5.02.2007

'Joan Baez banned from Army center'

WASHINGTON - Folk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez says she doesn’t know why she was not allowed to
perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned.


In a letter to The Washington Post published Wednesday, she said rocker John Mellencamp had asked her to perform with him last Friday and that she accepted his invitation.

“I have always been an advocate for nonviolence and I have stood as firmly against the Iraq war as I did the Vietnam War 40 years ago,” she wrote. “I realize now that I might have contributed to a better welcome home for those soldiers fresh from Vietnam. Maybe that’s why I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation to sing for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the end, four days before the concert, I was not ‘approved’ by the Army to take part. Strange irony.”
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8 comments:

Diane said...

This is so freakin' unreal . . . this administration only supports freedom of opinion and speech if you are parroting their slogans . . .

Chuck said...

Hello Karen of Namaste' fame! LTNS! :)

sage said...

Let's have no critics, that's the administration's policy--I'd love to hear Joan Baez sing

Jay Noel said...

Wow.
She looks great too!

It's sad they're letting politics get in the way of lifting morale.

Hale McKay said...

But it was okay for Hanoi Jane's antics in Viet Nam?

Karen, I thought you might get a kick out of THIS !

Polly said...

Still can't divide the 'war' from the mne and women who are pawns in it. Hopefully Joan will be able to sing somewhere to help raise their spirits. She did for us during Vietnam, here in Australia.

Karen said...

yes, Joan rocks!

Eli Blake said...

It's because it's at Walter Reed. They are afraid she might get a glimpse of the cockroaches, the filthy bedsheets, the moldy walls, etc. and get grossed out.