Stars turn backs on America's troops in Iraq

Danger and anti-war stance keep celebrities away
Shows now depend on Christian hip-hop groups
During world war two American troops away from home for Christmas were entertained by Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Even in Vietnam Bob Hope was guaranteed to put in an appearance. But soldiers in Iraq are more likely to get a show from a Christian hip-hop group, a country singer you have probably never heard of and two cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys. Just as the seemingly intractable nature of the war has led to a growing recruitment crisis, so the United Services Organisation, which has been putting on shows for the troops since the second world war, is struggling to get celebrities to sign up for even a short tour of duty. It is a far cry from the days following the September 11 2001 attacks, when some of the biggest names in show business, from Jennifer Lopez to Brad Pitt, rallied to the cause.

"After 9/11 we couldn't have had enough airplanes for the people who were volunteering to go," Wayne Newton, the Las Vegas crooner who succeeded Bob Hope as head of USO's talent recruiting effort, told USA Today. "Now with 9/11 being as far removed as it is, the war being up one day and down the next, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to go." Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war. "And I say it's not. I tell them these men and women are over there because our country sent them, and we have the absolute necessity to try to bring them as much happiness as we can." Fear is also a factor. "They're scared," country singer Craig Morton, who is in Iraq on the USO's Hope and Freedom Tour 2005, told USA Today. "It's understandable. It's not a safe and fun place and a lot of people don't want to take the chance." The USO was founded in 1941 as a way of boosting morale for the military. For most of that time Bob Hope, who made his first appearance in 1942 and his last in 1990, was its most recognisable face, famed for putting on Christmas extravaganzas on aircraft carriers and American bases during the Vietnam war. Thousands of performers signed up to play the "foxhole circuit" during the second world war, but the USO has a much smaller list.

Some of the entertainers still willing to travel are die-hard true believers - rock musician Ted Nugent carried a Glock handgun to shows in Iraq last year and said in a radio interview that he manned a machine gun on a Humvee. But many of the USO's regular performers are fierce critics of the war, among them the comic and star of Good Morning Vietnam, Robin Williams, who told USA Today he would like to return to the Middle East in the spring for what would be his fourth tour since 2002. "I'm there for the troops, not for W," he said in a reference to the president. "Go, man. You won't forget it.

You'll meet amazing people," is his message to stars that ask him about the tours. But the comedian said he mostly tries to keep politics out of the show after he did a few jokes about Bush's brainpower at a base in 2003 and got a chilly reception. Other critics of the war who regularly perform include the leftwing comedian Al Franken (who is headlining the current tour along with Christian hip-hop group Souljahz) and the punk legend and actor Henry Rollins, one of the Bush administrations most vocal critics.The tradition of beautiful women thrilling the troops has continued - although while Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell showed up in Korea and Vietnam could boast Raquel Welch, in Iraq they have had to make do with sometime pop singer and reality TV star Jessica Simpson.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,16518,1673781,00.html

What a jackass.

touting the war and how the troops were on a cosmic level that we just couldn't relate to....some kind of connection with the beyond that we have to be in ultimate awe of.

Planet X IMHO.

The guy is a freeking chit wad.
My wife and I have been doing dog rescue for 15 years.
We have foster animals and place animals in good homes.

Definition - Hell on earth: The abuse of animals.

May Nugent be reincarated as an abused animal.

who take it in the neck wherever they may be, however corrupt the chicken hawks that send them.

Can we start the ball rolling on the support of our troops while we say F**k your commander in chief?

Who can I write?

somehoe i doubt it.

during his speech in Iraq. What a puss...

Those guys must think he's a real cock punch for dodging the draft and then going over there like he's Captain America. He's got plenty of nerve.

here it is:
<snip>
But the comedian said he mostly tries to keep politics out of the show after he did a few jokes about Bush's brainpower at a base in 2003 and got a chilly reception.
<end snip>

Comedians can't feel censored or restricted in what they can say. It is hard for any artist to have his/her expression stifled or limited. This wasn't as big an issue in WWII, because although that time saw even more strict censorship than today, the artists had developed their craft within those constraints. But you take some one who is used to (and very good at) a routine or type of humor and tell them that they can't say or do certain things...

Perhaps some of these artists are concerned about how the troops would receive them knowing their politics. Geesh, can you imagine if Barbara Streisand would go over there, how welcome would she be?

Did you see "cotton mouth" (Rita Cosby) on TV recently. I was lucky I was quick enough to tape this...it's a classic hour special. She evidently idolizes the wrestlers and followed them and their exploits in Iraq. The whole thing was surreal.

This could bring a whole new definition to exactly how we "WIN"!!!!

wow what a tough guy. While he was sitting there waiting to "hunt" humans did he tell the soldiers the story about how he dodged the draft in Vietnam? From Wikipedia:

Nugent dodged the draft during the Vietnam War. In an interview for the Detroit Free Press (July 15, 1990), Nugent described how he avoided the draft: He claims that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last ten days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside pants caked with excrement and stained by his urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment, he says. His quote: “ but if I would have gone over there, I’d have been killed, or I’d have killed, , or I’d have killed all the Hippies in the foxholes… I would have killed everybody.”

Yeah right Ted, you dodged the draft because you were afraid you were gonna kill everyone. You sir are a fucking pussy. Not to mention a Chickenhawk.

... "chickenshit."

:rofl: