ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ken O'Keefe used the Internet yesterday in the Saraya hotel in Amman, Jordan.
Isle ‘human shield’ Former Haleiwa resident Ken Nichols O'Keefe says he continues to support the roughly 50 "human shields" who remain in Iraq, even though he was forced out of the country he hoped to protect.
wants to recruit
more for cause
Ken O'Keefe, deported yesterday,
says that he and others support
the Iraqis, not Saddam
By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com"I never anticipated I would be kicked out," O'Keefe told the Star-Bulletin last night from his hotel room in Amman, Jordan. "Through my speeches in the media around the world, I'm the guy who got hundreds of people to go."
More than 100 people from around the world went to Iraq to act as human shields in the event of a U.S. attack.
O'Keefe said he and four others were deported by the Iraqi government yesterday after they objected to where the Iraqis wanted to place them. The five had chosen locations "essential to the civilian population," such as food storage warehouses and water and electricity facilities, he said, but the government wanted them in more sensitive locations.
About half of all the human shields have left because of concerns over where the government wanted to place them.
O'Keefe said an Iraqi representative told him "we blew it. We no longer represented the noble cause we came for. It's a great compliment to be kicked out."
"It's a dictatorship, and they're used to people being submissive," he said.
He stressed that "the human shields are not in support of Saddam Hussein, but the people of Iraq."
However, the actions of O'Keefe and other human shields have drawn sharp criticism from many, including Kathy Hashimoto, of Oahu, whose husband, Mark, is a Marine major in the Reserves deployed in the Persian Gulf.
"It really crosses the line when they get in the way and when it puts the servicemen's lives in danger when they try to thwart our military's action," she said. "When they stand in the way of that, that's definitely crossing the line. It borders on treason. They are really acting as the enemy."
"Going to war to stop Saddam is better than allowing him to continue to rape and torture his own people," she said.
O'Keefe vowed to aid people in obtaining visas if they want to go to Iraq to serve as human shields.
"I might make another request to go, or go with a humanitarian group which will set up a refugee camp," he added.
While in Hawaii, O'Keefe ran a Haleiwa retail business and was an outspoken environmental activist who sought to publicize the plight of sea turtles. He also spoke out against military use of Makua Valley and was a member of the Reinstated Hawaiian Government, a Hawaiian sovereignty group headed by Henry Noa.
O'Keefe left Hawaii in November 2001 for the Netherlands, where Noa said he has continued to help his sovereignty group.
"I want to come back to a free, independent Hawaii," O'Keefe said. "I very much love America. I am fighting for the American cause."
O'Keefe described himself as a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq in 1991 and who may be a victim of Gulf War syndrome. While he feels healthy, he said, his ex-wife had miscarried three times, even though she had two children in a previous union.
He said he had been exposed to depleted uranium, which is used by the U.S. military to create armor-piercing rounds. O'Keefe said on this trip to Iraq, he visited children and adults stricken with leukemia and cancers from depleted uranium.
Noa described O'Keefe as a caring individual and was impressed by his conviction.
Protesting the impending war was "more than just a cause. He was wronged himself. He didn't want to see others hurt like himself."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
