Ravenwood - 03/25/03 01:35 PM
A British traitor 'Human Shield' has apparently been missing since the bombing in Baghdad began, reports the Independent. The Independent's report characterizes just how clueless these 'human shields' are.
Friends said Mr Warren had raised concerns that he and other members of the group were being manipulated by the Iraqi government rather than being given the freedom for humanitarian work.Surprise, surprise, Hussein and his minions are being deceptive and manipulative. I can forgive their cluelessness, and chalk it up to blind ignorance. But this next passage intimates that the 'human shields' campaign was nothing but an empty promise and a publicity ploy any way.
When the protesters arrived in Baghdad in February they intended to position themselves at schools, orphanages and hospitals. Iraqi officials suggested they would be more usefully deployed at water-treatment centres, bridges and power plants.I'm afraid I have to side with the Iraqis on this one. Human shields are not needed near non-strategic sites. The Coalition would never intentionally bomb schools, orphanages and hospitals. Utilities and infrastructure are fair game, however, and the whole purpose of human shields is to prevent the loss of strategic targets.
Of course, there really is no such thing as a 'Voluntary Human Shield'. Someone who volunteers to use their own life to protect an enemy of the state should be guilty of treason. At the very least, the Coalition should not be overly concerned about protecting the lives of those who willfully aid and abet the enemy.
Category: Get Your War On
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Utilities and infrastructure are not fair game. Read the Geneva Convention.
Human Shields guilty of treason? Protecting an enemy of the state? Aiding and abetting the enemy? Yeah, right. The human shields are there for the protection of the Iraqi people, not the protection of the Iraqi regime. They are reminders that to bomb the sites where they are stationed would be crimes against humanity. Bombing power plants has a domino effect. Where else would the water treatment plant get the electricity to sanitize the water that millions need to survive? Answer: nowhere. And so hundreds of thousands drink filthy water, as they did in 1991, with often fatal results.
The human shields are that extra little incentive for the US not to go apeshit like they did in 1991. Whether courageous or foolhardy, the human shields are saving lives.
Posted by: John Franson at March 25, 2003 6:05 PMThe charge of treason is only for people who are personally attempting to overthrow the government, or are supplying information to the enemy to help overthrow the government. Attempting to slow or stop a war by placing your body at a strategic location is not treason - but it is stupid.
Posted by: x at March 25, 2003 11:44 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
