Exclusively in the new print issue of CounterPunch

HOLLYWOOD AND THE CIA — Film historian Ed Rampell details Hollywood’s entangled relationship with the CIA and the Pentagon; HOUSES OF THE DEAD: Nancy Kurshan exposes the cruel human rights offenses taking place inside America’s vast gulag of Control Unit Prisons; BROTHERHOOD OF SUMMER: David Macaray charts the history of the most powerful union in the US: the Baseball Players Association; TAR SANDS COME TO AMERICA: Steve Horn explains how the Keystone Pipeline debates have diverted attention from Big Oil’s other plans to transport Alberta’s oil into the US. PLUS: Jeffrey St. Clair on CONSTITUTIONAL ENTROPY; Mike Whitney on HOW THE BANKS TARGETED BLACKS; Chris Floyd on THE RISE OF BRITAIN’S TEA PARTY; Kristin Kolb on THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE; Kim Nicolini on the FILMS OF WILLIAM FRIEDKIN; and Lee Ballinger on POETS VS. THE ONE PERCENT.

Weekend Edition May 23-25, 2003

Tough on the Spine Hope, Crosby and Al Qaeda

Hope, Crosby and Al Qaeda

by MICKEY Z.

"Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."

Niels Bohr

The newly democratic Iraq has descended into chaos and feminist Afghanistan must be in pretty sorry shape if the media never crows about it. There’s a suicide bombing every ten hours in the Middle East, the wily Osama and Saddam are still not accounted for, the terror alert is back to orange, U.S. embassies and consulates in Saudi Arabia are closed, more than half of America thinks Iraq knocked down the Twin Towers, and Al Qaeda has hung out a glowing neon "BUSINESS AS USUAL" sign.

In light of all this, everyone has a theory…everyone is making predictions: Who’s responsible, where they’ll strike next, what needs to be done, what went wrong, and all that. Some believe this recent wave is Al Qaeda’s last gasp. Others think the smaller scale attacks are designed to distract the U.S. from an impending major attack on its own soil. Saudi Prince Bandar pulled no punches, "My gut feeling tells me something big will happen either in Saudi Arabia or America."

Well, the Prince1s gut aside, when someone I know told me today she was going to Zanzibar, an alarm went off in my overcrowded cranium. It was time I joined right in with my own supposition. It involves Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and their infamous "Road" movies. You know: "We’re off on the road to Morocco/This camel is tough on the spine."

In six very funny flicks, the comic duo visited Hollywood sound stages rigged to resemble a half-dozen exotic locales. Innocuous enough, right? Well, check out three of their celluloid destinations: Bali, Morocco, and Hong Kong. That’s Bali (site of a massive terror bombing), Morocco (site of the most recent terror attacks), and Hong Kong (SARS). Some call it coincidence. Sounds like Osama bin Laden’s cave is wired for cable and, in a plot twist too contrived for even Austin Powers to consider, somebody’s been boning up on his Turner Movie Classics. Talk about keeping Hope aliveS

If I lived in Singapore or Zanzibar when Dorothy Lamour showed up, I’d be kissing my code orange ass goodbye.

Let1s see, Bali, Morocco, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zanzibar…that’s five. What about the sixth road movie? Well, that one happens to be the most disturbing but yet most obvious and important of all: "The Road to Utopia."

Consider yourself warned…

MICKEY Z. is the author of The Murdering of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet (http://www.murderingofmyyears.com) and an editor at Wide Angle (http://www.wideangleny.com). He can be reached at: mzx2@earthlink.net.