Calling On All World Citizens

Calling On All World Citizens

For this and more information on Human Shields – Truth Justice Peace Org, click here…

Last night [March 21] the United States bombarded Iraq with 1000 missiles. Three hundred and twenty of them hit Baghdad. One of them landed near the April 7 Water Treatment Plant where I am living. The missile struck at about 10pm. There was a deafening explosion, shaking the building where we sleep. One of the other human shields, Donna Mulhearn, also from Australia, was nearly blown off her feet from the impact of the blast.

The missile explosion set off a major fire, which sent a great cloud of smoke spreading across the sky above us, in much the same way billowing clouds of smoke spread across the sky during the recent Canberra bushfires. The fire spread. It took hours before the fire was brought under control. We could still smell the acrid smell of something burning as the night turned into dawn.

The missile had landed little more than a kilometer away from where we were standing. Just a small difference in the trajectory would have had the missile heading straight for us. There are thirteen Human Shields living at the site, three Australians, one American, two from Britain, three from Japan, one Norwegian, one Belgian, one Italian, and one Dane. If the US tries again, misses again and hits us instead, we will be just become an unrecognizable mass of bits of concrete, human flesh and broken furniture. Not only would the missile kill all of us, it would also destroy the water treatment plant, which processes water for three million people. To hit the site would also destroy the special unit run by the International Committee of the Red Cross which processes water for use in the hospitals of Baghdad.

The United States, by firing the missile that landed so close to us last night, close to a Red Cross installation, has committed an act of criminal recklessness. These missiles are themselves clearly weapons of mass destruction, part of a huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction ready to be hurled at Iraq, its people, and us.

Howard is not listening to us. Blair is not listening to the people of Britain. Bush is not listening to the American people. They are living in a fantasy world of make believe that the war will be a quick act of penetration and Iraq will surrender. That is nonsense. How many people will die before they realize that, no matter how many weapons of mass destruction they throw at Iraq, the people will continue to resist the invasion?

Howard, Bush and Blair are acting like dictators. They are not listening to the people, they are taking their marching orders from the big oil companies. The only thing that will stop this war will be civil disobedience. Friends and comrades, we are doing our bit here, please do your bit and stop this war before it's too bloody late!

Rosemarie Gillespie (Waratah)

CNN and Rumsfeld Strike Again

There they go again telling everyone that we've been deployed by the Iraqis and that we've been deployed to military targets. Once again you can go to our locations page to find out where we have voluntarily deployed ourselves. And once again you can read our earlier response to misreporting. Great to hear they've seen the "Human Shields" signs we painted too. Transcript:

BLITZER: We're getting reports now from some of our embedded journalists on the front lines suggesting that the Iraqis are placing so-called human shields at various military and other strategic targets as U.S. and coalition forces move up towards Baghdad. If that's the case, will that deter you from going after those targets?

RUMSFELD: I do not have information to that effect, although we've seen photographs indicating that the Iraqis have written on the tops of some buildings that there are human shields there. That also is a violation of international law. The Iraqis have a practice of violating international law and ignoring international conventions and treaties.

In 1996, Madeleine Albright, then the US secretary of state, was asked on national television what she felt about the fact that 500,000 Iraqi children had died as a result of US economic sanctions.

She replied that it was ‘a very hard choice,’ but that, all things considered, ‘we think the price is worth it.’

Sunday 23rd March, 2003

Isn't Donald Rumsfeld such a nice guy, looking out for his troops that have been taken prisoner and all. Appearing on CBS television last night, Rumsfeld was shown footage of US soldiers that had been taken prisoner by the Iraqi army.

"That's a violation of the Geneva Convention, those pictures you showed," he said of the international law on treatment of prisoners of war, which he said prohibits the photographing or interrogation by media of those captured in battle.

To tell you the truth we are in shock and awe that anyone in the Bush administration has even read the Geneva Convention.

Apart from the fact that Rumsfeld & Co. aren't exactly great followers of international law it seems to have slipped Rummy's mind that pictures of Iraqi prisoners of war have been featured prominently on US television and in newspapers over the past few days. Maybe Rummy isn't looking out for his troops after all. Maybe he just doesn't want the realities of war to be shown on TV. Oh well, looks like he's the same deluded hypocritical war criminal he always was.

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