Angelina Jolie: We Have a Moral Obligation to Help Iraqi Refugees

Hi Everyone (Fans), I really enjoyed reading your intelligent and witty posts on this amazing topic our Angie got rolling in the Washington Post..
I am so proud of you Angie!! Keep on girl. Always remember for every hater out there you have fans who think the world of you.
Would love to know if you ever get to read some of the great posts here about you…Hope so.

Thanks Jared ,Another amazing topic! Very appreciated.!

Good night friends(Fans)

#91 “shut up” Take a look at Angie’s fact sheet before you keep shooting your lamebrain mouth off about Angie not being qualified to give her opinions after her visit to Iraq.

http://www.unhcr.org/help/HELP/439d41052.pdf

Passing Through @ 02/28/2008 at 10:06 pm # 314 shut up @ 02/28/2008 at 6:17 pm

Actually I have visited the middle east.. the question is have you?or are you just a bully online?

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Too bad all the suicide bombers had the day off.
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OMG, PT!

459 laydidah @ 02/28/2008 at 10:17 pm

Look I’m not a fan of Jennifer Aniston,…but to say she was only ever considered A-List because of Brad is ridiculous. She was the star of one of the most famous shows in history.
I think if it wasn’t for BP, x would be just like the two other female Friends. Not much talked about.

She was huge before Brad. What about the ‘Rachel’ haircut.
Was she? Never noticed. What about the haircut? Please, are people that shallow?
Angelina has a life outside Hollywood, a life which, in my opinion, is more interesting, although I must admit her movies are entertaining.

black @ 02/28/2008 at 3:46 pm
It just gets on my nerves when “actors” want to tell other peole what to do- considering the fact that they HAVE the money to be generous.
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She’s not telling anybody what to do. She’s telling it as she saw it. You’re free to agree or disagree with what she says. But what she is doing is making people aware of an untenable situation. Without people like her, idiots like Francesca and Shut Up would know absolutely nothing about the situation of the Iraqi refugees and would care even less.

It’s easy to take potshots at Angelina but what are the naysayers doing? Zilch. Zip. Nada.

shut up @ 02/28/2008 at 4:50 pm

One question, honey — how many more times are you going to change your name here so you can keep on agreeing with yourself?

Sh*t gets old, yanno?

I read Angelina’s statement, and am i THE ONLY ONE who is not jumping to any serious conclusions here? All she said was that we have a “long-term, national security interest in ending this crisis.” Now, as someone who knows a bit about international politics, this DOESN’T automatically mean she is saying that the invasion and the war in Iraq must continue at the same level of soldiers being deployed or in the same context as now.

There are THOUSANDS OF U.S. SOLDIERS stationed in different parts of the world, including Europe and Asia. So MAYBE, and I don’t wanna put words in her mouth, she meant that the U.S. government should put in on their top agenda to monitor what goes on in Iraq, even at the very minimal level, which even Dems like Clinton & Obama support. This means vestigial troops, a handful, to protect diplomats who work in Iraq and such. And this is normal procedure.

Now, I dunno exactly what she means by her statement; all she said was that it’s in the U.S.’s interest that they quell the chaos (which the Bush admin. undoubtedly triggered, I think we can all agree on that), and this could mean militarily (which many of you are quick to jump on, and thereby judging Angelina right away), diplomatically, or in other ways.

SO some of the people in this post, PLEASE don’t judge her just by ASSUMING what she means. This is just cautionary.

AND ALSO, a handful of people in this post have negative things to say about people who practice the Muslim faith. All I gotta say to those people is to be more educated. What a handful of terrorists, of religious extremists, have done in the recent decades IS NOT a reflection of a centuries-old religion. Crazies are everywhere, in any religion. So keep the generalizing at bay. AND STOP THE HATING. The last thing our world needs is more people who hate.

Peace out.

laydidah @ 02/28/2008 at 10:17 pm
She was huge before Brad. What about the ‘Rachel’ haircut.
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LOL! You just nailed it, honey. She’s going to go down in history for wearing one of the most emulated haircuts of the 20th century. What an accomplishment! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Thank-You! Angelina for always thinking of others before yourself,You are truly a beautiful soul.I can see why Brad fell so in love with you.Bless you and Brad and the children and the new life you are carrying…..May the Angels always keep you surrounded and keep you from harms way..Love the Jolie-Pitts…Peace be with you…

groundcontrol @ 02/29/2008 at 2:02 am
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ITA.

oscar s eas son @ 02/29/2008 at 12:32 am

The phillipino refugees who called on her for support were not important enough to visit.

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I hope the filipino fans won’t mind if I respond to this.

(1) The philippines has really bad government. The administration is very corrupt.

(2) the top 10 families in the philippines control more than 50% of the nations wealth. A study in 1999, showed that one family controlled more than 17% of the nations wealth and I doubt that has changed. Can you imagine this??if you’ve never heard of the gokongwei’s, the aquinos, the ayalas, you might want to try googling them. Many of these families have entrenched political positions as well. Well, it stands to reason, vote buying, vote rigging, etc require money. And if you own 17% of a nations wealth, you are a little king/queen yourself.

(3) what the filipino farmers are doing is calling for greater equality in the distribution of land and wealth. There are landless peasants in the Philippines, as they are in Mexico and South America. I think its a system the spanish left behind (and I’m not being sarcastic here).

(4) Essentially then, what the filipino farmers are seeking is greater justice, a redistribution of wealth. But it is hardly civil war. And it is hardly caused by an external oppressor on the rights of another people and another culture. What they are doing is very very important but they are not refugees of a civil war or of oppression.

(5) UNHCR is not involved in the Philippines fight for justice and neither should Angelina as a representative of UNHCR. If UNHCR becomes involved and requests Angelina’s presence, I have no doubt she will make an effort to go. Alternatively, when the US State Department makes a special request for Angelina to visit these poor peasants, Angelina will most likely make an effort to go. From her past behaviour, that’s what she has done when she wants to visit a trouble spot.

(6) I seriously doubt the filipino farmers thought angelina would visit them. But, hey, they used her name and got the attention they wanted.

(7) And if you are really serious about wanting to protect these poor farmer’s rights and advance their causes (rather than take a cheap shot at Angelina), I’m sure you can visit their website, make a donation. You can also start to put pressure on your congressman or senator to do something about the poor farmers in the philippines whom the UNHCR and the US State department amongst others, have ignored.

Additionally, if you are sincere about helping the filipino farmers, then to sound like a credible advocate, you must consider all the issues before shooting your mouth off. It’s very important you don’t let your hate and prejudices blind you so that you end up sounding like a bitter vindictive fool.

Hello to all the fans and special kaway to all my kababayan……

Thank you Angie for speaking your mind and relating your experience and observations. You are a role model worth emulating for….With people from both sides of the political spectrum opining about what you wrote, discussing issues such as related to Iraq, oil crisis, refugees, and other related issues, IMO that’s a guage that you were effective in spreading awareness and social consciousness.

As has been said by many posters upthread, having military personnel help or work with humanitarian or rebuilding efforts, paints a different picture, than seeing them carrying guns. With a shovel or laying bricks and building schools and hospitals, being involved in medical missions depicts a positive perception that the US or the coalition forces are there to help them create and sustain peace and order. In a stable political environment and governed by leader with political will, can only increase the chance of paving the way for social and economic infrastructure for recovery and sustainable development.

If by being criticized and every word dissected and studied under the microscope of public opinion, jolts people from their stupor, then I hope, Angie you’re as strong as I perceived you to be because you will likely have to be subjected to this kind of scrutiny over and over again if you keep on doing your job and your mission.

In a fast changing world, the world is getting smaller. Situations in far flung places in 3rd world and war torn countries affects those that lives in fragile “safe environments” of the 1st world and highly industrialized countries. With our dependence to petroleum based products and as global citizens, we can’t afford to have an insular mindset. Unless, more countries adapt what Brazil has done.

In business/global trade, relationships among countries and businesses, people are much closer, and interlinked with mass production, assembly lines and OEMs for example. If for ex. there’s a strike in one of the factories in China that makes special ICs for a consumer product, then those assembly lines in a factory somewhere in the Philippines for example cannot complete a consumer electronic product marketed as a Japanese brand. In the Philippines for example where there are designated economic zones (foreign investors, setting up factories that generates jobs for the community and neighboring areas) highly depends on electric power or petroleum based products to run their machines. If oil becomes scarce with chaos in oil producing countries, then factories will close because they can no longer sustain the skyrocketing overhead costs and price surges of raw materials. Hence, many will loose jobs, which in turn have a multiplier effect.

So everyone has a stake in this global village that we live in. We should be aware of what’s going on around our own community and our global village. Think global and act local.

Thank you JJ for this thread up.

uh, HELLO ANYONE? @ 02/29/2008 at 2:43 am #493

Great post.

You know what the old folks say, its much harder to wake people who are just pretending to be asleep than those who are truly sleeping.

I grow up with friends who are Moslems, I have relatives who are Moslems are married to Moslems, I have an uncle who converted to Islam, went to school with some Moslems, who are as peace loving and family oriented people as anyone who are practicing other religions…..those that are ready to point their accusing finger and play the blame game, are most often than not are those that has no solutions to offer but practice the art of negative thinking as opposed to rational thinking. There’s nothing wrong with being skeptical and probing but being actively critical all the time is another matter.

Admire you Angelina & more power to you. Bless you & your family.

I think If I were Angelina and my fans kept bringing my guy’s ex, I would not like those fans. Its old news and boring as hell. Do you really think it’s a benefit to Angie to have people yakking day and night about the previous lover. No it isnt. Also, Jen has moved on. What is this need to bash her? I dont think a great person like Angie would approve of that. She has a heart.