I haven't found the exact quote yet, but Penn was definitely in Iraq. <A HREF="http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1217/p01s04-wome.html">Few but proud: US antiwar activists in Iraq</A> <i>.......Hollywood actor Sean Penn's visit to Baghdad over the weekend boosted television coverage of the peace team. Mr. Penn paid for a $56,000 ad in The Washington Post in October accusing President Bush of stifling debate on Iraq. More than 100 other celebrities signed an open letter last week, saying rigorous United Nations inspections were the best way to disarm Iraq, not war.........</i> <A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2002/12/16/1039656342450.htm">Where Penn is mightier than the sword</A> <i>Sean Penn would be the first to admit he's no pacifist. On screen he's played a sadistic soldier and a vicious murderer. Yet here was the brooding, bruising actor in the Iraqi capital cast as America's latest leading peace activist. While other Hollywood celebrities sign letters, Penn decided to go to Baghdad to see how the other side lives and contemplate ways of stopping a looming war he says is immoral. While the United Nations team inspected weapons factories, Penn inspected hospitals and schools and streets in poor neighbourhoods. <b> Though he is not a household name in Iraq, his fame was enough to secure meetings with senior officials, and at least some everyday Iraqis snapped their heads when he walked by. The movie they mentioned most? Casualties of War. </b> Penn, 42, said he came out of a sense of duty. "Somewhere along the line, the actions of this government are the actions of me. And if there's going to be blood on my hands, I'm not willing to have it be invisible. I wanted to come to Iraq and see Iraqi faces - children, adults, diplomats, anybody that implies - and go home with some impressions that will not let me off the hook. It's not abstract anymore." During an interview and a separate news conference, Penn challenged President George Bush to disclose any evidence of weapons of mass destruction held by Iraq. He predicted Mr Bush's political career would be destroyed if he went to war. The actor's three-day visit has drawn fire from those in the United States who find it distasteful for prominent Americans to do anything that could play into Saddam's hands. Penn was careful to say he was not supporting Iraq, but that distinction could be lost in the pictures of him touring what many consider an enemy capital. He brushed off any concern that he could become the "Hanoi Jane" of his era - the name coined by US troops for Jane Fonda after her Christmas visit to North Vietnam as an early Vietnam War critic in 1972........</i>
True,.......but by going there and being a high profile person, he left himself open to possible Iraqi media manipulation/propaganda.
This is the best actor we can send? I can think of half a dozen Seans that would be better suited for this publicity stunt. Except they are probably busy working. Mr. T should kick Penn's arse next time he sees him.
did he even make the comments at all??? according to his publicist, he didn't!!!! the freaking iraqi state-run media attributed the comments to him!!! Sean Penn Comments on Iraq During Visit The Associated Press As the official Iraqi News Agency tells it, Sean Penn made comments "indicating that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction." But the fact is Penn left open the question of whether Iraq has nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. "I did not come here to criticize any government or president," Penn said at a news conference he gave Sunday at the end of a fact-finding mission to Baghdad. He called on Washington to make public the evidence it claims it has that Iraq is stockpiling banned weapons and said more information was needed for the "right thing to happen." "It's very hard to me to believe that the American people could find a justification (for war) ... were it to be the case that there are no weapons of mass destruction," the 42-year-old actor-director said, adding: "I can't speak to and won't speak to (that)." Penn's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, issued a statement characterizing the Iraqi News Agency remarks as a "misrepresentation." "Propaganda exists and will be used to suit the perpetrator's advantage," the statement said. Norman Solomon, who accompanied Penn on the trip, said it was "preposterous" for the Iraqi News Agency to state that the actor believes the nation is clear of weapons of mass destruction. "He never said anything of the kind," Solomon said. The agency said Penn condemned U.S. and British threats against Iraq and "ridiculed the claims of the government of his country about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." Penn has said he came to Iraq seeking a better understanding of the crisis with the United States. His visit was organized by the San Francisco-based Institute for Public Accuracy, described as a progressive research organization, of which Solomon is executive director.
I called it a couple of days ago...or yesterday...whenever. I can't believe some of you believed an Iraqi goverment run newspaper.
LMAO! This was the entire point of the thread! I think that an Iraqi newspaper claiming that Sean Penn has verified their WMD thread is friggin' hilarious. The only thing funnier than that, is you "calling" that Saddam's newspaper might be lying to the people.
Obviously, I can't speak for everyone.....nevertheless, I still maintain that I don't think anyone took the article seriously. It was just a nice opening to poke more fun at Sean Penn. Of course, it also sparked a more serious debate between the two sides of the issue.
OK, I am probably not being fair. I knew that Saddam's son runs this newspaper, and I probably should have shared that info. btw, which paper do you think is more slanted, the Iraqi Daily News or the New York Times?
absolutely right!! i wouldn't either!!! i found the pravda to be an objective paper back in the 80's. WORKERS UNITE!!!
Hey!!!! Pravda was a great paper in its day....especially the sports page..."nothing is wrong...we will everything." Front page..."nothing is wrong, especially in Chernobyl."
