Observer story about a delegation of westerners led by a Gulf War I veteran heading to Iraq to act as human shields.
I am guessing that the propaganda apparatus in the U.S. will be unable to spin this appropriately. Iraqi’s acting as human shields of air raid shelters are one thing, but American ex-pats acting as human shields of Iraqis is another. Probably it will be studiously ignored by the mass media.
Wow, aren’t you the newshound. I told you about these fools nearly a month ago.
If the “mass media” “studiously ignores” their antics, it’s because their clients (the viewers and readers at home) don’t care if these idiots get killed or not.
It’s a trivial story, to be sure. And it certainly can’t compare to stories I saw on the news today, such as a series of interviews with New York City hot dog vendors, an interview with “J. Lo” on her new baby, and other assorted bits of celebrity gossip (and that was just on CNN mind you). Not to mention the copious amounts that are devoted to coverage of sports stories (I wonder what kind of underwear Kobe wears?), business “news,” entertainment “news,” etc. Perhaps, though, maybe inside one of those little snippets on the front page of USA Today where they have poll results on America’s favorite cat names, they could spare some space for this trivial, totally meaningless story.
I doubt though, in the limited space for really important stories, that this story will get much traction.
Perhaps you misunderstand me. Probably like most people, I will shed very few tears for idiots whose express purpose is to put themselves in harm’s way in a fucking war zone on behalf of a bloody dictator who wouldn’t think twice about shooting them if they weren’t such useful little idiots. Picking my nose is a more important object of consideration than these guys.
Clear now?
Chumpsky
What exactly is it that you find “meaningful” about this story?
Is there a debate here? Whether the media will ignore these people maybe? IMHO (which seems to be what you’re spouting) the idiots going to Iraq should be ignored by the media. Furthermore, they should also be ignored by the pilots of the ground attack aircraft that wind up bombing the place.
Maybe your point is that there are many idiots in the world. Well, no debate there either.
Bottem line question: What’s your point?
Regards.
Testy
It’s my personal experience that humans make lousy shields. They may occasionally stop a 5.56mm or pistol-caliber round, but anything heavier just goes right through them.
Oh, I have to disagree about the 5.56mm thang. That’s a HOT round, and you may as well use a turd to shield yourself.
Much as the Iraqis will use these loons mentioned in the OP.
I dunno, human shields work pretty well in Dead to Rights. The Iraqis just have to remember to drop each human shield just before his health runs out, and quickly pick up another one.
If Russian mothers (Mothers of The Russian Solidiers/Mothers against The War-movement) would have lined up in Grosny, would they have been lunatics or heros in Your eyes?
Just asking.
As I read the answers above, it seem to mean that a Iraqi-human life is not worth a shit. And that all others that might be there are lunatics.
Well, send someone from Fox-news there to make a story. Preferably live. Any powerstation or bridge will do.
More seriously. You do not seem to understand the effect this brave guys will do in eg. Europe. Or are they not brave?
I would not have had the guts to stand up at the Tianan-square, so I think these guys are very brave.
Apparently, laying down one’s life for democracy and freedom, and throwing one’s life away in an addled effort to protect a monster like Saddam are morally equivalent exercises.
Oooooooooooookay . . . not much grounds for further dialogue here folks, move along, nothing to see . . .
The idea of sending human shields to Iraq seems superfluous.
Brave, sure. More stupid than brave, though. It’s possible to be both.
I dunno. While with a 7.62 (NATO or Kalach) it’s more or less an in-and-out affair, the 5.56 tends to bounce around a bit inside a body, losing a lot of its energy in the process.
I also believe they are brave. The trouble is that they are also extremely misguided. I understand that they believe they are stopping a war and that is surely a noble goal.
The trouble is that the world is a small place and isolationism just won’t work. Sooner or later, it comes down to one side vs the other and these people are actively trying to help the other. That makes them traitors.
Testy
I can assure You that Saddam Hussein is not even near a electric station nor a birdge if and when there will be a war.
And he does not live in a railwaystation and I can hardly imagine that he never use to be at one.
There are just people, just like me and You. Of course Iraqi ones, maybe they are not so valuable, because we are white ones, the pure ones with the pure ideas, and we can communicate in English. So we have a born right to express our freedom, the freedom of bombing.
And we will be the heros?
Or because the Iraqi people will also be freed, why bomb these places anyhow?
They will just come with flowers and meet us in mass-media within a week or 3 years. Whenever they like to be freed.
And naturally there is nothing worth discussing about the allies in Europe, how they feel about anything, etc.
I do not know the whole Europe but a lot of it anyhow. The last 10 - 20 years the Europeans has been very loose on the boycott-trigger. Never think about that, it is not worth discussing?
Henry, two words: Children’s Crusade.
That didn’t end well, either.
Not in this thread.
Suppose we could get the CIA to slip a targeting device into his backpack? That way, the bombs will be super-accurate, minimizing the possibility of killing the millions of Iraqi citizens who are smart enough to stay the hell away from military targets.
The Iraqi people of course have been very valuable to Saddam - to send off to die by the hundreds of thousands in wars of conquest (Iran, Kuwait), killed or deported in domestic purges (see this site for more information).
Whether or not one agrees that a U.S. war in Iraq is justified (and I haven’t yet seen the evidence that would justify it), it would take a strange mind-set to conclude that a U.S. invasion could produce a fraction of the death and misery that Saddam has visited on his own people.
Duck Duck wrote:
I want to point out:
But the consequences will be totally different if there will be people from other countries involved, if the war is not very well justified.
Killing it’s own people is a good reason, but how many countries has not done that? Internal wars is not that is invented the last decades. Even if it always seem to be the dirtiest type of war.
The other consequence will be in trade. I am quite sure about it. (Again, if the war is not very well justified).
That Procter & Gambler has had problems with the washing-powder Ariel is just a very small thing and has hardly any consequences.
Cola-products and hamburger-chains in the Middle East is discussed more about, but I do not think that it will affect “so much” (how ever we define these words?).
But if it begins to affect in Europe, we are not anymore in a situation where only “a few brave/lunatics” will die.
The US economy rocks the world and also rocks back to Europe.
The world is so small nowadays.
And I do not believe that there will be people from only these mentioned countries, and even if so, how can the Europeans from let’s say Paris or Sarajevo, be “traitors” as [b[Testy** put it?
Ok. This thread is not about the consequenses, but I think, just to come to the OP, that this human shields will raise a wild discussion in the European massmedia, first wave when the rallies goes through Europe, second wave if there will be a declaration of war, when the people assumable are already in Iraq. Depending again how the possible war is justified.
maybe I am wrong, Europeans are not easy to predict (about the tension in mass-media).
It has not so much to do with Saddam, it is the mind or public opinion in the west they try to bend.
I do not think that the shields will be sold as slaves as it might have happened some 800 years ago in the Children’s Crusaide.
Thank You Duck Duck anyhow for the cite.