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"I have to wonder: Why did it take a trip halfway around the world to teach people this truth? Anyone in America or Europe can pick up a newspaper and read stories of government-sponsored torture and murder in Iraq. But as Pepper points out, the fashionable view is that, while Saddam isn't the nicest guy, the American and British governments are the true villains. That is the mindset at work in Michael Moore and other protesters, like those carrying signs comparing Bush to Hitler—and even, in a few cases, those who assault people in the name of "peace." As Daniel...

Human shields against Saddam So-called "human shields" are returning from Iraq with a very different perspective from the one that led them there. There are still anti-war activists on the ground in Bagdhad -- several of them have "diaries" on electroniciraq.com, for example -- but stories coming from many who have fled paint a grim picture of the regime targeted by the war. The UPI reports that: A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today [story filed 21 March] with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot...

Disillusioned Human Shields - The Saga Continues By Reed Irvine March 27, 2003 At the Army's daily briefing in Qatar on March 26, a reporter asked Gen. Vincent Brooks what he had to say to the human shields who have gone to Iraq to risk their lives to stop the war. The general missed a great opportunity to tell what two of these "human shields" had recently said about what they learned in Baghdad that caused them to abandon their plans to risk their lives trying to protect innocent Iraqi civilians. In a dispatch from Amman, Jordan distributed by UPI...

I was a human shield by Daniel Pepper • Tuesday March 25, 2003 at 06:19 PM Why I regret being a human shield. 'I was a fool to be a human shield for Saddam', By Daniel Pepper Advertisement I wanted to join the human shields in Baghdad because it was direct action which had a chance of bringing the anti-war movement to the forefront of world attention. It was inspiring: the human shield volunteers were making a sacrifice for their political views much more of a personal investment than going to a demonstration in Washington or London. It was simple...

They arrived as Saddam apologists willing to die for the despot—but they left Iraq weeks later with changed hearts and a determination that Saddam must go.  Many of the human shields who had arrived with much fanfare to “stop” the United States and Britain were swayed by the strongest supporters of Saddam’s ouster: the Iraqi people.  Particularly powerful is the story of an American group from the Assyrian Church of the East, who went with a Japanese human shield delegation and recently crossed over into Jordan with 14 hours of uncensored video footage.  Out of the presence of Iraqi secret police,...

Have you heard about the "human shields" deserting in Iraq? No, it's not a joke. Though I think I could come up with some good punch lines for that opener. A group of American anti-war demonstrators who went to Iraq to serve as human shields from American attacks fled Iraq this past weekend – and what a story they have to tell. It seems the human shields were granted some privileges by Saddam Hussein that most Americans would not be given. They were permitted to talk to ordinary Iraqis and videotape interviews with them when they didn't fear Iraqi government...

DAILY NOTEBOOK.... I WAS A NAIVE FOOL TO BE A HUMAN SHIELD FOR SADDAM! ....... March 23, 2003: Today's recommended reading, especially for anti-war activists and Hollywood's fifth column, is a first-person essay by former American human shield Daniel Pepper in The Telegraph (U.K.). In a rambling, revelatory self-confession, a mortified Mr. Pepper lets it all hang out, telling just how deceived and deluded he was about Saddam and Iraq. The opinion piece is entitled, I WAS A NAIVE FOOL TO BE A HUMAN SHIELD FOR SADDAM, and is well worth reading. Here's some of what ex-human shield Daniel Pepper...