The Australian star was at the Austin Fantastic Fest in Texas, a film festival, to promote his latest film, Apocalypto.
The 50 year-old director drew a parallel between the fallen ancient Mayan culture depicted in his film, to that of the current situation in Iraq. Gibson said, "The precursors to a civilization that’s going under are the same, time and time again."
Gibson added, "What’s human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?"
The film Apocalypto opens in theatres on December 8.