ROBIN: You tit! I soiled my armour I was so scared!
Posted on 03/01/2003 4:24:50 PM PST by 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."
...which in leftist circles must always use the phrase "raised awareness." As in "Well, we totally messed up, but at least we raised awarnes of this important issue."
Perfect response, Mad!
ROBIN: You tit! I soiled my armour I was so scared!
Actually, in this war, we are all human shields.
Like a Baby Ruth bar...
The liberal excuse now going around is that the shields were "naive". Not stupid, not ignorant, not aiders and abettors of the the bloody tyrant, Saddam.....but, "naive".
Never mind that most of them are highly educated and held or hold responsible jobs (like the former High Sheriff of Nuttingham, er, Derbyshire). Most are of an age not exactly in the teeny-bopper category.
These ADULTS knew exactly what they were doing when they got into this farce. Some of them are turning tail now because they DO know exactly what they're doing. They are NOT naifs.
Cold fear trumps warm fuzzy feelings every time.
Leni
MM
It is a big old joke. Secondly, the term "human shields" was popularized by Hussein himself, for the use of hostages to be taken at force to his military facilities after he has already invaded Kuwait in 1990.
These so-called peace activists are not in Iraq protesting anything dear Saddam does, just what Uncle Sam does. It shows a twisting of values that exposes these people for who they are.
A large red London bus edges its way along an East-end Street. The conductor, after more passengers board- a tired shabbily dressed lot, crisply says "Hold very, very tight". Away the bus goes. They look out at the carnage. They wonder who got it from 'Itlers Luftwaffe in the night. They have to get to work- or else, no bloomin' excuses. "Don'tcha know there's a war on?"
They finish their days work and then, some of them have to do a spot of firewatching. It is 1940.
Meynell, sheriff sir, where is your tradition? You have none. You do not have a Just Cause . That is why you, in the idiom, chickened out.
| "Thank you all for coming here to help me defend my genocidal regime...Now if you will kindly sit over by the target area, I`m sure the F-16`s will be here shortly to bomb you to smithereens." |
Ah, shucks. I was hoping the human shields would "ride out" on the first bomb we dropped. Heck!
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