USA Today’s Walter Shapiro has been to a screening of Michael Moore’s new anti-Bush movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11.”


“With the exception of Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ it is hard to recall a recent film with such a controversial pedigree,” writes Shapiro. “Disney, the parent company of distributor Miramax, refused to allow the release of ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ because of its unstinting political content. After a predictable burst of critical headlines, the film was liberated from the Disney empire and will open nationwide June 25 on more than 500 screens.”


But Shapiro found the movie far-fetched:


“Despite all the hype and Moore’s undeniable comedic talents, ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ is a profoundly disturbing movie that struck me as far closer to heavy-handed propaganda than to art,” he writes. “Does anyone seriously believe, as Moore suggests, that the United States invaded Afghanistan primarily to pave the way for a natural-gas pipeline? Or that the war in Iraq was a single-minded effort to win new contracting business for Halliburton?”


Inkwell must report the sad truth: That is precisely what many on the American left do, indeed, believe.