In article <bp7p3j$27o8$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, Mark Graffis says...

Woody's Commentary

http://www.voiceyourself.com/05_ponderthis/05_woodyscomm.php

by Woody Harrelson

Yesterday my buddy Harvey picked me up at 8:25 AM to go play basketball
in Brooklyn. Whenever I am in NYC on a Saturday morning he kindly offers
transport. Though he is a (gasp!) Republican I like Harvey and because he
is 20 years my senior he has a lot of experience and wisdom that I am
lucky to absorb on these rides to and from Bensonhurst. But yesterday we
got on the subject of the war and, though he acknowledged that oil was a
motivating factor, he felt our government was right and just in removing
the evil tyrant and freeing the Iraqis. This fits a pattern that I have
found recently... those who believe in this war understand that oil was
significant but still believe we did a good and necessary thing. I hope
to be understanding of this attitude because our country's media machine
is a powerful mindbender and manufactures consent in inventive ways.

For example, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was recently in
Singapore for the Asian Security Summit and was asked why the U.S. chose
to go to war with Iraq under the presumption of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) as opposed to North Korea, where there is no doubt
about an extensive WMD program. His reply was a break from the
administration's typical brand of bullsh*t: "Let's look at it simply. The
most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that
economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea
of oil." This coupled with a previous admission from Wolfowitz in a
Vanity Fair interview that WMD were not so much a real threat from Iraq
as they were a good rallying point for the masses and justification for
attack fully exposes the administration's deceit. Wolfowitz stated that
the decision to highlight Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was done
largely for "bureaucratic reasons" and because it was "the one reason
everyone could agree on."

None of this comes as a surprise. There are millions of us worldwide who
have known about our government's deception, which started in earnest
back in 1949, when they changed the name of the "war department" to the
"department of defense." I'm not even surprised that Wolfowitz candidly
made these admissions. He did not make them out of remorse for the
thousands dead or even the billions of dollars spent. He made these
statements out of plain and simple arrogance as if to say, "Look what we
pulled off".

What I do find thoroughly shocking is that most folks I have talked to
have no clue these admissions were made. Why? Because the same U.S.
corporate media blackout that existed during the war, that kept us from
seeing the ecological and human devastation resulting from our weapons of
mass destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, is still at work. Wolfowitz's
admissions should have been front page all over the U.S., not just in the
U.K.'s Guardian. The media manipulation is unrelenting which is a major
reason VoiceYourself has come into being. Our first weapon, as warriors
for peace, is the truth.
  [Note: "VoiceYourself" is Woody's website:
              http://www.voiceyourself.com       ]

The events of the last several months were foreseeable but that makes
them no less agreeable. A lot of us are scratching our heads and
wondering how this administration managed to take away many fundamental
rights of its citizens, do so much harm to Mother Earth (while stripping
away what few rights she had left) and kill so many people across the
globe in the name of liberating them. I guess if you look at it in a
metaphysical light, when someone's spirit leaves their body it is a form
of liberation. Hell, you could say we liberated a million Iraqis before
this war even began. I guess I should wave my flag with pride that we
liberated 500,000 children before we started the most intense bombing
campaign in history. Following this logic, we are the proud emancipators 
of 2 million folks in Indo China and 4.5 million in Korea (3/4 civilian)
all the while making claims of surgical precision strikes only on
military targets. Not to mention the hundreds of other places the U.S.
has dropped its sword in its incessant effort to make the world safe for
capitalism, er, uh, democracy. (For a comprehensive list see Gore Vidal's
Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace.)

I really wish I could work up a sense of humor about this imperialistic
juggernaut. When I look at the pictures and video footage of hundreds of
innocent people and see children killed and mangled by cluster bombs that
we pay for, feel the devastation of people who are being terrorized again
by the same government responsible for installing the evil tyrant they
now want to remove, I am deeply ashamed of my government. After all, what
is terrorism but the murder of innocent people? What I find almost as
disturbing as the images from Iraq and Afghanistan, is that most of the
people in America haven't seen these images, even though they were seen
throughout the rest of the world. And though I sometimes get pissed at
people's ignorance (I wanted to bite my mother-in-law's head off the
other night), I also recognize that their information is coming from the
mainstream media. And once Ted Turner sold CNN, the media monopoly was
complete. (And what about that recent FCC ruling?)

Now granted, I can't be objective about Sean Penn... he's my buddy and I
love him (quasi-platonically). I consider him one of the most concerned
and active American citizens I know and a great artist to boot. Sean is
by no means a pacifist or even a liberal but because he didn't feel he
was getting all the facts from the "news at home", he took the time to go
to Iraq to find out what was really going on. He came back with a simple
suggestion to let the U.N. weapons inspections continue because he had
witnessed their effectiveness. According to the coverage by Fox and much
of the mainstream media, one would think he'd hand delivered a parcel of
plutonium to Saddam. I hope all of you have read Sean's full-page ad in
the June 1st issue of the NY Times. After Sean's visit a number of high
profile folks had the temerity to question our government's march to war.
One thing I learned a long time ago is, as a celebrity, if you open your
mouth when the flags are waving and the drums are beating, prepare for
the consequences. But I had no idea how monopolized, pervasive and
thoroughly coordinated the American mainstream media had become since
Bush War I. Many of us were ripped apart by the media. In the checkout
line at a Ralph's a few weeks before the war, I saw a giant headline
screaming "TRAITORS" with a subheading "Big Mouth Stars Side with Saddam"
over images of Sean, George Clooney and several other actors, myself
included - I was outraged (though my picture was flattering). A
pseudo-journalist at a New York rag masquerading as a newspaper called me
a "has been" which I found quite flattering because I thought I was a
"never was". So now I feel a certain tenderness towards the poor b*st*rd
and all of his bent-bodied, knuckle dragging clan at the other rags. They
are all stuck in jobs that go through the back door into the basement of
the low end of their profession. (It would be like me dreaming of being
an actor but only able to be a day player in a B-rated porno film... the
fluffer.) So my heart goes out to these sad literary prostitutes because,
after all, everyone longs for respect.

I'm not concerned so much about myself because I know I've already
alienated that portion of my fan base capable of being alienated. But
there are a lot of folks whom I respected long before they spoke out...
George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Janeane Garofalo, Martin
Sheen, Barbara Streisand, Sean, and the Pope (not someone I usually side
with on moral issues) who, if anything, deserve a pat on the back to have
the courage to utter the word "peace" when the call for war is deafening.
One of the cardinal rules in the actor's handbook is "don't court
controversy" (along with "no scene is too small to steal"). We were
branded as traitors and accused of siding with Saddam on television, in
the papers and particularly on the right-wing Clear Channel radio and
Fox. I always wanted to time travel back

to the 1950s, but dropping into

the McCarthy era was not my destination of choice. You would think we
were the ones who suggested carpet-bombing neighborhoods in Iraq. The
coverage I witnessed was staggering. It would make Goering proud:

  "Of course the people don't want war... that is understood.
   But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine
   the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the
   people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist
   dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
   Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the
   bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is
   tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the
   pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country
   to danger. It works the same in any country."

   -- Hermann Goering, Adolf Hitler's Deputy Chief and
       Luftwaffe Commander, at the Nuremberg trials, 1946.

Our society is awed by how the German people allowed the Nazis to carry
out massive genocide on innocent people and yet it is happening now, in
our name, funded by our tax dollars, fanned by our media and has been
happening for generations. The Nazis could not have pulled off their
carnage without their propaganda machine. It is the same machinery at
work here that has convinced a number of Americans that Saddam was
directly responsible for 9/11. Innocent people, not just in Iraq and
Afghanistan but also in country after country, have been slaughtered for
their land and resources and yet we still put our hands over our hearts
and sing the Star Spangled Banner. With our history of military
incursions, CIA coups and drug war bombings in Columbia, Peru and Panama,
our addiction to war continues. And the corporation-beholden media would
have you believe there were no injuries or deaths in Iraq other than
American service men. My heart goes out to the American men and women who
laid down their lives for oil in Iraq, but I would respect the media more
if they could acknowledge some concern for the tens of thousands of
innocent Iraqis who were killed and injured.

Of course, Bush and his war-mongering-love-slave across the bay, Blair,
don't want the U.N. to run things in Iraq... why divvy up all that black
gold? After all, American and British citizens paid for the war so the
profits should go to the American and British... oil and defense
companies and their fat friends on the Defense Policy Board. Cheney,
Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and Perle are all contenders for MOST IN NEED OF A
HIGH COLONIC AND A WHEATGRASS ENEMA AWARD... [ie, they're F.O.S.  --LM]
but somehow Perle, who resigned from head post at the DPB amid charges of
shock! (and awe) profiteering, nosed the others out for the prize... in
fact, as if he hasn't garnered enough accolades, he is also the grand
jury special designee as BIG BUTTHOLE OF THE MILLENNIUM for finding a
replacement for the Red Scare with his concept of all out war against
terrorist nations. It is Perle's contention that "... if we don't try to
piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war... our
children will sing great songs about us years from now" that brings a
tear to my wandering eye.... I wonder if he was a frustrated painter?

Now Jay Garner (Rumsfeld's good buddy, Reagan's top man on Star Wars and
former U.S. General) and Paul "Jerry" Bremer (State Department
counter-terrorism chief) are overseeing the interim regime in Iraq...
it's so predictable of this administration's incestuous ways. Garner is
still, despite his post in the Middle East, the President of SY Coleman,
which provides technical support for missile systems used in the Iraq
war. Last month, when the New York Times asked him why he likes working
at SY Coleman he replied, "Most of the guys are former military, and you
make a lot of money." Nice to have a sense of purpose in life. He
exemplifies the revolving door between the Pentagon and weapons dealers.
It's a cozy relationship between all the military contractors who make
their billions with every bomb that falls on these brown skinned
terrorists (many disguised as children) and the likes of Bechtel and
Halliburton who make their billions rebuilding the destroyed cities. And
surely some of that big money will trickle down to the fine citizens of
this country who paid for the purging... Right!

I am proud to be an American but much prouder to be a citizen of the
world because, having traveled the globe, I've found people everywhere
are worthy of loving (even the French). Muslims, Europeans, Central
Americans, Native Americans, Chinese, Russians, Israelis and Arabs are
all happy to open their homes and ready to lend a hand... kindness is not
race, religion or nation specific. In fact, I believe most of my brothers
and sisters on this planet are good and kind and care about their
families and value their friends. We all want to keep our families safe.
But there is no kindness in U.S. foreign policy. Dennis Kucinich just
told me that this administration, after already bolstering the Pentagon
budget to $400 billion, will push for $500 billion. When more than half
of every hard earned dollar goes to support acts of terrorism by the
government that is using its weapons of mass destruction on innocent
people on a fairly regular basis, it creates a certain responsibility
that I have to reckon with.

I used to feel the world was so deeply and completely messed up and so
many human occupants asleep, that it was hopeless to make change. But I
have come to realize that it is just that feeling of helplessness that
the corporate media, mouthpiece for the industrial beast, counts on and
cultivates. The reality is that those of us who are concerned and want to
see a better world are the true majority. When we join our voices and
harmonize our actions, working with a shared dream, imagine how powerful
we will be. The NRA and its 5 million members are considered one of the
mightiest lobby groups. When we have 5 million people boycotting
eco-destructive products and war profiteers (like Chevron-Texaco) as well
as girlcotting bio-diesel and ethanol and buying eco-friendly products

>from green mom and pops and farmer's markets, then we will find that our

individual action within a unified vision is all we need to defang the
beast and make this world a better place for us and our children.

I was recently in Blanton Forest in Kentucky hanging out with a large and
rowdy crop of radicals concerned with forest protection. I love activists
because they throw themselves in harms way all the time, get arrested,
incarcerated, deal with the courts and the injustice system, frequently
have no money and take a lot of sh*t. And they do it all for the simple
reason that they love their Mother... Mama Earth that is. That's heroic.
Many of them were thanking me, not realizing how grateful I was to be
hanging with them. What was distinctive about our gathering was that
these groups came from all over the country. They were not just working
on their own agendas but focused on working together. I will carry with
me the fire, energy and hope that I saw in all those faces. It is my hope
that VYS will act as a unifying agent between all the groups and
individuals who care about what is going on. Thanks so much to all of you
who share the dream of a kinder, happier and more beautiful world. I look
forward to a fun and exciting (though no doubt challenging) adventure
with you. Together we will make a difference.

Power to the Peaceful...

Woody

P.S. I wanted to include a list of the most important books to read on
the subject of our government's ongoing deception. Some of these
following recommendations are included in the body of the letter and all
can be found in our library:

New Rulers of the World by John Pilger
Addicted to War by Joel Andreas
Dreaming War by Gore Vidal
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace by Gore Vidal
War on Iraq, William Rivers Pitt interviews Scott Ritter (former U.N.
weapons inspector)
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
War Talk by Arundhati Roy

<<>><<

Flash Intro to the Movie "UNPRECEDENTED"

Flash Intro to "UNPRECEDENTED", a fast-paced documentary about the battle
for the 2000 Presidential Election that Bush doesn't want you to see.

http://www.unprecedented.org/