Posted on 09/08/2002 6:01:46 AM PDT by zapiks44
British peace protesters plan to go to Baghdad to act as voluntary "human shields" during a war against Iraq.
The activists, who have received President Saddam Hussein's blessing for the mission, want to try to deter attacks by "showing solidarity" with the Iraqi people and witnessing "their suffering".
They are willing to risk their lives in the hope that their presence at installations such as power stations might deter American and British bombing raids.
The "Iraq peace team", from the group Voices in the Wilderness, intends to go to Iraq as early as this month alongside volunteers from the United States.
One of the British volunteers, Matt Barr, 21, a student from Chichester, West Sussex, said: "Obviously, it's unpleasant to consider that you could be killed, but it is important to extend the arm of solidarity and brotherhood to a nation that is suffering - to bear witness to what is happening to the ordinary people."
He added: "I believe in the sanctity of human life. I have dedicated the last five years of my life to human rights. If there is a major attack on Iraq it is the innocent civilians who are going to suffer. That is something I cannot stand by and let happen."
Voices in the Wilderness, founded in Britain in 1998, grew out of the peace protests during the Gulf war, when British activists camped in the desert on the Iraqi border.
The group's website admits that members are involved in breaking "criminal" international sanctions against Baghdad. It says they "risk persecution and imprisonment" in doing so.
The "peace team" idea has been welcomed by the Iraqi regime. Kathy Kelly, the US co-ordinator of Voices in the Wilderness, secured agreement for the mission from Tariq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, in Baghdad in May.
She said: "We will tell everybody that goes over that they should be prepared to say that they have had a good life and this could be the last year of their life."
Mudhafar Amin, the diplomat representing Iraq's interests in London, said: "They are real humanitarians and very brave."
Voices in the Wilderness hopes that its peace team will eventually number 100 members, paying their own costs and working in groups of about 10.
Among the buildings they intend to visit are power and sewage plants. Milan Rai, a group co-ordinator, said the team would all be "seasoned non-violent activists" able to cope under "extreme stress".
Mr Rai, 37, a writer from Hastings, East Sussex, said: "I think that if there are Westerners at a power station, the chances of it getting hit will be reduced."
He added: "I don't think the phrase 'human shield' is appropriate. It evokes the way that some people were put at risk involuntarily."
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, troops seized about 1,200 expatriate Britons. On Saddam's orders they were placed at key installations as "human shields". Their presence, Saddam reasoned, would deter allied air strikes.
The tactic prompted worldwide revulsion, especially when Saddam was filmed trying to create favourable propaganda by urging a five-year-old boy, Stuart Lockwood, from Worcester, to sit on his knee. The terrified boy refused.
Diplomatic efforts eventually led to the hostages' release, but many have suffered continuing psychological trauma. Two killed themselves.
Bernard Jenkin, the shadow defence secretary, criticised the planned peace mission. He said: "These people are what the communist Soviet Union used to refer to as useful idiots. They will simply be serving the propaganda interests of an evil dictator."
U.S. Const. Art.III, Section 3, Paragraph 1: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
Looks good to me. If we somehow miss the American ones in Iraq, hopefully the Predators will get good snapshots, or maybe Saddam will do us a favor and publish their names.
What a fantastic document!
Wouldn't it be appropriate for our congresscritters to hold a joint session (to show solidarity) in downtown Bagdad on 'xxSTORM' D-Day!?!
If you're lucky, Matt, you probably will be able to add a few more last months to those last 5 years as you await the invasion bombs while sprawled in some Iraqi munitions plant.
Then you can factor in perhaps 15 minutes of fame as you gasp your last breaths. Then you'll experience eternal bliss with 72 virgins.
Your mission will be accomplished and you will "live" forever in infamy. Hooray for you! Love your timetable.
Leni
That said...she is a real nutcase. She'd love to ban all guns, and would rather be conquered and enslaved than resist through any means other than passive resistance. When Sean asked her if she would fight off an intruder who intended to rape her daughter, she hemmed and hawed and finally admitted that she would not resist. She is consistent.
I'm reminded of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. It was very chic to read and discuss in the sixties. I reread it recently and couldn't believe that I ever spent a moment of my life on such philosophical crap.
Ms Kelly never grew out of that mindset. She'll die a stupid, unnecessary death protecting the wrong people. That would qualify for a major Darwin award.
hahahaha. I know what you mean. Maybe we could get Alec Baldwin, Julia Roberts, Barbara Streisand and Jane Fonda to join forces with these idiots. Just thinking about watching nose camera footage of a cruise missile bearing down on these idiots makes me tingle with excitement!
If this kid were here, I'd say to him: Ah, excuse me, but do I need to point out the bleedin' obvious? Saddam doesn't believe in the sanctity of human life. When you are in Iraq and under his control, your belief system will be irrelevant, his belief system will be controlling you.
I would expect this out of a society who has developed a passion for warm beer and boiled food.......
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