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A Warfare State of Mind
from Consortium News:
A Warfare State of Mind
March 18, 2013
Many Americans forget how intimidating it was a decade ago for any U.S. citizen to speak out against President George W. Bushs rush to war with Iraq. For example, the Dixie Chicks got death threats and actor Sean Penn was denounced as a stooge of Saddam, as Norman Solomon recalls.
By Norman Solomon
On a plane circling Baghdad in gray dawn light, a little Iraqi girl quietly sang to herself in the next row. When I start to wonder why Im making this trip, Sean Penn murmured to me, I see that child and I remember what its about.
After the plane landed at Saddam International Airport, we waited in a small entry room until an Iraqi official showed up and ushered us through customs. Soon we checked into the Al-Rashid Hotel. Back in Washington the sponsor of our trip, the Institute for Public Accuracy, put out a news release announcing the three-day visit and quoting Sean: As a father, an actor, a filmmaker and a patriot, my visit to Iraq is for me a natural extension of my obligation (at least attempt) to find my own voice on matters of conscience.
With U.S. war drums at feverish pitch, Sean Penns sudden appearance in Baghdad set off a firestorm of vilification in American media. Headlines called him Baghdad Sean; pundits on cable news channels called him a stooge for Saddam.
But as the U.S. media attacks got underway, our focus was Baghdad. At the Al-Mansour Childrens Hospital, youngsters lay on threadbare mattresses with haunting dark eyes, mournful mothers sometimes seated next to their tiny beds. As we left, Sean said to me: You dont even want someone to slam a door too loud around these children, let alone imagine a bomb exploding in the neighborhood. .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/18/a-warfare-state-of-mind/
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A Warfare State of Mind (Original Post)
marmar
Mar 2013
OP
xchrom
(108,903 posts)1. du rec. nt
Solly Mack
(90,764 posts)2. K/R
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)3. Kicked and recommended.
Thanks for the thread, marmar.