I believe that that administration has taken the events of 9/11 and has manipulated the grief of the country: Hoffman

LONDON, February 6 (Islamonline & News Agencies) - Double Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman late Wednesday, February 5, accused U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration of “manipulating the grief of the country” post-September 11 to win backing for a possible war with Iraq.

Hoffman, speaking as he picked up the life-time achievement prize at the Empire magazine film awards in central London, added that he believed America's motives for going to war included power and oil.

“For me as an American, the most painful aspect of this is that I believe that that administration has taken the events of 9/11 and has manipulated the grief of the country and I think that’s reprehensible,” Hoffman said.

The actor added: “I believe, though I may wrong because I am no expert, that this war is about what most wars are about: hegemony, money, power and oil.”

Hoffman joined a number of Hollywood stars who have attacked Bush over Iraq. Diva Barbra Streisand and actresses Jane Fonda and Susan Sarandon have been among the most prominent pacifists.

Protestant Churches Call for Peace

Meanwhile, representatives of Protestant churches in Europe, the Middle East and the United States called Wednesday at a congress in Berlin for concerted action to prevent a slide to war over Iraq.

“We regret that the most powerful countries of the world are once again considering war as an acceptable means of foreign policy,” the statement said.

“This creates an international climate of fear, threat and insecurity,” it went on, calling for “concerted action” to prevent a war.

In their nine-point statement, the delegates said they could not accept the reasons given for military action, notably by the United States.

They urged world leaders to stick to the founding tenets of the U.N. charter, saying a pre-emptive war to spark a so-called regime change was “immoral” and contrary to U.N. principles.

“Even if proof is presented in New York, there should not be a war,” Bishop Walter Klaiber, head of a working group of German churches, said in reference to a speech given by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell before the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

In his speech, Powell presented what he said was evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was in “material breach” of U.N. demands to disarm.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who has said that Berlin will not vote in favor of military action at the Security Council, met the church leaders, but did not comment on the statement.