Michael Moore to Obama: ‘Stop, Stop, Stop!’ on Afghanistan
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein reports: On the eve of President Obama’s address outlining a new strategy — and an escalation in US military strength — in Afghanistan, a stark warning of the perils on his left comes courtesy of Michael Moore. The liberal filmmaker posted a rambling and biting open letter to the president on his Web site today, pleading with the president to reconsider his decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan: “Do you really want to be the new ‘war president’? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do — destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true — that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.” Moore cites historical figures from George Washington to Martin Luther King Jr. to make his case, and even suggests that Obama’s own grandmother and mother would not make a decision to send more troops into a war zone. He writes: “Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking.” Moore’s close: “Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop. “Tonight we still have hope. “Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son. “We're counting on you.”
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The thirst for blood cannot be a monopoly by the neocons.
Posted by: Huh | November 30, 2009, 6:15 pm 6:15 pm
Michael Moore the self appointed detractor of anyone in the office of the president. Where do you get the gall. No one listens to your rantings go away.
Posted by: earl | November 30, 2009, 6:29 pm 6:29 pm
Hey Mike, Ron Paul was the peace candidate. Oh and by the way government intervention caused the collapse, not free market capitalism.
Posted by: Huh | November 30, 2009, 6:36 pm 6:36 pm
Mr Moore are you prepared to take full responsibility for the next terroist attack on American soil? Because a failure to go after the religious extremist that will surely be using Afghanistan to plan their next attack on America if we sat back and do nothing.
Posted by: johnnylee | November 30, 2009, 7:38 pm 7:38 pm
Mike you are right. But ego, power, money and ‘national pride’ will rule the day. As Philip Wiley summed up..’war is man’s inarticulate way of settlying a problem by exploding’. By the way, the contractors will cheer the decision.
Posted by: John | November 30, 2009, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
johnnylee – Another terrorist attack will happen because we have committed acts against their loved ones which demand retribution at least by their standards. I wouldn’t be able to forget having my loved ones slaughtered either. This should be an intelligence war, not a Pentagon-sponsored undertaking.
Posted by: Huh | November 30, 2009, 8:14 pm 8:14 pm
Michael Moore will be taxed more than
most by Obama’s “ObesityTax” done thru
Obamacare. If he becomes a target for obesity, expect him to fight back with
prescient movies to sway opinion toward
the “FOODS THAT DEFINE US AS AMERICAN”
This guy will go with the flow…….
and adapt, to make MONEY!!
Posted by: grizzlybare | November 30, 2009, 11:05 pm 11:05 pm
Michael Moore though imperfect is one of few spokespeople with the courage to state the obvious. It is pathetic that the cowards who weigh his arguments must resort to personal attacks on his weight and appearance or discount his writing as “rambling.” The US domestic and foreign policy is on a perverse death spiral and will soon implode in a neighborhood near you. Obama is just a pawn of the power elite and he is outed now.
Posted by: John | December 1, 2009, 12:43 am 12:43 am
Moore has a real fight with Obama. Not
with our security, but with his person-
al non-conformity to the emerging health
care symbolism under Obama’s dictum.
He is a painfully ugly blob of protoplasm. When he pontificates on
any lefty cause, we get to see him.
Wow! Whatta spokesman.
Posted by: grizzlybare | December 1, 2009, 1:25 am 1:25 am
Let’s just put aside that Moore is a liberal, that he is fat, and well, everything else negative you can pull up, and look at that a troop increase will bring our presence to almost 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. 100,000 men and women. This is definitely a “war” that needs to be fought through intelligence and with extremely specific goals because the broad ones that have been implemented within the past almost 10 years have not been working. The number of deaths, both U.S and civilian in the Middle East prove that. And when Moore says Obama will become the next “war president”, he is right. Because if this turns sour, which chances are it WILL, the Republicans, the “neocons”, the right, AND the left will use it against him, saying he steamed a war that we lost, labeling him the “liberal war President.”
Basically everything Moore said is true. A unprecedented amount of voters (as in the demographic and the numbers as well) turned out and voted for a man who said he would end the war in the Middle East, and now he is effectively doing the exact opposite for one of the main reasons he was voted into office.
And if withdrawing from the Middle East results on additional attacks in the U.S from terrorists, then we need to really step back, and hold those who began the escalation of corrupt world political agendas and hold THEM responsible. Think about it. It’s not just black and white anymore. The American political system has become a very very shady gray. Unfortunately, our whole system of democracy has been foiled in the past decade, and I’m including 2009 as Obama as President. And don’t go bashing Moore just because he’s fat and a liberal. That’s honestly really unnecessary.
Posted by: Olivia | December 1, 2009, 3:37 am 3:37 am
Olivia, he said during his campaign he would go to Afghanistan and finish what we should have done to begin with, not Iraq.
I did not vote for him and I am not for continuing this war, 8 years is enough. The Industrial Military Complex is at work here and nothing or no one in Washington is going to stop it. It’s all about money.
Posted by: indymind | December 1, 2009, 8:30 am 8:30 am
And who cares????
Posted by: billy bob | December 1, 2009, 8:34 am 8:34 am
Yeah thats right Michael. You who preach against capitalizim but reep its money. Obama is a puppet president and may listen to you.
Posted by: Jim Rod | December 1, 2009, 9:26 am 9:26 am
Can’t Michael Moore choke on a chicken sandwich?
Posted by: stratabuse | December 1, 2009, 9:41 am 9:41 am
Whats wrong Mikey – is your Bammy diasppointing you ? Will you now direct a movie about him ? We know you hate Capitalism Mikey but you dont seem to mind collecting it if your movie is a hit. Why dont you join with Sean Penn, Oliver stone and others and go and stay in one of those socialist countries…Take all your millions with you and Hugo will redistribute the wealth… put your money where your big fat mouth is Mikey !!!
Posted by: jimbo | December 1, 2009, 9:56 am 9:56 am
Don’t worry Michael, I am sure Obama will have it both ways and vote present on the war like he does with everything else. Expect no positive result, whatever side you are on.
Posted by: Ferrari5858 | December 1, 2009, 10:00 am 10:00 am
Michael Moore’s hatred about American’s system ( not American money ) started early in his life when he saw his father’s work place, a spark plug plant, was relocated by GM down Dixie south from his native town Flint, Michigan. He does not really know much about the history of socialism and communism, although in his movies, he praised highly the Cuban’s social system and his recent movie ‘capitalism, the love story’ ended with singing of communism anthem International by an America musician.
Posted by: austin | December 1, 2009, 10:22 am 10:22 am
Maybe it is time for Michael Moore to recognize that he really is not influencing politicians, in any way, whatsoever……which simply makes him pretty much like any other ordinary citizen.
Guess he will just have to get used to the idea of being “ordinary”.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | December 1, 2009, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
grizzlybare: Get more from Dumb and Dumber? Do you mean BO and Biden? rofl!
Posted by: Justme8811 | December 1, 2009, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm
Mikey Moore knows more about what is going on than any elected politician. I wish he would run for presidant.
Posted by: Veronica | December 1, 2009, 12:21 pm 12:21 pm
the USA is the only hope Afghan girls and women have to get an education! that alone is reason enough.
shame of Michael Moore and his simple ways of thinking.
Posted by: philosopherkingtomas | December 1, 2009, 12:54 pm 12:54 pm
read “3 cups of Tea”
Posted by: philosopherkingtomas | December 1, 2009, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
It is not the ONLY hope for Afghan women. Every heard of self empowerment? Self government? Anti-imperialism? What the United States is doing to promoting violence, saying that it will bring peace. As for the book 3 Cups of Tea, that’s good that you brought it up, but understand that that book does not provide reasoning for violence in order to promote education. You seem to forget that people are BEING KILLED over there. American, Afghan, and who knows who else. Again, I completely agree this should be a war, no, a mission of intelligence. People need to stop dying for a cause that no one can truly identify. Think about it.
Posted by: Olivia | December 1, 2009, 1:21 pm 1:21 pm
What the fat man has to say is more important than Climategate?
Posted by: uisignorant | December 1, 2009, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
Michael Moore is Mooronic!
Maybe he should have ACTUALLY listened to his “buddy” while he campaigned and since he has been President. This view is nothing new from Obama.
I guess this is what happens when you spend years trying discredit one President and then the past year attempting to tell the world that capitalism is evil.
Instead of trying to constantly warp reality, perhaps Mikey should try living in it for a while!
To quote a phase….
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
Posted by: Mike_C | December 1, 2009, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm
It looks like Mr. Michael Moore is upset for voting for a professional liar.
Posted by: young_voter | December 1, 2009, 6:03 pm 6:03 pm
While I understand Moore’s concerns, I think it is hypocritical of people to “become disillusioned cynics” or to believe that “all politicians are alike” based on this troop escalation–Obama campaigned on the promise that he would give Afghanistan the resources it should have had while we were distracted by the unnecessary war in Iraq. He is now following through on that promise. He is going about his war planning in a very different way than his predecessor, prizing pragmatism and results over stubborn ideology. And current policies differ from the Bush era in dozens of other ways, from emphasis on healthcare and energy reform to anti-torture policy, diplomacy and world relations, etc.
People who would turn away from those gains because they would prefer a precipitous withdraw, rather than giving this temporary surge a chance, are doing a disservice to the advancement of progressive causes. When people on the left turn against each other, no progress can be made. They should understand that the difficulties of the real world make compromise and differences of opinion necessary, but that by staying unified, consistent incremental progress can be made.
Posted by: eep | December 5, 2009, 4:02 pm 4:02 pm
While I understand Moore’s concerns, I think it is hypocritical of people to “become disillusioned cynics” or to believe that “all politicians are alike” based on this troop escalation–Obama campaigned on the promise that he would give Afghanistan the resources it should have had while we were distracted by the unnecessary war in Iraq. He is now following through on that promise. He is going about his war planning in a very different way than his predecessor, prizing pragmatism and results over stubborn ideology. And current policies differ from the Bush era in dozens of other ways, from emphasis on healthcare and energy reform to anti-torture policy, diplomacy and world relations, etc.
People who would turn away from those gains because they would prefer a precipitous withdraw, rather than giving this temporary surge a chance, are doing a disservice to the advancement of progressive causes. When people on the left turn against each other, no progress can be made. They should understand that the difficulties of the real world make compromise and differences of opinion necessary, but that by staying unified, consistent incremental progress can be made.
Posted by: eep | December 5, 2009, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm