Posted on 05/28/2004 12:32:42 PM PDT by sandbar
McCartney speaks out against war
Sir Paul wrote a song, Freedom, after the 11 September attacks Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has criticised the UK government for being too hasty in going to war in Iraq. "Maybe our government went in too fast with the Americans," he told the weekly Portuguese magazine Visao on Thursday.
"It would have been better if the UN had been together," the 61-year-old singer continued. "Now it's become very bloody with Iraq, it's very difficult."
The singer, who is currently touring Europe, opens the Rock in Rio music festival in Lisbon on Friday.
Sir Paul said he understood the need to act after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
To look for Bin Laden seemed reasonable to go against terrorism, but the war has become very difficult
Sir Paul McCartney "If someone came to my house and blew it up, I wouldn't just want to sit there and say thank you," he said.
"I'd be angry like I think anyone would be, so I could see America and Britain being angry.
"To look for Bin Laden seemed reasonable to go against terrorism, but the war has become very difficult."
Sir Paul, who became a father for the fourth time last October, wrote a song, Freedom, after witnessing the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The Rock in Rio festival - modelled on an annual Brazilian festival which has been running since 1985 - is held over the next two weekends.
Britney Spears and Peter Gabriel are among the more than 70 performers taking part in the event, held at Lisbon's Bela Vista Parque.
Sir Paul's performance is part of a European tour which began in the Spanish city of Santander on Tuesday.
The Beatles record producer.
Very few comments from Sir Paul with a whole lotta paraphrasing and emphasis from the BBC.
"Maybe our government went in too fast with the Americans...""It would have been better if the UN had been together..."
"Now it's become very bloody with Iraq, it's very difficult."
Then again...
"If someone came to my house and blew it up, I wouldn't just want to sit there and say thank you...""I'd be angry like I think anyone would be, so I could see America and Britain being angry."
"To look for Bin Laden seemed reasonable to go against terrorism, but the war has become very difficult."
Very little text and a whole lot of editorializing from the BBC.
Where does he say that the war was wrong? That would be "against" the war. Where does he say that it was wrong to go without the support of the UN? He just says it would have been "better".
He says that maybe the British government was too quick to join in (and maybe they weren't). He doesn't speak out against America going in.
If the UN and the media had been FOR this war, it would have been a lot less bloody. Their opposition has aided the enemy.
Can anyone point me to Visao's website? I assume it is in Brazil. I'd like to see what else he said, regardless of what the editors paraphrased.
It is not http://www.visao.com.br/ (that is an electronics store).
Britain `rushed' into Iraq war, says ex-Beatle McCartney
``Everything would have been much simpler if things in Iraq had taken place with the backing of the United Nations.''
"things in Iraq" would be the war effort. Still pro-war, still pro-toppling Saddam.
The media is playing the masses for a fool. All of the editors chose to redact the article. I would like to see the original.
Even this quote seems to discuss the media's fascination with the protestors over what has been accomplished and what we are still trying to accomplish:
"The current situation reminds me of Vietnam... you have the impression that everyone's lost their head and no one remembers the reasons that led to the military operation."
if wars were easy they wouldn't call it war.
Exactly. All he is saying, is give peace a chance.
http://www.nme.com/news/108658.htm
MACCA SPEAKS OUT OVER WAR IN IRAQPAUL McCARTNEY has spoken out about the war in Iraq.
The Beatles star is reported to have said that the UK government went in "too fast" when Iraq was invaded last year.
According to BBC news, he said: "Maybe our government went in too fast with the Americans. It would have been better if the UN had been together. Now it's become very bloody with Iraq, it's very difficult."
The singer is to headline this year’s Glastonbury Festival on a tour that also visits the Rock In Rio: Lisbon festival this weekend.
If Paul is paying attention to the global press, he should bitchslap them for taking his comments out of context to such an extreme.
I agree, the news articles and headlines make it sound so much worse. Paul ain't no bleeding peacenik!
I think I found the website. I can't find the article yet and it is too new to be able to Google the contents:
http://www.visaonews.com/vnn/english/
I don't know if this the news-weekly though. I can't tell if it is Portugal or Brazil.
Still searching...
...Half right, "SHUT UP"...
Even the various Usenet Beatles/McCartney newsgroups have not put the original interview online (there is just one link to the horribly biased BBC article).
These comments are pretty benign. I'm not even sure Paul is "speaking out against the war", as the scumbag headline writer suggests. All he says is, "the war has become very difficult."
Big deal.
Actually the "big deal" is how the global media has blown these comments out of proportion. Look at http://news.google.com/ and search the 2 words: McCartney visao
There is no "media bias"? This is what we fight against daily, a misinformation campaign.
I'm too old not to remember the Beatle craze. You didn't miss anything.
His comments don't lend any support, either. McCartney would have been better off keeping his mouth shut if he didn't have something positive to say.
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