Written By Rick Ellis, Friday, February 28th, 2003

Click Here To See The TV Ad

Actor and former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson has joined the public debate on the impending war with Iraq, filming a 30-second TV commercial in which he says he supports the President and his policies towards Iraq. "Thank goodness we have a president with the courage to protect our country," Thompson says in the ad which may begin airing Monday in Washington, D.C., and New York.

Thompson, retired from the Senate in 2002 and returned to his previous career as an actor, playing a district attorney on NBC's drama "Law & Order."

A number of celebrities have spoken out publicly against the President and his Iraqi policies, although Thompson told reporters that this was not a "direct rebuttal" to any particular actor. That includes fellow NBC star Martin Sheen, who recently taped an ad asking President Bush to reconsider his policy towards Iraq.

That having been said, he does admit that "I think the president is pursuing the right policy. ... It's something I feel rather strongly about and it seems like so much publicity, so many ads, are being taken out attacking the president, attacking the policy."

In fact, sources tell me that the timing of this commercial was not coincidental. "This is something that we (Republicans) have wanted do for awhile," says one of the people who helped arrange the funding for this commercial. "Initially, we felt that having the usual lineup of liberal Hollywood types coming out against the war would only help to solidify our base. But in the past two weeks, tracking numbers have started to move in the wrong direction....primarily, I think, because of the sheer number of stars making a public comment...we needed to get our message out there."

While it's not clear at this point just how many people will see the actual ad, supporters are planning to air it in Washington DC and New York City--a move which will insure that the spot is picked up and replayed in the free media as part of the general news cycle.