Simon Takes on Moore

Scott Simon uses the death of a Marine in Iraq to try to rip Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. The Marine was one of the recruiters in Moore's film who is shown trying to get young people to join up. The portrayal is not flattering, but then again there's nothing particularly flattering about recruiting teenagers for the military anyway. Simon tries to make it sound like the film attacks the recruiters for being smug and safe while they get young people to go off and fight. My recollection of the film is quite different. Moore goes to great lengths to acknowledge his respect for people in the armed forces. The target of his film is the leaders who use and frankly kill the young people who out of idealism or economic necessity join the military. His movie makes a strong case that the people behind the war in Iraq are motivated mostly by greed, arrogance, and a lust for power. Moore's film (and his continuing work since) also consistently shows that one of the great passions that motivates Moore is his desire to see no more US troops killed or injured.