A London double decker bus carrying human shields to Baghdad

By Aws al-Sharqy, IOL Iraq correspondent

BAGHDAD, February 18 (IslamOnline) – For more than two weeks, hundreds of human shields have been flocking to Iraq to voice their solidarity with the Iraqi people and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in defiance of the looming U.S.-led war.

Coming from the four corners of the world, anti-war protesters told IslamOnline correspondent on Tuesday, February 18, that they "reject using force against the security and integrity of peoples."

"I condemn the U.S. interference into the affairs of countries and the incessant bids to impose its hegemony on the entire world.

"We came here from different walks of life, including students, lawyers and clergymen, to say: No to war…Yes to peace," said Mike Giberte, a French protester.

Asserting that they came all the way to act as human shields should war break out, Ilias Amidan, an American, said he was dumfounded by the "barbaric policy" of the Bush administration, noting that U.S. officials do not want to "listen to voices of peace."

One Italian citizen also said all peoples are peace-loving and flatly reject war as a solution to the Iraq crisis, calling on the international organizations to do everything in their power to stand in the face of "war-mongers" and "iron out evil intentions."

"I came here with friends of mine and relatives to support our brother Muslims in Iraq against a crusade that will ruin and destroy everything and kill scores of children, women and the elderly in cold-blood," Fatmah Sama, a Turkish citizen, told IslamOline.

"The Americans, who lied to the world and peoples, only care about their self-center materialistic interests, particularly the oil.

"We, as human shields, are going to divide ourselves into groups and go to orphanages and health centers to offer some sort of condolences to the Iraqi people in their resistance of a merciless war," she said.

Gene Marseille, from the French Bridge of Peace group which includes physicians, servicemen, professors and lawyers, said they came to demonstrate solidarity with the confident Iraqi people and share them their everyday life despite of the unceasing threats against them.

"A number of French military commanders will go the same sites visited by U.N. arms inspectors to be eyewitnesses, expose the groundless U.S. allegations and prove that Iraq is worthy of credibility," she remarked.

Codfree Feler, a British civil servant retiree, denounced his country's toeing the American line by supporting war on Iraq.

"we can throw a spanner in war plans"

"I could not sit in the audience in Britain and I decided to come to Baghdad with my crutches to join my group in forming human shields so that we can throw a spanner in the war plans," he said.

Another Briton, Peter Fandek, said he volunteered to act as a human shield to protest the policy adopted by the British government, which failed the Britons by its abhorrent stance on the Iraq crisis.

Fandek stressed that millions of Britons took to the streets of London and other British cities as a crystal-clear evidence that Prime Minister Tony Blair do not represent the "will of the peace-loving British people," and to serve as a unified condemnation of belligerence and colonialism.

"The shame will be theirs (war-mongers) for ever," he said.

Representing a Japanese group, Yamani Yasria voiced his support for the principle of peaceful co-existence to resolve the pending problems between countries, stressing that his group and another Japanese one will act as human shields in Iraq.

A Norwegian university student, in addition, said she came to Baghdad not only to support the Iraqi people, but to send a message for all evil people worldwide that the time of wars and the law of jungle were all but gone and colonialist desires were as clear as day to all peoples.

Another post-graduate student from Slovenia said her university has become a podium calling for supporting Iraq, noting that all Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and clubs had become offices for those who wanted to volunteer as human shields against the U.S.-British aggression.

U.S. citizen Joseph Carlton said that he was one of the Marines who took part in Vietnam War and saw the massacres committed against the Vietnamese people and the unimaginable havoc wrecked by the U.S. warships.

"That's why I volunteered with a large number of Americans to form human shields and to pressure the U.S. administration into giving their war plans a second though," he said.