Remote ControlThe Path to 9/11* * * * 1/2Premieres: Sunday, September 10 at 8 p.m. and Monday, September 11 at 8 p.m.

The tragic events of 9/11 are forever carved into the minds of the American people, but Hollywood seems to have chosen 2006 as the year to unveil a host of 9/11-themed films, television programs and documentaries fully exploring every aspect of the subject. ABC joins the bandwagon with its engrossing and challenging two-part miniseries, The Path to 9/11, which makes a complementary addition to prior releases of United 93 and World Trade Center. The sprawling four-hour epic examines the events leading up to the attack on the World Trade Center, beginning in 1993 with the car bomb explosion in the WTC basement and continuing onto the devastating 2001 attack. The miniseries, broken into two parts, chronicles the manhunt for terrorist Ramzi Yousef, the initial hunt for Osama Bin Laden and the actions of the 9/11 hijackers prior to departure.

The events are seen primarily through the eyes of masterful FBI counterterrorist agent John P. OÕNeill (Harvey Keitel), FBI agent ÒKirkÓ (Donnie Wahlberg) and National Security adviser Richard Clarke (Stephen Root), who continually warn their superiors of an imminent Al-Qaeda attack. The Path to 9/11 examines the continual missteps, miscalculations and shortsightedness of the American government, which, as the miniseries concludes, led partially to the terrorist attack on American soil. The intelligent teleplay, written by Cyrus Nowrasteh, places a lot of blame on the Clinton administration and their fumbling of the capture of Osama Bin-Laden. The government had chances to capture Bin-Laden, but let him go for fear of a political maelstrom. The entire miniseries plays like a grand ensemble espionage thriller, except without a central protagonist or hero among the lot. The characters on the American side are all high-ranking government officials who get so wrapped up in their red tape that they allow the terrorists to slip through the cracks of the system. The majority of the Muslim characters are portrayed as Jihadist madmen with nothing more on their minds than vengeance. There are, however, a few Muslim characters who provide a proper foil by claiming that Islam is not about violence and murder. This all makes for very dense viewing and some of it may be hard to watch. Even with its mammoth length, The Path to 9/11 is an intense and sobering affair likely to spark discussion and possibly controversy. This is a program created with a lot of passion and anger and, even if it appears to be too soon, it is necessary. The Path to 9/11 will air on ABC Sunday, Sept. 10 and Monday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m. without commercial interruption. It will also be available for free on iTunes and ABC.com after its broadcast.