Today’s issue of Los Angeles Times carries a manifesto in the form of a full-page ad signed by 85 Hollywood bigwigs.

I know what you’re thinking: maybe they’re complaining about low-thread-count linens for the prisoners Guantanamo Bay or the hurtful stereotyping of people named Osama.

Well, sit down and prepare yourself for a shock. This group of not-quite-100 honchos has issued a political statement the likes of which I’ve never seen from Hollywood: they’ve actually managed to point their fingers at a culprit that isn’t America or its evil, chimp-like leader.

Believe it or not, the people behind this ad argue that we need to “stop terrorism at all costs”, and they place the blame squarely on “terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.”

The folks lending their signature to this startling declaration include Nicole Kidman and:

Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt.

Directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi also signed their names.

Other Hollywood powerplayers supporting the ad included Sumner Redstone, the chairman and majority owner of Paramount Pictures, and billionaire mogul, Haim Saban.

Hats off to all of them for recognizing terrorism for what it is, and that it must be stopped “at all costs” or “chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.”

Acknowledging that there are millions of people who want to kill you just because you want to live differently from them is an uncomfortable leap for a lot of people, one that’s much easier to ignore...especially for people whose careers require them to live in a fantasy world.

I don’t know if Hollywood as a whole is waking up to reality yet, but more and more sensible Westerners are, and there are bound to be some entertainers among them.

Frankly, it gives me a little hope that we might someday find the fortitude required to face this enemy directly and act relentlessly to defeat it.

Unfortunately, that day is still very far off.