David Axe
Security

What the War Effort Needs: Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie visited Syria and Iraq this week on behalf of the U.N. High Council on Refugees, the A.P. reports: Jolie traveled to the Al-Waleed refugee camp on the Iraqi side of the border and spoke to some of the 1,200 Iraqis living there before visiting a contingent of U.S. troops in the area, the […]

Angelinajolieiraq06 Angelina Jolie visited Syria and Iraq this week on behalf of the U.N. High Council on Refugees, the A.P. reports:

Jolie traveled to the Al-Waleed refugee camp on the Iraqi side of the border and spoke to some of the 1,200 Iraqis living there before visiting a contingent of U.S. troops in the area, the agency said. UNHCR spokeswoman Astrid Van Genderen Stort said the trip had been organized weeks in advance at Jolie's request.

Among her goals was to draw attention to Iraq's refugee crisis, according to Reuters: "'It is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq's future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face,' she said."

My favorite Jolie tracking blog has more:

Angie traveled [to Syria] by commercial airliner with only bodyguard Mickey Brett (Big Mickey to us) accompanying her. She made a similar trip last year to embattled Darfur sans entourage. ... For security reasons her travel plans have been hush hush.

Jolieiraq "This trip was planned a month in advance by the U.N., which usually takes a couple of weeks for special ambassadors," another blog remarks. "The U.N. wouldn’t comment on the security measures they took to get Angelina there." But you can bet she rode in a heavily-armed convoy in the same kind of armored SUVs that diplomats in Iraq use. These often boast radio jammers to thwart IEDs. And she probably had air cover, too. Hell, she's a national asset.

God, I'm so turned on.

One super-hot actress + a month of planning + one full-time bodyguard + commercial flight to Syria + an armored ground convoy = an Iraq photo op that, absurdly, will do more to draw attention to Iraq's refugee crisis than any amount of professional reporting.