Operation Human Shield in Iraq
Date 3/6/2003 12:00 AM | Topic: NewsAs the United States draws nearer to a full-scale war in Iraq, many people across the globe have taken to the streets in a visual display of opposition to war. Operation Human Shield, a group of approximately 150 peace activists, have taken their protests a step further by traveling to Iraq to act as human shields in the event of a full-scale war.
In January, these activists started on a bus trip across Europe and the Middle East to place themselves in strategic positions around Iraq.
The idea of Operation Human Shield is to place civilian activists around sites likely to be bombed in the event of a full-scale war, in the hopes that this will make war less of an option to the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies.
The civilian group has refused to take positions around military targets in Iraq and are instead placing themselves around mosques, hospitals, power plants and water treatment plants. The groups will not place themselves around military targets because they are peace activists and do not want to support war in any way.
Most volunteers for Operation Human Shield come from the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, Spain, Italy and Finland. Led by former U.S. Marine Ken Nichols O'Keefe, the ranks of Operation Human Shield are very diverse, including students, professors, an architectural designer and an English songwriter.
Along the way, the group has run into many different problems. These problems include their busses breaking down, inability to get passports for certain members and deciding the group's stance on world issues involving the war, like their stance on Saddam Hussein's regime. A large debate was sparked within the group when O'Keefe wanted to meet with the Iraqi president.
While in Iraq, the group was welcomed and has been treated very well by the Iraqi people and government officials. The members of the group have said that Iraqi citizens are helping them with housing and transportation problems.
As a result of cooperating with Hussein's regime, the group has angered some in the world peace community.
"To go down to Iraq and live and act there on the regime's expense, then you're supporting a terrible dictator," said Maria Ermanno, head of Sweden's Peace and Arbitration Society who spoke out against the methods of Operation Human Shield. She then urged members of the operation to return to their home countries where they could do more good without supporting a dictator with a horrible record of human rights abuses.
This peaceful act has also sparked many responses from government officials in the United States and the United Kingdom. U.S. officials have urged the human shields to leave Iraq and reminded them that any country using human shields in warfare is guilty of war crimes.
"We'll do our best to avoid noncombatant casualties and, I will tell you, we will not be one hundred percent successful," said Tommy R. Franks, Army general and Commander of U.S. Central Command, who, in an Associated Press report, reminded the human shields of the extreme danger they were putting themselves in.
British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon had similar words for the human shields at a press conference, "It is not the case that we would necessarily take account of human shields."
As of now, nobody knows what will happen to the human shields in Iraq. If they choose to remain in Iraq, their fate rests in the hands of the world leaders who are moving closer to war. Some members of Operation Human Shield have told the Associated Press that they are willing to die for the cause of peace, which they believe so strongly in.
"If someone is afraid on our behalf, they should be afraid for the Iraqi people as well," said Danish student Peter Kofoe, speaking of the dangers both groups share.
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Carl Haakenstad
Staff Writer
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