Robbins attacks US govt over Iraq war

Controversial actor Tim Robbins condemned the American government and media today for their role in the Iraq war and the subsequent campaign against terrorism.

Oscar-winner Robbins, speaking at Riverside Studios in west London where his play Embedded is currently showing, said the American people were still paying for the war which had, if anything, aggravated terrorism.

He called it a product of “neo-conservatism” and said it was based on a lie.

Robbins, who won an oscar for Mystic River earlier this year, said: ``We are dealing with a few neo-conservatives who believe that it is OK to lie if you are serving the greater good.

“That kind of logic was on display in the months leading up to the war. It was clear an agenda was being followed.

“It was clear also, and sadly, that there was compliance in the American media.

“The American people are paying through their teeth for the war in Iraq, not only in financial terms but in terms of American lives and the effect on terrorism recruitment.”

“Fighting a psychological tactic with an invasion is not a good thing.”

Asked if there was any chance American tactics may alter, the actor and director said: “Unless we shift the balance and unless we change the power, this will not happen. That is why this (presidential) election is so important.”

Robbins, previously a committed Green Party supporter, has already said he will be voting for Democrat John Kerry in the November election.

Embedded, which he has written and directed, is a savage satire of journalists working in Iraq during the war against Saddam Hussein.

It has already been a sell-out in America and includes scenes about the apparently manipulated rescue of Private Jessica Lynch.

A review by war correspondent John Simpson said: “You will find more truth on this stage than you will in most newspapers.”