Angelina Jolie Leaves Her Mark in Washington

angelina jolie in washington

It sounds like Angelina Jolie and her passion for humanitarian causes stole the show in Washington yesterday when she spoke out on Iraq and it’s refugees at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The actress’s appearance on a panel discussing the plight of more than 1 million Iraqi child refugees was less upbeat than that of the U.S. officials who testified before two Senate committees yesterday.

"This population we’re talking about is the future of Iraq," said Jolie, who has traveled twice to Iraq over the past year, as well as to Syria to visit Iraqi refugees. "So to reach them now, to help deal with their trauma and refocus their minds on a possible future should absolutely be one of our top priorities. We need these kids. . . . We need them to rebuild their country, to stabilize their country and eventually lead their country."

Jolie gently scolded the Bush administration for its slow follow-through on absorbing Iraqi refugees. The United States took in 374 Iraqis in January, 444 in February and 751 in March — in a year in which it has pledged to take in 12,000 Iraqi refugees, she noted.

While I can’t agree with Jolie in that the U.S. should be taking in more refugees that already heavily burdened taxpayers would have to support, I can understand a sense of anger toward our government and how we are handling a variety of situations.

Perhaps Jolie doesn’t feel the pressure that so many lower income families feel, perhaps Brangelina should take a walk through small town American in times when disaster hasn’t struck - but when jobs are being lost, groceries are on the rise, gas is unaffordable and see that we must first fix American before we can begin fixing other countries.

I’m interested in hearing from others.  Do other American’s see our country as being in dire straights?  Are you believing the Bush Administration in that we are not in a recession?  Are gas prices too high?  Can America support more refugees and immigrants?

How?

Source: Washington Post

    April 9, 2008 | Filed Under Celebrity Gossip, Discussion, Politics 

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