MICHAEL MOORE'S FAULTY LOGIC

In decrying the "R" rating of his new film Fahrenheit 9/11 (which will mean that 17 year olds and under won't be able to see it unless accompanied by an adult, Moore says:

"It is sadly very possible that many 15- and 16-year-olds will be asked and recruited to serve in Iraq in the next couple of years," Moore said in a weekend statement. "If they are old enough to be recruited and capable of being in combat and risking their lives, they certainly deserve the right to see what is going on in Iraq."

This is a classic non-sequiter, neatly linking 15 and 16 year olds with combat in Iraq, thus justifying their viewing of Moore's film. But hang on a minute! 15 and 16 year old aren't recruited for combat, at least in the Western liberal democracies of which Moore is so fond. You have to be at least 18, which is by neat coincidence the age you need to be to see an "R" film.

And is Moore less than sanguine about the Iraq issue? You bet! To be fighting in Iraq, a 15-year old Moore-savvy intellectual provocateur in 2004 will need to be an 18-year old mean, lean fighting machine in 2007. Moore obviously does not think his mission to save Iraq from the US will be successful. Three more years! Gives him the opportunity to milk the controversy with three more Moore films.