Director: Joshua Seftel

Star-studded cast bring this dark-humored satire to life, telling a tale of greed, depravity, and war for profit.

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It’s easy to understand why Americans are not thinking so much about the war in Iraq. And the war in Afghanistan. And our increasing bombing raids in Pakistan. The US (and global) economy has fallen off a cliff, and many of us are worried about our jobs, our rent, our health insurance, and supporting our families. Large numbers of Americans are facing these fears right now, having already lost their jobs and homes, and are scrambling with anxiety and determination to get back on their feet. So the fear is understandable.

In addition, the eyes of the public and the media are on the new president and his plans to save the country, both from a near-decade of Bush-era catastrophe and the damage of capitalism unbound. Everyone wants to know what Barack Obama is capable of, if he can pull us out of this nosedive, and at the very least, bring us back to the pre-Bush status quo.

But the Iraq war continues, with its sixth anniversary coming up in March. We’ve been in Afghanistan for more than 8 years. And now that the Obama administration is stepping up bombing in the parts of Pakistan that are likely hiding Al Qaeda and Taliban members, we are edging closer to a third war. Even worse, none of these wars are going well.

Much has been made of the “surge” strategy in Iraq, and it is popularly believed that this tactic is responsible for the decrease in violence in the country. This is not true.  Most experts and journalists on the ground in Iraq report that the decrease in violence was due to two things: the end of the civil war in Iraq (because one side, the Shia, had effectively defeated their opponents), and the fact that the US began paying money to Sunni insurgents to not attack Americans. The country is still exceptionally violent, and remains largely ruined by the years of war and occupation. To go over the numbers again, over 4000 Americans soldiers have died, and over 30,000 wounded. Before the US invasion, it was estimated that around 27 million people lived in Iraq. Now it is estimated that over 1 million Iraqis have died in the chaos, that over 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, and that nearly 3 million Iraqi refugees remain inside the country, with nowhere to live and nowhere to run to.

Obama now talks about moving US troops from Iraq into Afghanistan to try to “win” the war there. But no one knows what “winning” means. The country has been a war between tribal villages, drug traffickers, religious fundamentalists, and violent warlords for almost three decades.  What would an Afghan peace look like? And how are more American soldiers and rifles going to bring these sides together?

And finally, Pakistan is not a stable place as it is. Since the so-called “war on terror” began, the US has been pushing the Pakistani government to fight against its own anti-American population on our behalf.  Obviously, the people of Pakistan are very hostile to the idea of their government killing their brothers and sisters in the name of some foreign power. Every bit of support for the US or Pakistani blood spilt by the Pakistani government increases the likelihood that the people there will rise up and remove it by force.

Clearly, this madness has to stop.

President Obama ran on a platform of ending the war in Iraq, and he is allegedly taking steps to have all of the troops removed in 16 months. This is a good start, but why the long wait?  And why continue a long, confused war in Afghanistan? And why are we risking turning the nuclear-armed country of Pakistan into an enemy?

We, the people who oppose war, must again make our voices heard. We urge you to start speaking out again. Call the White House, contact your Congressmen, write letters to your local news media, talk to your friends, get out in the streets. Tell them how you feel.

It is no secret that the people of Israel and the people of Palestine have lived with tension, terror, violence and hate for decades. Israel has occupied the land known as Palestine for decades, and for decades the UN and international community have called the occupation illegal, and have called for some sort of negotiated settlement for peace and self-determination for all sides.

One of the wisest things that I’ve read about the Israel-Palestinian conflict was that there are actually four warring sides in this struggle: 1) Palestinians who want freedom; 2) Palestinians who want to destroy Israel; 3) Israelis who want to protect themselves; 4) Israelis who want to destroy the Palestinians (and one can almost never tell which side is committing the violence and for what reason). And of course, there is always the final side in any conflict, the civilians who will never raise a pistol or drop a bomb, who long for peace, justice and dignity, but may find themselves in the crosshairs just the same. Everyone’s blood is spilled, and the graveyards fill with the innocent and the guilty alike.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a perpetual cycle of attacks and revenge. You will read a news story about a raid or a bombing attack by one side, who say that they did so because of a recent attack by the other side. And the other side will then say that their attack was because of an even earlier attack by the first side. And this goes back and back and back.

But we are not saying that everyone is equal. As we mentioned, the Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal, oppressive, violent, and horrible. In addition, while acts of Palestinian terrorism are terrible, they do not even come close to the frequency or destructive power of Israel. For example, Palestinian militants sporadically fire rockets into southern Israel. In the past 8 years, these rockets have killed 18 Israelis. In the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in 3 days.

In addition to that, Israel has placed a ruthless economic blockade on Gaza since June of 2007 that has taken a terrible toll on the lives of everyday people living there. This blockade was further tightened in November 2008, and now Israel is blowing up police stations, universities, and government agencies in Gaza.

And Americans should take special notice of this violence: Israel receives billions of dollars in US aid every year, and uses much of that money to buy American weapons, which it then uses in its attacks on the Palestinians.

But Americans are not ignoring this crisis. We have already seen major protests in New York, and San Francisco, and many protests are planned for the near future.

What can you do about this situation?

• Amnesty International is urging people to write to Condoleezza Rice and tell her to use her power to put pressure on Israel. Click here.
• United for Peace & Justice lists a number of ways to take action here.
• The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation lists a number of the emergency protests calling for an end to the recent violence here.