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Stranded human shields buses seek fare home (ROTFLOL!!!)
reuters ^ | 3-5-03

Posted on 03/05/2003 1:41:24 PM PST by Jimmyclyde

Stranded human shields buses seek fare home

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two red double decker buses and a white London taxi that ferried anti-war activists to Baghdad to serve as "human shields" are stranded in Beirut with their owner short the 3,400 pounds it costs to ship them home. The buses and taxi, dusty after a six-week overland journey that began at London's Tower Bridge, were plastered with signs saying "No to a war on Iraq" and "No to war, Yes to peace".

"The buses have to be shipped back. It's just not practical to drive them...I am not even really sure how much money I've got, but I'm sure it's not enough," said owner Joe Letts, adding that he would fly to London on Thursday to try to raise cash.

"I thought I would let people know it's a problem," he added, sitting in a makeshift kitchen on his bus in central Beirut.

Letts said he left London with 45 human shields of 10-12 nationalities, and picked up a dozen or so more in Turkey before arriving in Baghdad, where he spent a week sleeping in a power station hoping to prevent a possible U.S.-led attack.

"We were taken to see some of the installations that the Iraqis thought were suitable for protection," he said, adding that he had feared a bombing campaign could start at any time.

"We painted a huge sign on the roof saying human shields, so when any planes bombed the target, they'd see they were killing us -- Englishmen and Finns and Turks".

Some 50 other Swedish anti-war human shield activists who had travelled to Iraq began to leave on Monday, saying they had wanted to protect hospitals and schools but had been forced out to refineries, power plants and water works.

Letts said about 200 human shields, including many who travelled on his bus, remained in Baghdad when he left. But he said that although he stayed on as a shield for a week, he had no intention of staying in Baghdad for the duration of a war.

"I own these buses and they are my livelihood and my family's livelihood. And all along I was there really to take the people down and then come back," he said.

When he left London, he thought he had enough money to pay to ship the buses home, but ended up spending his personal finances to help pay for the trip.

"I had promised my wife I would get the buses home," he said. "If I don't get them home, we're absolutely stuck."


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2stupid2live; biohazards; brocanyouspareadime; humanshields; saddamszeros; shills4saddam; stuckinberuit; targets; theycame; theyfled; theysaw; usefulidiots
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To: Jimmyclyde

21 posted on 03/05/2003 3:30:20 PM PST by Rome2000
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To: GLDNGUN

22 posted on 03/05/2003 3:30:59 PM PST by Rome2000
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To: blam
"Idiots. How were they gonna get home without any money anyway?"


They'll have their governments bail them out. It's how socialist fools are brought up to think.
23 posted on 03/05/2003 3:31:06 PM PST by DeuceTraveler
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To: swheats
Hey, I thought this was a one-way trip to begin with! LOL
24 posted on 03/05/2003 3:33:05 PM PST by tazman3
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To: AnnaZ
The comedy of errors goes on.
25 posted on 03/05/2003 3:34:59 PM PST by Feiny
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To: Jimmyclyde
Let them be true human shields--take their bus to Israel and tell the terror bombers there that violence isn't the way.

Uh,no, man, you know, I gotta go get my unemployment check and score some weed and some food stamps and. . . .

26 posted on 03/05/2003 3:35:16 PM PST by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: Jimmyclyde
But he said that although he stayed on as a shield for a week, he had no intention of staying in Baghdad for the duration of a war.

Just long enough to say that he was there, right? Of course these losers bugging out only shows that they knew all along that the good guys would not target civilians and civilian infrastructure, so they felt safe in pretending to be so courageous -- until Saddam Hussein's boys forced them to guard real targets or leave.

27 posted on 03/05/2003 3:36:01 PM PST by NYC GOP Chick (Clinton Legacy = 16-acre hole in the ground in lower Manhattan)
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To: JoJo Gunn
I cant wait for the movie to come out. Im thinking Austin Powers meets Clark Griswold!
28 posted on 03/05/2003 3:36:02 PM PST by cardinal4 (The Senate Armed Services Comm; the Chinese pipeline into US secrets)
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To: Jimmyclyde
The most humorous part is yet to come: When General Franks
announces that it is unsafe to remain in Baghdad.
Next Friday?
29 posted on 03/05/2003 3:36:25 PM PST by latrans
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To: Jimmyclyde
maybe they can trade some blood for oil....

(no catalytic converter on that bus....guess the ecofrauds didn't sign Kyoto either)
30 posted on 03/05/2003 3:37:01 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: Jimmyclyde
They have a website www.humanshields.org. There is a feedback section. The message I sent to them: "You people are idiots. Thanks for the laughs!" I guess I could have said more, but that sums things up so well.
31 posted on 03/05/2003 3:37:17 PM PST by KevinB
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To: Jimmyclyde
"We painted a huge sign on the roof saying human shields, so when any planes bombed the target, they'd see they were killing us -- Englishmen and Finns and Turks".

I hope they write large enough for the planes to see from 30 000 feet up, and/or the missles can read the signs.

32 posted on 03/05/2003 3:41:49 PM PST by LadyDoc
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To: Jimmyclyde
This story out of the Florida-Times Union,entitled.. IRAQ: Glamour fades, I found funny:

"The activists also counted on being joined by thousands of protesters from all over the world. But the big numbers never materialized, and Iraq has limited the sites they can visit.

Some activists rightfully questioned whether accepting accommodations, transportation and other perks from Iraq amounted to supporting the Iraqi dictator more than peace.

It apparently only dawned on some of the activists that, rather than human shields, they had become human pawns in the Saddam Hussein public relations game.

What did you do in the war, Daddy?

"I was a human shield, son -- until the shooting started. Then I got the hell out of there. I may be liberal but I'm not crazy."

They must have realized they had more feedoms in their own homelands than in Iraq. heeheheeee

33 posted on 03/05/2003 3:42:38 PM PST by fight_truth_decay (Occupied)
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To: GLDNGUN
Wouldn't it be ironic if they got boarded and blown to bits by a Palestinian suicide bomber who thought it was a Jewish tour bus?

Someone should paint a Star of David and maybe some Hebrew words on those buses. Or wherever the shields are staying.

34 posted on 03/05/2003 3:43:14 PM PST by FITZ
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To: swheats
I think in a weird sort of way they thought they would be able to either stop the bombing or die a martyr's death.

They thought they would stop the bombing.

A martyr's death? Geeze, that's a 15th century concept, dude. We just wanted to stop the bombing. Dying sucks.

Ya know?

Pass the bong.

/sarcasm

35 posted on 03/05/2003 3:44:05 PM PST by Ole Okie (e)
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To: Jimmyclyde
So the judas goat which encouraged other humans shields to sign up is now bravely running away. What about the other shields not in the 'bus' group? Aren't you going to tell them to leave too? Or are you just taking care of us and our own?
36 posted on 03/05/2003 3:44:12 PM PST by Dialup Llama
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To: Jimmyclyde
Just think of how much terrorism they have been supporting, fueling those buses. They said that if the buses broke down, it would be the doing of the CIA. I tend to think that it is the doing of ZsaZsa Huffington.
37 posted on 03/05/2003 3:45:46 PM PST by Paul Atreides
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To: motherof 3
This is a soap opera where I tune in and see what nutty thing the "shields" are up to today. It should have been a reality TV show.

I think it would make a great movie. National Lampoon's Bagdad Vacation.

38 posted on 03/05/2003 3:46:52 PM PST by RedWhiteBlue
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To: nutmeg
More lefty lunacy.
39 posted on 03/05/2003 3:47:40 PM PST by evilC
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To: JoJo Gunn
Why don't they cook up a big pot of lentils and f*rt into the gas tank.
40 posted on 03/05/2003 3:47:49 PM PST by Paul Atreides
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