Oliver Stone, who is at the Venice Film Festival for his Sept. 11 drama, World Trade Center, has accused Hollywood of glorifying war.
"Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down - these movies worshiped the machinery of war," Stone said. "And I think America went back to the concept of war too easily."
Unlike previous decades, which also produced antiwar films, Stone said, the '90s were dominated by pictures "that promoted the concept of war."
A series of polls taken over the last few weeks of August show that support for the war in Iraq among Americans is at an all-time low. Almost two-thirds of Americans in each of three major polls say that they oppose the war, the highest totals since pollsters starting asking Americans the question three years ago. Many of the polls were conducted in advance of the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Islamic Society of North America said on Friday that recasting the war on terrorism as "a war against Islamic fascism" by U.S. President George W. Bush and other Republicans was inaccurate and added to a misunderstanding of the religion.
Ingrid Mattson, the group's first woman president, said at the opening of its 43rd annual convention in Rosemont, Illinois, that labeling terrorism as "Islamic" was not helpful to people of her ... (more)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- A new videotape by al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has surfaced on the Web with an appearance by a Californian-turned-al Qaeda member wanted by the FBI, according to a counterterrorism expert.
A banner on multiple Islamic Web sites the other day announced that al-Zawahiri would be delivering a message.
The tape, called "Invitation to Islam," runs 48 minutes and refers to the recent war in Lebanon between Israel and Leban... (more)
FBI evidence that helped convict Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols went on display Friday at the Oklahoma City bombing memorial, even as a congressman and others continue to raise questions about the 1995 explosion that killed 168 people.
The display includes items ranging from mangled pieces of the truck used in the explosion to the automatic Glock handgun taken from McVeigh when he was arrested by a state trooper 90 miles from the bombing site.
In the segment before Oliver North declared that electing a Democratic Congress could bring about a nuclear catastrophe, he was confronted by Alan Colmes about just how close Iran really is to having a nuclear bomb. At each question, North paused, o... (more)
After fighting the White House for a year, the 9/11 families learned in November 2002 they would finally get their independent investigation. President Bush's first act was to name former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to chair ... (more)
ABC will air a “docudrama” next weekend called “The Path to 9/11? which blames President Clinton for the 9/11 attacks while praising President Bush.
The writer of the movie is an unabashed conservative named Cyrus Nowrasteh. Last year, Nowrasteh spoke on a panel titled, “Rebels With a Cause: How Conservatives Can Lead Hollywood’s Next Paradigm Shift.” He has described Michael Moore as “an out of control socialist weasel,” and conduc... (more)
WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Maria Cino promises to release plans within months for a one-year, NAFTA pilot program permitting Mexican truckers beyond the limited commercial zone to which they are currently restricted.
The program will likely involve about 100 Mexican trucking companies, the Department of Transportation says.
Under the North American Free Trade Agreement – NAFTA – the borders were to open partially to truckers from both ... (more)
Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."
During a fundraiser Wednesday with first lady Laura Bush, the three-term Montana senator talked about terrorism, tax cuts and the money he has brought to his state. Burns is one of the more vulnerable Senate incumbents, facing a tough challenge from Democrat Jon Tester.
Summary: In his interview with President Bush, NBC's Brian Williams allowed Bush to falsely claim that "we delivered" on the promises Bush made during a September 2005 address to the nation in New Orleans; that Saddam Hussein had an active weapons of mass destruction program prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq; and that Bush had never suggested ties between Iraq, Saddam, and the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Williams also left unchallenged Bush's objection to the argument that the Iraq war has ... (more)
The U.S. military is operating under the assumption that Iran is five to eight years away from being able to build its first nuclear weapon, a time span that explains a general lack of urgency within the Bush administration to use air strikes to disable Tehran's atomic program.
Defense sources familiar with discussions of senior military commanders say the five- to eight-year projection has been discussed inside the Pentagon, which is updating its war plan for Iran. The time frame... (more)
International donors today pledged more than $940m (£490m) for early reconstruction efforts in Lebanon and called on Israel to lift its sea and air blockade of the country.
The Swedish organisers of the aid conference, held in Stockholm, said the commitments were almost double their initial target of $500m. "The conference has thus met its objective with a wide margin," said Swedish foreign minister, Jan Eliasson.
Adding previous pledges and commitments for lo... (more)
The U.S. secretly agreed to the "real demands" set by the group behind the August 14 kidnapping of two Fox News journalists in Gaza, according to a report in the pan-Arab newspaper al Hayat.
The paper quotes "informed sources close to the mediations" as saying that the U.S. secretly negotiated with the group through leaders of "the Palestinian popular resistance committees."
Last week, the previously unknown group calling itself "The Holy Jihad Brigades" issued a st... (more)
The North has the highest poverty rate of any area in the country except for Jerusalem, and anti-poverty advocates warn that situation could well worsen following the recent war.
Twenty-nine percent of families and 40% of children in the North live under the poverty line, according to the National Insurance Institute's 2005 poverty report, issued Wednesday.
The national average stands at 20.6% of families and 35.2% of children. The overall rate of impoverished Israe... (more)
Unbelievable catch by Brian Stelter at TVNewser, courtesy of an eagle-eyed tipster: CBS visibly altered Katie Couric's photo in its "Watch" Magazine, slenderizing her waist, arms and neck. Yowsers! TVNewser id's the first photo as Katie's official CBS photo, taken at the upfronts in May. Let's hear it for transparency and accuracy in the news! Paging Adnan Hajj...
The captain of the USS Cole, who saved his ship from sinking after an al-Qa'eda suicide attack by speedboat, has lashed out at senior Pentagon staff blocking his promotion because of allegations that he could have done more to protect the ship.
Commander Kirk Lippold, who now serves behind a desk at the Pentagon, accused the head of the navy, Admiral Mike Mullen, and the navy secretary of "over-riding the judgment" of officers who had recommended his promotion.
Dick Morris, who just last week told the Hannity & Colmes audience that the reason Republicans are unpopular is because Bush has been so successful “we feel that magically the terrorists have disappeared,” was back again last night (8/29/06) with some new theories about public opinion. This time, he admitted that people think the war in Iraq is a mess and advised Republicans that they should stop talking about it and focus on the war on terror. Democrats, on the other hand, need to d... (more)
MOST Australians believe we are locked in a losing war against Islamic terrorists and an attack on our home soil, most likely Sydney, is inevitable.
For the first time, The Daily Telegraph can reveal how ordinary Australians feel about living under the shadow of terrorism – and the results are chilling.
Three quarters of the Australian public believe we are losing the war against terrorists, while more than half believe it is "very likely" or "fairly likely" w... (more)
NEW YORK In a rare move, a story at the top of The New York Times this morning does not appear on its Web site.
The in-depth article, by three Times reporters, is headlined, "In Tapes, Receipts and a Diary, Detail of the British Terror Case."
A note inside the paper on the jump page, A8, reads: "Publication of this article on nytimes.com has been delayed temporarily on the advice of legal counsel. It is also being omitted from the British circulation of The Int... (more)
