George Clooney Urges U.N. Action For Darfur - story and pics

[Kadie]

Sep 14, 2006 12:40 pm US/Pacific

George Clooney Urges U.N. Action For Darfur

CBS News Interactive: Struggle In Sudan
(AP) NEW YORK The struggle over human rights in Sudan's Darfur region came to New York Thursday, with speeches from Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel and actor George Clooney.

Sudan is resisting attempts by the United Nations to take over a peacekeeping force that has been unable to stop the violence between rebel groups and government-backed militias.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million have fled their homes in the western Darfur region since 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government.

The Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 170 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations, has organized a rally in New York's Central Park on Sunday.

more...
http://cbs13.com/national/topstories_story_257154502.html



(L-R) Actor George Clooney, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Jackie Sanders, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton and Elie Wiesel sit before a meeting about the situation in the Darfur region in Sudan, with the Security Council at the United Nations in New York September 14, 2006. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES)


George Clooney sits at the beginning of a meeting about the situation in the Darfur region in Sudan, with the Security Council at the United Nations in New York September 14, 2006. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES)

[Beaverhausen]

1. I LOVE HIM

[City Lights]

2. He's MINE!

}(

[Marnieworld]

6. I saw him first!

:9 mmmmm George!

[Beaverhausen]

25. I saw him just the other day

When he isn't saving the world...he works where I do!

[City Lights]

27. We need a new smiley:

:greenwithenvy:

Details, please! There was looking, but was there touching? :evilgrin:

[Marnieworld]

32. I looked for that too!

There's this guy. :bounce: But you don't quite get the jealousy vibe. ;-)

[Beaverhausen]

33. I work at the film studio where he is shooting Ocean's 13

Every day during lunch he is out playing basketball with some of the other cast and crew.

He is just so damn cute and I love that his politics are in the right place.

Plus I love my job!

[City Lights]

35. I'd probably get fired if I worked with George... eom

[Marnieworld]

31. I have a strange mix of emotions I have never felt before

extreme envy of you, sadness that I do not have that, and yet glee to at least be 2 cyber degrees of separation from Mr. Clooney. :crazy: You lucky ducky! He's such a sexy badass!

[RevolutionStartsNow]

20. My husband is watching ER reruns in the mornings...

I stopped paying attention when they got to the season after George left. But my hubby was sweet enough to call me in for the scene where Carol shows up at Doug's house in Seattle and surprises him....oh man, that was good... :)

[NYCGirl]

3. Boy, I didn't think there was any way that Bolton could look WORSE!

That first pic proves me wrong.

[genie_weenie]

4. wow! Is George going to go over

and haul bags of rice around for months, not shower for weeks, worry about some misguided Sudanese popping a round off at him?

I think we all know the answers to those questions...

So easy to say "WE" need to save Darfur and then sit back and make movies... :puke:

[Marnieworld]

5. and if he said and did nothing what would you say?

He's an actor/filmmaker not a soldier. He's doing his part within his capacity to help the greater good. He's using his celebrity to call attention to the problem. That has a value, not the same value as a peacekeeper but a value nonetheless. Would anyone be noticing this article if it was just about normal people at the UN? I doubt you're in Darfur or in harms way either. And his movies as of late are also socially conscious and also attempts to help the greater good. He's no Paris Hilton.

And I would say this even if he wasn't a hunk that I've been lusting over since Facts of Life. He's only become sexier with speaking his mind and being active politically. We can't all be soldiers. what are you doing?

[genie_weenie]

11. Self Righteous Bravery by Proxy

He's using his celebrity to call attention to a terrible situation adn then he can sit back and rest with a Righteous Glow emanating from his belly knowing he made a difference!

And the poor who don't get to star in movies are off living in a shithole for months on end. But hell fuck them right? It's their fault they're poor and in the military anyway right??? Should have gone to hollywood and gotten a role as a Tin Soldier like Georgie.

Just like it was my fault I was in for a couple go arounds in Iraq and Afghanistan... Stupid me I must have deserved it.

[Marnieworld]

14. You're blaming the wrong George

Thank you for your service. I can only imagine how it has affected you. My only point is he's doing what he can do and I have a lot more hostility to those who aren't even trying.

:patriot:

[genie_weenie]

19. Oh that man should be *removed*.

Along with most other people in high office. But, it's about the consequences. I don't know Mr. Clooney, other than what I've seen on the screen and heard him say. But, I can not account a man noble who deplores a situation and then expects others to deal with it.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

24. That would be very many people, then...

including Elie Wiesel, who went to the UN with Clooney.

Is there not a place for activists who use their voices (or money, or celebrity, or position) to encourage others to get involved? Does everyone have to get their hands dirty to play a part? Should we keep silent about Darfur (or any other problem) if we are not willing to or not in a position to actually be in the middle of it?

[genie_weenie]

29. It's a terrible situation.

And I don't have the answers.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe man does share one large soul and the hurt that is done to one is done to all.

Maybe Byron had it right:

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbours;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome,
And get knocked on the head for his labours.

To do good to Mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always as nobly requited;
Then battle for Freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.

But I for one can not ask some else to be brave by proxy and to take risks, miss time with their loved ones and possibly die if I was not willing to share every single second of that torment with them.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

36. I don't have the answers either

But I think there are a lot of ways to do good without actually getting shot at.

Would Clooney (or B. Pitt or whichever celebrity activist we're talking about) be more noble if he strapped on the rifle and went there and fought for the innocent in Darfur? He's not a trained soldier. He's doing what he can, which is using his name and his handsome face to draw some attention to the crisis.

Not everyone can be a soldier, and not only soldiers are needed in this type of crisis.

If everyone (like me, like you, like the people who will gather in NYC this weekend) just picked up and went there, I don't think that would solve the problem. There are other ways, like putting pressure on the UN and the US to step in and stop the genocide. And pressuring our political representatives to kick in some aid $$$.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

16. Um, sorry, what are you suggesting he do?

Give all of his money to you, or other poor soldiers?

Methinks George is hoping to make the world a better place, not a worse one.

[genie_weenie]

23. I never asked for a dime of George's money

but it's pretty easy to roger up a policy (Send in the Marines!) when your ass isn't going...

[City Lights]

7. Have you been there? What are you doing to help besides puking

over the efforts of others?

And George did manage to squeeze in a trip to Darfur in between sitting back and making movies.

Clooneys travel to Sudan

Post columnist Nick Clooney, just back from an eight-day trip that he and his son, actor George Clooney, made to Sudan and Chad, says he hopes the stories they relate will prompt more protection and humanitarian aid for 2 million refugees from the Sudan province of war-torn Darfur.

"This is an ongoing and terrible story that we were able to see up close," said Clooney. "These folks are helpless out there. There's nobody between them and very bad people.

"They have only minimal protection provided by the African Union. What's holding these people together is help from humanitarian agencies, 80 of them from around the world, many of them from the United States."

more... http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060424/LIFE/604240340

[genie_weenie]

15. 8 days! Awesome!

Maybe George should try not showering for 47 days... But, he's a beautiful person and needs to have a concerned look on his face as he mugs for the camera...

And if he didn't get into Darfur how does he *know* firsthand that some "very bad people" are doing all this genocide. The article only relates a story of them talking to refugees in a camp for a few days to hear stories which are no doubt horrific

[City Lights]

18. Uh huh, that's what I thought you'd say.

Nothing about your trip there, and nothing about what you've done to help or raise awareness. Just criticism of others.

:eyes:

[genie_weenie]

21. Raise Awarness?

So, how about I raise awarness and pay for your plane ticket to Sudan and a few months housing? I'll even get you a rifle and some ammo (no body armor though).

But that's cool! Just keep sticking it to the poor Americans in the service, they have nothing better to do with their lives then protecting people in a strife torn land because of Governments' actions...

[RevolutionStartsNow]

28. Again, you're blaming the wrong George...

I agree that soldiers are underpaid and underprotected, and you are clearly and justifiably angry about that, but it's not Mr. Clooney who's "sticking it to the poor Americans in the service."

[RevolutionStartsNow]

13. Easier still to sit back and do nothing...

Do you think Darfur would be in the headlines as much if not for George Clooney? It's just a fact that celebrities make headlines, and George is using his celebrity to get Darfur in the headlines.

More than that, he's showing up at the UN and imploring that action be taken. He doesn't have to be the one hauling bags of rice to be making a difference.

I think celebrity activists are incredibly important, and I applaud the ones who speak out, contribute, and show up for political causes.

[genie_weenie]

22. Would you still feel that way if another George was out

talking about sending in the Marines to Sudan to resotre order and bring hope?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

26. Nope, because I know he would be lying.

God knows I adore Clooney, but I am just as proud of Elie Wiesel and any other person who speaks out and draws attention to this crisis.

Did I miss something? Did Bush promise to help in Darfur? Was it Bush and his father who went to Darfur to gain a better understanding of the refugees suffering, or was the other George and his father? Hmmm....

[genie_weenie]

30. Touche. You're are right * couldn't give a Crawford

road apple for those suffering people. Or the ones n New Orleans.

[OzarkDem]

39. If he thought that were the best way to do it, yeah

But he also knows that he has the ability to draw media attention to a big problem that Bush and the GOP are ignoring and use that attention to educate the public.

Think of it. Right now, George Clooney has more ability to get media coverage than the Dems in Congress. That's not his fault, and I'm certainly glad he's using his celebrity to get those messages out at a time when few others can. He also used that celebrity to make two movies - one about ME politics and peak oil, the other about what quality journalism used to look like in the fascist 1950's.

Same with Brad Pitt. Howard Dean and John Kerry can go to New Orleans and give speeches about Bush's failure to rebuild the city, and the most coverage they get is CSPAN. Brad Pitt can at least go down there and give a similar message about Bush's failures and it gets covered.

I'm sure they would both prefer to see Dems in power getting these same messages out while they sit back and make movies and donate money to good causes. But they've both chosen to take some risks in their careers to get the message out on Bush and the GOP failures and I'm glad they did.

[etherealtruth]

8. Alright, I'll admit it ...

I clicked on the post because of "pics" in the subject line!

God, I love:loveya: George Clooney:loveya:

[LiviaOlivia]

9. Clooney on Hardball today I believe.

eom

[City Lights]

10. Oh my, I hope you're right!

Thanks for the heads up.

[jab105]

12. LOVE HIM!! When JFK Jr. died, George became my new crush...

since I thought that they looked alike...

And now he's making these incredible movies, AND doing this...oh my gosh!! LOVE HIM!!

[applegrove]

17. Anyone want to talk about Darfur???? Don't miss demonstrations in your

neck of the woods.

www.savedarfur.com

[RevolutionStartsNow]

34. Thanks, just sent a reminder to my bro and sis in NYC to go

Though I'm sure they already know about it, it's a good reminder for them.

I have a hard time comprehending why the world so often looks away from the plight of Africans...

That's a great link, by the way. Thanks.

[applegrove]

37. Great. Send it to all you know. Seems like there is a chance.. if Bush

is desperate to seem as compassionate.. maybe he will pressure Khartown. I don't care if he does it just to look good. I just want Khartowm to be so unserious about it all. And now trying to chase the aid agencies from the reason.

[Mabus]

38. LOL, on SNL Gore wanted him for SCOTUS

;)

But he'd do just as well in the UN.