Jon Voight understands that America is under attack. Why don't you?

THESE COLORS DON'T RUN Voight is no Hollywood liberal. And when it comes to Iraq, he's got some strong convictions

Few actors can deliver a menacing glare as convincingly as Jon Voight. And, as Radar learned, he strikes a pretty imposing figure off screen as well. The Oscar-winning star of Deliverance and Midnight Cowboy has appeared in over 70 films, but his most recent role, as a fundamentalist Mormon leader in September Dawn (in theaters this summer), seems to have held particular resonance for the actor. Based on the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, in which Mormons mercilessly slaughtered 137 settlers traveling peacefully across Utah, the film, according to Voight, is rife with parallels to 9/11 and the current state of religious extremism.

Radar caught up with him on his return from a visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center with a group of New York City firemen, where he met with soldiers freshly wounded in Iraq. The experience was a powerful one for the 68-year-old, who was eager to discuss the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, critics of the war on terror, and Dick Cheney's bad rap.

My view of it is this: they say our president lied to us. Well, he didn't lie to us, everybody else had the information he hadYou recently visited with wounded troops at Walter Reed. What were your impressions?
I was deeply impressed by them. Most I spoke to were young people, around 20 years old. And they were really very eloquent, very positive, very respectful. You have to be proud of the children we're turning out from looking at this group of people. For me, I would much rather hear from these guys than the people who are presenting the news on television on a daily basis.

Were you able to gauge the mood among the troops—have they lost a sense of mission?
These guys say, well, it's possible to win it. And I'll tell you one thing they said that was very remarkable: the increase in troops that has been recommended by the president, they say anybody who's over there knows the value of backup and we should be behind this. When you're out in that situation in danger, you want to know you've got backup. Only one guy said he wasn't going back to Iraq, and he had been wounded a couple times. But all the other guys wanted to go back. One young woman, a very attractive young woman, had her leg amputated. But she says she's going to find a way to get back into it. She just reupped and she said they would find something for her to do.

Do you think it's possible to win the Iraq War?
Here's what I think: this is a real war, extended beyond the borders of Iraq.

As in the more general war on terror?
The war on terror is real. People would have you believe it's not real. This is not Vietnam. This particular situation is not the same wherein we can walk away and just leave destruction behind us. No, we can't. Anyone who has paid attention to what [Iranian President] Ahmadinejad is saying, what all the mullahs are saying in this country and in England, and in all of the Arab world, this is serious—they're calling for the destruction of America and all democracy and that's what's going on. We could lose this war.

If you're part of a left-wing bias and want to turn what I say in favor of someone on your agenda, I would say I don't want to talk
about it with youWas the Iraq war part of the war on terror before we got there?
I'm interested in talking about this, but it's been so politicized, it's very disturbing, very dangerous. My view of it is this: they say our president lied to us. Well, he didn't lie to us, everybody else had the information he had, and they voted for that tactic. And the idea of weapons of mass destruction, whether they were in fact removed to other places, to Lebanon, to Syria, that's still in play, we don't know the full answer of where all that stuff went, because they had it, they have the pieces. Now, whether someone else has them or whether we're playing a careful game not to reveal that we know where things are, that's another big aspect of it. The Administration's in a tough spot, because if they say they know where these pieces are, and they can't get at them, they're alerting other energies to know where they are.

So you think the Administration might know where the WMDs are?
We've got to be careful here. I want to have a conversation with a citizen who is trustworthy. I don't want to be talking to somebody who's going to use what I say to cause a sensation and make a few bucks.

This is a question and answer interview, so we're not going to take anything you say out of context.
I've got to know what your intentions are, what your purposes are. Because people call me up about my family matters and stuff like that, and they're only interested in selling a newspaper, they want to make things sensational, they don't give a damn about my well-being, or my family's well-being, or anything, and I don't like it. And these considerations, when I'm talking about our United States, this is serious business, and people are continuously using this stuff for nonsense—people are politicizing this stuff for their own ends. It's one of the biggest dangers we have right now. The irresponsible use of innuendo and falsehoods. It's a very big danger.

LATTER DAY TAINT In September Dawn Voight plays a radical Mormon leader responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857

We really just want a fair interview, nothing more. We try to talk to people in the public eye who are interesting and ask them about topics our readers care about. I think most people have strong opinions on this subject, and they might want to hear yours, considering who you are.
The question for me is: who are you and where are your sensibilities? If you're part of a left-wing bias and want to turn what I say in favor of someone on your agenda, I would say I don't want to talk about it with you. It's difficult for me ... because I see so many people go in the wrong direction. I see it all the time and it's very, very disturbing. What's being said in so many places in the country is just dangerous.

While you might not hear people say, "I don't support the troops", the country and the media on the whole are increasingly caustic and critical of the president and Iraq. Does that bother you?
It's a tidal wave going in this direction. It's sad for me. The attack on George Bush I find to be reprehensible. From the beginning it was politically motivated, and it's been very successful, the disrespect for our president and for our country and for our government. I have a great regard for our government. We have all sorts of checks and balances that are afforded to us by our constitution. We have a lot of wonderful hardworking people in the government. Once it gets to be partisan, it takes the energy in another direction. There was a big movement to impeach Lincoln during the Civil War, but it is not healthy at this time when we are fighting a very vicious enemy that has made it very clear in their attacks on American embassies and the Twin Towers, and on our forces what they intend.

So I imagine you're a supporter of the Patriot Act?
Yes, I'm a supporter of the Patriot Act. I support protecting us and investigating anyone who indicates they're going to be dangerous to our country. It's one of those things; it depends on which side you're on politically. If we had these things in place we could have anticipated 9/11. We're not interested in investigating someone who's doing something appropriate. We don't have time for that. That's nonsense. I certainly hope we're paying close attention to all those people crossing our borders who might be dangerous to us. We know for sure there are cells in the United States that are ready to erupt. We know that Hezbollah is here; we know there are cells from different terrorist organizations that are here and operational and that there are others waiting too. So listen, it's a serious business. It's wartime, guys. Because we don't have a continuous attack on our shores, we can get complacent. We've got to all be alert now, we've got to be a part of it and be supportive of our troops for sure.

HAPPIER TIMES Voight's estrangement from daughter Angelina has never been fully explained

Outside of Iraq and the war on terror do you think the other criticisms you hear about Bush are fair?
Like what?

This isn't a movie to expose people who are running for political office; this is a true event, an injustice that has to be righted. I don't know what the ramifications will beWell you have the handling of Katrina, there's the Valerie Plame leak ...
There are mistakes made in politics right and left. When something happens and we don't respond, we've got to fix it. When you've got a government office that is supposed to be available in extreme disasters and they don't come up with the goods, they are not responsive and they're incompetently run, yes, we have to correct that. And then we have to go beyond that. We've got to be on our toes all the time. And in those ways, people can come up to the bat and fill in and do amazing things and others fall to the wayside are revealed to be unable to handle the crises. But this wholesale criticism of this man, just laying everything at his feet, is inappropriate. I went down to see the guys at Walter Reed, and I was interested in checking the conditions to see that these guys were being taken care of—and they were. You can be very proud of the people at Walter Reed and all the people who are surrounding the troops; This is some real rough stuff these kids are going through, there are some really difficult things to looks at. You know, serious injuries. So my eyes were open going down there.

What else did you take away from the experience?
Someone said the president has been here and Dick Cheney comes down here regularly—I think he said every six weeks he comes and sees every person. Well, that's pretty terrific. So when you look at Dick's face at different times you can see what he's carrying, his understanding, his compassion. The stuff like that that you read is real. I mean these guys are concerned people. Somebody said to me—a wounded soldier who was against Cheney and Bush—and he said, "Cheney's a really nice guy," like he was so surprised to see that the guy was a good guy. You understand?

I imagine he's less gruff with wounded troops than reporters.
It all gets distorted. Rumsfeld was maligned and villainized; he's a hardworking guy, doing the best he can. He's got such a huge responsibility, and if he makes the slightest error, people's lives are at stake. So, you don't think he carries a big weight? He does. Now they've gotten rid of Rumsfeld. Well okay, maybe he didn't have the answer, maybe there was a fresh answer required. But you've got to respect the guys who are out there, working hard as public servants. These guys are good guys. People don't like the war because we don't seem to be winning it. And these people think that if we just walk away everything will be fine, but that's not the case.

Even if you disapprove of the war, it seems pretty clear that simply pulling the troops out might not be the best option.
More than that, the war does not end. When we look around and see the evidence of what is being done and the preparations that are being made to disrupt our country and to destroy it. This growing cancer of fanaticism, it's like 1938—it's very, very similar.

FAMILY AFFAIR Father and daughter outside the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2001

Islamic fundamentalism?
Whatever you call it, the things that are being said are very similar. It's a matter of whether we recognize that or go into a cocoon and make our own little drama. Do you know what I'm saying? We're debating things instead of recognizing that the real fundamental aspect is that we're at war with a very vicious, very clever enemy.

For lack of a better segue, your new film, September Dawn, also deals with religious fundamentalism. Is there a common thread here with the Mormons of 1857?
I have stated that the movie is a true documented event of a group of fanatic religious believers who received one man's evil permission to massacre another religion—that's the way I summed it up for myself. And it's interesting that we have the same problem facing us now with the Islamic fanatics calling for the destruction of America and all of democracy. It seems there's always a face of evil putting on a mask of God-like beliefs to destroy true believers of innocence and good.

The film's depiction of the massacre is pretty damning to Brigham Young's reputation. How accurate is it from a historical perspective?
Everything that Brigham Young says in our piece he actually said. When you listen to it, you say "Holy God," but this is the real thing.

I haven't been in touch with the kids and I would love to be spending time with them, that's allThe Mormon church still denies he had anything to do with it.
That's the whole thing: the Mormon church is denying complicity in any way, the upper echelon of the Mormon church. But if you read some of these things you'll see the information. Right now I'm looking through documents where they say, "This comes from up above." It comes from the highest realm. In the Mormon church at that time, since Joseph Smith, it's always been an autocracy, nothing happens without the knowledge of the prophet, the revelatory president.

Now that this issue is fresh again, do you think it could hurt Mitt Romney's bid for the presidential nomination?
Well, look, John Kennedy ran as a Catholic. We in this country are tolerant of religions and we have to respect everybody's way towards God. But then we have to look at the life of each of these candidates. This isn't a movie to expose people who are running for political office; this is a true event, an injustice that has to be righted. I don't know what the ramifications will be. But you have to find the truth. If I were a Mormon, would I want this thing to come out? I would. As we're raised, we're given a certain set of principles from the community, and if there's something that's being hidden that's going to injure us along the way to the future, I want to know. Give me the truth.

The problem is that Brigham Young was a prophet. There's a university named after him. It's a bitter pill to swallow—that one of the elders of your religion might have been responsible for a mass murder.
The Catholic church under John Paul II came out with a statement apologizing for the sins of the past. Germany, after WWII, did the same, saying, "we apologize to the world and to the Jewish people." Good! Important! It's not going to bring people back to life, but you must know what the realities are. If the church didn't acknowledge the Inquisition and the various aspects of its past—violences against people in the name of the church—then there would be something wrong with the church.

You've done a lot of different kinds of movies in your career. Why did you decide on this one?
When I read this story, I knew it was very pertinent because of what we're going through with religious fanaticism and the form it's taken—Islamic fundamentalists. It seemed to give an insight into what's going on today. How programming can so distort a person that they strap a bomb onto their back and go onto a bus and kill innocent people. How can that be? You look at this movie and you can see some of the architecture of that. It's very relevant.

Does the same go for the bigger-budget action films you've made like Anaconda and Pearl Harbor?
Well, Anaconda. I will always have to be measured against Anaconda. Anaconda was to me, it was good and evil. It's an old tale. But it was a well-told story and it had some fantastic elements to it that I thought would be fun for an audience. I had a father who was a storyteller and he used to tell us stories at night. And it reminded me to some degree, I could hear my father saying, "And there they were, they were on the Amazon river, and a typhoon came..." So I said, let's do that. It was a fun movie.

I saw that you were the producer and star of something called Karate Dog. What's that all about?
That was a film my partner liked. He put it together, and I said I'd do it. It's a nice little story about a dog detective, a dog who can speak. And I play the villain who is deranged because he's found a steroid and fallen in love with it and it's messed up his thinking.

So it's a kids movie then?
Yeah, it's a kids movie.

The press has been unkind about your relationship with Angelina Jolie over the last few years. One recent item had you flubbing the name of one of her daughters.
What! Flubbed the name?

Do you have any response?
No, listen, I haven't been in touch with the kids and I would love to be spending time with them, that's all. I have nothing to say, people want to make news out of everything. It's just a cruel slap at somebody, and it becomes a part of our mythology, we can't correct it. I don't want to bring attention to it again. It always hurts me when things are brought back to the fore that are distorted. I send my love to Angie and her family.

Have you met Brad Pitt?
We all know each other a bit. I've always liked Brad.

Do you ever miss Billy Bob Thornton?
I don't want to make any glib statements about that either.

I'm contractually obligated to ask those questions, my apologies. Thanks for taking the time to talk international relations with us.
I hope it comes out in a nice way so I can look at it and go, "That's pretty much what we said." It's very hard this stuff. For instance, the issues we talked about with George Bush, I was also against the attacks on Clinton. I thought they distracted from his focus on the presidency. Clinton was a very brilliant guy and can probably handle a lot of things, as George Bush seems to in the face of this attack. He seems to keep his center, as did Clinton, surprisingly. I'm not saying they don't make mistakes, these guys. They do. But to use it just in order to step into a place of power and take advantage, there's something distasteful to me about that. And it can get downright dangerous. We should be very high-minded. And if that doesn't sell magazines, I'm sorry about that. But the portrait of American leadership from the beginning has been people rising above the mud, being able to be strong enough hold themselves against the nonsense.

But there's still a role for journalism in democracy, right?
Of course. You bet. There's a place for good actors in movies too. But you can do damage to a decent movie by going off in the wrong direction too. My brother Chip [Taylor] wrote a song—he wrote "Wild Thing" and he wrote it at 2:00 in the morning—one of the lyrics was very telling: "The trouble with humans is they're only human / The trouble with trouble is it's always around." That's the deal. We have to fight against gravity to stand up. We should help each other. And the truth is very important. Journalism can be helpful too, but once it bends to sensationalism and commercialism and becomes agenda-driven, it's not so good.