This is a kind of follow up to This old thread about human shields that is closed now. You remember, those people who risked their lives to prevent the coalition of the willies from targeting the civilian population of Bagdad.

I love follow ups of all kinds (a deplorable weakness of researchers) that's why I read with great interest interviews with the best known of the German human shields. Among questions how they think now about their previous adventure, there was also the nasty question why they are not in Bagdad now. The people there need them. They could mix with people queuing for jobs at the security forces, they also could stand in front of police stations to dissuade the suicide bombers. Churches too would be a fine and surely televisable and newsmaking place.

All of them said not they wouldn't go there now. I have a deep understanding for that response for I wouldn't go there too. But when asked why they wouldn't go now they came up with all sorts of funny excuses: no money, no more vacation time left for this year, want to spend more time with the kids (the own kinds). My favourite response came from that guy who said he doen't speak Arab and therefore would be unable to dissuade the attackers (as if his English would have helped with the helicopter gunner targeting a plant (or a hospital, the preferred placement of the human shields). Not one of them said I'm scared, for I know that no dissuasion will prevent the terrorists from attacking civilians and security forces and I was not completely but fairly sure that the Americans would not attack when they knew a human shield was a one place.

Ken O'Keefe, founder of 'human shields' is now said (I've heard it as a rumor and would like to be corrected) to be in Hawaii fighting for independence of these islands from the USA. Now that's a really dangerous place to be in these times.

Wolfgang (in a very cynical mood)