The Path to 9/11 - Only 70 Seconds Cut

The producer of "The Path to 9/11" is commending ABC for standing firm against the Clintonista forces who attempted to bully ABC into pulling the series from the air:

Despite unprecedented pressure from former President Clinton, his aides and top Democratic Party leaders that resulted in edits, ABC's airing of the "The Path to 9/11" was a success, says the writer of the miniseries.

In fact, with Clinton's lawyers pressing to cancel the five-hour docudrama, it wasn't until Sunday morning – the day scheduled for part one – that its airing was certain, according to Cyrus Nowrasteh, who also served as a chief producer.

Three scenes, totaling about 70 seconds, were altered in the $40 million production, which concluded last night.

"To lose only a minute is a success, is a victory," Nowrasteh told WND. "I think ABC stood tall."

The scene that underwent the biggest cuts depicted CIA operatives waiting for permission from Washington to attack Osama bin Laden at his Afghanistan fortress. The version that aired left out National Security Adviser Sandy Berger hanging up on George Tenet as the CIA director sought permission to go ahead.

Arguing for the original sequence, Nowrasteh said it represented "anywhere from eight to a dozen missions that failed, where there was a lack of will or intelligence to carry out the operation."

"We thought the composition, the conflation of events, would get the message across, symbolic of an overall reality," he said. "When you're doing a docudrama, you can't show every single instance."

Nowrasteh said the elimination of a "masterfully directed sequence" by director David Cunningham was unfortunate, but the main message was not lost.

"I think the intent and meaning are still there – there was indecision, there was a lack of resolution," he said.

Most of the people interested in seeing the missing scenes will find them at numerous websites who copied them from preview versions of the film. All Clinton, Berger and Albright's squealing did was drive more viewers to the film. They're efforts definitely backfired on them.