The director of a controversial new ABC docudrama, ""The Path to 9/11,"" is a Madison native. Cyrus Nowrasteh, the man at the epicenter of a battle raging over historical accuracy, graduated from Madison West High School.
The first portion of the five-hour special aired Sept. 10 and the second will air today.
Critics, including liberal bloggers, have criticized early reports that the film accuses Bill Clinton of inaction in pursuing Osama bin Laden, as well as the fact that the film was made widely available to conservative pundits, including Rush Limbaugh, but no liberals.
The controversy has resulted in the Sept. 7 decision of textbook company Scholastic to abandon a discussion guide that was to accompany the film.
""After a thorough review of the original guide that we offered online to about 25,000 high school teachers, we determined that the materials did not meet our high standards for dealing with controversial issues,"" said Dick Robinson, chair, president and CEO of Scholastic in a statement.
On the other side of the political aisle, Limbaugh touted the docudrama in the first half hour of his syndicated talk show Sept. 8.
