Posted on 04/02/2003 1:41:41 PM PST by AmericanInTokyo
Human Shield Weblog Diary: Tuesday, April 1, 2003 9 a.m. EST
"This entry was written by CPT staffer Doug Pritchard in Toronto.
"Scott Kerr made a very brief phone call from the Jordanian border to Gene Stoltzfus at CPT's Chicago office to say that all of the team in Iraq had now left Baghdad and were at the border. They will travel on to Amman and should arrive there by early afternoon Tuesday. We understand that some members of the Iraq Peace Team, our sister group, are still in Baghdad. We have no information yet as to why the CPT team left. They will likely regroup in Amman and begin planning future work in the region.
"Saturday, March 29, 2003, 10:15 p.m. EST
"This entry was written by CPT staff member Gene Stoltzfus in Chicago, based on a phone conversation with the team in Jordan.
Seven members of Christian Peacemaker Teams; two members of the Iraq Peace Team, a related group; and three other internationals were expelled by the Iraqi government today. All left Baghdad at 9:30 a.m. local time in three vehicles and arrived at the Jordanian border at approximately 6:00 p.m. local time. The expelled CPT members include Peggy Gish; Cliff Kindy; Weldon Nisly, 57, of Seattle, Wash.; Betty Scholten, 69, of Mt. Rainier, Md.; Kara Speltz, 65, of Oakland, Calif.; Jonathon and Leah Wilson-Hartgrove, both 22, of Devon, Pa.
"One possible reason for the expulsion, according to Kindy, was the intense level of anxiety throughout Baghdad. The government “minder” assigned to their group ordered the expulsion after team members walked from their hotel to a meeting in another hotel, documenting the destruction in the streets along the way. His own house had been hit by bombs the previous night.
"Kindy reported that “the road from Baghdad to the border was clear.” However, one of their taxis blew a tire on the highway and rolled into a ditch--injuring Kindy, Nisly and an IPT team member They were taken to a nearby children’s hospital in southwestern Iraq, but the hospital had been bombed, so they had to be transferred to a clinic.
“These Iraqis, whose hospital had just been destroyed by U.S. bombs, graciously dressed our wounds and gave us medicine--precious medicine from their very limited supply due to 12 years of sanctions,” Kindy said.
"Upon reaching the Jordanian border, Nisly was taken by ambulance to Amman where he remains hospitalized with possible broken bones. Kindy received 10 stitches for a head wound and Claiborne suffered a dislocated shoulder.
"Kindy reported that the nine members of CPT who remain in Baghdad are continuing their ministry, which includes visiting hospitals, clinics, orphanages, churches and mosques. Since the war's outbreak, the team has paid visits to families in about 10 different neighborhoods whose homes were bombed--ncluding a young man, just married, whose wife was decapitated by a missile strike on their wedding night.
"CPT lost direct phone and e-mail communication with the Baghdad team two days ago when U.S. bombs destroyed a major Iraqi communications facility.
"According to Kindy, some of the group in Amman plan to remain to provide support for team members who remain in Baghdad--Jim Douglas of Birmingham, Ala., David Havard of Sheffield, England; Scott Kerr of Downers Grove, Ill., Jerry & Sis Levin of Birmingham, Ala., Sean O’Sullivan of Los Angeles; Lisa Martens of Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Stewart Vriesinga of Lucknow, Ontario."
END OF DARWIN AWARD CANDIDATE REPORTS
It claims a group was bombed/attacked by US aircraft between Baghdad and Jordan, and yet their own weblog says they had a mere 'traffic accident' (blown tire) which resulted in three injuries.
The Iraqi govt. people are reported to have gotten jittery about these westerners walking around on their own in Baghdad during all this bombing, taking photographs, and ordered them out for 'lack of following instructions'. This is what happened to previous human shields, including the body-pierced former US Marine there.
Maybe the Iraqi secret police/Ba'ath Party officials/handlers were worried about reports of intelligence on the ground being passed on by human shields. Whatever. The situation is most murky and sadly entertaining in a way.
These human shields were warned long ago not to go behind enemy lines to stand up and protect a totalitarian dictatorship which the people actually hate and fear.
Read: "munitions depot / command center"
Read: "munitions depot / command center"
Ahhh Gener.....er......Doctor Abdullah will see you as soon as we move the morta......er......x-ray machine to the roof.
they are taken to a damaged civilian area such as an orphan's hospital, see destruction and chaos, natually feel for the victims as anyone would, but then begin to notice T-72 tanks parked behind the facility that were also hit, or RPGs leaning up along with wall in the hospital administrator's office and see green uniformed Iraqi regulars swarming all of the place, military maps on the walls, etc. etc.
these retarded, dense do-gooders would then get the clue that this off-limits, safe zone place is actually being used by military and fedayhin as a 'shield' itself, and yet they can't speak up to their hosts or question this depravity, or they might be put down on the spot with a bullet to the head.
this was all too predictable.
the leftist morons should have at least met with the Iraqi National Congress or other anti-Saddam refugees/exiles in the USA before they left for this mission, to get some real input as to how that terrifying place is actually run over there!
Yeah, I suspect they failed to check for State Department travel advisories, too... LOL
Definition of Iraqui hospital: Division headquarters, Clinic: Battalion headquarters.
Jihad-Jim McDermott Bump!
Damn, Iraqi women take that "no head after marriage" tradition to extremes.
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