Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Scudi umani volontari

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2246438.stm
It's not only Iraqi lives that could be at stake if the UK goes to war
with Baghdad.
One British peace activist is planning to put his life on the line, as
a "human shield".
In the UK there is little appetite for a war with Iraq, according to
the opinion polls.
But few who oppose military conflict would go to the same lengths as
Matt Barr.
If Tony Blair gives the green light for bombing raids, the 21-year-old
peace activist
plans to be on the first flight out to Baghdad. 
Matt Barr As part of a "peace delegation", Mr Barr hopes his presence
would deter American and British bombers.
His primary role would be to "show solidarity" with the Iraqi people
and "bear witness" to the war.
But with plans to visit key installations such as power stations and
sewage works,
the 21-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex, could also become a
"human shield" against the Western forces.
The scenario harks back to the Gulf War of 1991, when Saddam Hussein 
detained hundreds of British expatriates and placed them at key
installations as human shields.
So far, Mr Barr is the only British volunteer to sign up to the
mission. He expects to be joined by about 200
American peace volunteers. 
The delegation is being organised by Voices in the Wilderness, a
charity which campaigns
for an end to economic sanctions against Iraq. 
"When you are participating in a non-violent resistance movement there
comes a point where, personally,
I have to be willing to put your whole self into the firing line,"
says Mr Barr.
Having visited Iraq in December last year and met many "ordinary
people", Mr Barr says he feels
"passionately that I couldn't just stand by and watch this happen". 
"The mass of people in Britain are opposed to this war but that's not
having any effect on
Tony Blair, which is not how democracy works." 
War is on the cards after weapons inspectors left Iraq
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children have died as result of being
denied adequate food, clean
water and medical facilities, the charity says. 
"Another war with Iraq would be catastrophic for the ordinary people,"
says Mr Barr.
"Tens of thousands of people, whose livelihoods are already hanging by
a thread,
 would suffer. The people of Iraq are as human as we are, and yet many
would die."
Mr Barr rejects claims that he is signing up to a suicide mission.
Whether he would
simply visit key destinations, such as water purification plants, or
stay there longer
term has yet to be decided by the charity, he says. 
But a campaign co-ordinator in the United States, Kathy Kelly, has
said volunteers
should be prepared to face up to the fact "this could be the last year
of their life".
The planned trip has the reluctant sanction of Mr Barr's parents. 
 "It's difficult for my family. Obviously my parents are worried about
what might happen to me.
But they know my strength of feeling on this and that it's what I have
to do."
Voices in the Wilderness grew out of the Gulf War when Western peace
activists opposed
to the war camped in the desert on the border with Iraq. 
A committed human rights activist, Mr Barr, who is a trained sound
engineer,
devotes much of his time to volunteer charity work. 
Is he worried the delegation could be "hijacked" by Saddam 
Hussein and activists such as himself used as hostages? 
No, he says. The fact that those peace activists on the border were
not allowed
into Iraq into 1991, says Mr Barr, leaves him confident Baghdad will
keep a hands-off
attitude to the delegation, letting them go about their own business.

 ha scritto nel messaggio
Peccato che non gli sia mai venuto in mente di andare a far gli scudi umani
in Israele.
Ma, si sa, gli ebrei non appartengono alla super-razza araba.
Ad'I