In an effort to deter the US from attacking Syria, the “International Human Shields” movement is eying to locate civilians to Damascus from across the globe, including Britain and the US, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Even as residents are evacuating Syria, hundreds of activists are volunteering to be placed in harm’s way against possible air strikes, despite the dangerous nature of the protest.
One such activist is Andrew, a 33 year-old Canadian pianist.
“I don’t want to see Syria turn into another Libya,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “If I had a hand big enough to squash the US tanks then I would. Democracy is America’s deadliest export, they use it as an excuse to destroy countries.”
Franklin Lamb, a lawyer appointed as the legal adviser for the US-based group, stated in a recent op-ed that he is frequently asked how Obama can ignore the reluctance of American people to become militarily involved in Syria.
“What kind of Democracy do you have that your President can ignore the will of the American public?”, he is asked by Syrians.
Lamb describes how the goal is to bring “1000 Americans and thousands of others” to potential bomb sites in Syria during the next ten days, reminding Lamb of “one of the International Solidarity Movement international volunteer’s efforts in Occupied Palestine in order to try to protect homes of Palestinians from Government bulldozing”.
According to Lamb, an objective of the movement is to ensure a message of solidarity among the international community by sending “ideally at least one representative from every UN Member State.”
However, one of the major obstacles to fulfilling this goal will be convincing the Syrian government to allow the activists to enter the country.
If allowed in the country, activists are to be sent to sites deemed critical to the survival of the Syrian people which include, “power plants, water treatment facilities, bomb shelters (if they exist), civilian communications sites, food storage sites.”
Meanwhile, Syria prepares for US attacks, positioning troops in residential neighborhoods and warning residents to move out, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Another group of human shields, called “Over Our Dead Bodies, has already been organized by some Damascenes. Reuters has footage of the group, which has allegedly received support from all over the globe, in the video below.
In addition to these willing activists, however, may be unwilling human shields sent by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters reports that Assad has moved prisoners to military sites to serve as human shields, although they could not independently verify this report.
Human shields are not a new phenomenon. BBC News relates how Saddam Hussein welcomed voluntary human shields with “open arms” in 2003. While the activists imagined being sent to hospitals and schools, in actuality, Hussein’s regime wanted them to defend key infrastructure sites, including an oil refinery. Following dissent among the activists, many ended up leaving before the start of the bombing.
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Comments
Think of it as evolution in action.
There’s a term for it, just not remembering it right now.
Darwinism, and we have some candidates here for 2013 Darwin Awards.
It was a great idea until someone accidentally detonated a Sarin warhead and the entire human shield was gassed.
Your copy/paste left something to be desired today.
Lamb describes how the goal is to bring “1000 Americans and thousands of others” to potential bomb sites in Syria in order to “try to protect homes of Palestinians from Government bulldozing” during the next ten days.
You are completely correct, I have clarified the quote further.
Much better.
Hope. Change. Smart power. They like us. They really like us!
Finally, a good reason to bomb.
Amen. The only reason I can think of to bomb Syria is this.
On the other hand, the real fate they deserve is to have them end up in the middle of the fighting, and to suffer the fate they are actively trying to bring about for me and my family:
“. And after the killing, the real fun began. The Arab way of war is to quite explicitly “feminize” the enemy. And in ’47-’48, the Aravim(*) castrated and mutilated, in ways that I will not describe here, the fallen or captured Jewish soldiers. Incidentally, the “portraits” of their Jewish victims both boys and girls were afterwards peddled in Arab Jerusalem. ”
http://zionism-israel.com/ezine/Arab_lie_1948.htm
And yet, I can’t wish this on them, although they certainly deserve it. I guess we should just go ahead with the saturation bombing after all.
(*) Arabs in Hebrew. No nasty name, nor did the soldier hear of one during the war or afterwards.
No mixed messaging here. If only we get a human sheild to protect us from Obama and the Progressives’ decimation of the U. S.
You may be onto something, Sally 😉
If only we get a human sheild to protect us from Obama and the Progressives’ decimation of the U. S.
Are you saying we need human shields to protect us from Obamacare?
Canadian pianist ‘Andrew’:
“Democracy is America’s deadliest export, they use it as an excuse to destroy countries.”
…says the Canadian citizen whose taxes are lower because his country’s proximity to America negates their need for much in the way of defense spending.
Ironically, I find this gentleman’s human shield presence in Syria to be a far better argument for attack than anything Obama or Kerry have offered.
So are you denying that the statement is true? Because I sure might have issues with his basic philosophy (assuming it’s leftist) but all one has to do is look at the history of the last few years starting with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraq is lost, which renders almost useless the US dead and wounded> Ditto Afghanistan. And Libya proved that it is stupid to make a deal with an American president because the next one can ignore it and wipe you out. So much for full faith & credit or the debts (obligations) of the US shall not be questioned.
The damage done by this jugeared jac kass is incalculable.
Full disclosure: I voted for GWB twice and fully supported the wars when they started. Mission creep ended my support.
I gleefully voted against George Bush and called him “shrub.” After 9/11 I watched him criss-cross this country and calm it down, and get NO credit. Then I watched the run-up to the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, and THEN I watched my Democratic party make the cynical calculation to ride the Iraq war to the White House, and in the process, give aid and comfort to the enemy. Meanwhile, George acted with modesty, grit, determination, and good sense. He won me over.
I’ll vote anything BUT Democrat until those sorry bast@rds are completely washed out of the party.
As for “mission creep,” anybody who didn’t figure out that we were in for some very difficult nation-building from the time we discussed invasion, wasn’t paying attention to the condition of the battle field. We were invading a muslim country with no tradition of self-rule. To secure the win, we would have to do what we did in Germany and Japan, or see Vietnam all over, again.
And, the present Secretary of State gave aid and comfort to the enemy, encouraging Al-Qaeda to assume that we could be discouraged by terrorists attacking the locals. That SOB has blood on his hands, both Iraqi and American. The current President of the United States deliberately failed to establish a Status of Forces Agreement in Iraq, and has made the current situation for Iraqis just that much more difficult. I do not trust either of them do the right thing when the butcher’s bill hits, and I know Al-Qaeda and the MB will count on exactly that. The situation would be totally different if McCain were President, but then, he wouldn’t have provoked this mess in the first place.
Thank you. There are still some rational people left in the US.
We saved the Kurds. Isn’t that enough? Didn’t we owe them?
Of course I’m denying the statement is true. America exports democracy as an excuse to destroy countries? Yeesh. No, America exports military assets to destroy countries, you know, like Nazi Germany, imperialist Japan, etc.
You’re like a TV psychic, counting only your hits, ignoring your misses. Data selection, it’s called. A logical fallacy.
Wow. Millions dead in the Congo, hundreds of thousands of women raped in Pakistan, 100,000 dead in Syria and these frut loos find chemical weapons used on 1000 people worth dying overall.
There is no bottom to stupid, gullible people who want to support a dictator whose family has caused mystery and death for Miliions.
What a bunch of suckers and fools.
They are going to spend their time and money to go defend a group of people that do not have an ounce of respect for them and laugh at their stupidity.
Rachel Corrie Award nominees.
These are people who put themselves in the path of war in the completely insane belief that THEY are so much more important than the people already in its path that war, itself, will be deterred and the harm reduced.
It is not possible to overstate the stupidity.