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Oliver Stone on the U.S.: "We're A Sick Country"

Oliver Stone on Jun 21. 2010. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK (CBS) Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone has some heavy words for the United States.

The outspoken filmmaker spoke with CBSNews.com's Ken Lombardi in New York on June 21 about his new documentary "South of The Border" and the current state of United States politics.

A vocal critic of the Bush administration, he is cautiously supportive of President Obama.

"I'm rooting for it," says Stone of the Obama administration. "I'd like to see him turn this situation--he inherited a miserable situation. We're playing this game of empire."

"We don't want to allow any competitors or adversaries to challenge us; we are trying to fight for something we can't afford and really we can't pull off. We can't win in Afghanistan, we can't win in Iran and we can't win in Iraq."

"It's the same paranoia that goes through American life," he said.

"We're a sick country as long as we're going to think like that. We have to rethink our priorities. We have to be equal."

"South of the Border", a cinematic road trip through five countries to explore the cultural and political movements of South America, opens at the Silverdocs Festival in Washington on Monday.

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