Bush administration arrests former human shields.

[Dinner]

In the run up to the last Gulf War there were several westerners who volunteered to go to Iraq and become human shields for the government of Saddam Hussan. Many of these people chained themselves to oil refineries, strategic highway bridges, hospitals, and even military facilities. These people claim they were simply excersizing their right to protest an "evil, unlawful, and unjust war of aggression" though the US government has decided to charge US citizens who went to Iraq as human shields with violating the Sanctions law Congress put in place at the beginning of the first gulf war. The sanctions law prohibites US citizens from visiting or spending money in Iraq except for a handful of carefully spelled out reasons. Violating the law carries a maximium penalty of 12 years in jail and a $1 million fine.

I'm thinking these people did the crime and now they need to do the time. They went to Iraq knowing they were breaking the law but they just felt the law didn't apply for them. What's your take on this?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3126220.stm

[Kuciwalker]

I think that if someone volunteers to be a human shield, we should let them. However, we also shouldn't care if they die while we bomb something.

[chequita guevara]

Good luck finding an unbiased jury They'd have to exclude half the people who were opposed to the war, which then open up the very real complaint that the jury is convicting based on their beliefs and not the merits.

[Kuciwalker]

Why not just shoot them? They wanted to die, why not let them?

Or even better, strap them to bombs we drop on enemy forces

[chequita guevara]

God this regime makes me sick.

They didn't want to die, they wanted to stop war. It was naive and foolhardy, but it was not a desire to die.

[DanS]

Do the crime, do the time. These shields probably even thought the law applied to them, but that the bad PR would be so great that they wouldn't be prosecuted. Poor choices.

[Shi Huangdi]

If they want to stand up for their cause, they should go to jail for their beliefs.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
God this regime makes me sick.

They didn't want to die, they wanted to stop war. It was naive and foolhardy, but it was not a desire to die.

They put themselves next to a target so that we wouldn't kill it for fear of killing them. If they are WILLING to sit there, why shouldn't we kill them along with the target?

[Buck Birdseed]

your country has laws prohibiting citizens from travelling abroad? *cougsovietunioncough*

[Kuciwalker]

No, laws from travelling and bringing stuff (and spending money in) to certain regimes that are EXTREMELY HOSTILE to the US. Like Cuba, Iraq, etc. We have those countries embargoed, so allowing people to spend money there would make the embargo worthless.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed
your country has laws prohibiting citizens from travelling abroad? *cougsovietunioncough*

Haven't you ever heard of sanctions? If you violate sanctions then you are breaking the law.

[optimus2861]

It's one thing to charge them with the crime of travelling to an embargoed country, but 12 years in prison?! How does that punishment fit the mere crime of travelling to somewhere that policy makers don't want you to go?

I can't help but wonder how many Americans have travelled to Cuba through Canada and not even been prosecuted, while of course the wannabe 'human shields' in Iraq (or at least this one in the article) will get the book thrown at them. Reeks of vengeful politics.

[oedo]

political crime law, intended to criminalize people´s beliefs.

Originally posted by skywalker
No, laws from travelling and bringing stuff (and spending money in) to certain regimes that are EXTREMELY HOSTILE to the US.

that´s a banana-formula. it´s in the nature, that peace activists go to "extremely hostlie" countries in events like this. after all, it´s about war or no war.

Originally posted by Oerdin
Haven't you ever heard of sanctions? If you violate sanctions then you are breaking the law.

I don´t see, how an UN resolution could justify a jail-sentence against civilians. have you ever heard of the principle nulla poena sine lege?

[KrazyHorse]

Not UN sanction law. US federal sanction law.

[oedo]

ok, I see.
is there a link to that crap paper?