Human Shield Tourism

Bush show just how war can be peace

After a discussion with a friend of mine who is planning travel tours of remote parts of Afghanistan, we got to wondering what might happen if, instead of protesting in our own streets against the proposed war on Iraq, we decided to do the same thing in Baghdad…

Would Bush and Blair drop bombs on Iraq in the knowledge that there were 10,000 tourists, many of them their own citizens, sightseeing around the country?

What if there were 20,000? Or more?

17 thoughts on “Human Shield Tourism”

  1. Anyone who chooses to go to Iraq as a “human shield”, or does so under the guise of being a “tourist” SHOULD be bombed. The fact is that anyone who does such a thing to protect their own enemy is insane, and diserves to die. To anyone who wants to go, I say have fun, the inside of a bodybag wont be.

  2. IraQ has never been a threat to the US. A preventive war is an oxymoron that may as well be called “doublespeak.”

    Some people choose to drop bombs, and some others choose to save lives. Which camp are you in?

  3. I posted this entry to highlight a point-of-no-return in warfare. Juan and John – same name, different languages! – you both miss it.

    I am not pro- nor anti- war. I think war is obsolete. I was alluding to the ‘CNN-factor’ and it’s potential to subvert even the most belligerent of warmongers’ intentions.

    Bodybags do not look good on television whoever they contain. Unless the war is conducted in a non-lethal fashion, I think it will be the most damaging coverage the combatants ever had.

    It is not Hussein’s goodness or badness that is being tested – instead it is war itself that is on trial.

  4. The military of the U.S. will not endanger its own to look for human shields. the idealistic fools,the silly little children that they are will die, forever! The U.S. will win, the Iraq people will win, and the silly fools will be dead,forever!

  5. Those persons who choose to go to Iraq and act as ‘Human Shields’ will be acting along the same line as ‘Hanoi’ Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War. All these people would be doing is endangering the lives of US soldiers. I wonder if they could sleep at nights knowing they had the blood of their countrymen on their hands. I also wonder if they truely believe Saddam would treat them any differently. If he’s perfectly willing to gas and bomb his own soldiers and civilians, what makes them think he will treat outsiders any different? As an American Soldier myself, I can tell you for a fact that our military forces go out of our way to ensure that civilian lives are protected, and yet we are seen as the ‘bad guys’ by some of our own people? Let these citizens go and commit treason if they wish, but they will only endanger themselves and their fellow Americans in the process. But, I’m willing to bet that they don’t know a single thing about why we consider Saddam a threat, and it would be wise for them to do some research on the matter before embarking on such a foolhardy crusade.

  6. So will you be going to (or are you already in) the Gulf, Brent? Either way, my heart goes out to you. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t trade places with you for anything.

    I think you misunderstand the people who have gone out to Iraq – they do not see themselves as treasonous – indeed many of them are not even American, which makes them unable to commit treason.

    It reassures me no end to know that “our military forces go out of our way to ensure that civilian lives are protected.” I just pray that they won’t be paying the area I live in a visit any time soon.

  7. People that choose to be human shields are not only giving Saddam Hussien a good laugh for being so stupid, but it also saves Saddam from having to use his own people. Human shields are traitors to the U.S.!!!

  8. Imagine you are a few hundred miles in the air in an airconditioned supersonic plane dropping a million dollar bomb on the city below with not a single enemy plane in the air to challenge your flight.

    Now imagine that you are a crouched with a poor Iraqi family in a dark and suffocating bomb shelter down below waiting for that ‘smart’ bomb to land.

    Who’s the dumb ass, then?

  9. Is anyone prepared to answer the question that I asked? The comments so far seem to be restatements of personal dogma.

    Anyone?

  10. I am curious how ignorant people should be to protect and defense an Arab fascsit rejime. Everybody protects Chechen, Palestinian, Iraqi, and other fascists. Nobody knows and is interested in what the fascists have done to the world.

    Mark Bernadiner, USA

  11. I feel sorry for you Brent. You seem like a very brave guy. But do you know that it was the CIA that put Saddam Hussein’s government in power, knowing that they were cruel and brutal people?

    Do you know that the British government confiscated 12,000 pages of a investigation into Iraqi weapons of mass distruction and how they got them. The reason? They found direct proof that American, British and foreign companies supplied the chemical and biological weapons to the brutal Iraqi regime very recently.

    Do you know that in 1998 many of the people high up in the republican party, 7 of whom were arms dealers(who make money from war)and/or had major oil interests signed a petition to Clinton urging him to go to war with Iraq.

    Clinton at least had the sence to reject it, but Bush obviously hasn’t. They’ve now got the excuse of terrorism. But Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, said in his adress to the UN that ‘I’ve seen now evidence of mobile biological weapons labs, no evidence of any Iraq government-al Q’aeda links. Even the CIA, MI6, FBI don’t think the link is there and are angree with the US government.

    These are the people who gather intelligence which Bush and Blair are supposed to be using!?

    As for the human shield, it’s better to die for a nobel cause i.e not bombing innocent people who have suffered enough than to die for your scummy government who have pulled the political wool over your eyes.

    I met Ken, one of the leaders of the human shield.

    He went to the last Gulf war and saw a massacre of people, including innocents. He was so touched by this that he’s willing to lay down his life.

    To be a human shield you have to be as brave as a soldier and your dying in the attempt to bring more peace to the world not more violence!

    If your pro-war I’d like to hear your case for war!

  12. Where were all of you human shields when Saddam was gassing his own people? Where were you when he was bombing his own people, executing innocent families to instill fear in his counrty? Why do you go on this crusade now? Is it because the U.S.A. is now involved? I think it is. You people hate the U.S.A. and I hope our soldiers do not hesitate to hold fire when you line up in their crosshairs. But I fear they will because they are supposed to lay down their lives for their fellow countrymen. Do us all a favor and stay over there when the smoke clears, if there is anything left of you. I pray there isn’t.

  13. I think its laughable to equate this “Human Sheild” with “Anti-war”. I mean where are these “Human Sheilds” in the Cashmere region, or in Israel or Palestine. Do these situations not qualify as war?

    Lets be honest and call a spade a spade. This has nothing to do with peace and everything to do with (A)shameful partisanship among US citizens, and (B)obsessive Anti-Americanism.

    Of course, if you think this assessment is unfair, simply let me know when the “human shields” are heading to Cote d’Ivoire and I’ll readily apologize.

  14. Can I just point out that the Chris above is not me (ie this site’s webmaster).

    In reply, though, I think I ought to point out that I consider all civilians to be “human shields”, regardless of their nationality. To think otherwise is to deny their humanity.

    Dead civilians are described as “collateral damage”, a term which distances us from reality and allows us to contemplate the horror of war without emotional involvement. My interest in the human shield phenomenon is that it subverts the language of war and brings us closer to reality.

  15. I am trying to see if I could possibly find a way to be a human shield.

    I am an American, and quite proud of it.

    But really, all these violent and bloodthirsty and ignorant responses help me see why so many people are anti-American.

    Why do you have such hate in your hearts? What happened to you to make you want to murder children? You know over half of Iraq’s population is under 15 and that Iraq presents no real threat to the US. Even if they did, I don’t think I could condone a war until they actually attacked us.

    Sure, Hussein “gassed his own people” (put in quotation marks because it’s all over the place and everyone is saying it) but are we any better because we choose to bomb them instead? There’s no real difference between Hussein’s actions and ours. Both end in dead Iraqis.

  16. Nice one Stacy! Finally, a comment from someone with an appreciation of the ambiguity of the situation. I hope you find a way to persuade others to become as motivated by peace as you seem to be.

  17. Stacy, there is a difference between our actions and theirs, Our actions stopped Saddam and his murderous regime. No more childrens prison, no more citizens marked out for persecution, torture and/or death for speaking out. No war would have meant the continuation of Saddams regime. The Iraqi people understood this fact, why can’t you?

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