BY KATIE CHERRINGTON

NEWCASTLE — Aid worker and freelance journalist Donna Mulhearn spoke at a public forum at Club Nova on April 23, detailing her experiences as a “human shield” in Iraq. Mulhearn told the 70 people present that they were right for protesting the war on Iraq and that “your fears have been realised”.

Mulhearn estimated that between 800 and 900 human shields went through Baghdad over an eight-week period. Their intention was to protect civilian and vital infrastructure sites (which included food silos and water treatment plants) from bombing, as well as to provide eyewitness accounts. None of the five or six sites in Baghdad where human shields were based were bombed while they were present.

Mulhearn’s presentation included footage of life in Baghdad before the war and the devastation that followed once bombing had begun. She spoke of the warmth and solidarity of the Iraqi people towards the human shields, especially at anti-war youth rallies and the International Women's Day demonstrations.

Mulhearn was highly critical of the presentation in the media of the so-called “liberation” of Iraq and condemned the United States-led occupation. She is planning to return to Iraq in six weeks. Five human shields have refused to leave Iraq, including an 82-year-old US woman. Mulhearn stated that US human shields risk arrest if they return.

From Green Left Weekly, May 7, 2003.
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