| Author | Message | | Guest | | Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2003 10:38 pm Post subject: 100,000 offer to be human shields |
| 100,000 offer to be human shields
By Andrew Buncombe (of the London Independent newspaper in the UK)
http://www.independent.co.uk
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, 5 January 2003 — Iraq is preparing to take in thousands of people from across the world who have offered to be used as “human shields” against a US-led war, an official newspaper reported yesterday.
Al-Qadissiyah quoted former Jordanian MP Mansur Murad, who has been campaigning for volunteers, as saying some 100,000 people had already come forward. However, the daily gave no dates for the arrival of the volunteers.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said Thursday the regime backed the human shield volunteers. “Resistance to the United States concerns not only Iraqis but the Arab nation and the free countries of the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi News Agency reported from Paris that a group of French “peace volunteers” would arrive in Baghdad shortly at the initiative of the Franco-Iraqi friendship association run by Gilles Munier.
In another development, UN arms inspectors set up a permanent base in northern Iraq yesterday to speed up a hunt for alleged weapons of mass destruction.
With the drums of war in Iraq beating louder, teams from the UN Monitoring, Inspection and Verification Commission (UNMOVIC) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also examined at least five sites, including a brewery, in central and southern areas of the country. A multidisciplinary inspection team traveled to the city of Mosul, 375 km north of Baghdad to set up a permanent regional office from where they would launch inspections in northern Iraq.
“This will help us expand and accelerate our inspections throughout the country, but particularly in the north,” UN inspectors’ spokesman Hiro Ueki told reporters before leaving to Mosul with the team. Ueki said the team would be temporarily based at a hotel before moving to a more permanent location in the city.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri accused the United States of trying to destabilize Iraq by supporting Iraqi exiles whom he described as “mercenaries and terrorists.” In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Sabri said a US plan to train exiled Iraqis to take part in a post-Saddam Hussein administration was an aggression that violated international laws. “Bush’s administration is supporting mercenaries and terrorists to destabilize the political situation and the social security in Iraq,” said the letter.
In Damascus, Turkey’s Prime Minister Abdullah Gul met Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday at the start of a tour of Middle East countries to seek ways to head off a US-led war in Iraq that he likened to Pandora’s box.
The Turkish prime minister said he and Bashar had discussed concrete steps to try to avoid war, though he gave no details.
“We want to do everything we can. This means not saying ‘We do not want war’ and then sitting back and waiting for the war to break out,” Gul told reporters in Damascus. “We still believe that this problem can be solved without war.”
“Iraq is like Pandora’s box. We don’t want Pandora’s box to be opened here,” Gul said in an interview with Aksam newspaper. “This box should not be opened. Iraq should not be scattered because it would not be possible to put everyone back in again.”
Gul said the chief responsibility for avoiding a war lay with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. “Undoubtedly, a great role has to be undertaken by Iraq for a solution without war,” he told reporters before leaving for Syria. “It has to demonstrate to the whole world that it complies with UN Security Council decisions.”
Later, Gul told a press conference broadcast live on Turkish television after talks with the Syrian leader and Prime Minister Mustapha Miro that “Syrian officials and President Bashar share the same concerns with us” on a possible war against Iraq. “We are unanimous that we need to expand extraordinary efforts to resolve this problem without a war,” he added. Asked about suggestions Saddam could leave Iraq and go to another Arab country to avoid a war, he said he had not discussed that with Bashar.
In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov said that the accusations being made against Iraq “serve no purpose and only strengthen the fear around the world that the issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is being used to cover up other aims.
“Statements accusing Iraq of possessing hidden weapons are “gratuitous chatter” he said, adding that such accusations were probably being used as a smokescreen.
Meanwhile, US and British forces have been stepping up propaganda efforts to encourage Iraqi soldiers to lay down their arms — dropping millions of leaflets over major cities and encouraging the troops to tune in to special anti-Saddam radio broadcasts. The moves are seen as an intensification of efforts to prepare for possible military action against Iraq.
US and British planes also hit civilian targets in Iraq yesterday. (The Independent) | |  | | Guest | | | | Guest | | | | Guest | | Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2003 12:17 am Post subject: Re: American & Brit Volunteers as 'Human Shield' in Iraq |
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Subj: RE: Bush planned Iraq 'regime change' before becoming President
Date: 1/5/03 12:52:52 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: info@vitw.org
To: ******
Sent from the Internet (Details)
HI there,
I'm not sure if you're the person i spoke with yesterday on the phone. This is Stephanie. I would first suggest you visit www.iraqpeaceteam.org and read over all the information in the "application" section, beginning first with "Essential Info" as well as the info about Voices' correspondence with the US government. Please also take some time to read some of the Iraq Diaries, that various IPT members currently or formerly in Iraq have written about their experiences. This will give you a good idea of what day to day life is like for IPT.
And then let us know what you think....maybe this is an effort you'd like to become more involved with, or perhaps you'll find another group working on sending groups would suit better the initiative you have in mind.
peace,
stephanie ******
Voices in the Wilderness
1-773-784-8065
http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
1460 West Carmen Ave
Chicago IL 60640
**Please visit http://www.iraqpeaceteam.org | | | | Guest | | Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2003 12:22 am Post subject: Re: Convoy of activists to leave London for Iraq January 18, |
|
Subj: Yahoo! Auto Response
Date: 1/5/03 1:21:40 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: universalkinship@yahoo.com
To: ******
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Aloha.
The TJP Human Shield Action Iraq is so completely inundated with supporters and volunteers that we cannot possibly respond to all the inquiries we are receiving at this point. But our core team in London is organizing to fix this wonderful problem. We are all truly inspired. In the meantime, continue to get the word out, funds are certainly needed to accommodate the flood of volunteers we are receiving, and know that we are working day and night to achieve the goal; a mass migration to Iraq that stops this war!
Aloha & Peace,
Ken Nichols O’Keefe & the TJP Iraq Team
Ken Nichols O'keefe interview on zmag, Jan 4th:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=51&ItemID=2825 | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2003 1:57 am Post subject: US urges Israel to keep low profile on aid talks |
| Subj: Iraq: 'Devastating' War Planned by Warmongering Bush & Blair
Date: 1/8/03 3:35:17 PM Pacific Standard Time
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Jan. 8) - Coalition warplanes struck air defense targets in southern Iraq on Wednesday for the second time this week, and a key Iraqi official said the United States and Britain were bent on war with Baghdad to subjugate the Middle East.
In Moscow, meanwhile, Iraq's ambassador to Russia dismissed rumors Saddam Hussein might go into exile to avoid war and said the Iraqi leader would ''fight to the last drop of blood'' to defend his country.
Concerns war is imminent have mounted, with the United States and Britain announcing the dispatch of thousands more troops and weapons to the Persian Gulf region because of misgivings about Iraq's commitment to abandon weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq insists it has no such weapons and maintains that claims to the contrary by Washington and London are simply a pretext for war.
''The aggressors in Washington and London are preparing for a devastating aggression against ... the people of Iraq, and they would like once again to destroy the City of Peace (Baghdad) as they did in 1991,'' Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told a visiting South African delegation Wednesday.
Aziz said U.N. arms inspectors, who returned to Iraq in November after a four-year hiatus, had strayed beyond the search for weapons of mass destruction.
''They are searching for other information about Iraq's conventional military capabilities, the Iraqi scientific and industrial capability in the civilian area, and also espionage questions,'' Aziz said.
U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki denied those allegations and said U.N. officials had received no formal complaint from Iraqi authorities about alleged espionage.
The United States has accused Saddam of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and says it will use force if necessary to disarm him. Iraq insists it has destroyed its biological and chemical weapons and halted its nuclear program and the making of banned missiles. There have been no known instances of serious problems encountered by the inspectors since they began work Nov. 27.
Nevertheless, the pace of the U.S.-British buildup has accelerated. The American battle staff that would run a military campaign against Iraq is beginning to assemble at a command post in the small gulf state of Qatar, U.S. officials said.
Tens of thousands more combat forces are scheduled to flow into the region over the next few weeks. Some U.S. soldiers landed Wednesday in neighboring Kuwait, but U.S. officials refused to say how many or identify their units.
Among the other forces expected to deploy from U.S. bases in the next several days are F-15E and F-15C fighters and B-1B bombers. Still, U.S. and British officials insist war is neither imminent nor inevitable.
As the buildup continues, U.S. warplanes struck Wednesday against air defense communication sites between the cities of Al Kut and An Nasiriyah. The U.S. Central Command said the attacks occurred after Iraqi air defense forces fired anti-aircraft artillery at U.S. planes patrolling the southern ''no fly'' zone and Iraqi military aircraft entered the zone.
On Monday, U.S. planes targeted two Iraqi military radars near the city of Al Amarah. Iraqi officials said two people were killed and 13 were injured in Monday's attacks.
Meanwhile, the official Iraqi News Agency said Saddam held a third day of meetings Wednesday with military and militia commanders, encouraging them not to fear a technologically superior foe.
''In aerial combat, there is a disparity in weapons, but on the ground, men fight with their guns and it's enough for the men to have bombs, bullets, a loaf of bread, water and a gun,'' Saddam was quoted as saying. As long as Iraqi forces receive the support of the people, ''the enemy will be defeated,'' Saddam added.
With tensions rising, Philippine Foreign Minister Blas Ople said Arab governments were trying to convince Saddam to step down and go into exile. Ople, speaking to reporters in Manila, said he learned of those efforts by Arab ambassadors whom he refused to identify.
The German newspaper Tageszeitung said Russian officials had been in Baghdad since November evaluating chances of Saddam stepping down. In a report for publication Thursday, the newspaper said Russian President Vladimir Putin would send a special envoy to Baghdad to finalize details if Saddam appeared willing to accept the Russian offer of exile.
Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency quoted an unidentified ''high-ranking Russian official'' as denying that Moscow was working toward Saddam's departure, saying there were ''no grounds for the Iraqi leader to request political asylum anywhere, including in Russia.''
Iraq's ambassador to Russia, Abbas Khalaf, told the Interfax news agency that Saddam will not leave his country and will ''fight to the last drop of blood.''
Khalaf called reports that Saddam might leave the country ''absolute nonsense'' and ''part of Washington and London's psychological war against Iraq,'' Interfax said.
AP-NY-01-08-03 1508EST | | | | Guest | | Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2003 3:09 pm Post subject: |
| Gaps in Iraq document, Blix expected to tell U.N.
Thursday, January 9, 2003 Posted: 5:33 AM EST (1033 GMT)
Blix will travel to Baghdad later this month.
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is expected to tell the Security Council on Thursday that his inspectors continue to find more information gaps as they comb the 12,000-page Iraqi weapons declaration.
Since the document was handed over on December 7, teams of analysts in New York have been scrutinizing the weapons declaration, comparing it to prior declarations and to a database of information kept by the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.
Rather than resolving outstanding questions in the various weapons areas UNMOVIC is looking at -- chemical, biological and missile -- a U.N. official said, "We're finding more holes ... in all categories." The official would not specify particular gaps.
At the invitation of the Iraqi government, Blix is planning to travel January 19 to Baghdad, where he will raise the questions with the Iraqis. | | | | Hunnibee | | Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2003 6:25 pm Post subject: |
| | Quote: | 100,000 offer to be human shields
By Andrew Buncombe (of the London Independent newspaper in the UK)
http://www.independent.co.uk
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, 5 January 2003 — Iraq is preparing to take in thousands of people from across the world who have offered to be used as “human shields” against a US-led war, an official newspaper reported yesterday. |
I bet Saddam Hussein can't believe his luck - all those hostages queueing up to help him in his propaganda war when the appropriate time comes, just as he did during the Gulf War. That's of course if they don't get killed first. What misguided idiots they are. | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2003 11:32 am Post subject: TJP Human Shield Action Iraq - URGENT RESPONSE REQUIRED |
| Subj: TJP Human Shield Action Iraq - URGENT RESPONSE REQUIRED
Date: 1/9/03 7:07:59 PM Pacific Standard Time
Aloha & kia ora everyone from Ken and Christiaan,
Please note our new main email address: TJPaction@hotmail.com
If you do not want to receive these emails please reply with REMOVE in the
subject box. If you receive this email more than once please let us know.
Thanks for your messages of support. Unfortunately we are unable to get back
to everyone personally. We are endeavouring to go through our emails and
answer questions that need answering. Please bear with us, we apologise for
any delay. With this message we hope to answer questions related to the
following:
- Volunteer Organisers
- What we need from Human Shield Volunteers
- Donations
Make sure you check the website for updates and media events:
http://www.uksociety.org/
WE CAN STOP THIS WAR
This action has grown beyond anyone's expectations. At the current pace we
expect hundreds of human shield volunteers, and if the pace continues to
accelerate like it is we expect the ultimate goal of thousands that are
needed to avert the war.
We are on the verge of getting endorsements from hundreds of peace
organisations around the world.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
³Dear Ken, I'm very impressed to find out about what you are doing, and
would like to express my strongest support and encouragement for these brave
actions.² -- Noam Chomsky, January 5, 2003
VOLUNTEER ORGANISERS NEEDED - TJPvolunteers@hotmail.com
If you are in London or near London you are needed NOW! At this point we
need organisers even more than human shields.
We need committed volunteers... office staff, mechanics to look at buses, a
professionally skilled webmaster, fundraisers (people who can ring around,
chase up money), people with language skills, billets in London to
accommodate other volunteers, contacts with celebrities for endorsements,
techies to help with internet/intranet, etc.... the list goes on.
If you live along the route: http://www.uksociety.org/tjp_route.htm we need
committed people to organise our reception rallies and collection of medical
supplies and clothing to be delivered directly to the Iraqi people.
Please send an email to TJPvolunteers@hotmail.com spelling out exactly how
you can help. If you have already done so we are endeavouring to process
your offer of support.
If you are completely committed, available immediately and know you can
provide one of the concrete examples of support above please phone this UK
number 07 799 650 791 and talk to Stefan. Do not call this number for any
other reason.
Please keep in mind that everyone involved in this action is a volunteer. No
one will be paid.
HUMAN SHIELD VOLUNTEERS - TJPhumanshields@hotmail.com
If you'd like to know the route and tentative dates for driving tthrough
your area see: http://www.uksociety.org/tjp_route.htm
In order to confirm your spot on a bus Human Shield volunteers need to do 3
things.
1) Send 3 copies of the first pages of their passport to (even if you have
already sent a fax copy as we need better copies):
TJP Human Shield Action
90c Mercers Road,
Tufnell Park,
London N19 4PR
England
2) Send a short statement about why you are going on this mission to
TJPhumanshields@hotmail.com (with STATEMENT in the subject box).
3) Send 300-500 Euros if you are joining us in Europe or 100-300 if you will
join us in Turkey. This is on the honor system, if you can afford 500 Euros
please pay it, this money will help fund more human shields and we all want
maximum participation. If you can afford more than 500 then do that but we
are desperately trying to obtain funding from wealthy people and any help in
this is more than welcome. If we get all the funding we hope we can return
funds to those who truly need it. Please bring money for food because the
logistical nightmare of feeding all of us is more than we can handle at this
point. (note: this money is purely for transportation and office expenses -
NOBODY IS GETTING A DIME OF PAY!!!)
See account details below for how to make payment. Payments must be
received immediately if you are to secure a spot on our rapidly filling
buses. Late contributors may have to do the journey in smaller vehicles
that will follow the main busses.
If you do not have money you must contribute now in some other way,
organizing, fundraising, etc. Email immediately if you are unable to pay so
we can arrange other possibilities (non-Turkey shields only - see below).
Once you have wired or sent the money you need to send an email to
TJPhumanshields@hotmail.com with CONFIRMED in the subject box, and the
details of your payment in the body of your message.
If you're from Turkey and you have questions about your payment please
contact Tolga in Turkey (do not reply to this email with questions regarding
this) tolga@bizsel.net
Please get in touch with your local media if you are a Human Shield
volunteer to let them know what you are doing. They will cover this and
getting the word out is very important to raise awareness.
DONATIONS - TJPdonations@hotmail.com
We urgently need office equipment; a fax machine, scanner, computers, adsl
modem/routers, photocopier. If you've got anything that might be useful
please email us immediately at TJPdonations@hotmail.com
Financial donations for this action can be made by:
1) credit card - at http://www.uksociety.org/TJP%20Home.htm If you do this
make sure the name on the credit card is your name or confirm by email who
paid on your behalf;
2) wire transfer to American Savings bank account in Hawaii (where Ken
founded the UK Society) - You will need the following two numbers to make
this wire transfer. The account number is 05600-26142, routing number
321370765 (note that there are fees for wire transfers that vary from bank
to bank). This is the official Universal Kinship Society account and is tax
exempt in the U.S; (we are currently looking into setting up a UK account)
3) post - made out to Universal Kinship Society to:
TJP Human Shield Action
90c Mercers Road,
Tufnell Park,
London N19 4PR
England
Ka kite ano (see you soon),
Christiaan Briggs & Ken Nichols O'Keefe
"Power to the People"
Founder/Spokesperson - Kenneth Nichols O'Keefe
Co-Coordinator/Email admin - Christiaan Briggs
Based in Kingsbury London
Co-Coordinator/Phone admin - Stefan Simenowitzo
Based in Tufnell Park, London
Ph: +44 (0) 20 7272 6615
Fx: +44 (0) 20 7272 6867
(these numbers will be up and running as soon as possible)
Postal Address:
TJP Human Shield Action
90c Mercers Road,
Tufnell Park,
London N19 4PR
England
-------------------------------------------
Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action Iraq
http://www.uksociety.org/
TJPaction@hotmail.com | | | | Not A Rotten Tooth Limey | | Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2003 1:52 pm Post subject: |
| | I wonder if I can volunteer my in-laws for this "human shield" thing. My mother in-law could easily block at least 50 M-1 tanks with just her left side. | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
