Matthews, in his interview with Howard Dean, said that Michael Moore suggests in Farenheit 9/11 that Bush is in cahoots with the terrorists, and that is outright distortion. Unless I missed something, he focuses on how Bush’s relationship with the Saudi’s compromised America’s ability and willingness to truly investigate the path of the terrorists. That America went after Afganistan (which I thought was an obvious tact to take), and after the money trail of the terrorists financial supporters. But Moore charged that there was little , if any, serious warnings to the Saudis, which he suggests (and rightfully so, I believe) that the administration was avoiding because of the tremendous impact that the Saudi relationships had on the Oil interests of this administration.

NOw this is quite different than saying Bush was “running with terrorists”. The closest Moore came to saying that would be to charge that “cozying up” to the Saudi family is tantamount to turning a blind eye to the many and sundry ties that many make between the Saudi family and the financing of certain terrorist groups. But this is NOT the accusation that Matthews sayus that 9/11 makes. Not by a long shot.

The book that has a lot of the accounting of historical relationship building between the Bush’s and the Sauds — from which Moore drew , Craig Unger’s House of Bush, House of Saud, also never makes that claim. It seems like a sensationalist, desperate cry of people who refuse to believe that this president is a crafty opportunist who is simply running with a host of “directives” from a neoconservative , radical right group within the government. THis is a tale of money interests, interests so powerful that they are avoiding the tough , but neccessary road of calling the Saudis to full disclosure of the sources of support coming from higher ups in Saudi Arabia for the terrorists.

Matthews should be ashamed of himself. I’m not going to say that I am an admirer of Micahel Moore, because he doesn’t strike me as a writer with restraint, but on this I am in agreement with him: there is no excuse for the U.S. being so “tough” on everybody EXCEPT the Saudis. The “no compromise with the terrorists” is sorely lacking when it comes to our approach to Saudi Arabia.