这就是我在1月25日那个早晨的所作所为。我23岁，住在伦敦北部的艾灵顿，是一个美裔犹太人，职业是摄影记者。以前我曾去过中东：作为一个学生在the intifada。期间到过巴勒斯坦西岸。我也曾作为《新闻周刊》的记者到过阿富汗。
人肉盾牌吸引着我的立场，但是，当五周后我离开巴格达时，我的观点急剧地改变了。我不会说我支持战争－－不，我有点矛盾－－但是我非常强烈地想看到除掉萨达姆。
我们在车上自我感觉对伊拉克人民充满了热情，尽管我们一无所知。除了抗议美国和英国政府外，一行人等对伊拉克人为自己的权利而作的奋斗毫无兴趣。
当我那天晚上遇到一位支持战争的伊拉克人时，我被震动了。这是一位出租车司机，那天晚上载着我回我住的旅馆。我向他解释说，我是美国人，然后就像人肉盾牌通常做的那样，对他说：“布什坏！战争坏！伊拉克好！”他愕然地看了看我。
当他明白了我是严肃的时，他减慢了车速，并开始用蹩脚的英语谈论起萨达姆政府的罪恶。此前我却只听到人们用尊敬的口气谈论这位总统，但是现在，这个人却对我说，伊拉克的钱是如何进了萨达姆的腰包，而且如果你敢在政治上反对他，那么他就会杀你全家。
这话着实让我吓了一跳！起初我还以为是秘密警察在套我，后来我才明白他希望我帮助他逃亡。我觉得很糟糕。于是就对他说：“听着，我只是一个从美国来的schmuck，我不是联合国人员更不是中情局的－－我真的没法帮你。”
我当然听说过伊拉克人恨萨达姆的报道，但这回却是真的。有人曾面对面地向我作过解释。我告诉过我认识一些记者。他们说那种事情经常都会有－－自发地，充满感情地恳求来访者帮他们逃离萨达姆统治下的专制的伊拉克。
我开始考虑伊拉克政府限制人肉盾牌的方式，因此几天之后我和其他五个人一道，搭出租车离开伊拉克到了约旦。一过了边界，我便觉得足够安稳，便同司机聊起我对伊拉克政府和空袭威胁的看法。
“你听过美国之音上鲍威尔的声音吗？”他说：“美国人当然不会轰炸平民。他们想炸的是政府和萨达姆的宫殿。我们希望美国轰炸萨达姆。”
我们一行人只是坐着、听着，嘴张得老大。司机一边描述着[伊拉克]政府的恐怖，我们当中的杰克则一边不停地说着：“哦！天呐！”杰觉被自己的傻劲给惊呆了。其实我们都一样。这从来没有人听说过：伊拉克人真的支持战争。
那位司机用极富感情的话语说道：“所有的伊拉克人民都盼着这场战争。”他很肯定地说平民的伤亡将会很小。他对美国的战争机器能够信守诺言充满了信心。真的是超过了我们所有的人。
也许我们所了解到的最惊人的事情是最普通的伊拉克人都认为萨达姆出钱请我们到伊拉克来进行抗议。尽管我解释说这绝对不是事实，我还是能认为他相信我们。然后他问我：“真的，萨达姆给了多少钱让你来这儿？”
这话击中了我们的内心和感情：这就是伊拉克真实生活的素描。在第一次谈话之后，我彻底反思了自己对伊拉克问题的观点。我想起了在过去两周中到处看到的萨达姆头像，并试着让自己将心比心地感受那些在过去二十年中被迫天天看到这些头像的人。
上周六晚上，我到议会广场支拍摄反战示威的照片。成千上万的人都在高呼“不要战争！”但却从未想过这对伊拉克人民的意义。当中的一些喝酒、跳桑巴舞，还劝警察离开，正如这些人在谈论一个迥然不同的但完全为人所接受的政府。这真的让我很沮丧。
不管谁只要他还有点脑子就一定能看出来萨达姆就要被除掉了。这真是极度嘈讽的一幕：反战分子们在为一个政府游行－－但这个政府却禁止它的人民享有这种自由。
原文网址：http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;$sessionid$3NQ5TQZNM4L01QFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/opinion/2003/03/23/do2305.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2003/03/23/ixop.html
I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam
By Daniel Pepper
(Filed: 23/03/2003)
I wanted to join the human shields in Baghdad because it was direct action which had a chance of bringing the anti-war movement to the forefront of world attention. It was inspiring: the human shield volunteers were making a sacrifice for their political views - much more of a personal investment than going to a demonstration in Washington or London. It was simple - you get on the bus and you represent yourself.
So that is exactly what I did on the morning of Saturday, January 25. I am a 23-year-old Jewish-American photographer living in Islington, north London. I had travelled in the Middle East before: as a student, I went to the Palestinian West Bank during the intifada. I also went to Afghanistan as a photographer for Newsweek.
The human shields appealed to my anti-war stance, but by the time I had left Baghdad five weeks later my views had changed drastically. I wouldn’t say that I was exactly pro-war - no, I am ambivalent - but I have a strong desire to see Saddam removed.
We on the bus felt that we were sympathetic to the views of the Iraqi civilians, even though we didn’t actually know any. The group was less interested in standing up for their rights than protesting against the US and UK governments.
I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, “Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good“. He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.
As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam’s regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq’s oil money went into Saddam’s pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.
It scared the hell out of me. First I was thinking that maybe it was the secret police trying to trick me but later I got the impression that he wanted me to help him escape. I felt so bad. I told him: “Listen, I am just a schmuck from the United States, I am not with the UN, I’m not with the CIA - I just can’t help you.“
Of course I had read reports that Iraqis hated Saddam Hussein, but this was the real thing. Someone had explained it to me face to face. I told a few journalists who I knew. They said that this sort of thing often happened - spontaneous, emotional, and secretive outbursts imploring visitors to free them from Saddam’s tyrannical Iraq.
I became increasingly concerned about the way the Iraqi regime was restricting the movement of the shields, so a few days later I left Baghdad for Jordan by taxi with five others. Once over the border we felt comfortable enough to ask our driver what he felt about the regime and the threat of an aerial bombardment.
“Don’t you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?“ he said. “Of course the Americans don’t want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam’s palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam.“
We just sat, listening, our mouths open wide. Jake, one of the others, just kept saying, “Oh my God“ as the driver described the horrors of the regime. Jake was so shocked at how naive he had been. We all were. It hadn’t occurred to anyone that the Iraqis might actually be pro-war.
The driver’s most emphatic statement was: “All Iraqi people want this war.“ He seemed convinced that civilian casualties would be small; he had such enormous faith in the American war machine to follow through on its promises. Certainly more faith than any of us had.
Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don’t think he believed us. Later he asked me: “Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?“
It hit me on visceral and emotional levels: this was a real portrayal of Iraq life. After the first conversation, I completely rethought my view of the Iraqi situation. My understanding changed on intellectual, emotional, psychological levels. I remembered the experience of seeing Saddam’s egomaniacal portraits everywhere for the past two weeks and tried to place myself in the shoes of someone who had been subjected to seeing them every day for the last 20 or so years.
Last Thursday night I went to photograph the anti-war rally in Parliament Square. Thousands of people were shouting “No war“ but without thinking about the implications for Iraqis. Some of them were drinking, dancing to Samba music and sparring with the police. It was as if the protesters were talking about a different country where the ruling government is perfectly acceptable. It really upset me.
Anyone with half a brain must see that Saddam has to be taken out. It is extraordinarily ironic that the anti-war protesters are marching to defend a government which stops its people exercising that freedom.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003
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