Sean Penn Ad: We see Bechtel, we see Halliburton

Sean Penn Defends Baghdad Visit in Ad

AFP

Full letter now up at Commondreams and SeanPenn.com

(AFP) - Actor and anti-war activist Sean Penn answered controversy surrounding his December visit to Baghdad in a paid, full-page advertisement in The New York Times. Penn's sometimes philosophical, sometimes poetic comments ran under the title "Kilroy's still here." He justified his three-day visit to Baghdad, which some called treasonous. He said the US-led invasion of Iraq was, "done without any credible evidence of imminent threat to the United States.

"Our flag has been waving, it seems, in servicing a regime change significantly benefiting US corporations."

"Our Secretary of State presented plagiarized evidence of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) in Iraq to the American people and the world," Penn wrote in reference to US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites)'s justification for war before the United Nations (news - web sites) Security Council.

"We see Bechtel, we see Halliburton," he said in reference to companies that have benefited from contracts to rebuild Iraq.

"We see no WMD's. We see dead young Americans. We see no WMD's. We see dead Iraqi civilians. We see no WMD's. We see chaos in the Baghdad streets. But no WMD's."

The actor, 42, ended his text with an appeal to readers to make their voices heard and vote.

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printed from Sean Penn Ad: We see Bechtel, we see Halliburton on 2004-05-06 06:38:45