German Joins 'Human Shields' Movement

While more than half of the German population has come to terms with the idea that there will be a war in Iraq, 40 percent still believe there is a chance for a peaceful solution to the conflict.

One is Jürgen Hanel, who has left Germany together with 40 other peace activists from across the world, to act as a so-called "human shield" in Iraq. Hanel hopes that because of the sheer presence of the human shields, the United States will refrain from dropping bombs on Iraq. But if it does come to war and a U.S.-led military attack kills Western civilians, he hopes it will lead to major protests around the world.

"Our aim is clear: we want to avoid a war and make our mark" -- even if the situation escalates, he says. "In the worst case, bombs will fall on our heads, too, but the most important thing is still the 25 million people in Iraq."

The potential human shields have caught the eye of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. On Wednesday, he warned people from joining their ranks because the United States could not guarantee their safety. A Pentagon official also suggested that people serving as human shields could be viewed as fighters for Iraq. "I am no legal expert," the official said. "But you could argue that these people have decided to serve the government of Iraq and thus have crossed the line between being a civilian and being a fighter."

Breaking economic sanctions

With his tousled, dirty-blond hair, friendly brown face and slight figure, Hanel doesn't quite fit the dangerous mission he has dedicated his life to. Even his thick checked shirt seems just a size too big for the 40-year-old. In Germany, Hanel works as an odd job man, sometimes as a truck driver, at others as a decorator.

For Hanel, there are more important things than earning money. He is a dedicated member of the anti-nuclear movement and has repeatedly taken to the streets in anti-globalization protests. Last year, he came across the international group "Voices in the Wilderness," which hand-delivers medical supplies, journals and toys to children's hospitals in Iraq despite the economic sanctions.

Hanel then sought to find a way to support the Iraqi population: after researching and reading intensively about the country, he founded a small action group in the university town of Tübingen in southern Germany, with which he smuggled medicine to a hospital in Basra, Iraq.

E-mails to the chancellor

In January, he traveled to Iraq for the first time, together with German singer Konstantin Wecker. Following the trip, Hanel was stuck in Amman, Jordan, for more than three weeks, waiting for a visa to travel back to Iraq.

In the meantime, he has written e-mails to German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and German President Johannes Rau telling them about his experiences in Iraq.

Both in Amman and at home he spent much time thinking about the meaning of the human shield mission to Iraq. "Of course there are fears and one thinks a lot about what could happen," he says. However, he says it is reassuring to know where the next bomb shelter is, or if one has the right tablets to disinfect water."

And he is well aware that many may accuse him of working for the Iraqi government, especially as the human shields are featured regularly on Iraqi television and have ongoing contact with high-ranking members of the Iraqi government.

"We from the peace movement are always asked about this, even though we are only in Iraq in support of the Iraqi population. But what about the many construction companies or a corporation like DaimlerChrysler, or the many building firms that are active in Iraq and have offices there -- why are they never questioned?"

But Hanel says the human shields are not in Iraq to do business. He says all they want to do is to protect the normal people of Iraq. "We have to pay for everything, the flight, transport. And if things go wrong, we may have to pay with our lives."