Human shield Britons quit Baghdad

The Sunday Telegraph ^ | March 2, 2003 | Charlotte Edwardes

[MadIvan]

Almost all of the first British "human shields" to go to Iraq were on their way home last night after deciding that their much-heralded task was now too dangerous.

Two red double-decker buses, which symbolised the hopes of anti-war activists when they arrived to a fanfare of publicity a fortnight ago, slipped quietly out of Baghdad on the long journey back to Britain.

Nine of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country. Among those departing last night was 68-year-old Godfrey Meynell, a former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, who admitted that he was leaving out of "cold fear". He had been summoned, along with 200 other shields from all over the world, to a meeting at a Baghdad hotel yesterday morning.

Abdul Hashimi, the head of the Friendship, Peace and Solidarity organisation that is hosting the protesters, told the shields to choose between nine so-called "strategic sites" by today or quit the country.

The Iraqi warning follows frustration among Saddam Hussein's officials that only about 65 of the shields had so far agreed to take up positions at the oil refineries, power plants and water-purification sites selected by their hosts.

It heightened fears among some peace activists that they could be stationed at non-civilian sites. Mr Meynell and fellow protesters who moved into the power station in south Baghdad last weekend were dismayed to find it stood immediately next to an army base and the strategically crucial main road south to Basra. Iraqi officials said there was little point in guarding what they considered to be low-risk targets.

Iraq's decision to force the pace was welcomed by some of the 20 Britons remaining in Baghdad. "It's only fair," said Uzma Bashir, 32, a college lecturer who is one of the team leaders.

"We've come here as shields to defend sites and now the Iraqis are asking us to make our choice."

[Amelia]

Thanks, Ivan! Too too funny!

[Mr. Mulliner]

I've been wondering about Winnie's whereabouts also.

[Dog]

ping!

[evilC]

Ha Ha Ha Ha

[potlatch]

I hope they feel as stupid as they ARE!!

[NonValueAdded]

The delicious humor of “light dawning upon marble head” aside, the fact that Iraq is positioning these idiots anywhere should be enough to get an indictment on Dr Abdul Hashimi for war crimes.

[Kevin Curry]

If their hygiene was as poor and they smelled as bad as the perpetual protesters who camped outside Greenham Common in the 1980s, the Iraqis likely asked them to leave.

[AF68]

The panty shields are going to have to take the long way home. The Turkish border is sealed.

[M Kehoe]

#37

Good post. Now that this picture is on the web, their families can download it for posterity...after Godfrey Meynell and his team are gone from the gene pool.

5.56mm

[Deb]

What happened to the guy who burned his American passport and declared himself a "citizen of the World"? Last week I read in the Telegraph that he had been detained in Syria.

I love all the Telegraph coverage of the shields. No one else has told the truth about them.

[amom]

BTTT time

[webber]

It reminds me of "Startrek". Startrek you say? What does this have to do with Startrek. Well let me explain. When the Enterprise (A US Vessel) wanted to fire on it's enemies, it had to lower it's shields first before it could fire. So now we are going to fire our weapons and the shields are coming down.

ROTFLOL

[Loyalist]

How stupid. How cowardly. How...How... FRENCH!

[driftless]

I wish to lodge a protest. It seems that a higher proportion of Brits are staying around to be slaughtered than Americans. That means that Britain's gene pool will benefit more than America's since your population is smaller. Oh the humanity!! (yuk,yuk)

[hometoroost]

This sounds like something out of Monty Python.

Well, you wouldn' want ta be the 'uman shield when the shootin' starts...that would be dangerous now wouldn' it?

[Norman Arbuthnot]

Nine of the original 11 activists decided to pull out after being given an ultimatum by Iraqi officials to station themselves at targets likely to be bombed in a war or leave the country. Among those departing last night was 68-year-old Godfrey Meynell, a former High Sheriff of Derbyshire, who admitted that he was leaving out of "cold fear". He had been summoned, along with 200 other shields from all over the world, to a meeting at a Baghdad hotel yesterday morning.

Well. well, well, welcome to Fear Factor IRAQ. It looks like it dawned on these dimwits at a rather late stage that they were really putting themselves in real danger.

[muawiyah]

Buddy of mine travels in "Arab circles" ('cause he's A-Rab himself) and he says it's much safer to travel from Israel to Kuwait via Jordan to Saudi than it is via Iraq!

The reason is not all parts of Iraq, particularly the public highways, are fully under the control of the central government in Baghdad. As a result, if you travel outside of the cities on public roads you are likely to get attacked, robbed, murdered and disposed of.

[fella]

"Must be like the new style hunger strikes where they alternate skipping meals, so no one has to go all day without eating."

Yep, it's a lot like the new style filibuster that's going on in the Senate.

[friendly]

From Saturday Night Live's Deep Thoughts by "Jack Handey":

If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave man, I guess I'm a coward.

[MonroeDNA]

They need to be denied re-entry, and their citizenship revoked.

Let them wander the earth.