We have all heard about the idiots who have already gone and others who plan to go to Iraq to serve as "human shields" in an attempt to try to dissuade U. S. forces from bombing in that petty dictatorship. It seems that a few of them have now received a first hand, real world education recently. Two of those are so-called Americans. According to the Geneva Conventions to which these jerks so consistently incorrectly refer, they could have been classified as having committed war crimes.

Ken O'Keefe, 33, of Haliewa, Hawaii and John Ross (no city or age provided), another U. S. citizen in name only, were kicked out of Iraq along with three other similarly logically challenged jerks from other nations. They spoke with Associated Press reporters in Amman, Jordan where they were foolish enough to express shock and surprise that their Iraqi intelligence agency "hosts" had escorted them to the border and summarily kicked their butts out of Iraq after they complained that the Iraq regime had demanded they act as human shields at places like "smelly, dirt oil fields" and power plants. O'Keefe disingenuously expressed surprise that the Iraq military refused to allow his group to act as human shields at places such as food storage areas, water and electrical facilities.

One quote from O'Keefe is illustrative of just how mindlesly naive these people are... "If they had only cooperated and let us do part of what we wanted to do, we could have worked with them also to protect these sites and we would have brought in more people to stay." O'Keefe also stated, "They removed us from the sites we had chosen because we were critical of the integrity and the autonomy of the Iraqi authorities. I was escorted by Iraqi intelligence officers to the border, because I say what I believe and the Iraqi government wants submissive easy robots." As Homer Simpson would say to him, "Doh!"

O'Keefe and Ross recently called members of the Bush administration "liars" in public pronouncements for saying the exact same thing they now say about the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein.

O'Keefe and these others, including 27-year-old Shane Claiborne of Philadelphia who will go to Iraq on Thursday to volunteer as a human shield in support of Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime, are part of a worldwide group of organizations who believe that their presence in Iraq will somehow prevent the U.S. lead coalition of the willing from using military force to remove Hussein and destroy the WMD that Saddam has been stockpiling and hiding since signing a cease fire agreement in 1991 that saved his government from defeat in the first Gulf War to remove Saddam's thugs from Kuwait.

I willinterject a personal thought here with a request for your input, folks. As far as I am concerned, these fools have committed acts of sedition, if not outright treason. They have provided material aid, comfort and support to the government of Saddam Hussein. As I have said here often, they have the Constitutional right to say stupid, mindless things here in the United States. What they claim is reprehensible and vile falsehoods based on twisted and warped thinking, but it is their right to be stupid,if that is their desire. HOWEVER, once they go to the home of our enemies and do and say such things, the game changes. They have committed treason or sedition, as far as I am concerned. I think the MINIMUM punishment they should receive is immediate and irrefutable removal of their citizenship rights. They should be forced to live in those "workers' paradises" they claim exist, but don't. They, like O'Keefe and John Ross have discovered, as Shane Claiborne probably will discover as well, the realities they so consistently deny. The likes of the Iraq regime don't permit anyone the freedoms these spoiled rotten brats take for granted and abuse so foolishly and wrongly.

What do you folks think? Should these people be punished when they return to the United States? With which crimes should they be charged? If convicted, what should be their punishment - if any - in your opinion?