11 FEBRUARY 2003
Madonna has joined the growing ranks of show biz heavyweights to campaign for peace. The video for her forthcoming single, American Life, will feature graphic images of the horrors of war, it has been revealed.

The video includes pictures of the victims of war, interspersed with images of soldiers, fashion models and Madonna herself dressed in military fatigues and throwing hand grenades. "It expresses a panoramic view of our culture and the looming war through the view of a female superhero, portrayed by Madonna," said her spokeswoman.

American Life "is a courageous statement on the state of America and the world," added the representative. While the 44-year-old pop singer says the clip is not intended as an outright attack on President George Bush, it is expected to be highly controversial.

Madonna's ex-husband, the acclaimed actor and director Sean Penn, has become a leading voice of dissent in the US as the country prepares for war in Iraq. The filmmaker visited Baghdad on a three-day fact-finding mission in order to "record the human face of the Iraqi people so that their blood - along with that of American soldiers - would not be invisible".

And last month over 100 of Hollywood's most renowned entertainers signed a letter to George Bush calling on him not to start a war. Martin Sheen, Kim Bassinger, Samuel L Jackson, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman were amongst the signatories. Leading heart-throb George Clooney also lent his voice to the chorus of disapproval, accusing his namesake in the White House of running the government "like The Sopranos".