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What Will End of War, Its Success Mean to Celebrities Who Opposed it?

Aired April 25, 2003 - 14:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Remember all the anti-war talk at the United Nations and coming from some Hollywood stars?
With the war in Iraq basically history, what's the cost now for that dissent?

Let's get some perspective from CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): France, the Dixie Chicks, the United Nations, none of them supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, so now they're in big trouble, right? Maybe not.

Anti-war entertainers would seem to have the most at risk. After the Dixie Chicks' lead singer said she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas, there was a rash of boycotts and protests. And then what happened? Their album went back to No. 1 on the charts.

After filmmaker Michael Moore made a spectacle of himself at the Oscars, his book went back to the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list.

Reverse backlash. People who agreed with them rushed to their support, but isn't dissent a career killer for the less famous?

JANEANE GAROFALO, ACTRESS: Catastrophe is almost certainly going to be the outcome of this war.

SCHNEIDER: For her, it was publicity. "Now I'm almost famous," Garofalo told the "Washington Post."

Surely France will have to pay a price, just as the secretary of state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there consequences for standing up to the United States like that?

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: The White House is talking about cutting France out of some NATO decisions, downgrading France's status at international conferences. But the United States does not want to take the war of insults too far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly France fundamentally remains an ally.

SCHNEIDER: It doesn't want to make France the leader of an anti- American coalition.

And what is to become of the United Nations? Will it no longer cast a fateful vote on issues of war and peace? Think of it this way: how often in the past has the United Nations cast a fateful vote on issues of war and peace? Answer: twice. Once in 1950, on the Korean War, and once in 1990, on the first Gulf War.

The Vietnam War, the Six Day War in the Middle East, the bombing campaign in Kosovo, to name a few, none of them had U.N. endorsement.

(on camera): Countries have always ignored the United Nations when it was in their interest to do so, but the United States cannot fight a global war on terrorism without the cooperation of other countries. And those other countries remain committed to the United Nations.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Opposed it?>


Aired April 25, 2003 - 14:27   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Remember all the anti-war talk at the United Nations and coming from some Hollywood stars?
With the war in Iraq basically history, what's the cost now for that dissent?

Let's get some perspective from CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): France, the Dixie Chicks, the United Nations, none of them supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, so now they're in big trouble, right? Maybe not.

Anti-war entertainers would seem to have the most at risk. After the Dixie Chicks' lead singer said she was ashamed that President Bush was from Texas, there was a rash of boycotts and protests. And then what happened? Their album went back to No. 1 on the charts.

After filmmaker Michael Moore made a spectacle of himself at the Oscars, his book went back to the top of the "New York Times" bestseller list.

Reverse backlash. People who agreed with them rushed to their support, but isn't dissent a career killer for the less famous?

JANEANE GAROFALO, ACTRESS: Catastrophe is almost certainly going to be the outcome of this war.

SCHNEIDER: For her, it was publicity. "Now I'm almost famous," Garofalo told the "Washington Post."

Surely France will have to pay a price, just as the secretary of state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are there consequences for standing up to the United States like that?

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: The White House is talking about cutting France out of some NATO decisions, downgrading France's status at international conferences. But the United States does not want to take the war of insults too far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly France fundamentally remains an ally.

SCHNEIDER: It doesn't want to make France the leader of an anti- American coalition.

And what is to become of the United Nations? Will it no longer cast a fateful vote on issues of war and peace? Think of it this way: how often in the past has the United Nations cast a fateful vote on issues of war and peace? Answer: twice. Once in 1950, on the Korean War, and once in 1990, on the first Gulf War.

The Vietnam War, the Six Day War in the Middle East, the bombing campaign in Kosovo, to name a few, none of them had U.N. endorsement.

(on camera): Countries have always ignored the United Nations when it was in their interest to do so, but the United States cannot fight a global war on terrorism without the cooperation of other countries. And those other countries remain committed to the United Nations.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Opposed it?>