Fahrenheit 9/11 Come Again?

Some of the most memorable moments in the film are also the most contested. A sampler:

THE FLEEING SAUDIS

Accusation: Moore suggests that 142 Saudis, including 24 members of the bin Laden family, were allowed to leave the U.S. following 9/11 without adequate questioning by the FBI and at a time when civil aviation was grounded.

Clarification: One plane was permitted to leave before U.S. airspace was reopened on Sept. 13, but most Saudis flew out after that date. According to the 9/11 commission, the FBI interviewed 30 Saudis before they left, though it's not clear how closely they were questioned.

BUSH'S MONEY TIES

Accusation: Moore says Saudi interests invested $1.4 billion in firms connected to the Bush family and friends and speculates that this may have caused the President to divert attention from the involvement of Saudis in 9/11.

Clarification: Nearly $1.18 billion of that money was awarded to BDM, a U.S. defense contractor, for training the Saudi military. At the time, BDM was owned by the Carlyle Group, on whose advisory board George H.W. Bush served. But the elder Bush didn't join that board until five months after Carlyle sold BDM.

THE AFGHAN PIPELINE

Accusation: Moore charges that Bush's desire to promote a pipeline through Afghanistan influenced him initially to favor the country's Taliban rulers.

Clarification: The pipeline was conceived during the Clinton years. Taliban leaders visited Houston in 1997 when Bush was Texas Governor but are not known to have met with him.