Dissatisfied with their jobs at Starbucks, dozens of activists drove from London to Baghdad to serve as human shields for one of history's most murderous and despicable tyrants. Comfortable in double-decker buses, these people traveled to a country where most are trying to escape. The mere waste of resources to get people in is dismaying considering all it takes to get one person out.
They reasoned that as soon as white people began dying from American bombs, the world would take notice of the Iraqi people and everyone would magically unite against war. They vowed to station themselves in front of various strategic locations and argued that preventing Iraq's most valuable locations from being reduced to rubble would hasten peace.
In response, Saddam welcomed them with open arms. But he went far beyond issuing visas. The dictator provided transportation, food, and lodging, and staged their worldwide press conferences. He even suggested potential locations where they might want to position themselves.
Things got a little discouraging for the shields when Saddam would not allow them to visit hospitals and schools. These places were the most desirable locations, most likely due to the improbability of them being targeted. But most of the shields felt they could still give peace a fair turn by protecting strategic military locations.
Though they could exist on Saddam's dime for quite some time, some people began to notice. Even the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, who are notably against any war efforts, began pleading with the human shields to come home.
Chairwoman Maria Ermanno pointed out that Saddam Hussein was using the activists for propaganda purposes, the Associated Press reported Sunday. "To go down to Iraq and live and act there on the regime's expense, then you're supporting a terrible dictator. I think that method is entirely wrong," she said.
Now the protesters are trickling home. But it is less because of their realization that they were supporting an oppressor and more due to the recognition that they would soon have to put up or shut up.
Iraqi authorities recently insisted that the shields leave their Hussein-funded hotels and man their battle stations. This call to action did not sit well with a group so motivated to pretend to be useful and noble. "Basically, they said we are not going to feed you any longer," said American John Ross.
He further elaborated that the Iraqi government ordered them to some 60-plus sites around the country that they wanted protected. He expressed his indignation that they be used as such tools. How dare Iraqi officials suggest they live up to their promise!
The human shields also indicated that they were fleeing for other reasons - about 9,950 reasons. Organizers now claim they would not be effective unless they had 10,000 human shields in Iraq, a number of which they were just a tad shy. Thus, they must all just give up and go home and be safe since their numbers never breached the century mark.
Perhaps they have just realized that they did not want to serve as mere cannon fodder. Maybe some have just been humbled by the sheer poverty of the decimated Iraqi people. Sadly, though, they are still trying to cling to credibility.
As Ken O'Keefe, the former Marine who led most of the human shields into Baghdad said, "People who choose to stay have to realize it diminishes the credibility of the human shields very much." I hate to break it to you Ken, but it's hard to lose credibility when you had none to begin with.
Shanna Bowman is an industrial engineering senior. Reach her at snb@asu.edu.
