Michael Moore Speaks Out on Iraq, Health Care

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Maverick U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore steered the Toronto International Film Festival firmly toward politics with a scathing denunciation of the Iraq war and a preview of his next film, ``Sicko,'' which slams a patchwork U.S. health care system.

Moore, who won an Oscar for his 2002 anti-gun film ``Bowling for Columbine'' and set a box office record for another documentary, ``Fahrenheit 9/11, about America after the 2001 attacks, highlighted his views on Iraq to loud applause from a clearly sympathetic audience.

``Here we are 3 1/2 years (into the war) and we are not able to secure the road from the airport to downtown Baghdad. It's absolutely fucking ridiculous,'' he said, describing the war as a distraction to keep Americans scared.

``We don't want to secure that road, because we don't want that war to end yet because we want to bring a sense of fear to Americans... It's so sad and so pathetic.''

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-leisure-filmfest-moore.html?_r=1&oref=slogin