In Mr. Roth's script, for instance, the Munich killings dominated the first 15 minutes of the movie. Mr. Spielberg, the readers said, was still weighing how to depict the massacre without minimizing its power, but also without overpowering the audience.

I imagine eliminating it entirely would probably work. Maybe they can show a headline on a newspaper or something.

You've forgotten who we're talking about, haven't you?

When he's not doing action/adventure and horror, conscience occupies a large spot in Speilberg's list of themes. There is no conflict of conscience without a protagonist that has one driving the plot. What did you want, a documentary?