Barbie
02-14-2003, 07:27 PM
14 'human shields' deploy across Iraq
Last Updated Fri, 14 Feb 2003 12:30:18
KITCHENER, ONT. - The first group of volunteer "human shields" from Western countries began to deploy across Iraq Thursday.
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/14/human_shield030214
INDEPTH: Canadians go to Baghdad as 'human shields'
The group of 14 people, including at least one Canadian, will take up posts at institutions such as hospitals and water treatment plants in an attempt to deter the U.S. from launching a war against Iraq.
Several more Canadians are preparing to go to Iraq as human shields.
"The purpose of going there is just to say to the people there and to the world that these lives have value, that these lives are every bit as important as ours," said Stuart Vriesinga, who is preparing to travel to Iraq later this month.
Vriesinga said he's worried about going to Iraq during a war, but said he has to go.
"If I decided that my life was more important than that message, then spiritually, I'd already be dead," he said.
Vriesinga said he's going to talk to Iraqi people, to listen to their stories and bring them back to Canada.
Jim Loney, another member of Vreisinga's Christian peace group, recently returned from Iraq.
Loney and the other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams don't like the term "human shield." They prefer to be called witnesses.
"A human being cannot be a shield to a bomb. That is not effective. I think the intention is to say that we, as Christians, as people of conscience, we do not agree with this war," said Loney.
But whether as shields or witnesses, some wonder what purpose these people will serve by being in Iraq during a war.
"People are just going to be seen as concerned more about buildings than they are concerned about people," said Neil Aria with Physicians for Global Survival.
"They may be seen as supporters of Saddam Hussein. So, I think it's a double-edged sword," he said.
In January, George Weber of Chesley, Ont., a member of the same group, died in a highway accident outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
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Human sheilds? Do they really think that THIS is going to deter an attack on Iraq?
If innocent children dont' deter them, what makes them think that this is?
S.U.I.C.I.D.E.
Last Updated Fri, 14 Feb 2003 12:30:18
KITCHENER, ONT. - The first group of volunteer "human shields" from Western countries began to deploy across Iraq Thursday.
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/14/human_shield030214
INDEPTH: Canadians go to Baghdad as 'human shields'
The group of 14 people, including at least one Canadian, will take up posts at institutions such as hospitals and water treatment plants in an attempt to deter the U.S. from launching a war against Iraq.
Several more Canadians are preparing to go to Iraq as human shields.
"The purpose of going there is just to say to the people there and to the world that these lives have value, that these lives are every bit as important as ours," said Stuart Vriesinga, who is preparing to travel to Iraq later this month.
Vriesinga said he's worried about going to Iraq during a war, but said he has to go.
"If I decided that my life was more important than that message, then spiritually, I'd already be dead," he said.
Vriesinga said he's going to talk to Iraqi people, to listen to their stories and bring them back to Canada.
Jim Loney, another member of Vreisinga's Christian peace group, recently returned from Iraq.
Loney and the other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams don't like the term "human shield." They prefer to be called witnesses.
"A human being cannot be a shield to a bomb. That is not effective. I think the intention is to say that we, as Christians, as people of conscience, we do not agree with this war," said Loney.
But whether as shields or witnesses, some wonder what purpose these people will serve by being in Iraq during a war.
"People are just going to be seen as concerned more about buildings than they are concerned about people," said Neil Aria with Physicians for Global Survival.
"They may be seen as supporters of Saddam Hussein. So, I think it's a double-edged sword," he said.
In January, George Weber of Chesley, Ont., a member of the same group, died in a highway accident outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Human sheilds? Do they really think that THIS is going to deter an attack on Iraq?
If innocent children dont' deter them, what makes them think that this is?
S.U.I.C.I.D.E.