Human Shields "Bug Out"

Editor

I'm glad Tom Cahill escaped from Iraq. Other human shields left Baghdad recently, and their experiences were reported by UPI and other news agencies. Two human shields were so shocked by Iraqi descriptions of atrocities committed by Saddam, that they switched from opposition to support of the war. Many other human shields left when they found the Iraqis wanted them to shield military targets.

Cahill's statement that human shields were specifically targeted seems as credible as the statements of Baghdad Bob, the Iraqi information officer who can say that there are no Coalition forces in Baghdad while a camera shot over his shoulder shows Coalition tanks roaming the banks of the Tigris.

During the phase of the war when shields would have been in transit, Coalition targeting was strategic, not tactical. Cahill is paranoid with delusions of grandeur to think that Coalition forces would, or ever could, identify and track the movements of inconsequential noncombatants.

If Cahill truly believes the stories, he was also a witness to a miracle: in fact, a double miracle, given the precision of Coalition missiles and bombs. Targeted buses? Dead human shields! The fact that they are not dead is proof in itself that they were not targeted and bombed.

Cahill will probably find many committed peace activists eager to repeat this story, and many others who lack the common sense to pick it apart. However, he should be careful not to expose the story to someone who can critically analyze it.

("Bug Out" - from the Korean War. When attacked by overwhelming forces, to "bug out" meant to throw your gun and gear away so the weight would not slow down your speedy departure!
"When the Chinese mortars begins to thuggin', the old Deuce Four begins to buggin' ")