-Caveat Lector-

Monday January 13, 2003

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3050509

'Human shield' peace activists mobilise for Iraq

09.01.2003 -

To the delight of Baghdad, anti-war activists round the world are staging
their own mobilisation to Iraq to act as "human shields" if the bombs start falling 
and in
solidarity with the Iraqi people.

As the United States and Britain build up their military presence in the Gulf, the
volunteers from Western and Muslim groups are also planning to converge on Iraq for
what they view as an 11th hour peace mission.

Shrugging off criticism they are handing a propaganda gift to Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein, the groups involved insist they can recruit hundreds or even thousands of
volunteers.

"I am calling for a mass migration to Iraq. We can stop this mad war," said Ken 
Nichols,
a Dutch-based former US marine who was in the 1991 Gulf War and is now behind one
of the highest-profile human shield convoys.

His We the People group is seeking volunteers to join a convoy leaving London this
month. They plan to travel through European and Middle Eastern capitals to arrive in
Iraq in early February where they intend to fan out to key installations.

"If war starts, I will be in the most vulnerable areas. I want to be out where the 
bombs
drop," Nichols added, saying hundreds would be on his convoy. "If there is a risk of
large Western casualties, that is quite a political liability."

Another big rallying point is in Iraq's neighbour Jordan.

There, a campaign led by leftist, Islamist parties and civic bodies is seeking 100,000
human shield volunteers.

Organisers, the National Mobilisation Committee for the Defence of Iraq, would not give
current figures but said many were responding and that the first convoy would leave in 
a
week.

"The war against Iraq is a war against the whole Arab nation," committee head Hakm al-
Fayez told Reuters.

The new human shield plans have inevitably revived memories of the Gulf War when
Saddam forcibly held thousands of Western hostages after his invasion of Kuwait. Many
were put near sensitive sites in a futile bid to dissuade attacks.

Iraq also used Iraqis - alongside some foreign volunteers - as human shields in 1998
against US-British bombing.

Not surprisingly, Baghdad has welcomed the latest offers.

"This is a practical Arab and international reaction to the hostile build-up of troops 
in the
Gulf and neighbouring countries," said one senior Iraqi official, Saad Qasim Hammoud.

To avoid being seen as pawns of Saddam, some among the many groups and charities
organising trips to Iraq are shunning the tag "human shield" and are as critical of his
government as they are of US and British war plans.

These groups prefer to couch their aims in terms of educating the West and showing
solidarity with ordinary Iraqis.

"We do not support any government," said Kathy Kelly, of the US-based Voices in the
Wilderness (VIW) group which has long opposed sanctions on Baghdad and is now
organising an Iraq Peace Team to travel there.

"We want to be alongside people at a difficult and stressful time. We hope there will 
not
be a war. If there is, we will be there," added Kelly, who was part of a 72-member 
peace
camp inside Iraq near the border with Saudi Arabia in 1991.

One poignant stance has been taken by a group of American relatives of September 11
victims - Families for Peaceful Tomorrows - who left for Iraq days ago on a week-long
visit.

"My hope is that all people will come to realise that loss of more human life will not 
solve
the problems of the world," said Kathleen Tinley, who lost her uncle Michael when two
hijacked planes crashed into New York's World Trade Centre.

Many of the activists said they were well aware of Saddam's alleged crimes - both in
terms of repression of Iraqis and the weapons capacity that is the West's main bone of
contention - but they could not be quiet on the suffering of ordinary Iraqis.

"If people had actually read the UN reports or been to the country, like I have, and 
seen
babies dying of diarrhoea, they would realize what the West has been doing with its
sanctions and what this is all about," said British student Matthew Barr, who is 
leaving
for Iraq with a VIW group.

Many of those forcibly used as human shields by Saddam in 1991 are shocked that
others would actually volunteer to do it.

"They are a bunch of lunatics who don't know what went on," said one British ex-
hostage, Ron Eccles. "It is a naive and unbelievable idea. It is very unlikely to 
deter any
action."

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq

Iraq links and resources





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