THE WAR’S IMPACT

Cartoon Draws Fire: A re-release of a 43-year-old Bugs Bunny cartoon featuring a carpet-riding rabbit’s Persian Gulf encounters with a mustachioed character named Mad Man Hassan is amusing some movie audiences, but others claim the short is replete with age-old Arab stereotypes. Warner Bros. issued a statement saying “A-lad-in His Lamp” (1948) is “simply a classic cartoon . . . intended--as all our cartoons are--only as good-natured fun,” but radio personality Casey Kasem, who is of Arab descent and an activist in improving the Arab image, said perpetuating Arab stereotypes could “dehumanize the populace as a whole.”