Posted on 12/10/2002 4:41:20 PM PST by ejdrapes
Celebrities ask Bush to stop war rhetoric Dec. 10, 2002 | LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Celebrities mobilized against a possible war in Iraq on Tuesday, gathering to publicize a letter urging President Bush to avoid military action. More than 100 entertainers signed the missive, which says a war with Iraq will ``increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world." ``This notion of pre-emptive war is setting a precedent ... and we must ask ourselves, where does this end?" said Tony Shalhoub, star of the ABC detective show ``Monk." ``Where is the next pre-emptive strike?" Shalhoub, Martin Sheen and Mike Farrell were among nearly a dozen performers who got together to draw attention to their cause. Farrell, who's co-starred in the television series ``M-A-S-H" and ``Providence," said Hollywood was speaking out to show average citizens that it's OK to voice dissent. He also said he did not believe that Bush has proven Iraq is a danger to America. ``It is inappropriate for the administration to trump up a case in which we are ballyhooed into war," Farrell said. Among those signing the letter were Academy Award winners Kim Basinger, Helen Hunt, Olympia Dukakis, Susan Sarandon and director Jonathan Demme. Other names included former ``X-Files" stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny; ``The West Wing" cast members Sheen, Janel Moloney, Bradley Whitford and Lily Tomlin; ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" actors Marg Helgenberger and Robert David Hall; and ``Ocean's Eleven" co-stars Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner. R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills joined fellow musicians Peter Yarrow and Bonnie Raitt. Bush has threatened military force against Saddam, saying the dictator has amassed weapons of mass destruction that pose a danger to the United States. U.N. weapons inspectors are searching the Middle Eastern country for such devices but have turned up little so far. Sheen, who plays the president on ``The West Wing," said he believed Bush was eager to go to war with Iraq because he wanted to settle a personal score with Saddam Hussein. When Bush's father was president, he ended Saddam's invasion of Kuwait but did not eliminate him in the Gulf War. ``I think he'd like to hand his father Saddam Hussein's head and win his approval for what happened after the Gulf War. That's my own personal opinion _ I don't know if that's true. I hope it's not, but I suspect it is," Sheen said. Asked why the government should care about the feelings of Hollywood actors, Sheen said: ``I think the president should care about all citizens."
By Anthony Breznican
I keep hearing this Saudi talking point, but see no proof. And it's illogical.
"damage the economy
I thought we're doing this for cheap oil. Can't these guys keep on track?
undermine our moral standing in the world.
Huh? What standing? The rest of the world is blatantly immoral. Anyway, it will improve our standing in Iraq greatly.
Every time I see a bunch of these empty-headed actors or bubble-boy academics throwing a hissy fit about Bush's hard line with Saddam, it makes me furious. They think they are so damn smart, and they're such idiots, they can't even see how their tactics do nothing but embolden terrorists. The mere threat of attack, backed up by a president who actually means what he says, has forced Saddam to start complying with U.N. sanctions he'd been ignoring for years under the brilliant leadership of their favorite president, Bill Clinton, who could only be considered a genius by the loose standards used for applying that term in Hollywood.
It's as if Bush were playing in the world poker championships in Vegas for the highest possible stakes against the toughest players in the world, and he had a bunch of ten-year-olds standing behind him, jumping up and down and whining, "But you can't raise! You only have a pair of twos!"
Thank you for helping, dinkwads!
That pretty much says it all for me!
Like the UN, Germany, 'Rats and presstitutes, W has set up the elites for a fall. Once the inspection charade has finished, the goods will be revealed and the real deal begins. What a bunch of silly and simple people these actors and actresses are.....
Mike Farrell, honorary member of the Paul Begala Forehead Admiration Foundation.
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