The documentary on terrorism as it relates to 9/11 and bin Laden has a history as long as Gone with the Wind. Scheduled for airing on January 29, 2006 it hit a snag, to say the least. On January 23, playing to a full house, it aired at the Angelika Theatre in Dallas. Most of the comments were very favorable. With the topic what it is and the diversity and conflict between the players we knew we would not, could not, nor did we have the intention of pleasing everyone, that’s not what a documentary is about. Our intent was to have the experts on the doc give their perspectives of what led to 9/11 and where we are as a result.

However the doc was protested by a Muslim activist group- the Freedom and Justice Foundation. . Mohammed Elibiarry, the Executive Director of the foundation, and several Muslim community leaders, objected to what they perceived as the relatively small number of Muslim scholars, and various other perceived inaccuracies. A major concern was that the documentary make clearer that most Muslims are in fact law abiding and abhor terrorism. While we referenced this throughout the video, we agreed to a disclaimer, provided Channel 13 could do so in getting this done in time before its airing that Sunday. Unfortunately, even with the best of intentions, on all sides, it was too late to successfully issue a disclaimer etc. and the program did not in fact air as scheduled January 29 th.

In our desire to get the work aired we agreed to Channel 13’s proposed new vetting, which was done, incorporating the changes suggested, and editing the work from 120 minutes to 90. Now as a novice documentarian, I had no idea that this work would be a full time job- yes, full time…producing the initial documentary work and then redoing the Roots of War has taken me 4 years. If in fact it was a paying with benefits job I’d certainly have job security. In fact my own money funded the changes. Still what an education, so I am grateful. The changes had to be made if we wanted the program to air on Channel 13. Roots became my life’s work. And yes, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. It’s good work and deserves to be aired. It is balanced, and as fair to all of the issues as can be…

Roots is spawning new projects. It has forced me to look at the world differently. Perhaps there is a world where peace can be attained. Where each of us acknowledges a shared responsibility for the state of our world. And maybe a place where we each, with our own differences are willing to sit down, and break bread and talk about our differences which underline how similar we all are.

The protestors of Roots have become advocates; the differences from each group are forging relationships. Roots in its small way is examining diversity and asking for respect for each others differences. It’s a long journey and it’s not over yet.

So please stay with us. Roots is worth your time.

Niki

George Freidman PhD
Founder and Chairman: Stratfor Think Tank

Nelly Lahoud Ph.D
Professor of Political Theory
Goucher College

Commissionar John F. Lehman
The 9/11 Report

Fawaz A. Gerges PhD
Christian A. Johnson Chairholder
Sarah Lawrence College

Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah
Spiritual Leader of Hezbollah

James C. Oberwetter
Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
2004- 2007

Richard Pearlstein PhD
Assoc. Professor of Political Science
Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Don Beck,PhD
Director:National Values Center

Riad Daudi JD
President:Syrian Virtual University

Fathali M. Moghaddam PhD
Professor: Pyschology Department
Georgetown University

Jafar Tukan
Palestinian Writer

Khalila Sabra
Director:
Muslim-American Society: N. Carolina
Freedom Foundation

Hanan Ashrawi PhD
Secretary General: MIFTA

Oliver “Buck” Revell
Retired, Associate Deputy Director- FBI

Mohammad Raad
Head of the Committee of Support and Resistance:
Deputy: Lebanon Parliament for Hezbollah

John Esposito PhD
Professor: Georgetown University
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center
For Muslim-Christian Study

Akbar Ahmad PhD
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies
American University
Wash. DC

Paul Berman
Author: Terror and Liberalism

Richard B. Parker
Middle East Institute Scholar in Residence
Former Ambassador to: Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco

Thomas W.Lippman
Middle East Institute Adjunct Scholar
Author: Inside The Mirage

Abdul Rahman al Zamil PhD
Chairman of the Board
Al Zamil Group

Mark Palmer
Former Ambassador: Hungary
Author: Breaking the Real Axis of Evil

Isobel Coleman PhD
Senior Fellow Council on Foreign Relations

Nissrin-al Jundi
Alshall Construction- Syria
Office Manager

Kamal Abu Jaber PhD
Jordan Institute for Middle East Sudies

Palestinian Doctor
“Man” on the street
Camp- Lebanon

Danny Grossman
Executive Director
American Jewish Congress- Israel

James Zogby PhD
President: Arab American Institute

Leila Deeb
Editor Encyclopedia Palestina

John Duke Anthony PhD
President:National Council on US Arab Relations

Martin Van Creveld
Hebrew university of Jerusalem
Author: Sword and the Olive

Dore Gold PhD
Author Hatred’s Kingdom
Former Israeli Ambassador to UN

Eran Lehman PhD
Executive Director American Jewish Committee Israel

John D. Negroponte
Former National Director of Intelligence

Mohammed al Imady PhD
Former Minister of Economy Syria

Raphie Etgar
Curator: Israeli Museum

Rabbi David Rosen
Director of Dept. for Interreligious Affairs
American Jewish Committee
Papal Knight: Order of St. Gregory

Jeffrey Nelson MD
Retired- Saudi Aramco

Robert Jordan
Former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia 2002-0

And that’s the point! We can complain, without looking over our shoulders, or winding up in the town square minus our heads or our hands. We are accused of being arrogant and imposing our views on others (we had that voiced to us often). We can be arrogant and we do impose our views, sometimes wrongly. We’re going to ask you to stay tuned because we will be telling you more about our Middle East journey. Because folks, “at the end of the day,” based on what we heard, saw and experienced, we feel humbled by it all, not the least bit arrogant. And grateful for the country we live in, where we can say what’s on our mind, follow our values, and the dictates of our conscience. You can’t do that in many of the areas we went to.

It’s ironic that with the security checkpoints we went through, we still managed to catch our connections most of the time. Phil had major delays in Tel Aviv, was quizzed by several people, all of his luggage, cameras, papers checked, and during this a bomb scare came in and Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv was evacuated. He did catch his flight to London; caught his London to Chicago flight and would you believe missed his Chicago to Dallas connection because he could not transfer all of his equipment from customs through to Dallas.

Dennis (who left 6 days before me [Niki]) had a walk in the park. Nothing checked, no questions, on you go.

I left from Istanbul (Turkish Airlines was 75 minutes late), arrived at JFK, New York, got through customs, ran for my Dallas connection with little time to spare and smack into a security checkpoint!

Deja vu all over again. New York security checked and rechecked my carry-on, pulled me out of line, asked some questions, patted me down, and you guessed it – I missed my Dallas connection by minutes. American Airlines left the gate early. Turkish Airlines was obligated to put me up at a hotel. They did, a one star, near La Guardia Airport – where I was leaving from the next morning. So, we started the trip at the Hotel Palestine in Baghdad – protected by American forces, in a one star hotel (Phil’s rating) and it ended with one of us in a one star hotel, in a tough, tough neighborhood in Corona Queens, New York, feeling more unsafe than ever, (with no American forces in sight).

Still glad to be back “on the ground”. What we have learned we’re going to share. Our thinking has changed somewhat; and we are all changed more than somewhat by our experiences, the incredible people we met and their stories.

There are many people to thank for making this learning adventure happen.

First and foremost for the funding and the moral support and sense of purpose they gave us: The Hatton W. Sumners Foundation for the Study & Teaching of Self Government, Inc., its trustees and executive director Hugh Akin. Their support will shape this project into the programs and documentaries and stories where you’ll meet who we talked to and who impacted our thinking and challenged us to look below the obvious.

• Phil Smith of Phil Smith Productions, our cameraman, confidante and sidekick.
  Mark Head (F.R.T. Chairman’s Council member) quarterbacked the web site, www.frtv.org.
• Kevin Carr of Internet Strategies (and his able staff) designed the site and put our ramblings from the Middle East on it.
• Mary Handley and Liz Austin for holding down the fort.
• Our F.R.T. board: Cary Clayborn, Ralph Cousins, H. Martin Gibson, William Gordon and
• Lynn Vogt who backed us and the project; and wished us Godspeed.
• F.R.T. Chairman’s Council members who are helping us with continued research and reading: Kathleen Berry, Jim Falk, Paul Pederson, Dr. Rhonda Porterfield and Dick Sartain.
• Brenda Pejovich, who hosted our bon voyage reception.
• Darab Ganji of Petro-Hunt who helped us with Saudi Arabia.
• Congressman Jeb Hensarling and his assistant Barbara Johnson who opened Iraq for us.
• Joel Brooks with the American Jewish Congress in Dallas, who introduced us to his Israeli counterpart, Danny Grossman.
• Danny Grossman for his extraordinary help in Israel and Leila Deeb from Jordan and
• Mohammad Najib – Palestine for opening doors in Palestine.
• Ahmad Sbaiti (F.R.T. Chairman’s Council member) whose nephew, Tarek, helped us in Lebanon. Ahmad has challenged us on these issues for years. He asked us to keep an open mind. We did.
• Jim Falk with the World Affairs Council-Dallas, and Dr. Jerry Leach, World Affairs Council-Washington, DC who gave us contacts and encouragement.
• Leslie Oschmann opened the doors in Turkey.
• Ambassador James Oberwetter (Dallas’ own) U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and his capable staff who were invaluable in Saudi.
• Mark Schooler (our Dallas friend and great insurance agent) who put us in touch with Sam Whitfield at CPA in Iraq.
• In Iraq, Don Ritchie of Custer’s Battle Security challenged us with “Maybe we want it more for them than they do (for themselves).” He kept us out of harm’s way during Baghdad’s “fireworks”, the 1st anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

The list goes on. We’ve missed some. You’ll hear more about those we missed thanking. It’s not intentional, just overload. We’re deeply grateful for everyone who has helped us, supported us and prayed for us – you know who you are.

You’ll hear and see more from us. Thank you for being here …”As always, we’ve been talking about things that matter, with people who care.”

Dennis and Niki

P.S. If you’ve missed any reports and photos you can always go back to The Roots of War website.