From Fox News:

Embedded journalists brought the Iraq war live into America's living rooms.

But now, actor and anti-war activist Tim Robbins has written and directed a play depicting his version of what he thinks happened in Iraq.

Robbins, an ardent critic of President Bush, as well as the war, isn't a journalist, nor is he a soldier who has been to Iraq. In fact, he's never been embedded with the troops.

But his play, "Embedded," profiles the journalists who traveled with and reported on U.S. soldiers in Iraq and features the president's war cabinet. It was written in Los Angeles and produced in Hollywood.

Robbins portrays journalists as Pentagon puppets, U.S. soldiers as thieves and killers of innocent women and children, and the Bush cabinet as war mongers willing to start a war to escape the negative publicity of the Enron scandal.

...

"It is not propaganda. It is a voice of dissent, which is different than propaganda," said audience member Kadina Dayal-Halday.

When Laura Israel, another audience member, was asked if she thought the play was accurate, she replied: "Yes, not only on what is going on there, but it also showed how we are being lied to by all the networks."

One person who wasn't convinced by the portrayals was Marine Maj. Rich Doherty.

"It was spun to make it look like that leadership started this war simply for its own political agenda " and that can't be further from the truth," Doherty said.

Doherty, who has a Ph.D. from Berkeley, fought in Iraq and worked alongside several embedded journalists. After the show, which Fox News was not allowed to tape, Doherty discussed the performance with some of the audience and cast members.

"You're not on the ground, there is no historical, no empirical evidence to say...that what you're believing or saying politically (is true)," Doherty said.

"With all due respect sir, a lot of people in this country feel this administration went to this war with an agenda of their own and this play resonates with a lot of people who come to see it," countered V.J. Foster, an actor who plays the character of Col. Hardchannel in the play.

"That is your opinion based on what you saw in the newspaper," Doherty shot back. "I'm giving you an opinion based on what I saw with my boots on the ground and in the sand."

I am not going to try and tell you that the only people who can form an opinion about the war in Iraq are the people who have experienced it first hand. Obviously, I have very strong opinions about the war just like everybody in this nation. Where the line needs to be drawn, however, is when those opinions turn into accusations.

In this play Tim Robbins is accusing the Bush administration of forcing journalists in Iraq to lie. He casts a poor light on the soldiers currently engaged in protecting this country and he brands Bush and his cabinet members as war mongers who invaded Iraq to cover up the Enron scandal. What proof does he have of any of this? Absolutely none.

Which is ok, actually. Tim Robbins is entitled to his opinion. Its his first ammendment right. As a matter of fact, I like Tim Robbins. I especially enjoyed The Shawshank Redemption and Bull Durham. I think that he is a very talented actor and would certainly see movies starring him in the future. The problem is that when it comes to politics he just isn't very smart. He has some extreme views and has absolutely no problem with putting those views right in people's faces. He is also a celebrity which further alienates him from reality, gives him access to the media that most of us don't have and also causes him to be surrounded by so-called "yes men" who would probably agree with him no matter what he says.

That being said, I'm now going to exercise my first ammendment right and say that Tim Robbins is a total, blithering idiot who's perspective on the war in Iraq is skewed by a total inability to grasp reality. When he portrays the Bush administration as "covering up" the truth in Iraq he is giving them far too much credit. Does he really think that our government can intimidate each and every reporter in Iraq, from a variety of countries, into reporting only favorable news about the war? Does he really think that the Bush administration can influence the BBC or Al-Jazeera? In this era of international media such a feat would be impossible. While many media outlets present news with a decided slant, either to the left or the right, I don't think any of them totally misrepresent what they are reporting.

What we need to remember is that Embedded is nothing more than a play. Its a fictional story from the misled mind of the author. Its fine for entertainment but shouldn't be looked to for the truth about the situation in Iraq.