Angelina Jolie has written an article about Darfur for this month's issue of The Economist. In it, the actress/humanitarian/ball-buster calls for certain members of the Sudanese government and their goons to be put on trial for genocide. Angelina writes:
Accountability is perhaps the only force powerful enough to break the cycle of violence and retribution that marks so many conflicts. Through accountability we can begin the process of righting past wrongs, and even change the behavior of some of the world's worst criminals.
Angelina goes on to recount a conversation she had with a teenage refugee in Sudan, who asked her why those responsible for the Darfur genocide have not been put on trial. She then writes:
I hope that the Sudanese government will hand over the government minister and the Janjaweed militia leader who have been indicted for war crimes [by the International Criminal Court in The Hague], and that the teenager I met ... will get the trial he seeks. ... I hope that those responsible for the atrocities in Darfur will be held to account, not only for that young man's sake, but for the world's.
I bet those Sudanese thugs and their Arab cronies are shaking in their boots now, knowing Angelina is after their asses. I'm not being sarcastic either. Those fuckers read the tabs too - they know what powers Angelina has. They look at Brad Pitt and think, "Damn, she's not going to de-nut us like that is she? We better pack a suitcase in case we need to make a run for Iran real fast."
Seriously...it's lovely that Angelina is so involved in things and is willing to take time out from her busy life of baby-collecting and hating Jennifer Aniston to compose such an article. The downtrodden need more eloquent spokespeople like Angie taking up their cause. Calling for accountability and all that. Cause that's what the world needs - people owning up to their crimes.
Hmm...I wonder if Angie would like to be the first one to try this whole accountability thing. You know, admit that her fortune is the result of years of shilling for corporations that do untold damage around the world. I mean let's face it - big movies don't get made without corporate money being pumped into them in exchange for product placement and stuff like that. So, if Angie stars in a movie that's been partially financed by that corporate money, she is in effect humping that company's stuff. And those companies all do bad things. They employ child workers. They actively conspire to perpetuate certain economic circumstances as a way of guaranteeing themselves an endless supply of cheap labor. They pump toxic chemicals into the air and water, and directly into our bodies via crappy food. They don't give a damn about work-place conditions. In short, they're evil as fuck.
Come on Angie - before you start calling for others to be held accountable, how about owning up to the fact that you are yourself beholden to companies that have engaged in all sorts of immoral activity around the world? Well, little Miss Righteous?
(source)
