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| Fifth Column |
| US stars align in anti-Iraq war hunger strike |
| 2006-07-04 |
| Man, they just can't get a good protest goin' -- I'm beginning to see letters to editors about our sorry college kids, who just can't seem to get it together, to go protest (like we did, (not me) back in the day) 'Course, what I write to the editor, is, no protest from these kids, 'cause they are volunteering to go into harm's way! Austin, TX statesman, just won't print that. Star Hollywood actor-activists including Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and anti-war campaigners led by bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan plan to launch a hunger strike, demanding the immediate return of US troops from Iraq. As Americans get set to fire up barbeques in patriotic celebration of US Independence Day on July 4, anti-war protestors planned to savour a last meal outside the White House, before embarking on a 'Troops Home Fast' at midnight. "We've marched, held vigils, lobbied Congress, camped out at Bush's ranch, we've even gone to jail, now it's time to do more," said Sheehan, who emerged as an anti-war icon after losing her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq. Yep, and none of it has worked. Sorry The hunger strike was the latest bid by the US anti-war movement to grab hold of American public opinion, after numerous marches, vigils and political campaigns. Despite polls which show the Iraq war is unpopular and many Americans are skeptical of President George W. Bush's wartime leadership, peace protests have not hit the opinion-swaying critical mass seen during Vietnam War. I'm so tired of livin' in the past. And I'm as old as our President! Can't these folks get over this? After 30 years? I didn't like them then, and I don't like them now. "We have been continually sheltered from the actual cost of war from the beginning," said Meredith Dearborn, of human rights group Global Exchange, explaining how anti-Iraq war protests have stuttered. While 2,526 (they are now having to wait a few days before they can change this number. Man, that's got to hurt) US soldiers have died since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures, the impact of the deaths has rarely dominated headlines. Let's not try to be bias to the headlines. And why, tell me, Mr./Mrs Report, why didn't PFC Thomas Tucker and PFC Kristian Menchaca dominate your headlines? While it is not unusual to see an Iraq-war veteran or amputee in an airport for instance, or newspaper features on horrific injuries inflicted by roadside bombs in Iraq, the United States hardly feels like a nation at war. Some protestors and experts in public opinion put that down to the absence of the Vietnam War style conscription draft, which means only professional soldiers or reservists can be sent off to war. "We have done everything we could think of to end this war, we have protested, held marches, vigils ... lobbied, written letters to Congress," said Dearborn. "Now it is time to bring the pain and suffering of war home. We are putting our bodies on the line for peace." Perhaps the only time the anti-Iraq war movement captured lasting coverage was in August 2005, when Sheehan and supporters pitched camp outside Bush's Texas ranch, where the president habitually stays in high summer. Even then, the fiercely partisan debate unleashed may have harmed Sheehan, who faced fierce fire from conservative groups and radio talk show hosts, as much as it hurt the Bush administration's image over Iraq. The hunger strike will see at least four activists, Sheehan, veteran comedian and peace campaigner Dick Gregory, former army colonel Ann Wright and environmental campaigner Diane Wilson launch serious, long-term fasts. "I don't know how long I can fast, but I am making this open-ended," said Wilson. Other supporters, including Penn, Sarandon, novelist Alice Walker and actor Danny Glover will join a 'rolling" fast, a relay in which 2,700 activists pledge to refuse food for at least 24 hours, and then hand over to a comrade. Though the anti-war movement is trying hard to puncture public perceptions, some experts believe such protests have little impact on how Americans view foreign wars. Ohio State University professor John Mueller for example, argued in the Foreign Affairs journal in December, that only rising US casualties could be proven to erode public support for a conflict. Anti-war movements during the Korean and Iraq wars have been comparitively invisible, but public support had eroded in a similar way to the Vietnam conflict, in which the peace movement played a dominant role, he wrote. Recent polls reveal public scepticism over Iraq, and damage to Bush's personal ratings. In a poll in Time magazine published Friday, only 33 percent of respondents approved of Bush's leadership on Iraq while 64 percent said they disapproved his handling of the campaign. A Pew Research Center poll released on June 20, found that only 35 percent of Americans approved of Bush's handling of the Iraqi conflict -- though that was up five percent from a similar poll in February. What a sorry, sorry article. I hope this reporter isn't in any way kin to me |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #16 Snore |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-07-04 23:08 |
| #15 10:45 here on the east coast. Is it over yet? And remember celebrity dilletantes. A hunger strike can only succeed if someone actually gives a shit that you're on one. Ask your friends at Gitmo. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-07-04 22:50 |
| #14 Sounds more like practice for ramadan than a hunger strike. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-04 14:43 |
| #13 The Pew Poll, now that is a real non-partisan and fair minded outfit. Do a Google on the Chairman, Andrew Kohut. It is a Times Mirror group, he appears on NPR as a commentator. Why don't these pollsters get off their dead asses and do polls out in the real world. Keep it up Penn, Sarandon, Gregory, et al. If anyone is into gaming, try this one on for size. Imagine Al Gore was President on September 11, 2001. It is an interesting mind game to speculate on where we would be today. But that is fodder for a whole 'nother thread. |
| Posted by: vietvet68 2006-07-04 13:46 |
| #12 The hunger strike will see at least four activists, Sheehan, veteran comedian and peace campaigner Dick Gregory, former army colonel Ann Wright and environmental campaigner Diane Wilson launch serious, long-term fasts. "I don't know how long I can fast, but I am making this open-ended," said Wilson. Notice Penn and Sarandon aren't included in that list. Oh puh-lease, this isn't a hunger strike, a hunger strike is supposed to go right to the very bitter end, to when your eyesight and kidneys fail. When you've gone so far that your body is irrepairably damaged from the fast. And then you die. Or make it much quicker - refuse water as well. Although I despise the IRA, at least Bobby Sands went right to the end - are any of these tools going to die for their cause? Bueller? ps I used to like Danny Glover, now I think he's a joke. I never liked Penn and after his 'red bucket' incident last year, I'm convinced he's not all there. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2006-07-04 13:35 |
| #11 Pass the popcorn! How long before they can't talk? WIll they quit smoking...and contributing global air pollution? |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-07-04 13:21 |
| #10 After the 10th day will they be kind enough to provide us live video feed so we can bet properly in deadpools? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-07-04 12:29 |
| #9 They are amusingly irrevelent-this wholegrain caviar set of hacks. |
| Posted by: SamAdamsky 2006-07-04 12:27 |
| #8 half-fast for peace. not bad. perfect in fact. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-04 12:03 |
| #7 Other supporters, including Penn, Sarandon, novelist Alice Walker and actor Danny Glover will join a 'rolling" fast, a relay in which 2,700 activists pledge to refuse food for at least 24 hours, and then hand over to a comrade. I suggest the protest be renamed. 24 hours on and 24 hours off should make it the 'half-fast for peace'. |
| Posted by: WTF 2006-07-04 12:01 |
| #6 Let's see if this lasts longer than Saddam's hunger strike. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-07-04 10:25 |
| #5 And that bigger pitcher we are looking at is a pitcher of beer and a pitcher on the mound. Happy 4th of JULY :-) |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-04 10:12 |
| #4 The US isn't offended by the war in Iraq in general because many are able to see the bigger pitcher, not being blinded by bush-hate and such. It is as simple as that. These folks can't even see the successes and the slowly winding down process that already appears to be beginning. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2006-07-04 09:42 |
| #3 Actors get paid to pretend, but in the Left's inverted reality it means we should take what they say and do more seriously. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-04 07:19 |
| #2 "Rolling" fast, ROFL! Only a moron would find this meaningful in any way. I can imagine them putting together "emergency kits" of Evian, brie and patè in case one faints or gets a bit peckish... |
| Posted by: Cralet Jeth6763 2006-07-04 03:34 |
| #1 Hey! Lets start a pool on how long this 'hunger strike' is going to last. Personally I don't think it'll last three days - unless Pen, Sarandon, and Cindy Shithan use 'desinated strikers'. You know teams of 'hunder strikers' who strike in shifts...... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-07-04 00:36 |