ABC will be airing a five-hour miniseries, titled The Path to 9/11 on Sunday and Monday. This is certainly a story worth telling and is likely to be an eye-opening look at what went wrong. As if the tragedy of September 11th isn’t enough, The Path to 9/11 reveals ten years of events that lead to the terrorist attacks. The series also looks at the “report card” issued in December by the 9/11 Commission, which gave the government failing grades in many areas related to protecting the nation from further attacks. This film isn’t exactly an encouraging look at future protection, and will likely be criticized for its portrayal of the people involved.

The series will begin on Sunday at 8 p.m., with the final chapters to air on Monday (also at 8 p.m.)—both nights will air commercial-free. The series features 247 speaking roles and a $40 million budget, with over 300 sets. The Path to 9/11 stars Harvey Keitel as FBI counter-terrorism expert John O’Neill, Patricia Heaton as Barbara Bodine, Ambassador to Yemen,      Donnie Wahlberg as an undercover CIA agent, and Penny Johnson Jerald as Condoleezza Rice. Stephen Root (from News Radio) plays Richard Clarke, national security advisor to four presidents.

In the face of controversy, ABC responded that the miniseries is “a dramatization, not a documentary, drawn from a variety of sources, including the 9/11 Commission report, other published materials and from personal interviews.” Certainly the finger-pointing is expected to draw much criticism.