Criminal Madness

Some anti-war extremists have been protesting the unloading of returning equipment from Iraq at the Port of Olympia in Washington state. The protests have triggered the arrests of quite a few of the protesters. But what is more troublesome is the use by some protesters of children to block convoys. This is, with no question whatsoever, endangering the welfare of a child and could (should!) be considered child abuse. Michelle Malkin has photographs of one woman who dropped her child face first onto the concrete – after endangering his life by sitting down in front of a tractor-trailer. One of her readers sent the pictures and this description:

I work at the port, and have observed some truly mind boggling events unfold, but the most astonishing was the use of children as human shields. The attached pictures were taken on 11/9/07; the night military equipment was first blocked from leaving the port. The Olympia Police Department essentially abandoned any effort to remove the protesters out of fear that a child would be harmed in their efforts to enforce the law. The mother of these children apparently had no such concern.

After the military convoy was forced to retreat, a victory celebration ensued, with chanting dancing, etc. I was horrified to watch as the woman in the attached photograph, distracted by events, allowed her infant to fall from her lap and land, face first on the pavement. The second photo shows her retrieving the crying baby as her other two children, dressed as terrorists look on.

This situation, and another two days later, when dozens of college aged girls were arrayed in rows with arms linked to block the road, showed a deliberate effort to use the same tactics as the terrorist savages who manipulate us, knowing that decent people cannot abide putting innocents in harm’s way. And, while the police were dragging the females away, under the glare of the media’s cameras, the males were establishing rolling blockades; throwing rocks at police and military vehicles; breaking windows, etc.

The whole event had the flavor of a huge mob of children playing some updated version of “Cowboys and Indians” — with live ammo.

The complete lack of sense this woman displayed – the utter disregard for the safety of her child – is sickening. There is a clear picture of the woman and officials should immediately begin whatever procedures are needed to protect those children. This is an issue on which I have zero flexibility and zero tolerance. Period. There is no defense for this behavior. None.

One woman who is totally against the war is quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

By contrast, Jill Wolf, who said she strongly opposes the war in Iraq, took issue with the protesters' tactics and described them as criminals.

"I would suggest that today's protesters are making Olympia look ridiculous while wasting thousands of dollars in taxpayers' money," Wolf said.

I agree, they are criminals and at least one of them is a child abuser and should be treated as such at once.

UPDATE: Roundup is here.