ANOTHER FRIEND WRITES AN OPEN LETTER TO ABC, ONE WHOSE WIFE WAS KILLED ON 9/11

When I was working at Warner Bros, one of my colleagues, John Beug, was running our video department as a senior vice president. John's wife, an employee of Disney, was returning to L.A. with her mother, Mary, after taking their daughter to college in Rhode Island on September 11. On the same day, I flew into New York. My plane arrived just before the horrible events. Lucky for me; devastating for John, Caroline, Mary and their family. Everyone at Warner Bros was grief-striken in a very personal way-- as were the employees at Disney headquarters in Burbank. Today John wrote a letter to Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, whose affiliate, ABC, in still threatening to run this ghastly Republican propaganda piece made by Dick Cheney's and Karl Rove's "Leni Riefensthals."

September 9, 2006
 
Dear Mr. Iger,
 
I have seen the advertisements for and read the press coverage of ABC’s film, "The Path to 9/11," that your network plans to air this Sunday and Monday to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. I am writing to express my concern and deep reservations about this film and to ask you, out of respect for the victims of 9/11 and their families, not to air it.
 
My wife worked for the Walt Disney Corporation and was a victim of the terrorist attacks as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11. I have great respect for you and your company and I know that you must have worked hard to make a good film. Admittedly, I have not seen it. However, accounts from those who have suggest that it contains inaccurate and invented scenes. It seems to me that fictionalizing this tragedy does not honor the memory of those who were lost on September 11th.
 
Given the gravity of this event for our nation and the personal loss I suffered, I believe it is critically important that we do everything possible to prevent another 9/11. That begins with making sure that we are united in our understanding of what we could have done better in the years, months and weeks leading up to the attacks of 2001. I am deeply concerned that Americans will watch this film and not fully understand-- or be led to misunderstand-- the true history of this tragedy.
 
I feel the 9/11 Commission Report was a correct and very responsible accounting of the terrorist attacks of 2001. Since "The Path to 9/11" deviates from this report in key instances, I strongly and respectfully urge you not to air this film.
 
Sincerely,
 
John Beug