?" And I remember dropping the telephone. And all I can honestly say that I remember is "Ma'am, the United States Army the Secretary of Defense regretfully informs you..." That's all I know. The grief grabbed me so hard that I literally fell on the floor. And I was alone. I didn't have anybody to pick me up. So I literally crawled over to my desk and was hanging on and I remember screaming, "Why does it have to be Michael? Why did you have to take my son? Why is it my son that you had to take? He didn't do anything. He wasn't a bad guy. He was a good guy, why did you have to take my son? " BUSH: Uh, I uh, I, I, I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a son or a daughter... or a husband and... or wife for that matter. And I -- it pains me. MOORE: (to Lipscomb) You have his last letter? LIPSCOMB: Mmhmm... and it was mailed March 16th, but I didn't get it until probably a week before he was killed. "Hello, Hey Mama. Well, sorry I haven't been able to call. They took the phone seven days ago. I got the letter and box. That is so cool, your first grandson came the same day your oldest son did. How is everyone? I'm doing fine. We are just out here in the sand in the windstorms waiting. What in the world is wrong with George? Trying to be like his dad. Bush. He got us out here for nothing whatsoever. I'm so furious right now, mama. I really hope they do not re-elect that fool honestly. I am in good spirits and I am doing okay. I really miss you guys. Thanks for the Bible and books and candy. I really look forward to letters from you guys. Well tell all the family 'Hello' and that I am doing fine. We don't expect anything to happen any time soon. I cannot wait to get home and get back to my life. Tell Sputnik congrats and I'll see my first nephew soon. As soon as I get back to the states. Hope you guys are doing okay. And keep sending the mail, it makes getting through the days easier. Well, I'm on my way to bed so I will write you guys soon. I love and miss all of you guys." (Lipscomb crying) I want him to be alive, and I can't make him alive. ... Because your flesh just aches. You want your child, it's out of sync, a parent is not supposed to bury their child. MR. LIPSCOMB: I fee--, I, I, I feel sad for my family because we lost our son. But I really feel sorry for the other families that is losing their kids as we speak. And for what? I don't -- that's the, I guess, the sickening part. For what? (cut to Halliburton commercial) DAVE LESAR: You've heard a lot about Halliburton lately. Criticism is okay. We can take it. Criticism is not failure. Our employees are doing a great job. We're feeding the soldiers, we're rebuilding Iraq. Will things go wrong? Sure they will, it's a war zone. We're serving the troops because of what we know, not who we know. (subtitle: HALLIBURTON ... PROUD TO SERVE OUR TROOPS) DICK CHENEY: (to reporters) Well let me tell you about Halliburton, the company I ran. I'm very proud of what I did at Halliburton and the people of Halliburton are very proud of what they accomplished. And I uh -- I frankly uh-- don't feel any need to apologize for the way I've spent my time over the past five years as the CEO and chairman of a major American corporation. BUSH: (standing next to Cheney) This is also an attempt to divert attention away from the fact they have no energy policy! And as the Secretary of Energy said: 'We were caught unawares!' (cut to conference; sign reads "Rebuilding Iraq") NARRATOR: In the middle of the war, Microsoft, DHO, and other corporations invited Halliburton to a conference to figure out how much money could be made in Iraq. MICHAEL MELE: (subtitle: 'Michael Mele / US Army Corps of Engineers') Having worked this uh, uh effort even since before the invasion, the, the uh liberation of Iraq started. You in this trade are definitely a vital part of that effort. We appreciate your, your interest in this. We need you. YOUSSEF SLEIMAN: (subtitle: 'Youssef Sleiman / Iraq Initiatives / Harris Corporation) Now lots of you are small businesses and you're struggling. How do we get piece of this big action? All of you the big guys are gonna get it and the rest of us will have subcontracting capability or no, none at all. ... USDDA is for you. Once that oil starts flowing and money coming, it's gonna be lots of money. It's the second largest reserve, oil, in the world. There's no question about how much money's there. DR. SAM KUBBA: I've been getting complaints from Iraqi firms and from American firms, uh, that the lack of transparency, the corruption... / I think the profits that American companies are making, the major, the main companies, uh, are so overwhelming. I mean, like when you have a line item for a million dollars and you subcontract it out for fifty, or sixty, or seventy thousand dollars, that's a huge profit. And it's the American taxpayer that's gonna pay for that. YOUSSEF SLEIMAN: And it's gonna get better. Start building a relationship, because it's gonna get much better as the oil flows and the budget increase and the good news is whatever it costs the government will pay you. DR. SAM KUBBA: War is always good for certain companies... I mean that are in the war, uh, the business of war. GEORGE SIGALOS: (VP, Halliburton) We're very proud of the work we're doing. Again it's supporting the US government and the US military. And the real heroes of the campaign, the real heroes of the reconstruction are the men and women of the US armed forces. And we're very proud to be any part of that that we can, in supporting them. (cut to Halliburton commercial) VOICEOVER: Halliburton delivers hot meals, supplies, clean clothing, and communications to our soldiers so they can be a little closer to home. MALE SOLDIER: (on phone, looks up) It's a girl! (high fives all around) VOICEOVER: Halliburton. Proud to serve our troops. (cut to...) OLD WOMAN: I just read in the paper Halliburton got another contract... Halliburton got another contract... it, which is not being... contested at all. OLD WOMAN #2: Because nobody knows. OLD WOMAN #1: Well, it's in the papers, so somebody knows. OLD WOMAN #2: But that's after it happens; after the fact, it's too late. (cut to armored car rumbling through Iraq) REPORTER: The United States is now a major player in the Iraqi oil business. American troops guard the oil fields as Texas oil workers assess their potential. OIL WORKER: It's a safe environment to work in. Uh, we don't feel any risk, we feel like we're being well protected here or we wouldn't be here. SOLDIER: It's no secret, I mean, I make anywhere's, I don't know, between two and three thousand a month. A Halliburton employee out here drivin' a bus can make all between eight and ten thousand a month. Explain that one to me. For forty hours a week... driving the same two-and-a-half mile route. Go figure. Where do you, where's the justification in that? GORDON BOBBITT: There's no other single area of the world today with the opportunity for business, new busness, uh, similar to the opportunity that's available today in Iraq. GRANT HABER: The President went in and did what he did, and we're all supporting him and our troops, and we wanna make sure that, you know, the efforts and the lost lives... it wasn't for no reason. DR. SAM KUBBA: If it wasn't for the oil nobody would be there. Nobody would worry about it. BLAINE OBER: Unfortunately, at least for the near term we think it's gonna be a good situation and uh, a dangerous situation. Good for business, bad for the people. OLD WOMAN #1: Today on the news, Rumsfeld was saying and, uh, wol--, wolf--, Wolfowitz was saying, "Oh, the Iraqi people are much much better off. Isn't it better that we got rid of Saddam and now the Iraqi people can do what they wanna do and really be free?" Will they ever be free? No they'll not be free. And where are the, are the weapons of mass destruction? It was an... we were duped. We were really duped. And these poor people - the young men and women who are being killed there - it's unnecessary. I, I'm, that's it... no more. OLD WOMAN #2: ... disgrace... (cut to the President speaking) PRESIDENT BUSH: They died in a just cause, for defending freedom, and they will not have died in vain. (crowd cheers) (cut to Lila Lipscomb) NARRATOR: Lila had called to tell me that she was coming down from Flint to Washington, DC to attend a jobs conference. On her break she said she was going to go and pay a visit... to the White House. (Lipscomb walking towards three uniformed Secret Service agents / walking around the north side of the White House, near the "no nukes" folks) NO NUKES LADY: Kill... Bush kill children... Iraqi children... LILA LIPSCOMB: My son killed... NO NUKES LADY: Iraq people in a [unintelligible]... yesterday... LILA LIPSCOMB: Yes. NO NUKES LADY: Bush lies. Kill people. Your children too. LILA LIPSCOMB: Yes, my son... NO NUKES LADY: Take Iraqi business to win Iraq now... and they kill [unintelligible] Americans... for what? For oil. Bush is a terrorist. WOMAN PASSERBY: No he isn't. This is all staged. This is all staged. LILA LIPSCOMB: My son... WOMAN PASSERBY: Where was he killed? LILA LIPSCOMB: ...you tell me my son is not a staged. ("no nukes" lady continues) WOMAN PASSERBY: Where was he killed? LILA LIPSCOMB: He was killed in karballah. NO NUKES LADY: (interjecting) ...by lies!... LILA LIPSCOMB: April 2nd is not a stage. My son is dead. WOMAN PASSERBY: There are lot of other people... (Lila Lipscomb walks away / "no nukes" lady continues) VOICE: What'd that woman yell at you? LILA LIPSCOMB: That I'm supposed to blame the al Qaeda. The al Qaeda didn't make a decision to send my son to Iraq. ... The ignorance that we deal with with everyday people (laughs) 'cuz they don't know - people think they know - but you don't know. I thought I knew but I didn't know. ... (crying) ... I need my son. ... God, it's tougher than I thought it was gonna be, to be here. (looking at green construction fence on north side of White House) But it's freeing also because I finally have a place to put all my pain and all my anger and to release it. (cut to Moore crossing Independence Avenue towards the Capitol Building with Cpl. Henderson; the Cannon House Office Building in the background) NARRATOR: I guess I was tired of seeing people like Lila Lipscomb, especially when, out of the 535 members of Congress, only one had an enlisted son in Iraq. I asked Corporal Henderson of the United States Marine Corps to join me on Capitol Hill to see how many members of Congress we could convince to enlist their children to go to Iraq. MOORE: Congressman. I'm Michael Moore. REP. JOHN TANNER: Hey Mike, how you doin' (shakes hands)? I'm good. John Tanner. MOORE: Nice to meet you. Very nice to meet you. REP. JOHN TANNER: What are ya'all doin'? MOORE: I'm here with our Corporal Henderson, United States Marine Corps... REP. JOHN TANNER: (takes glasses off) Corporal (shakes hands). I was in the Navy years ago. 1968 to 72. ... We had Marines guard the base. MOORE: You have kids? REP. JOHN TANNER: Yeah. MOORE: Is there any way we can get them to enlist? Uh, and go over there, and help out with the effort? I have all the brochures... REP. JOHN TANNER: Well I've got two children... MOORE: Yeah, yeah, well, see there's not many Congressman that've got kids over there. In fact, only one, you know, so we just thought maybe um, you know, that, you guys should send your kids there first. What do you think of that idea? REP. JOHN TANNER: (looks to staffer who is pointing towards the Capitol) I don't disagree with it. MOORE: Oh you don't? Uh, good, well here, take some brochures, then here... (Rep. Tanner laughs, puts on glasses) Take a Marine brochure. REP. JOHN TANNER: Thank you, uh... MOORE: Pass it around. Encourage fellow members, ya know, if they're for the war to get behind it, ya know, and send their own. REP. JOHN TANNER: Thank you. MOORE: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. (approached Rep. Mark Kennedy) MOORE: Congressman? Michael Moore. REP. MARK KENNEDY: How are you doing? MOORE: Good good. Tryin' to get members of Congress to, uh, get their kids to enlist in the Army, and uh, go over to Iraq. (Kennedy looks at brochures, and up at Moore) MOORE: Congressman? Congressman? (can't tell who it is he's approaching) / Congressman Castle? (approaching Rep. Mike Castle) Congressman Castle? / Congressman? (can't tell) Congressman? / Congressman Doolittle? Michael Moore. REP. JOHN DOOLITTLE: Ahhh, no thank you. (continues walking into Longworth; Moore follows) MOORE: Is there any way to, to... (turns around, gives up) NARRATOR: Of course, not a single member of Congress wanted to sacrifice their child for the war in Iraq. And who could blame them? Who would want to give up their child? Would you? Would he [President Bush]? I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest are always the first to step up, to defend [unintelligible]. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkably their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary. Will they ever trust us again? PRESIDENT BUSH: He had used weapons. SECRETARY RUMSFELD: We know where they are, they're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and, and, east, west, south and north. CONDOLEEZA RICE: There is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. VP CHENEY: The struggle can only end with their complete and permanent destruction. PRESIDENT BUSH: We wage a war to save civilization itself. We did not seek it. But we will fight it. And we will prevail. NARRATOR: George Orwell once wrote, that it's not a matter "if the war is not real, or if it is. Victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, but it is meant to be continuous." ... "A hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance, this new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or east Asia but to keep the very structure of society in tact." PRESIDENT BUSH: There is an old saying in Tennessee, I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee that says, "Fool me once, shame on, shame on you. It fool me, we can't get fooled again. NARRATOR: For once, we agreed. -- A FILM BY MICHAEL MOORE --