Michael Moore Calls on Fred Thompson to Debate the Investigation of Moore's Trip to Cuba

Filmmaker, Michael Moore, whose latest project is a film, "Sicko," extolling the Cuban health care system, has called on former Tennessee senator and current "Law and Order" star, Fred Thompson, to debate him on the U. S. Treasury's investigation of Moore for his trip to Cuba. The Treasury department is alleging violations of an embargo act limiting travel to Cuba, claiming that Moore did not have permission to go to the communist nation. Moore had taken several 9-11 workers to Cuba for treatment of illnesses related to the World Trade Center cleanup.

Thompson, a potential Republican presidential candidate, accused Moore, on National Review Online, of simply repeating Fidel Castro's "story of free, high quality Cuban health care." Thompson called such reports a "myth." Another source reported that Cuban medical care has never recovered from the communist takeover of Cuba under Castro's leadership. Reports from Cuba say that many doctors fled almost immediately after Castro's victory and that doctors still leave the country. Castro, it is maintained, keeps some "show" clinics for elite officials, and it was probably one of those that Moore saw on his trip. In the meantime, many Cubans, it is said, suffer from malnutrition and do not have access to routine medical facilities and treatment.