Christopher Hitchens points to a statement by former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke when interviewed by "The Hill" newspaper in May 2004, in which "he, and he alone, took the responsibility for authorizing Saudi departures." Hitchens says that Moore interviewed Clarke and "either he didn't ask Clarke, who authorized those flights, or Clarke told him it was me and only me, and he didn't think it was good enough to use. ... Either way, that's below the level of trash TV, trash journalism." After quitting his White House position, Clarke became a prominent critic of the Bush administration's war on terrorism. Hitchens contends that the film does not mention Clarke's remarks so that it can criticize Bush for not going after Bin Laden's family, while holding up Clarke as a heroic, anti-war figure.