Human shields in Iraq try to make war personal

Reuters | 3/04/03 | Christine Hauser

[Caipirabob]

"Americans tend to see the entire Iraqi people as the enemy."

I don't the have words to express my thoughts.

[Jaxter]

If I were Saddam, I'd wait until the war started, kill the human shields and put their bodies wherever I wanted and say they were killed by US bombs. If I were George Bush, I'd start floating this possibility to the press via Ari.

[Defender2]

They are not human shields, what they are is traitors!!!! They should not be allowed to return to the U.S.!!!!

[ErnBatavia]

Did they update their personal life insurance policies before they left?

I wonder if a suicide clause would kick in....it should.

[45Auto]

Some British 'human shields' flee

Activists leave Iraq, cite safety fears

Associated Press Mar. 3, 2003 12:00 AM

LONDON - Some of the peace activists who went to Iraq to serve as human shields in the event of war returned home, fearing for their safety, a spokesman said Sunday.

The human shields are mostly European activists who drove from London to Baghdad in two double-decker buses last month, intending to guard civilian sites from a U.S.-led military attack.

Those who returned home had safety or financial concerns, spokesman Christiaan Briggs said.

"The aim was always a mass migration, and if we had had five to 10 thousand people here there would never be a war," he said. "We do not have those numbers."

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that nine of the 11 British human shields in the bus convoy had left Baghdad. Briggs said about a dozen Britons remained in Iraq alongside several dozens from other countries.

He told Britain's Press Association news agency that Iraq limited the sites that human shields could visit. "Now we are being told we cannot go to certain sites, such as hospitals, so we are reassessing our strategy," he said.

U.S. officials have said that it is a war crime to use civilians as human shields and that there's no way of guaranteeing their safety.

On Friday, the head of Sweden's largest peace organization urged human shields to leave Iraq, saying they were being used for propaganda purposes by Saddam Hussein.

[chiefqc]

These stupid morons still think this is all a big party.

"Hey stupid, If you stay, you may die."

[KineticKitty]

Hilarious, ...They imply Americans are generalizing the people of Iraq as the enemy BY GENERALIZING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC with their statement. Morons.

[45Auto]

[KineticKitty]

"On Friday, the head of Sweden's largest peace organization urged human shields to leave Iraq, saying they were being used for propaganda purposes by Saddam Hussein."

Big shocker there. lol

[Calpernia]

>>>>Clancy had tea with Iraqis in the market, played football with children and visited schools where students drew pictures of fears of war, such as missiles falling on smiling families.

Now the article from here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/854819/posts made it sound like the Shields weren't allowed NEAR the hospitals, children, population.

Wonder which is true.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

	International peace activists, including those calling themselves "Human Shields", light candles from one another during a vigil for peace in downtown Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday Feb. 26, 2003. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) - Feb 26 3:02 PM ET
	International peace activists, including those calling themselves "Human Shields", light candles for peace in downtown Baghdad Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) - Feb 26 2:33 PM ET

	Max Salamander 24, from San Francisco, Calif., back to camera, is hugged by a colleague in Amman, Jordan, Monday, Feb. 24, 2003. Salamander was with 25 other people from Western countries leaving for Baghdad to act as "human shields" in protest against a U.S. led war in Iraq. The human shields group includes volunteers from France, UK, Spain, US, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Australia. (AP Photo/Jamal Nasrallah) - Feb 24 11:56 AM ET
	Godfrey Meynell, 68, left, from England, joins other human shield peace activists as they depart downtown Baghdad on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003 to go to the South Baghdad Power Plant where they say they will remain till the threat of war is averted. Fifteen human shields from different countries reached Baghdad Sunday aboard two red double decker London buses. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) - Feb 23 9:19 AM ET

	Godfrey Meynell, 68, left, from England, joins other human shield peace activists inside the South Baghdad Power Plant where they say they will remain until the threat of war is averted in Baghdad on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2003. Fifteen human shields from different countries reached Baghdad Sunday aboard two red double decker London buses. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay) - Feb 23 9:19 AM ET

[Calpernia]

Yes! That is the exact quote I was thinking of:

"He told Britain's Press Association news agency that Iraq limited the sites that human shields could visit. "Now we are being told we cannot go to certain sites, such as hospitals, so we are reassessing our strategy," he said. "

Of that was true; then how could this be true: "Clancy had tea with Iraqis in the market, played football with children and visited schools where students drew pictures of fears of war, such as missiles falling on smiling families."

[A CA Guy]

Shield + idiot + Shidiot.

They are total shidiots!

[VRWCmember]

To be effective, a group needs a catchy name -- preferrably one that forms a good acronym. For the human shield organization, I recommend:
Strategic Human Insertion Team: Fostering Obstruction, Resistance, & Barriers, Rejecting American Interests, & National Security.

[zeaal]

Mr. Clancy's statement, "Americans tend to see the entire Iraqi people as the enemy," reveals his ignorance of the American people. On the contrary, we consider the Iraqi people not as our enemy but valued human beings worth the cost of liberating. The American people desire for the Iraqi people the same freedoms and ability to freely express their hopes and concerns for their country and fellow citizens as we have. The American people also hope for an end to the horrible tyranical government the Iraqi barely exist under. The America people want FREEDOM for the IRAQI people. The same freedom in America that allows Mr. Clancy to loudly voice his opposition to actions in Iraq in the media and on street corners is the same FREEDOM most Americans hope the Iraqi people can realize in this generation. No, the Iraqi people are precious and they are not the enemy ... the evil Hussein is both of our enemy.

[freekitty]

I think they ought to learn from the shields that decided to go home because the fire was getting to hot.

[A CA Guy]

They do resemble that remark.

[Shermy]

I hope these folks suffer the same fate as Saddam.

I'm guessing Saddam puts their faces on local TV a lot.

I wouldn't walk the streets of Baghdad after Saddam falls, if I were them. They might be torn apart.

[steve in DC]

These sound an awful lot like the same folks as there are in the Ban the Land Mines" organizations.

Maybe if they are done being human shields, they can find out where the Iraqis have their minefields and they can be human land mine clearers, as well.

That would be time well spent, and everyone benefits!