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| Iraq | |
| Inside the deluded world of the 'human shields' | |
| 2003-03-02 | |
via Tim Blair - more on the story from yesterday - edited, but read the whole thing it's hilarious/pathetic at the same time:
grumbling, "yeah sure, thanks for the heads-up... asshole" As he heaved his rucksack into the taxi, Mr Meynell, a former Colonial Office civil servant, was tearful. He was not, however, the only "human shield" fleeing Baghdad yesterday in a state of high emotion. Nine of the 11 British shields on the pioneering wave of red double-deckers left this weekend. At the Andalus hotel five kilometres away, Dr Abdul Hashimi, the official overseeing their mission in Iraq, had issued the shocked group with an ultimatum: deploy to the "strategic sites" hand-picked by the government or leave immediately. It was a chilling twist in the saga of the human shields' mission to stop a war in Iraq. It was also inevitable. I accompanied the first wave of shields throughout their 3,500 mile, three-week journey aboard three double-decker buses from Europe to Baghdad and remained with them while they battled unsuccessfully with Iraqi officials to be allowed access to the civilians most thought they had come to protect. "No, the Americans won't target them. You must come to the pesticide.... er... baby milk factory" The eccentric, eclectic nice way to say a buncha fruitcakes group, none of whom fitted the "peacenik" stereotype, may have been drawn from all ages, backgrounds and experience, but they all shared one trait: naivety oh, and stupidity, and distorted self-esteem, oh, and group diagnosis as nutcases. Beset by problems on the road, lack of sufficient funds or a clear, universally-shared agenda, most had been tested beyond their limits before they even arrived in Iraq. Among the catalogue of dramas they experienced en route were numerous breakdowns of the creaking 1967 Routemasters, bickering over the preferred route and acrimonious departures and illness. During one cold, rainy night in Milan, we were left without our sleeping bags after an Italian went AWOL with the support bus. Later, a £500 donation from a well-wisher in Istanbul was squandered on boxes of Prozac in a misguided attempt to cheer up the war-weary Iraqi civilians. Conspiracy theories spread like a contagion through the ranks. Whenever a puncture occurred it would be blamed on the CIA. "It's sabotage," Peter Van Dyke, 36, had whispered to a bemused mechanic as he removed a thick screw from a flat tyre in a garage outside Naples. Sue Darling, 60, a former diplomat from Surrey, had been eager to demonstrate her civil service credentials: most importantly, she confided in one shield, she knew how to recognise a spy. Her first suspect turned out to be The Telegraph's photographer. Little surprise then that so few were alert to the real nature of the regime that welcomed them to the Iraqi capital two weeks ago. After a propaganda lecture from Dr Hashimi, one young American told me: "It's so interesting to hear what is really going on in this country." He scoffed at any suggestion that their good intentions might be misused by Saddam's regime: "All we have seen here is continuous kindness and hospitality." And bribes: cigs, food and electronic toys Bruce, a 24-year-old Canadian wearing a T-shirt saying "I don't want to die", was one of a group of tanned young men who were drafted into protect a grain store. Initially, he, like others, had concerns about the sites, which included an oil refinery, a water purification plant and electricity stations. He was won over when the Iraqis provided televisions, VCRs, telephones and a Play Station. So much for principles "Dr Hashimi has explained that we help the population more by staying in the 'strategic sites'," he explained. His friend added: "We play football in the afternoons and the Iraqis bring us cartons of cigarettes. It's just like summer camp."..... yah, he got beat up there too Not everyone was upset by the latest turn in events. Ken O'Keefe, 33, the founder of the human shields movement who served as a US marine during the Gulf war, had always planned to protect Iraqi "installations" should bombs rain down on the capital. During the journey, the heavily-tattooed O'Keefe, who earned the title "black Ken" on account of his penchant for the colour and outlook on life, had alienated his companions who felt he had developed both a death wish and a messiah complex. Prone to tantrums and mood swings, his credibility had not been helped by the fact that he had, for much of the journey, been accompanied by his mother, Pat. If he's the messiah, then that would be the virgin mary?? In Baghdad, Ken came into his own. Dressed in a thick, grey dishdash, he took to ambushing me in the Andalus corridors to brief me on his latest soundbites. "Dark forces have worked against me ooooooo," he said, "but I have survived. My mission is hard core, in-your-face activism." Right Mommy? Tim's take down of them is his usual good stuff too | |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #6 I liked the offer of prunes best, myself... |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-03-02 14:15:29 |
| #5 Good thing I wasn't drinking when I got to the part about Prozac... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-03-02 13:20:50 |
| #4 This is great reading with my wake-up cup of coffee. A couple of sprays on the screen...no harm done. Thanks to the characters, the editors, and "Mom" for a thoroughly entertaining article! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-02 12:36:14 |
| #3 You can't make this stuff up. How does such stupidity make it past childhood? |
| Posted by: Spot 2003-03-02 10:24:33 |
| #2 Dammit Fred, your annotation's better...Doh! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-02 10:07:38 |
| #1 a £500 donation was squandered on Prozac in a misguided attempt to cheer up the war-weary Iraqi civilians...... That sums up the whole adventure nicely, doesn't it? |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-02 09:19:19 |