Darius Kadivar

About Time ...

Read Report below.

Iraqi Deaths Pain Sharon Stone ( Washington Post)

CAIRO, Egypt -- Sharon Stone believes the Sept. 11 attacks should not have been used as a pretext for the United States to launch wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to her comments published Monday in a pan-Arab newspaper.

In her interview with Al Hayat, the actress also bemoaned what she called Americans' decision to ignore the deaths of so many Iraqis.

"I feel at great pain when the spotlight is on the death of 4,000 American soldiers, while 600,000 Iraqi deaths are ignored," she said. "War is not a movie, it is a tragedy of dead bodies, victims, the disabled, orphans, widows and the displaced."

Stone spoke in English and her comments were translated and published in Arabic. An English transcript of the interview was not available.

Al Hayat published excerpts of the interview from December, when Stone attended the fourth Dubai International Film Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The paper's sister publication, Leha, is to publish the entire interview Wednesday.

Stone came to the region seeking answers for herself because, she said, the U.S. media has failed to provide Americans with the truth.

"I feel sad when I realize how much truth is being changed or obscured in the American media," she said.

The star of "Basic Instinct" and other movies criticized both Arab countries and Israel for failing to resolve their decades-long conflict. She said she also opposes any military conflict with Iran.

In Dubai, Stone also campaigned to raise over $1 million for AIDS research and awareness about the disease which remains taboo in the Arab world.