Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Sean Penn In Iraq QUOTE OF THE DAY "Politics is what we create out of what we do, what we hope for, what we dare to imagine" - - Paul Wellstone RHINO HERE: Sean Penn made a 3 day visit to Baghdad he says, "to learn and not to teach". The trip was arranged on short notice by the Institute for Public Accuracy, whose mission statement reads, "a nationwide consortium of policy researchers seeking to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for those whose perspectives are commonly drowned out by corporate-backed think tanks and other influential institutions" such as, I suppose, the citizens of Iraq. INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC ACCURACY AT: http://www.accuracy.org Penn visited Al Mansour children's hospital, touring wards of children the Iraqis say fell sick with cancers, malnutrition & other sicknesses caused by U.N. economic sanctions. MORE ON THE EFFECTS OF SANCTIONS AT: http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0808-07.htm http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/iraq1/2002/paper.htm He visited a run down school IN Baghdad & a water treatment plant on the Tigris River bombed by American aircraft in 1991. He also met with deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz & toured Saddam City, a slum & center of underground resistance to Saddam. At one point, Penn ditched the government tour guide, caught a taxi back to Saddam City, & walked the streets taking pictures & talking to people. He says before embarking on his mission, he'd reflected on his father's dark tales of the 50's. Film director & TV producer Leo Penn was blacklisted 5 years for refusing to testify for McCarthy. BACKGROUND ON THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST AT: http://classicfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aa032899.htm LEO PENN'S BIO AT IMDB (Internet Movie Database): Leo Penn Penn also spoke about his directing a short film recently, part of 11-nation French-led collaborative film titled "11.9.01" offeing alternative perspectives on 9/11. That film has not been able to find a distributor. A New York Times article entitled, "Actor Follows His Own Script on Iraq and War" is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/international/middleeast/16PENN.html Below the line is a statement made by Sean Penn at a press conference in Bagdad. 8:07:45 AM    comment

Text of Statement by Sean Penn At News Conference in Baghdad Sunday, December 15, 2002, This statement is posted on the web at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.17E.penn.iraq.htm The actor and director Sean Penn made the following statement at a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday afternoon: "I am a citizen of the United States of America. I believe in the Constitution of the United States, and the American people. Ours is a government designed to function "of"-"by"-and-"for" the people. I am one of those people, and a privileged one. I am privileged in particular to raise my children in a country of high standards in health, welfare, and safety. I am also privileged to have lived a life under our Constitution that has allowed me to dream and prosper. In response to these privileges I feel, both as an American and as a human being, the obligation to accept some level of personal accountability for the policies of my government, both those I support and any that I may not. Simply put, if there is a war or continued sanctions against Iraq, the blood of Americans and Iraqis alike will be on our hands. My trip here is to personally record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood -- along with that of American soldiers -- would not be invisible on my own hands. I sit with you here today in the hopes that any of us present may contribute in any way to a peaceful resolution to the conflict at hand. I thank Norman Solomon and the Institute for Public Accuracy for facilitating my visit." Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All copyrights belong to original publisher. - COMMENT ON TODAY'S BLOG - SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES - SURF RHINO'S LINKS http://www.rhinosblog.info "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. RHINO'S WEB SITES: http://www.rhinosblog.info (RHINO'S WEBLOG - PRESENT & PAST) http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Tell a friend about this weblog, or if you know someone who'd like to join the Rhino's Blog mailing list, drop a line to rhino@kifaru.com. 7:59:17 AM    comment

© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.