Nine Nobel Prize-Winners Including Desmond Tutu Call on NBC to Cancel Military Reality Show: ‘Glorifying War’
- Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:23am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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NEW YORK (TheBlaze/AP) — Nine Nobel Peace Prize winners are speaking out against a new NBC competition series they say treats military maneuvers like athletic events.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the other Nobel laureates protested in an open letter that the show, “Stars Earn Stripes,” glorifies war and armed violence.
The series, which premiered on Monday night, pairs celebrities with inactive U.S. military personnel for simulated military challenges. Celebrity participants include boxing champion Laila Ali, Superman actor Dean Cain, Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd Palin.
The program is hosted by retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark.
“I’m doing this series for one reason,” says Clark at the top of the show – “to introduce you, the American people, to the individuals that sacrifice so much for all of us.”
The series is billed on its website as a “fast-paced competition“ whose contestants ”will gather at a remote training facility where they will be challenged to execute complicated missions inspired by real military exercises.”
“Stars Earn Stripes” says it “pays homage to the men and women who serve in the U.S. armed forces and our first-responder services.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu delivers a speach during an institutional celebration on the eve of South Sudan's independence first anniversary, at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba on July 8, 2012. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu today appealed for peace in troubled South Sudan, on the eve of the country's first anniversary. Tutu was speaking to political, military and religious leaders from the world's youngest nation, where looming conflict with the rump state of Sudan and dim economic prospects cast a pall over celebrations. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
The letter, sent Monday to Clark, NBC boss Robert Greenblatt, producer Mark Burnett and others connected with the show, argues “this program pays homage to no one anywhere” and criticizes it for “trying to somehow sanitize war by likening it to an athletic competition.”
The Washington Post has more from the note:
“This program pays homage to no one anywhere and continues and expands on an inglorious tradition of glorifying war and armed violence,” the Laureates wrote to NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, producer Mark Burnett, and to General Wesley Clark, the former presidential candidate who’s hosting the competition series.
The show is “a massive disservice to those who live and die in armed conflict and suffer its consequences long after the guns of war fall silent,” the Nobel laureates, said in a letter, which was sent to reporters Monday by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, a group created in 2006 by six female Nobel Peace Prize winners.
“Trying to somehow sanitize war by likening it to an athletic competition further calls into question the morality and ethics of linking the military anywhere with the entertainment industry in barely veiled efforts to make war and its multitudinous costs more palatable to the public,” the nine continued.
The letter calls for NBC to stop airing the series.
NBC, responding to the charges, said that “Stars Earn Stripes” is “about thanking the young Americans who are in harm’s way every day.”
“This show is not a glorification of war, but a glorification of service,” NBC said in a statement.
Besides Tutu, signers of the letter are Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Jose Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Betty Williams.
The Nobel laureates also declared their support for a protest against the show outside NBC’s Rockefeller Center headquarters in Manhattan on Monday.
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Comments (68)
AReaganAirForceVet
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:12amI saw the show last night and, while it was interesting to see these former athletes and movie stars trying to do what our young men and women in uniform do all the time in service to our country, I was very appreciative of their realizations of what our soldiers go through. Most all of them expressed a new deeper appreciation for our soldiers and veterans and I told my son, who is now serving in the Air Force Reserves that I hope the liberal Hollywood actors are hearing what these stars are saying. I think it is wonderful that some are being given the opportunity to receive a small dose of what our fighting soldiers go through every day. And, to see how quickly that big former football star (sorry, can’t recall his name right now) was quickly humbled when having to be rescued from drowning, I thought that was priceless. As liberal as NBC is, I appreciate their efforts to show the rest of America a little of what our Marines, Navy Seals, Army Green Berets, Snipers, the “unofficial” Delta Force, and of course, our Airman go through for the defense of our freedoms. God bless our soldiers!!!
Report Post »JRook
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 11:31amWhat we need to do is start showing the caskets coming in to Dover Air Force Base every night on the news as was done during the Vietnam war. Young men are being killed in a undefined and thus pointless war. There is no definition of winning and actually no intent to win. We will just withdraw at the point where there is another conflict that will keep the war machine fed. Billions of $$ are being wasted in Afghanistan that could be invested in infrastructure, education and R&D. So let’s grow up and stop trying to make some useful political point regarding the comparative pennies being spent on crack babies and start going after the major “welfare” recipients….. military contractors, bib drug companies, medical equipment companies and IT companies. As there is no comparison in terms of the $$ involved or the social utility. One third of all Medicare $$ are spent in the last 6 months of life. In the US we pay a more for prescription drugs than anywhere else in the world. And the price variance has nothing to do with FDA requirements as they should, given the requirement for FDA approval in most other countries, amortized over the total market. Military is too obvious to everybody to even bother detailing.
Report Post »LaughinWillow
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:46pmWhat JROOK said.
Report Post »00100111
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 1:55pmJROOK, are you done crying yet? If you are, change your panties. You’ve wet them.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:43pm“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
Sleep well, Archbishop. You too, JROOK.
Report Post »TouchStoneMT
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 12:53amHaven’t seen the show – got more important things to do than watch “stars” get a (very minor) taste of what I used to do for a living.
However, as a retired grunt, I’ve got one observation to pass along to those posturing fooss and their pathetic letter:
“Without the continued efforts of Warriors, Pacifists would have gone extinct centuries ago.”
Report Post »Lord_Frostwind
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:31amThe only problem I have with the Afghan War is that we have lost sight of our goal, destroy our enemy. This whole stupidity we have going now is intolerable, but slightly less so than a bunch of college know it alls babbling on about the “War Machine.” Get this through that skull full of garbage, if we really were a nation built on arms production, we would be doing what the Russians are doing right now, providing armaments to anybody who can the price. The way we run the system in the US would be the most idiotic version of a War Machine economy to ever be conceived of.
As for the Nobel Peace Prize winners, once again deciding to bleed their hearts until we all drown in it, about glorification of war, they really aren’t even worth consideration. Militarism IS a part of our culture, and the fact that people get a glimpse at seeing some of the feats soldiers pull off on a daily basis and not just basing it off some action movie will be a nice change of pace.
Maybe the Call of Duty kids will finally get some real military knowledge. Yeah, that has about the same chance of happening as Mr. Tutu joining the Marines.
Report Post »BrendaB
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:09amI actually thought it was a great show, and does give an insight into what these young men and women go through to become Defenders of America and the American Idea. Thank you, hold out and defend the show and all it represents
Report Post »Kankokage
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:08amI think they’re just mad that Todd Palin is going to wipe the floor with whoever their favorite is.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:07amAnother example that Nobel Prize winners are dumb as a bag of hammers.
Pay attention: NBC is running this show to diminish the military. If moron celebrities can pretend to do what our elite military does, that makes said military look less impressive. That’s the goal of this show.
Report Post »USPATRIOT101
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:15amGreat point, I agree completely.
Report Post »johnjamison
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:17amIt really doesn’t matter what NBC motives are behind their new military program….I personally think thay want to draw more cnservative audience back in with a conseravtive program so they can possibly indoctrinate them with other programs…I gave up on network T/V a decade ago when I realized just how leftwinged they all are…….Nothing has changed since that time other than they have moved further left……I won’t watch NBC,abc,cbs or pbs again as long as I breathe air.
Report Post »DimmuBorgir
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:20am/agree
That’s what I thought too. Didn‘t watch the whole thing but what I did see wasn’t very impressive.
Report Post »LaughinWillow
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:47pmBlessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 1:31pm@ LaughinWillow
God is a Righteous Judge and knows that Peace must at times come through military strength. Deut. 32:4; Psalm 89:14, Genesis 9:6; Romans 13:3-5
Do you believe a strong military has nothing to do with peace? Try visiting the Middle East and Africa.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:44pm@ Laughin’ Willow:
Report Post »Those who beat their swords into ploughshares shall plough for those who don’t.
barber2
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:07amNaturally they won the PEACE Prize. Unfortunately, there are people in history like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Muslim fanatics, who don’t do that “ peace” thing. And we need a military to protect us from these evil , dysfunctional, cruel, narcissists ! This sounds like our ” General Be-tray-us ” Crowd of American Far Lefties whose ideas may work in heaven. ( ooops. Forgot about that Lucifer and the Fallen angels business ! ) Never mind….
Report Post »LaughinWillow
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:48pmMatthew 5:9
Report Post »Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
The_Cabrito_Goat
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 2:11pmWe’d be able to make peace, if the US military weren’t as muzzled and castrated as they are in their operations overseas.
Report Post »Lord_Frostwind
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:35amBalance, you need peacemakers, and you need war-bringers. Both people are needed for certain times, granted trying to convince either that they are both needed is like trying to convince siblings to share.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:04amTo be fair, if Yassir Arafat (the terrorist) were still alive, there would be at least 1 Nobel Peace Prize winner who would like the show.
Report Post »countrygirl56
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:02amWe have MSN glorifying homosexuality (Glee, etc.) and now this show…
We ARE sinking into the same pit that led to the destruction of the Roman Empire. Wonder how long it‘ll be before NBC premiers it’s new show, “Christians and Lions”.
Pray, my friends! Repent…and PRAY for MERCY, strength, courage and wisdom from God Almighty!
Report Post »dublinthewagons
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:00amTutu needs to preach to his own country. The Nobel pease prize is an award for cowardly idiots that don’t deserve freedom.
Report Post »LaughinWillow
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:48pmBlessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Not that God knows anything.
Report Post »FaithfulFriend
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:55amMaybe the looser each episode should have to cross-dress and sing a highly choreographed tune then these 9 whatever’s would love at least part of it.
Report Post »cristo52
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:55amNBC, responding to the charges, said that “Stars Earn Stripes” is “about thanking the young Americans who are in harm’s way every day.”
What a bunch of baloney, the show is about making money. And note, not a peep out of America’s lefties – Maddow, O’Douel, Matthews, Sharpsburg – who work for NBC and every day ignore the murderous drone strikes orchestrated by The Obama in the name of The Obama.
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:55amSomeone hasn’t heard about The Military Channel.
Report Post »Tri-ox
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:48amUh, no one should listen to any Nobel Peace Prize winner – including that drug-addicted commie “WINNER” who is currently OCCUPYing OUR White House.
Report Post »termyt
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:45amWould even one of those 9 be able to sign this letter of not for a military intervention?
Report Post »wkw58
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:45amHey Nobel (read: high explosives production) Peace Prize winners……BUTT OUT!! Who gives a rat’s patoot what you think. The program is a fair representation of what our service members go through in training and lets the “average citizen” appreciate the difficulty attendent to the military way of life. Drive on NBC.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:11pmAmen!
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:42amI dont normally tune in to NBC.. But I made an exception last night..
And watched “Stars earn Stripes …I found out a couple things from that show…
1) People with muscles ….sink like rocks in water ..
2) Don’t mess with Todd Palin in the Mud and Muck
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:41amThe nine should be demanding of Obama that he returns his Nobel Peace Prize for the reason that he has initiated several wars, attempted a ‘wag the dog’ moment at least once with Iran, and has managed with his supporting of the radicals in the Arab Spring, ignited the middle east and most of the world on fire.
Obama is a marxist and a fabyin to the core.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:37amWell, you can’t argue with Desmond Tutu. After all, he won a Nobel Peace Prize. We all know how important that is.
Report Post »oldduffer
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:47amWish he and Jimmy Carter would go to an island and stay there. Maybe we can make a mistake and use the island for target training. Only way we’re ever going to hear the last of these 2 clowns.
Report Post »P.S. Take obama with them because he’s going to be an anchor around our necks for years.
SquidVetOhio
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:03amAs was Yassir Arafat. You remember him, the terrorist with the checkered scarf on his head.
Report Post »USPATRIOT101
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:13amCarter and barack both have “won” the prize and they were by far, the two worse Presidents we have ever had. Carter jacked up Iran, now barack is doing it.Carter made it possible for those who have not paid into the Social Security system to collect, barack is advertising the Food Stamp Program as if it’s a membership to a gym. I’ll stick with self reliance and personal accountability.
Report Post »Dobodura
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:37amI watched the first episode of this reality show last night and found it to be outstanding … much better than I expected. What this article doesn’t tell you is that the contestants on the show are participating as a way to raise money for various charities and organizations that help our soldiers who have seen combat, many of them wounded, return to a normal life. It also gives the average person on the street just a tiny little peek at what our brave young fighting men and women do on a daily basis to protect this country. I’m definitely looking forward to the second episode.
Report Post »normbal
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:36amIf war is not the answer, you aren’t asking the right question.
Report Post »Bigrod58
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 10:11amWe both agree that this is a great program but I hope that war is not the answer to every right question. I am a retired warfighter but I hope that some day we can answer the question effectively without war. Until then the only answer is give them everything we have, win it and get out.
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:33amLord, please let this generation get out of here before the bombs start dropping !
Report Post »redriverattackdog
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:33amI have respect Bishop Tutu but in this instance he just does not get it. Yes we do have to glorify military service. War might not be pleasant but it is a fact of life and we need someone to do it in the future.We know for a fact that the other side glorifies death and war and we need a way to counter that. We can use the glorification of service over the glorification of war to our advantage. In WW II, the Japanese soldier was willing to die for his country, the American soldier expected to live. You will need you men who have military training if you want people that are in bondage to be freed. Sound familiar Bishop?
Report Post »kaydeebeau
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:48am“Now I want you to remember that no SOB ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb SOB die for his country.” – George C. Scott as Gen. George S. Patton
Report Post »LaughinWillow
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 12:51pmI mean, seriously, not like God knows anything, but “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” I don’t see anything there about “blessed are idiots who glorify dropping depleted uranium on infants and grandmas.” It’s one thing to defend yourself, but our modern system of warfare is disgusting and unethical, and based more on what makes the most money for government contractors charging $3000 a pop for bolts.
Report Post »randy
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:31amWell, I and about 200 Million or more Americans call on NBC, CBS, ABC to get rid of Glee and any other GAY show which glorifies homosexuality.
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:49amThe beheading can be delayed !
Report Post »Evomr
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:30amLike Islam doesn’t glorify war an killing from birth,give me a break and mind your own business.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:30amCan’t believe NBC even did this program!?!
Report Post »NBC WILL cave-big time!
searching for the Truth
Posted on August 14, 2012 at 9:29amWell, I guess if any of you have done a flyover on all this mess, and read the Bible , at least once, you’ll understand what gonna happen – excuse the use of the first person pronoun.
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