A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 in Paris. I was eager to see this controversial documentary, by anti-Bush hero Michael Moore, which won the Palme d’or at the Cannes film festival a few months ago. Going out of the movie theater, I was actually pretty sceptical. I was wondering if I had really learnt anything, if the film really deserved this award. And most of all, I was pretty uncomfortable with the way Moore actually exploits his public’s emotions to criticise a man and an administration that play on a whole nation’s psyche.

As I’m now having my favorite tall extra-foamy caffe latte at Starbucks in Washington, DC, in the heart of the presidential campaign, as the Americans celebrate the 9/11 third anniversary, I can find a word to qualify Moore’s movie: useful. I suddenly understand the whole dimension of the movie and its mission.

The American nation lost about 3,000 of its sons and daughters in the 2001 terrorist attacks. And it is extremely disgusting to see how those tragic events are taken over and exploited in the presidential campaign.

From 31st August to 2nd September, the National Republican Convention took place in New York City. The location had been chosen on purpose: a few miles from “Ground zero”, the site of the 9/11 attacks, the GOP (Grand Old Party) had clearly decided to focus on terrorism and security. On 2nd September, George W. Bush delivered his speech.

Of course, he did not talk about the recent official report that shows that the number of Americans below the poverty line rose by 1.3 million in 2003. He did not talk about unemployment. He did not talk about the debt increase, while two billion dollars were spent on the Iraqi war. He did not talk about his “miscalculations” on this war, the death of all those American soldiers - and Iraqi civilians.

The 9/11 commission official report was released recently and has become a best seller in the US. It clearly says there is no link between al-Qaida and Iraq – something many of us already knew. But Bush did not want to talk about all that, of course. In a speech dripping with patriotism, he only talked about safety, security and terrorism.

Polls now show how well Bush’s formula is working. While the economy used to be uppermost in voters’ minds, last week’s surveys have put the war on terror on top of Americans’ priorities. And, at the same time, the polls give the republican candidate his first clear lead over his democrat rival, Senator John Kerry.

As if this was not enough, last Tuesday, vice-president Dick Cheney declared that if John Kerry was elected, the risks of a new terrorist attack would increase.

In the world’s biggest democracy, the president and his party are using the people’s fears to win the next elections. How far can it go?