The Experience of a Human Shield

from uk telegraph

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"Don't you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?" [the Iraqi driver] said. "Of course the Americans don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam."


We just sat, listening, our mouths open wide. Jake, one of the others, just kept saying, "Oh my God" as the driver described the horrors of the regime. Jake was so shocked at how naive he had been. We all were. It hadn't occurred to anyone that the Iraqis might actually be pro-war.


The driver's most emphatic statement was: "All Iraqi people want this war." He seemed convinced that civilian casualties would be small; he had such enormous faith in the American war machine to follow through on its promises. Certainly more faith than any of us had.

Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he believed us. Later he asked me: "Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?"



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Hello James,

Excellent article.

Tom

When I'm called a 'hawk' for wanting this war to go forward and conclude as planned I start to cringe. Because I think war is evil. But I stop cringing because I know it is sometimes a necessary evil.

There has to be a message there somewhere when a war weary people invite another country to come in and commit war on their own government.

I am glad to see the writing of someone who finally understands the kind of suffering these people have endured. What always bothered me is that people wrote and talked about the action of the UN security council (whom I personally believe have failed the Iraqi people because the don't care about anything but their access to oil and trade with a tyrant) and ignored the fact that the UN human rights comission has steadfastly over a period of some 15 years provided reports exposing the current Iraqi regime as being one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. That Iraq has consistantly denied entry and access to human rights organizations and provided a complete media blackout to any coverage not expressly depicting it's own agenda. It's own protests are staged by scared Iraqis and all media coverage inside Baghdad is "State Sanctioned". Thanks so much for posting this as it has been so hard to press the importance of this issue. The regime of Saddam Hussein is as transparent as crystal and we will now begin to see how they use civilian lives to defend their assets. Hopefully the US military is as prepared to deal with this eventuality as they have stated.

Sincerely,
TSG

The author stood up for what he believed to be true at the time. Which is more than what many armchair commentators have done. Since then, I don't believe he had a change of mind - but simply a better understanding of the issue(s) at hand. I'm sure the experience has been enriching for him, as evident in the stance that he now takes. I believe Daniel Pepper deserves our respect for he 'walked the walk'.

Onyx,

I can't help but think you're idealizing the wrong side of it. My respect for him is based on the fact that when presented with new information he was able to change the way he "walked" and thought. This is actually much more difficult than standing up for something you believe in.

I hope that when presented with contradictory evidence for things I believe in I can be as successful as he.

nicely stated, James!

and nicely stated Onyx!

Bob