Sean Penn's Open Letter to Bush in Washington Post Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 18:31:41 -0800Actor Sean Penn called on President Bush to "let us re-introduce inspection teams" to Iraq in an "Open Letter" on Page A8 of yesterday's Washington Post. A Post spokesman said Penn, who starred in last year's "I Am Sam," paid $56,000 for the nearly full-page ad, which warned the president that his "saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An Open Letter to the President of the United States of AmericaMr. Bush:Good morning sir. Like you, I am a father and an American. Like you, I consider myself a patriot. Like you,I was horrified by the events of this past year, concerned for my family and my country.However, I do not believe in a simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil. I believe this is a bigworld full of men, women, and children who struggle to eat, to love, to work, to protect their families,their beliefs, and their dreams. My father, like yours, was decorated for service in World War II. Heraised me with a deep belief in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as they should apply to allAmericans who would sacrifice to maintain them and to all human beings as a matter of principle.Many of your actions to date and those proposed seem to violate every defining principle of this countryover which you preside: intolerance of debate ("with us or against us"), marginalization of your critics,the promoting of fear through unsubstantiated rhetoric, manipulation of a quick comfort media, and the position ofyour administration's deconstruction of civil liberties all contradict the very core of the patriotism youclaim. You lead, it seems, through a blood-lined sense of entitlement. Take a close look at your mostvehement media supporters. See the fear in their eyes as their loud voices of support ring out with thathistorically disastrous undercurrent of rage and panic masked as "straight tough talk." How far have wecome from understanding what it is to kill one man, one woman, or one child, much less the "collateraldamage" of many hundreds of thousands. Your use of the words, "this is a new kind of war" is oftenaccompanied by an odd smile. It concerns me that what you are asking of us is to abandon allprevious lessons of history in favor of following you blindly into the future. It worries me because, withall your best intentions, an enormous economic surplus has been squandered. Your administration hasvirtually dismissed the most fundamental environmental concerns and therefore, by implication, one gets themessage that, as you seem to be willing to sacrifice the children of the world, would you also be willingto sacrifice ours. I know this cannot be your aim so, I beg you Mr. President, listen to Gershwin, readchapters of Stegner, of Saroyan, the speeches of Martin Luther King. Remind yourself of America. Remember the Iraqi children, our children, and your own. There canbe no justification for the actions of Al Qaeda. Nor acceptance of the criminal viciousness of the tyrant,Saddam Hussein. Yet, that bombing is answered by bombing, mutilation by mutilation, killing by killing, isa pattern that only a great country like ours can stop. However, principles cannot be recklessly orgreedily abandoned in the guise of preserving them.Avoiding war while accomplishing national security is no simple task. But you will recall that we Americanshad a little missile problem down in Cuba once. Mr. Kennedy's restraint (and that of the nuclear submarinecaptain, Arkhipov) is to be aspired to. Weapons of mass destruction are clearly a threat to the entireworld in any hands. But as Americans, we must ask ourselves, since the potential for Mr. Hussein to possess them threatens not only our country, (and in fact, his technology to launch is likely not yet at that high a level of sophistication) therefore, many in his own region would have the greatest cause for concern. Why then, is the United States, as led by your administration, in the small minority of the world nations predisposed toward a preemptive military assault on Iraq?Simply put, sir, let us re-introduce inspection teams, inhibiting offensive capability. We buy time,maintain our principles here and abroad and demand of ourselves the ingenuity to be the strongestdiplomatic muscle on the planet, perhaps in the history of the planet. The answers will come. You are a manof faith, but your saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you.I do understand what a tremendously daunting task it must be to stand in your shoes at this moment. As afather of two young children who will live their lives in the world as it will be affected by criticalchoices today, I have no choice but to believe that you can ultimately stand as a greatpresident. History has offered you such a destiny. So again, sir, I beg you, help save America before yoursis a legacy of shame and horror. Don't destroy our children's future. We will support you. You must supportus, your fellow Americans, and indeed, mankind. Defend us from fundamentalism abroad but don't turn a blindeye to the fundamentalism of a diminished citizenry through loss of civil liberties, of dangerouslyheightened presidential autonomy through acts of Congress, and of this country's mistaken and pervasivebelief that its "manifest destiny" is to police the world. We know that Americans are frightened and angry.However, sacrificing American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented preemptiveattack on a separate sovereign nation, may well prove itself a most temporary medicine. On the other hand,should you mine and have faith in the best of this country to support your leadership in representing astrong, thoughtful, and educated United States, you may well triumph for the long haul. Lead us there, Mr.President, and we will stand with you.Sincerely,Sean Penn San Francisco, CaliforniaOctober 19, 2002; Page C3
No, proprio non ci sono...
Sean Penn's Open Letter to Bush in Washington Post Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 18:31:41 -0800Actor Sean Penn called on President Bush to "let us re-introduce inspection teams" to Iraq in an "Open Letter" on Page A8 of yesterday's Washington Post. A Post spokesman said Penn, who starred in last year's "I Am Sam," paid $56,000 for the nearly full-page ad, which warned the president that his "saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------An Open Letter to the President of the United States of AmericaMr. Bush:Good morning sir. Like you, I am a father and an American. Like you, I consider myself a patriot. Like you,I was horrified by the events of this past year, concerned for my family and my country.However, I do not believe in a simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil. I believe this is a bigworld full of men, women, and children who struggle to eat, to love, to work, to protect their families,their beliefs, and their dreams. My father, like yours, was decorated for service in World War II. Heraised me with a deep belief in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as they should apply to allAmericans who would sacrifice to maintain them and to all human beings as a matter of principle.Many of your actions to date and those proposed seem to violate every defining principle of this countryover which you preside: intolerance of debate ("with us or against us"), marginalization of your critics,the promoting of fear through unsubstantiated rhetoric, manipulation of a quick comfort media, and the position ofyour administration's deconstruction of civil liberties all contradict the very core of the patriotism youclaim. You lead, it seems, through a blood-lined sense of entitlement. Take a close look at your mostvehement media supporters. See the fear in their eyes as their loud voices of support ring out with thathistorically disastrous undercurrent of rage and panic masked as "straight tough talk." How far have wecome from understanding what it is to kill one man, one woman, or one child, much less the "collateraldamage" of many hundreds of thousands. Your use of the words, "this is a new kind of war" is oftenaccompanied by an odd smile. It concerns me that what you are asking of us is to abandon allprevious lessons of history in favor of following you blindly into the future. It worries me because, withall your best intentions, an enormous economic surplus has been squandered. Your administration hasvirtually dismissed the most fundamental environmental concerns and therefore, by implication, one gets themessage that, as you seem to be willing to sacrifice the children of the world, would you also be willingto sacrifice ours. I know this cannot be your aim so, I beg you Mr. President, listen to Gershwin, readchapters of Stegner, of Saroyan, the speeches of Martin Luther King. Remind yourself of America. Remember the Iraqi children, our children, and your own. There canbe no justification for the actions of Al Qaeda. Nor acceptance of the criminal viciousness of the tyrant,Saddam Hussein. Yet, that bombing is answered by bombing, mutilation by mutilation, killing by killing, isa pattern that only a great country like ours can stop. However, principles cannot be recklessly orgreedily abandoned in the guise of preserving them.Avoiding war while accomplishing national security is no simple task. But you will recall that we Americanshad a little missile problem down in Cuba once. Mr. Kennedy's restraint (and that of the nuclear submarinecaptain, Arkhipov) is to be aspired to. Weapons of mass destruction are clearly a threat to the entireworld in any hands. But as Americans, we must ask ourselves, since the potential for Mr. Hussein to possess them threatens not only our country, (and in fact, his technology to launch is likely not yet at that high a level of sophistication) therefore, many in his own region would have the greatest cause for concern. Why then, is the United States, as led by your administration, in the small minority of the world nations predisposed toward a preemptive military assault on Iraq?Simply put, sir, let us re-introduce inspection teams, inhibiting offensive capability. We buy time,maintain our principles here and abroad and demand of ourselves the ingenuity to be the strongestdiplomatic muscle on the planet, perhaps in the history of the planet. The answers will come. You are a manof faith, but your saber is rattling the faith of many Americans in you.I do understand what a tremendously daunting task it must be to stand in your shoes at this moment. As afather of two young children who will live their lives in the world as it will be affected by criticalchoices today, I have no choice but to believe that you can ultimately stand as a greatpresident. History has offered you such a destiny. So again, sir, I beg you, help save America before yoursis a legacy of shame and horror. Don't destroy our children's future. We will support you. You must supportus, your fellow Americans, and indeed, mankind. Defend us from fundamentalism abroad but don't turn a blindeye to the fundamentalism of a diminished citizenry through loss of civil liberties, of dangerouslyheightened presidential autonomy through acts of Congress, and of this country's mistaken and pervasivebelief that its "manifest destiny" is to police the world. We know that Americans are frightened and angry.However, sacrificing American soldiers or innocent civilians in an unprecedented preemptiveattack on a separate sovereign nation, may well prove itself a most temporary medicine. On the other hand,should you mine and have faith in the best of this country to support your leadership in representing astrong, thoughtful, and educated United States, you may well triumph for the long haul. Lead us there, Mr.President, and we will stand with you.Sincerely,Sean Penn San Francisco, CaliforniaOctober 19, 2002; Page C3