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."

[right way right]

So now they all have been demoted back from useful idiots to just plain useless idiots!

[BJungNan]

Chortle. Giggle. ROFL! Chortle? MadIvan, remember, these are Yanks your talking to. Giggle and ROFL we understand but Chortle...okay troops. What does Chortle mean (without your dictionary)?

About the human shields going home...Giggle. ROFL!

[way-right-of-center]

You know, I can almost already see the upcoming Mastercard parody coming on this one...

T-shirt with "Human Shield" Screen print... $15

Various plane and bus tickets to Iraq... $3000

Having EVERYONE on the ENTIRE PLANET know that you are a coward by running like a Frenchman before the shooting even started...PRICELESS!!

[PhiKapMom]

LOL!!!!!! This is the funniest article I have read in a long time. Guess they didn't like being stationed around the Iraqi military. Guess you could say their anti-war principles went out the window.

[way-right-of-center]

ummm...*scratches his yank head*...is it like a guffaw?

[CyberAnt]

They drove in double decker buses.

[TADSLOS]

Re: My comment about Darwin Award winners on your other post - Looks like the field is thinning out a bit. The reality of the moment has a way of crystalizing one's committment or lack of it.

[El Gato]

When the going get's tough, the peacniks slink away with their tails between their legs. Plenty of room there for their tails, as they don't seem to have anything else important between their legs.

Those oil refineries, power plants and water treatment facilities sound fairly civilian to me, what's their beef, and they said they only wanted to "defend" (with their good karma one supposes) civlian sites, so what's the problem? Other than the big yellow stripes down their backs.

So much for the courage of their convictions. Give me one good stout "Tommy" for a hundred or a thousand of these types.

[Young Werther]

Form over substance! The protest was where their head was at! When their hosts asked them to "put up", (to wit be a human shield at a real target), they shut up and slunked home! Slink, slank, slunk. Think they got it yet?

[dts32041]

I smell a mastercard commerical, now if you would print the pictures that go with it.

[honeygrl]

I think they went under the illusion that they would be protecting civilians.. it just took a whole lot longer for them to realize that Saddam cares nothing for civilians than it did the rest of the world. I wonder if this will be one of those stories that they are too embarrassed to tell their kids/grandkids about.

[VOA]

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.

Well at least they got their "-oliday in the sun", as The Sex Pistols used to sing.

Nice to see that the USA isn't the only place afflicted with nuts like Ms. Garafalo.

...and for a good laugh, please visit:
http://www.hollywoodhalfwits.com

[El Gato]

It costs, plus or minus, $1,200 to fly to Bagdad from London.....Where did this human flotsam get the money?

They didn't fly, they took the bus. (It's quite possible to drive from the UK to Iraq, given the chunnel or a ferry to get you to the European mainland.) From the story:

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.

[El Gato]

Damn, now they're getting back into the gene pool.

Well, maybe not. Cowardess has never been much of an aphrodesiac. And those yellow and brown stains are very unattractive to boot.

[swheats]

This has to be at least one for transportation:
http://member.compuserve.com/fotosrch/0/20030210IST01D.jpg

Signs and t-shirts:
http://member.compuserve.com/fotosrch/3/20030209XIST102.jpg

http://member.compuserve.com/fotosrch/3/20030125LON300D.jpg

Hopefully Mastercard is pro-Bush.

[JavaTheHutt]

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.

I think O'keefe and his pack of losers would prefer this Jack Handy Deep Thought:

It makes me mad when people say I turned and ran like a scared rabbit. Maybe it was like an angry rabbit, who was running to go fight in another fight, away from the first fight.

[dennisw]

I hear the menu on the bus back is lentils every day.

[Contra]

Among the group leaving was Jar Jar Binks, who was heard to say "somebody might die?"

[ConservativeMan55]

I've got the song "Run Run Rudolph" running through my head! LOL!!!

[friendly]

Jack Handy Deep Thought: It makes me mad when people say I turned and ran like a scared rabbit. Maybe it was like an angry rabbit, who was running to go fight in another fight, away from the first fight.

LOL. Remember that anti-American grandstander Carter attacked by the killier rabbit?