Posted on 03/31/2003 11:02:19 AM PST by IvanT
Foreigners who went to Baghdad to be martyrs felt used by Iraqis
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
There are few things more pathetic than a "human shield" who not only isn't wanted, but is treated contemptuously by those he/she is trying to shield.
Increasingly, the Iraq regime in Baghdad is turfing out foreigners who came to Baghdad eager to be martyrs and protect orphanages and non-military targets from bombs.
Some human shields -- the saner ones, if that's not an oxymoron -- objected when Iraqis wanted them around oil installations, hydro plants and even military sites.
The human shields seemed not to realize that orphanages don't need human shields.
The Daily Telegraph ran a first-person account by American Daniel Pepper: "I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam." He recounted how a Baghdad taxi driver viewed him first as a provocateur and a possible secret police agent for opposing the war.
When Pepper explained he was "just a schmuck from the United States" the driver opened up and told him how whole families could be killed for criticizing Saddam.
Pepper recalled "spontaneous, emotional and secretive outbursts imploring visitors to free them from Saddam's tyrannical Iraq." Pepper came home wiser, sadder, mortified.
United Press International quotes a young American pastor, Kenneth Joseph, who went to Baghdad to protest the war and interviewed Iraqis on camera.
"They convinced me that Saddam was a monster ... He and his sons are sick sadists. Tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head." He met people who yearned for American air strikes.
Powerful stuff. On Saturday, The Toronto Star's Mitch Potter, in Syria, did a solid report on "human shield" Philip Sands, a 24-year-old clerk at a small Midlands newspaper who hoped to save Iraqis from bombs.
Sands, a German and Spanish human shield were kicked out by the head of the Iraqi Organization for Peace Security and Friendship.
Sadly disillusioned, Sands said: "The entire Human Shield project has been collective madness ... For the most part, they are all dippy idiots. I tried to stick with the sane ones, but they left before the bombing started."
He said the human shields were sincere, with good intentions, but many "approached the conflict with the monochromatic notion that Saddam is right, Bush is wrong." The longer he was in Baghdad, the more uneasy he became about Saddam. Increasingly, he felt used by the regime.
Still, he regretted leaving Baghdad. There are now maybe 50 or 60 human shields left -- most at oil refineries, none highly regarded by Iraqis.
With some bewilderment, Sands recalled the Spanish human shield objecting to being expelled, and begging to be put into a uniform so he could fight with the Iraqis and "kill Americans." Some peacenik! Iraq didn't want him.
It makes one wonder why "peace" protesters and anti-war types in the free and safe west are so prone to violence, while soldiers in the war are so generous with their own lives by trying not to hurt civilians.
Pity peace protesters don't have the inner discipline, character, courage and restraint of the soldiers!
What is significant in this war, with all the generals babbling on TV, is that I haven't heard one soldier disagree with the civilians' right to protest. Nor have I noticed one protester arguing that Iraqis should be free.
This was highlighted by our PM wanting Saddam to stand trial as a war criminal, but doesn't want him replaced as president. You figure it out.
Too nutso for the Iraqi army - wow. This has to be a record of some sort.
At least he's intelligent enough to learn from his mistakes. There's some hope for him yet.
"I tried to stick with the sane ones, but they left before the bombing started." -- Philip Sands
Um....there might be some hope for HIM yet, once he figures out just how that statement reflects upon his own sanity.
"There are now maybe 50 or 60 human shields left -- most at oil refineries, none highly regarded by Iraqis."
Darwin Award wannabes. Far more likely to be blown up by Saddam's troops than by the Allies. Ah well. The herd can do without their genes. Wonder if forced sterilization is a viable option should these fools manage to survive?
"Sands recalled the Spanish human shield objecting to being expelled, and begging to be put into a uniform so he could fight with the Iraqis and 'kill Americans.' Some peacenik!"
Indeed. That's why I call 'em 'pieceniks'. It's a more accurate descriptive.
"This was highlighted by our PM wanting Saddam to stand trial as a war criminal, but doesn't want him replaced as president."
I thought Chretien was a moron before President Bush was elected. Nothing he's said or done since has bettered that opinion. Mainstream America genuinely sympathizes with Mainstream Canada. We've 'been there, done that' through 8 years of Clinton plus almost 2 years following the 2000 election.
Thank you for posting this. I hope you post more of Peter Worthington's work in the future.
Cheers. He's one of my absolute favourite columnists out of Canada. I will do so, I have a feeling FReepers will come to love him.
ROTFLMBO!!!!!!
They just need to be fitted with LoJack implants.
He's certainly found a fan-in-the-making in THIS FReeper!
Exactly what I was wondering.
Why has it taken so long for someone to point out the obvious?
Why do these "human shields" feel they are so superior to the children & injured they "protect" that they sincerely believe their absence would doom the latter? Are they really that narcissistic?
How come one can never find an "El Cid" when one really needs one?
We could have Worthington pings! I'm surprised that he's not more well known, considering Mark Steyn's popularity on here.
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