MER - Thank you George! Clooney That Is (Says USG Being Run Like 'Sopranos'!

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Clooney isn't joining<br>Dubya's gang <br> <br>[New York Daily News - 20 Jan 2003]: <br>George Clooney opposes our President's dealings with Iraq. <br> <br>George Clooney says President Bush would fit in just fine with New Jersey's favorite crime family. <br>"The government itself is running exactly like the Sopranos," he tells Charlie Rose tonight in a full-bore assault on Dubya's foreign policy. <br><br>The "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" director says Bush has cut deals with France and Russia so the UN Security Council won't complain when "we go into a war [with Iraq] and kill a lot of innocent people." <br><br>Quips Clooney: "[Bush says,] 'France, you're getting the pipelines.' <br><br>"Are we going to try and talk [to Saddam Hussein] ... without jumping in and killing people first?" asks Clooney. "I don't believe we're going to wait until the last resort to do it. That's what bothers me." <br><br>Speaking of "Three Kings," his sardonic 1999 movie about Operation Desert Storm, Clooney tells Rose, "you couldn't get [that] made now." <br><br>No one may be more pleased to see Rose letting Clooney vent than Richard Gere. Last week, when he appeared on the talk show with "Chicago" co-star Renee Zellweger, Gere accused his pal Rose of editing out his past rants about Henry Kissinger. <br><br>"That's not true," said Rose, who counts Kissinger as a regular guest. <br><br>Chiming in, Zellweger kidded Rose: "I've never seen your cheeks turn pink. [Richard], you made Charlie Rose lose his composure for the first time." <br><br>Having promised a full investigation into Gere's censorship claim, Rose told us he has "never willingly or purposefully taken out" a Gere dig against Kissinger. <br><br>Rose also promises to broker a dialogue about China and Tibet between the "American Gigolo" star and the man who called power the ultimate aphrodisiac. <br><br>Will Kissinger come to the summit? Says Dr. K through a spokeswoman: "I haven't been asked yet." <br><br> <br> <br> <br> <b off></b> </body>