Hanoi Jane takes on Iraq war with US bus tour

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Hanoi Jane takes on Iraq war with US bus tour

Hollywood star accused of using stance to boost book sales, but applauded by some veterans groups

Jamie Wilson in Washington

Tuesday July 26, 2005

The Guardian

Hollywood star and activist Jane Fonda is planning to take a bus tour across America to call for an end to US military operations in Iraq in a move that has already drawn sharp reactions from both the pro- and anti-war camps.

Ms Fonda, who earned the nickname Hanoi Jane after she was photographed sitting on a north Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun at the height of the Vietnam war, said she would be joined by families of Iraq war veterans and her daughter on the tour.

"I've decided I'm coming out," she told a cheering audience during an appearance in New Mexico to promote her autobiography, explaining that Iraq veterans had encouraged her to break her silence.

"I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," she added. "I carry a lot of baggage from that."

Ms Fonda said her anti-war tour in March would use a bus that runs on vegetable oil.

"I can't go into any detail except to say that it's going to be pretty exciting," she said.

Ms Fonda is still reviled by many Vietnam veterans for her stance and actions during the Vietnam war. In her autobiography, My Life So Far, she said she was not thinking about what she was doing when she sat on the aircraft gun, and the impression it gave that she was the enemy of American soldiers and veterans was something she still carried "heavy in my heart".

But Ted Sampley, vice president of Rolling Thunder, one of the largest Vietnam Veterans organisations, said it was a case of deja vu. "She has no credibility; she is going to make a lot of people mad, me being one of them," he said.

Jim Phillips, a Middle East analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing Washington think-tank, said: "Her book sales are not going too well so I guess she has latched on to the Iraq war as a way of staying in the news.

"She is irrelevant, and I just see her the same as Tom Cruise, spouting off about things they know nothing about."

But anti-war groups were generally supportive of the Hollywood star. Wes Hamilton, 57, a former Vietnam soldier and a member of United States Veterans for Peace, said: "I'm excited about it frankly and I really applaud her for what she is doing. It is critical to keep the war in the public attention.

"I was just back from Vietnam when she made her controversial journey. There was a tremendous division in the US ... I was still in the Marines or recently discharged and my point was that whatever it takes to get the conversation in the media is important."

"The people from my generation are the ones who did stand up and bring the Vietnam war to its conclusion. If it means bringing that generation back together again and getting a new generation to stand up to stop this war then so be it."

Judy Linehan, a spokeswoman for Military Families Speak Out, said: "She was maligned and there was an over-reaction to what she did. She is a mature woman and has evolved in her politics but is the same passionate woman who believes in justice and I hope that is what comes across."

Mrs Linehan, whose son, Colin, served as a doctor in Iraq between November 2003 and October 2004, said the main problem for Ms Fonda would be the American press.

"The danger will be that they just pick up on the surface layer, but I would hope people will welcome anybody who can stir a discussion on Iraq and draws attention to the real issues."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1536158,00.html