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Esteemed actor Martin Sheen has been very vocal in his views against Operation Iraqi Freedom.
So vocal in fact, that he voluntarily sealed his mouth shut with duct tape last week during a prayer vigil in Los Angeles, in order to restrain himself from speaking out against the war.
And even though duct tape isrecommended byhomeland security chiefTom Ridgeas a key element in keepingpeople safe in the event of a chemical or biological weapons attack,it didn’t stop Sheen from making his point.
“Nationalism and militarism have become the gods of our idolatry at the expense of our humanity,” he wrote in a statement read by a reverand. “By some demented form of logic the men, women and children of Iraq are relegated to ‘collateral damage’ as the dogs of war slouch toward Baghdad.”
Quite eloquent, but leave it to an actor to borrow from legendary playwright William Shakespeare. In the tragedy Julius Caesar —after Caesar is slain by some of his closest advisors (“Et tu Brute?”) –Caesar loyalist MarcAntonymakes a prophecy over the “ruins of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times.”
“…And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge with Atèby his side, come hot from hell shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice cry ‘Havoc!’ And let slip the dogs of war that this foul deed shall smell above the earth, with carrion men groaning for burial,” (Julius Caesar: Act 3; Scene 1).
That monologue popped into my head18 months agowhen I stood atthe smolderingruins of the Twin Towers. “Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood,” I thought, and I cheered along with the volunteers and firefighters at Ground Zerowhen President Bush said “I hear you.”
That foul deed carried out by Al Qaeda terroristson September 11, 2001 was cheered by Iraqi leaders as the work of heroes.Itwas heraldedon thefront pages ofIraqi newspapers.It was depicted in a colorful mural ona wall of an Iraqi military headquarters building in the city of Nasiriyah, where our Marines have endured fierce fighting and casualties.
Make no mistake that that foul deed would have been much fouler, if the terrorists had the means to smuggle weapons of mass destruction onto those planes.
Saddam Hussein and hiscronies were working on it.
The voices I heard crying havoc 18months agowere the sons and daughtersof hard working parents. Themothers and fathers of heroic men and women. The husbands and wives of lost spouses. The unborn children of lost mothers and fathers.
How quickly so many of us have forgotten how we felt that day.
That nationalism Mr. Sheen is talking about was reborn in the wake of that terrible day.The same nationalism mind you,thatsuffered at the hands of the man so many Americans voted for (myself included),only to watch himlet his legacy slip away by the skin of an intern’s teeth.
Where are all the telethons from A-list Hollywood and musiciansnow? Where are the billions of dollars in donations from hardworking Americans today? Has anyone lifted a finger to offer money to the survivingfamilies of coalition forces killed in action? Will there be a Baghdad Film Festival when the country is liberated?I doubt it. But you can bet Mr. Sheen’s $300,000 per West Wing episode thatthe Cannes Film Festival in France — where millions of dollars arespent byAmerican film companies — will go on with all the usual gluttony and self-adulation.
Never mind the fact that France limits the amount of US movies imported on the very shores where many of our grandfathers died whileliberating.
In keeping with Mr. Sheen’s Shakespearean theme, allow me to alsoquote from the Bard.
“Adieu, Adieu, remember me,” commanded the ghostof Hamlet’s father in Hamlet.
“Yea from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, all saws of books, all forms,all pressures past that youth and observation copied there,” Hamlet said. “And thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain, unmix’d with baser matter: yes by Heaven!”
It is imperative however, that we do not go crazy, as Hamlet did, in our pursuit for justice, but we must not stop short of our goal either.
Nor should we ever forgethow we got into this war.
Mike Strakais the project manager for FOX News’sInternet operations and contributes as a featuresreporter and produceron FOX Magazine (Sundays 11 p.m. on FNC) and asa reporterand columnistfor FOXnews.com.
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