Human shields in Iraq scold U.S. Marines....

[ssibal]

Did anyone else see this? While hundreds of Iraqis were celebrating the arrival of U.S. forces there were some angry human shields yelling at them. How much more ridiculous can they be? I wonder if they honestly want things to go back to the way they were a month ago or if they just cannot admit to being wrong. One lady was screaming how "these children will goto the U.S. and blow themselves up" while pointing to a photo of what I believe was an injured Iraqi. This strikes me as ironic because they were opposed to the military action because innocents will die, yet they seem to be encouraging and condoning innocents dying in the U.S. These people simply do not make sense.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by ssibal
Did anyone else see this? While hundreds of Iraqis were celebrating the arrival of U.S. forces there were some angry human shields yelling at them. How much more ridiculous can they be? I wonder if they honestly want things to go back to the way they were a month ago or if they just cannot admit to being wrong. One lady was screaming how "these children will goto the U.S. and blow themselves up" while pointing to a photo of what I believe was an injured Iraqi. This strikes me as ironic because they were opposed to the military action because innocents will die, yet they seem to be encouraging and condoning innocents dying in the U.S. These people simply do not make sense.

The citizens of Basra apparently just chased Al Jazeera's press team out of the city, they fled to Kuwait. I hope those Marines are going to protect the human shields from the people of Baghdad.

MattJ

[Segnosaur]

While hundreds of Iraqis were celebrating the arrival of U.S. forces there were some angry human shields yelling at them. How much more ridiculous can they be?

Oh, this is too good...

First of all, human sheilds arrive in Iraq:
- Many are upset that they are not being stationed at hospitals and orphanages
- One group is upset to learn that they are to be stationed at a power plant, right beside which is an army base
- The human sheilds end up getting more food and supplies than the average Iraqi does

One group of human sheilds decides to return home in a double decker bus that they arrived in, but they had failed to budget for the return trip home and get stranded in Lebanon

Many other human shields start to tell their stories, like the guy who, on a cab ride in Iraq, was accused by the driver of being paid by Saddam to be there. Or the group from Japan that had all sorts of video and experience that had caused them to change their opinions

And now this... Yelling at soldiers while most of the rest of the population cheers.

Have these human shields done anything to justify their continued use of oxygen in this world?

[Supercharts]

Originally posted by Segnosaur

Have these human shields done anything to justify their continued use of oxygen in this world?

"Useful Idiots" is a term that comes to mind. Was it Lenin or Stalin? Chomsky? I forget...

[Mel]

Originally posted by ssibal
Did anyone else see this? While hundreds of Iraqis were celebrating the arrival of U.S. forces there were some angry human shields yelling at them. How much more ridiculous can they be? I wonder if they honestly want things to go back to the way they were a month ago or if they just cannot admit to being wrong. One lady was screaming how "these children will goto the U.S. and blow themselves up" while pointing to a photo of what I believe was an injured Iraqi. This strikes me as ironic because they were opposed to the military action because innocents will die, yet they seem to be encouraging and condoning innocents dying in the U.S. These people simply do not make sense.

The word is not "ironic," the word is MORONIC.

These people are in love with their own voices.... it's too bad they don't stop to hear how STUPID they sound.

[EvilYeti]

The whole concept of "human shields" strikes me as totally bizzare.

First of all, many of them are standing around hospitals, schools, mosques and the like. Since we are not bombing civillians targets, I really don't understand what point they are trying to make. They might as well be standing outside a SafeWay in Tulsa for all the good they are doing for anyone.

All it would take shut down the whole "human shield" movement would be not to play their game once or twice and blow them up along with the targets. They are cowards at heart and would flee the second the realized they were actually at risk.

[corplinx]

How are these human shields still alive while most of the iraqi military is dead?

[Reginald]

Originally posted by corplinx
How are these human shields still alive while most of the iraqi military is dead?

Because they were strapping themselves to power stations, water plants, hospitals etc, all the things they wrongly and arrogantly assumed would be bombed but were not.

All just more hot air, going over there because evil, nasty, spiteful Mr Coalition was going to do blah blah blah........

Oh I'm sure they are deeply dissapointed they didnt get blown up, most of them apparently spent their "Life savings" on this trip. When the new Gov. gets in they may well be deported, being foreigners. Mind you if I was they, I would leave quickly anyway. After all some free Iraqis might say that this lot were sympathetic to the old regime (you know the one, yes the one that was killing their families and asking people to blow themselves up at gun point), and judging from the way they kicked seven colours out of that statue of Saddam I would think it will be lynch now, ask questions later.

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by Reginald
After all some free Iraqis might say that this lot were sympathetic to the old regime (you know the one, yes the one that was killing their families and asking people to blow themselves up at gun point), and judging from the way they kicked seven colours out of that statue of Saddam I would think it will be lynch now, ask questions later.

Oh, no. I think not! It'll be far more fun to MOCK them. Especially when they get home!:D

[Checkmite]

I will not criticize the idea of these "human shields", they entered Iraq with the best of intentions - and you must admit, they were really committed to their principles.

However, Saddam is gone - people are now cheering and kissing the Coalition troops...and the human shields are upset over this? I would've thought that they'd be happy the big bad airstrikes were over (for the most part), since those were the big casualty-makers.

Some people believe admitting that one is wrong is compromising one's dignity, it seems.

[Checkmite]

Originally posted by aerocontrols


The citizens of Basra apparently just chased Al Jazeera's press team out of the city, they fled to Kuwait. I hope those Marines are going to protect the human shields from the people of Baghdad.

MattJ

An Al Jazeera reporter and cameraman who showed up at the spontaneous Iraqi-American "We are happy" rally in Dearborn, Michigan today was given a verbal spanking by the crowd, who are of the opinion that Al J has been too pro-Saddam during this war.

But I wonder why the people of Basra had such a problem with Al Jazeera. I don't believe they've been seeing the network's television reports lately. Was it something the reporters said to or asked the crowd? Perhaps a wrong tone? Or something else? I'm honestly curious.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
But I wonder why the people of Basra had such a problem with Al Jazeera. I don't believe they've been seeing the network's television reports lately. Was it something the reporters said to or asked the crowd? Perhaps a wrong tone? Or something else? I'm honestly curious.

I'm curious as well. Perhaps the Basrans? are thinking of Al Jazeera's antiwar broadcasts from before their power went off. Perhaps not all of Basra is without power. Perhaps the report I heard was premature.

MattJ

[Denise]

Does Al Jezeera just broadcast on TV? Or do they have radio as well? I would imagine that if they have radio broadcasts then the people of Basra would be well aware of their reporting style. I'm sure many people have battery powered radios.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by aerocontrols


The citizens of Basra apparently just chased Al Jazeera's press team out of the city, they fled to Kuwait. I hope those Marines are going to protect the human shields from the people of Baghdad.

MattJ

Saddam kicked Al Jazeera out too, and the NYSE. Maybe they are just doing their job.

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
I will not criticize the idea of these "human shields", they entered Iraq with the best of intentions - and you must admit, they were really committed to their principles.

However, Saddam is gone - people are now cheering and kissing the Coalition troops...and the human shields are upset over this? I would've thought that they'd be happy the big bad airstrikes were over (for the most part), since those were the big casualty-makers.

Some people believe admitting that one is wrong is compromising one's dignity, it seems.

Don't believe all the cheering and kissing. I have no doubt there is cheering and kissing going on. There are also plenty of other emotions.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/09/1049567739611.html



It's hard to smile when there's no water. It's hard to applaud when you're frightened. It's hard to say "Thank you for liberating me" when liberation has meant looters have ransacked everything from the grain silos to the local school.

That was what I found when spending the day in Umm Qasr and its hospital, in southern Iraq. Umm Qasr was the first town liberated by coalition forces. But three weeks into the war, it is without running water, security or adequate food supplies.

This was a scene of humiliation, not liberation. America and its allies must do better. I am sure we will, as more relief crews arrive. But this scene explained to me why, even here in the anti-Saddam Shiite heartland of southern Iraq, no one is giving US troops a standing ovation.

Applause? When I asked Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Murphy, part of the US relief operation, how Iraqis were greeting his men, he answered bluntly and honestly: "I have not detected any overt hostility." Overt hostility? We've gone from expecting applause to being relieved that there is no overt hostility.

[Baggle]

Pardon me for my ignorance, but is the hunger or thrist a result of the war? Was there adequate food or water before the war started? If so, why is there no food/water now? Did the coalition destroy the water pipes? Burn the grain? It may be hard to smile when you're hungry and thirsty and scared, but I'd imagine it's easier to smile when you're hungry, thirsty, scared, and there is no Saddam or secret police.

-Baggle

[Denise]

Originally posted by Baggle
Pardon me for my ignorance, but is the hunger or thrist a result of the war? Was there adequate food or water before the war started? If so, why is there no food/water now? Did the coalition destroy the water pipes? Burn the grain? It may be hard to smile when you're hungry and thirsty and scared, but I'd imagine it's easier to smile when you're hungry, thirsty, scared, and there is no Saddam or secret police.

-Baggle

How dare you cloud this argument with facts!

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Denise


How dare you cloud this argument with facts!

I was quoting the facts from the article. Sorry if this offends you.

[Tony]

Originally posted by ssibal
Did anyone else see this? While hundreds of Iraqis were celebrating the arrival of U.S. forces there were some angry human shields yelling at them. How much more ridiculous can they be? I wonder if they honestly want things to go back to the way they were a month ago or if they just cannot admit to being wrong. One lady was screaming how "these children will goto the U.S. and blow themselves up" while pointing to a photo of what I believe was an injured Iraqi. This strikes me as ironic because they were opposed to the military action because innocents will die, yet they seem to be encouraging and condoning innocents dying in the U.S. These people simply do not make sense.

Where's a rubber bullet when you need one?:D

[Baggle]

I was quoting the facts from the article. Sorry if this offends you.
Well, the facts in the article you linked to, "America broke Iraq and now has to fix it," were misleading, perhaps purposefuly, as I commented on. This is probably what offended her. Not to put words in her mouth, of course.

-Baggle

[a_unique_person]

Originally posted by Baggle

Well, the facts in the article you linked to, "America broke Iraq and now has to fix it," were misleading, perhaps purposefuly, as I commented on. This is probably what offended her. Not to put words in her mouth, of course.

-Baggle

Friedmann is actually a pretty middle of the road commentator, who gets a bit blinded by his loyalty to Israel. The facts he provides, as he is on the spot, show that the situation is more complex than just hordes of Iraqis standing around cheering.

Now, I don't doubt that Iraq is a better place without Saddam than with him. It is not suddenly a democratic paradise, either.

[Hypocolius]

Originally posted by a_unique_person

I was quoting the facts from the article. Sorry if this offends you.

a_u_p, I think Denise was supporting Baggle. The facts she was referring to are surely those comments included by Baggle about the original causes of lack of water etc. You need to upgrade your irony meter:)

[Baggle]

It doesn't matter to me what the writer's political motivations are. It was implied by the article that because of the war, Iraqis are going hungry and thirsty. This simply is not true, and is the only thing I was commenting on.

-Baggle

[Baggle]

Just saw this quote and couldn't resist posting it here.

The Lebanese channel, Al Hayat-LBC satellite TV, aired an interview from outside the Palestine Hotel with a British woman who had come to Iraq to act as human shields against the invasion. She expressed shock at the speed of the collapse of Saddam's authority, and said Iraq was free until U.S.-led troops arrived.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83734,00.html

Emphasis mine.
Wow.

-Baggle

[Mossy]

Originally posted by a_unique_person


I was quoting the facts from the article. Sorry if this offends you.

You missed this part, here, let me include it for you (I wouldn't want it to look like your were selectively excluding information in order to push an agenda):


What is striking, though, is that after people get through complaining to you about their situation, they each seem to have a story about a family member or cousin who was arbitrarily jailed or killed by Saddam's thugs. They are truly glad to be rid of him.

America and its allies did good in doing that, so now America and its allies must build a peace we can be equally proud of.


-Ed

[Drooper]

Originally posted by EvilYeti
The whole concept of "human shields" strikes me as totally bizzare.

First of all, many of them are standing around hospitals, schools, mosques and the like. Since we are not bombing civillians targets, I really don't understand what point they are trying to make. They might as well be standing outside a SafeWay in Tulsa for all the good they are doing for anyone.

All it would take shut down the whole "human shield" movement would be not to play their game once or twice and blow them up along with the targets. They are cowards at heart and would flee the second the realized they were actually at risk.

What is even more bizaare is the implication that these peple believe that the coalition would happily bomb a school or hospital and kill many civilian Iraqis. But they would pause at the thought of possibly injurying one western "shield".

[Drooper]

Originally posted by Mossy


You missed this part, here, let me include it for you (I wouldn't want it to look like your were selectively excluding information in order to push an agenda):



-Ed

What? AUP arbitrarily selecting "facts" to support a political bias?

[ceo_esq]

Originally posted by Segnosaur
First of all, human sheilds arrive in Iraq:
- Many are upset that they are not being stationed at hospitals and orphanages
- One group is upset to learn that they are to be stationed at a power plant, right beside which is an army base
I've been wondering about this. Why did these people think they'd be stationed in hospitals and orphanages? Those places already have all the human shields they need (i.e. orphans and hospital patients).

[Mel]

From the above article:
".....
America broke Iraq; now America owns Iraq, and it owns the primary responsibility for normalising it.

If the water doesn't flow, if the food doesn't arrive, if the rains don't come and if the sun doesn't shine, it's now America's fault."

What this reporter conveniently fails to mention is the imported terrorists from surrounding countries that recently flooded into Iraq thus PROLONGING the downfall of the regime and making it even harder to restore basic services to their fellow Muslims.

Yes..... America is expected to "fix" within days this chaos that the Muslim regimes in the region were more than happy to ignore for the past 30 years..... as long as it deflected attention away from their OWN corruption and human abuse violations.

Everyone is fast to point fingers..... but let's point the fingers in the right direction.

[Michael Redman]

Originally posted by ceo_esq

I've been wondering about this. Why did these people think they'd be stationed in hospitals and orphanages? Those places already have all the human shields they need (i.e. orphans and hospital patients). Yes, but these people know that being white, and western, their lives are far more valuable than those of the Iraqis.

[Drooper]

You just have to laugh..

http://michaeltotten.blogspot.com/shields.jpg

[Lisa]

Just chatted with my husband on msn. He's really humping ass over there. He's paid for an 8 hour day, but with all the humanitarian aid stuff coming in, he's working 14-16 hour days. They're shipping the stuff out as fast as they can get it.
These human shields sort of remind me of the idiots blocking the docks in Oakland. Who exactly do they think they're helping?

[Baggle]

Holy crap that is one of the funniest pictures I've seen in a long time! LOL.

-Baggle

[Checkmite]

I wonder how that sign was made. It seems to me the cloth probably already had the word "Humanshields" on it, and it was subsequently...improved ;). But where did it originally come from?

Either that, or the sign has been altered somehow.

[Roadtoad]

Originally posted by Lisa
Who exactly do they think they're helping?

They're not helping anyone, Lisa. They're simply people with nothing constructive going on in their lives. Seriously, do you think people with actual jobs or with real lives go out and pull this crap?

[Nephilimn]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
I wonder how that sign was made. It seems to me the cloth probably already had the word "Humanshields" on it, and it was subsequently...improved ;). But where did it originally come from?

Either that, or the sign has been altered somehow.

If what you meant was the picture being altered, I can say honestly I was watching this live at the time it was happening.

When I saw this (around 5:00 AM PDT on the 9th, not very long after the troops rolled into the center square), I thought the same thing - it appears to be a banner that the human shields used to declare themselves, but was, as you so eloquently stated, "improved" upon by some pissed off Iraqi's.

I woke up half the house laughing so hard...

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Nephilimn


If what you meant was the picture being altered, I can say honestly I was watching this live at the time it was happening.

Me, too.

[crackmonkey]

I think it's telling that the human shield scolding the Marine felt that the Marine was professional enough not to blow her head off. Contrast that to the Iraqi military types... and now think about the human shield's assertions about the US targeting women and children. Just doesn't add up.

[headscratcher4]

I think we need to provide a venue for human sheilds to rehabilitate themselves...how about helping them go to Zimbabwe where they can stand between Mugabe thugs and shield the population from the rampages of that dictator? Maybe they can protect food supplies from the theft of Mugabe thugs? Maybe they could help the farmers (black and white) whose land Mugabe thugs are illegally appropriating...

And, there is Cuba...maybe the human shields could go there and try to protect the indipendent journalists, reporters, economists, artists, etc. who are now being sentenced to long prison sentences for speaking their mind...

They don't, of course, have to go to North Korea, I've made sure everything is perfect there....:D

[Kodiak]

Originally posted by Drooper


What is even more bizaare is the implication that these peple believe that the coalition would happily bomb a school or hospital and kill many civilian Iraqis. But they would pause at the thought of possibly injurying one western "shield".

If the human shields realized who the people are that are responsible for their rights and freedom, they would be interposing themselves between the coalition soldiers and suicide bombers, instead of between Iraqi civilians and coalition bombs that aren't even targeting them.

[Skeptic]

If what you meant was the picture being altered, I can say honestly I was watching this live at the time it was happening.

I think he meant that the sign originally said "human shields", as printed, and it was improved by adding "go home" at the top.

By the way, I don't get the "you US wankers" at the bottom. I think the idea was to say in English something like "you naive westerners", but that the Iraqi in question unfortunately asked a BRITISH soldier for help with writing it in English... :D

[Skeptic]

I think it's telling that the human shield scolding the Marine felt that the Marine was professional enough not to blow her head off.

The marines were obviously professional enough to simply ignore her, which pissed her off far more...

[compjan]

Originally posted by Skeptic
If what you meant was the picture being altered, I can say honestly I was watching this live at the time it was happening.

I think he meant that the sign originally said "human shields", as printed, and it was improved by adding "go home" at the top.

By the way, I don't get the "you US wankers" at the bottom. I think the idea was to say in English something like "you naive westerners", but that the Iraqi in question unfortunately asked a BRITISH soldier for help with writing it in English... :D


Well if you look closely on either side you'll notice dots next to the .h and s. I suspect they found a banner for www.humanshields.org and put it to better use. Oh, the bitter irony!

compjan

[subgenius]

Originally posted by Joshua Korosi
I wonder how that sign was made. It seems to me the cloth probably already had the word "Humanshields" on it, and it was subsequently...improved ;). But where did it originally come from?

Either that, or the sign has been altered somehow.

I think you're too suspicious. "Wankers" is an everyday Iraqi word.
(Edited to add :rolleyes: )

[compjan]

Originally posted by subgenius


I think you're too suspicious. "Wankers" is an everyday Iraqi word.

Did the British give it to them when they last occupied Iraq? I hate to think what words we'll give the Iraqis.

[Reginald]

Originally posted by compjan


Did the British give it to them when they last occupied Iraq? I hate to think what words we'll give the Iraqis.

They are safe in our hands, several million copies of "Roger's Profanasaurus" and "Reginald's Guide to abusive behavior" are being air dropped as we speak. Dont worry we also have a US version in which it clearly states that "Mother" is only half a word.
:D

(we didnt know if we should have deleted the UK slang for "bad language", which is, ironically "French" (True) But we decided to leave the word "Non!" in.)

;)

[Skeptic]

I think you're too suspicious. "Wankers" is an everyday Iraqi word.

At least the person who "helped" with the translation from Arabic to English wasn't a Monty Python fan, or he would have told them the English for the arabic expression "naive people go home" is "please fondle my buttocks"...:D