Posted on 02/12/2003 5:32:07 AM PST by TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!
Ken Nichols O'Keefe doesn't fit easily into the stereotype of a peace activist. A decorated former United States marine and veteran of the Gulf War, he has the look and tattooed body of the infantryman he once was.
But it's O'Keefe - self-described "world citizen" with the word "expatriot" etched into his right hand - who is leading a campaign against United States policy in Iraq by becoming a "human shield." He hopes his presence, along with dozens of similarly-minded war protestors, will prevent President Bush from engaging in a conflict that seems inevitable.
O'Keefe and about 50 others left London in three red, double-decker buses on Jan. 25 en route to Baghdad. The project has grown larger than O'Keefe anticipated - additional volunteers have joined the convoy along its path. But he figures the more innocents that are placed in harm's way the better, making it less likely that the United States will proceed violently against Saddam Hussein.
"The fact is the world's most powerful nation would be stopped in its imperialist tracks if thousands of westerners might be killed by its oil-lust war," O'Keefe said. "Never has there been a greater need for people to stand up and demand a sane and peaceful world."
The peace activists have identified key infrastructure sites throughout Iraq likely to draw U.S. attention. They intend to station themselves around power plants, bridges and roads likely to serve as magnets for U.S. bombs. The group has sent to British Prime Minister Tony Blair a list of the human shields and the sites where they will be taking up positions.
"Officially, on the record, it is now known that Tony Blair has been notified that (United Kingdom) and U.S. citizens are going to be in harm's way and will be killed by our own governments if they go ahead with this war, as they appear determined to do," O'Keefe said. "Let it be on Tony Blair's hands if he decides to go ahead with this war."
Iraq is welcoming the volunteers. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has referred to the shields as "civil defenders" and intends to deploy them around civilian facilities like hospitals.
Some glitches already have occurred. Last week, O'Keefe attempted to enter Turkey without a passport, holding documents that described him as a "citizen of the world." He was summarily returned to Rome where he is recruiting 30 additional volunteers to join him on a third bus bound for Baghdad. Other prospective human shields aboard the double-decker buses plowed ahead. They have received entry visas and are expected to arrive sometime later this week after crossing Syria.
Iraq has a history of utilizing human shields - though this marks the first time volunteers have been imported. During the Gulf War in 1990, hundreds of Iraqis were positioned around President Saddam Hussein's palace and at various key points throughout the countryside. They were not volunteers.
Four years ago, Saddam re-established the practice when U.N. weapons inspectors were banished and the United States and Great Britain responded with a series of air strikes.
The United States isn't amused by the effort. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said any nation that deploys human shields is guilty of a war crime.
"If death or serious injury to a noncombatant resulted from these efforts, the individuals responsible for deploying any innocent civilians as human shields would be guilty of grave breeches of the Geneva Conventions," Myers said.
Myers said the military will view the presence of human shields on a case-by-case basis. If coalition forces are engaged in combat and find themselves in danger, they "probably" will take action even if it threatens the lives of the volunteers. But the primary objective, he said, is to stay clear of noncombatants.
"We're not into killing," Myers said. "That's one thing that separates us from al Qaeda and the Iraqi regime - we don't want to take on civilian populations, we don't want to take on noncombatants, and we take every measure to avoid doing that."
The volunteers insist they're committed to their course despite the dangers.
We've been voiceless, helpless, passive for too long," said Andre Venter, of Cape Town, South Africa. "The time has come for action, to stand up for what we believe. To stand up and be counted. Let's take back our mother earth and live in kindness. It has to start somewhere."
After that, they become collateral damage instead of innocent casulties.
Being a vet is no guarantee of anything. There is the same proportion of liberals, a..holes, morons and complete flakes in the vet population as there is in the rest of the population. Look at McCain for example.
Army Rangers lead better anyway.
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