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American and British Human Shiels Head to Iraq
UK Observer ^ | Sunday December 29, 2002 | Paul Harris

Posted on 01/05/2003 11:06:22 AM PST by Jacobine

'Human shields' head for Iraq

Paul Harris Sunday December 29, 2002 The Observer

A convoy of anti-war activists, likely to include dozens of British volunteers, will leave London next month to act as human shields protecting strategic sites in Iraq. The convoy to Baghdad is being organised by former US marine Kenneth Nichols, who served in the first Gulf war and won a combat medal but has now become a vociferous opponent of another Gulf conflict.

British protesters are also heading for the country in advance of any Anglo-American bombing.

Nichols, 33, aims to gather scores of volunteers together in London and lead the convoy on 10 January. It will drive across Europe, holding rallies in various capital cities and collecting other human-shield demonstrators along the way. It plans to travel via Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Zurich, Milan, Sarajevo, Istanbul and Syria to Baghdad.

He is hoping that the convoy will arrive in the Iraqi capital around 24 January, three days before President George W Bush is to make his decision on whether Iraq has complied with the UN weapons inspections, potentially triggering a US-led invasion.

Nichols is willing to put his own life on the line to stop a war. 'In going to Iraq I understand that I will likely not survive a US invasion,' he said.

Once in Iraq, members of the convoy will identify infrastructure targets for bombing, such as power stations, key bridges and roads, and deploy themselves as human shields in the glare of the international media.

'I don't think anyone will be happy about bombing somewhere they see being protected by North Americans or Europeans,' he said.

In the 1991 conflict, Nichols was serving in the 2nd Battalion of the Marine Corps. He was an infantryman on the road to Basra, where heavy Allied bombing killed hundreds of retreating Iraqi soldiers. He left the Marine Corps a year later.

His experience of war left him disillusioned with American foreign policy, and he is now a vociferous opponent of US foreign interventions. 'Part of the reason I want to go back is to apologise to the Iraqi people for what I was doing there the first time I was in their country,' he said.

Part-time law student Jo Wilding, 28, is one Briton who is heading for the region. She expects to fly to Baghdad on 10 January and then go to the southern city of Basra. 'There is something I can do there just by being a foreigner,' she said. 'If something does start when we are there, we will be able to document it.'


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: darwinatwork; humanshields; iraq; war
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OMG.
1 posted on 01/05/2003 11:06:22 AM PST by Jacobine
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To: Jacobine
Is that headline OK?

Shouldn't Human Shiels be Human Shills?

2 posted on 01/05/2003 11:09:10 AM PST by SJackson
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To: SJackson
Actually a 'shiel' is an old Scots word for small dwelling/hut. They are apparently going to Iraq pretending to be tents.

Oh wait, that can't be right....

Perhaps they are just as stupid as they sound?

3 posted on 01/05/2003 11:11:25 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: Jacobine
Let me guess.... Not a single one of the Hollywood anti-war crowd amoung them. So much for conviction to a cause.
4 posted on 01/05/2003 11:12:13 AM PST by Dutch Boy
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To: Jacobine
Aid and comfort to the enemy, they are also the enemy to be targeted as the enemy!!!!
5 posted on 01/05/2003 11:12:42 AM PST by Defender2
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To: TLBSHOW
It Pitt would go over there to be a human shield, it would take about two minutes for us to raise the money for a one-way ticket.
6 posted on 01/05/2003 11:13:42 AM PST by doug from upland
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To: anniegetyourgun
Actually a 'shiel' is an old Scots word for small dwelling/hut.

Learn something every day here. UK Observer, that must be what they meant. ;>)

7 posted on 01/05/2003 11:13:57 AM PST by SJackson
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To: Jacobine
Correction! Headline should read:

American and British Human Shills Head to Iraq

8 posted on 01/05/2003 11:14:57 AM PST by null and void
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To: Jacobine
'I don't think anyone will be happy about bombing somewhere they see being protected by North Americans or Europeans,' he said.

Is that right?
You might want to re-think that one.
In my humble opinion, we're talking win-win!

9 posted on 01/05/2003 11:16:09 AM PST by evad
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To: SJackson
Guess I should read the comments before chiming in...
10 posted on 01/05/2003 11:16:31 AM PST by null and void
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: Jacobine
'Part of the reason I want to go back is to apologise to the Iraqi people for what I was doing there the first time I was in their country,

Sheesh, what a maroon.

12 posted on 01/05/2003 11:20:06 AM PST by EggsAckley
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To: Jacobine
"former US marine Kenneth Nichols" ... RIP ... A disgrace to the Corps and all those who have fought and died to preserve our freedoms and liberty.
13 posted on 01/05/2003 11:21:52 AM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: Dutch Boy
Shall we take up a collection?
14 posted on 01/05/2003 11:22:55 AM PST by anniegetyourgun
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To: Jacobine
About 100 US Special Forces members and more than 50 Central Intelligence Agency officers have been operating in small groups inside Iraq for at least four months..

HEY YOU GUYS!!!

Take this bunch out first.

15 posted on 01/05/2003 11:23:51 AM PST by evad
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To: Jacobine
Nichols is willing to put his own life on the line to stop a war.

Okay! I DO appreciate the Government freedoms that we have had bestowed so graciously upon us. If that's what he wants to do well...It certainly won't change my attitude toward's that tyranical leader in Iraq or my resolve as to what needs to be done to keep our Republic free.

16 posted on 01/05/2003 11:25:08 AM PST by EGPWS
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To: doug from upland
It Pitt would go over there to be a human shield, it would take about two minutes for us to raise the money for a one-way ticket.

Won't take that long..
I'll be glad to pay the whole fare.

Matter-a-fact, I've got a special airplane he can go in ;-)

17 posted on 01/05/2003 11:26:51 AM PST by evad
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To: Jacobine
I wonder if the whole kit 'n kaboodle would have been willing to act as human shields in the World Trade Center.
18 posted on 01/05/2003 11:28:15 AM PST by Snake65
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To: doug from upland
He is too busy drinking beer and drowning his life in liberal bs to bother, but he is going to be one that clogs up the war at home with protests.
19 posted on 01/05/2003 11:28:30 AM PST by TLBSHOW
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To: evad
'In going to Iraq I understand that I will likely not survive a US invasion,' he (Nichols) said.

Works for me. Why don't you bring along a cyanide capsule, just to make sure.

'I don't think anyone will be happy about bombing somewhere they see being protected by North Americans or Europeans,' he (Nichols) said.

This guy seems to think that everyone is as big a racist as he is. I don't like to see anyone killed needlessly. I don't care whether he is Iraqi or North American or European. The nationality of the people being bombed does not matter a whit.

(OK, maybe you get bonus points for the French. But that's the only exception)

The key is to only get into wars that are worth killing and dying for. I would put the Iraq invasion in that category, provided the ultimate goal is to overthrow the country and install a stable, representative form of government.

20 posted on 01/05/2003 11:30:22 AM PST by gridlock
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