For The Troops!

Actor Gary Sinise Tackles Media on Iraq

*Exclusive from NewsMax.com


The U.S. media presents a "completely opposite" view of what is really happening with American troops in Iraq, highlighting the negative and ignoring the positive, Emmy Award-winning actor Gary Sinise tells NewsMax in an exclusive interview with James Hirsen.

With so many in Hollywood knocking American efforts in the Middle East, Sinise - star of TV's "CSI: NY" - openly shows his support through actions as well as words.

Sinise has entertained troops in Iraq and is a co-founder - along with "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand - of Operation Iraqi Children, a program that enables ordinary Americans to provide boys and girls in Iraq with school supply kits distributed by our men and women in uniform.

Gary Sinise, the producer and star of CSI New York, has also starred in movies such as Forrest Gump and Apollo 13, and produced first-rate movies such as Of Mice and Men . He visited Iraqi schools during a 2003 USO tour.

The actor, who played disabled Vietnam veteran Lieutenant Dan in "Forrest Gump," is also a spokesman for the U.S. Disabled Veterans Life Memorial Foundation.

He is also the co-founder of the Lt. Dan Band, a musical ensemble that entertains troops via USO tours. (Sinise plays a mean bass.)

Sinise recently spoke exclusively with NewsMax's James Hirsen, and in the wide-ranging interview the star:

Berates the media over coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and tells of a talk he had with a journalist who admitted the press focuses on negative stories in the Middle East because "bad news sells."
Confides that the events of 9/11 changed his view of the world, making him feel "very vulnerable in this country."
Stresses the dangers the U.S. faces in the war against terror, saying that if the 9/11 attackers "could have killed 300,000 instead of 3,000, they would have been all the happier about that."
Recalls how the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut affected him deeply.
Bemoans the treatment of U.S. soldiers by many Americans during the Vietnam War. "They were called baby killers and everything else," he said, even though they "might have been feeding a bunch of starving kids over there in a village." He declares: "That should never happen again."
Discusses how his Operation Iraqi Children is helping to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Iraqis.
Talks about the values he is trying to instill in his teenage children - and how working on a TV show differs from acting in a movie.
Sinise also reveals what prompted him to get involved with American troops and veterans, why some in Hollywood have refused to entertain U.S. troops in the Middle East, how Iraqis really feel about the American presence in Iraq... and much, much more.

See NewsMax's full interview with Gary Sinise - Go Here Now.