Dick Cheney's daughter wants to be a human shield?!?

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=245183&lang=e&dir=news

<i>March 25, 2003
Cheney daughter - human shield in Baghdad???

The London based Arabic daily Al Quds Al Arabi reported on Tuesday, March 25 that the American vice president, Dick Cheney, would soon head to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

The newspaper claimed that the visit would be an attempt by Cheney to convince his daughter, who was in the Jordanian capital, to back down her decision to go to Baghdad within a group of volunteers who want to form human shields against the US led attacks on Iraq.

Al Quds Al Arabi cited news reports it claimed circulating in Amman as saying that Cheney would arrive in the Jordanian capital soon on a special visit it described as having a "social mission." “News agencies cited sources as saying that Cheney will arrive in Amman next Friday. He will try to convince his daughter who is currently staying at a hotel in Amman not to go to Baghdad along with a group of volunteers who want to go to Iraq and form human shields against the Anglo American attacks,” said the report.

Some sons of western officials have already volunteered as human shields in Iraq against the American invasion, including the son of the Canadian Foreign Minister, Bill Graham

Although not mentioned in the the Arabic newspaper, it is likely refers to Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney. Mary, 34, is a lesbian, and she has not kept her homosexuality a secret -- either to her friends or to her employer, Coors Brewing Co., where she was the gay and lesbian corporate relations manager.

The controversy around Mary has emerged in the US media during her father's vice presidential campaign during 2000. During that time, Mary told Time magazine in some of her few public words to date, "I love my father. I don't want to be a distraction."

However, when Lynne Cheney was asked about her daughter being openly gay, Mrs. Cheney said her daughter is "bright" and "hard-working" and "decent," and yes, she loves her.

Now, after the war started, it seems there are not just political but also financial reasons for Mr. Cheney's strong support for the raids on Iraq. When it comes to making money from a war in Iraq, few can match the firepower of the company once headed by Dick Cheney, Reuters reported.

Houston-based Halliburton Co. can build roads and bridges and camps for US forces. It can transport personnel and provide other logistics. And after the war, assuming a U.S. victory, it can help restore Iraq's infrastructure and oil production.

At the same time, the company's oilfield services business, which is second only to Schlumberger Ltd., is likely to supply most of the heavy equipment to fight fires in oil wells and oil fields.

And should the U.S. emerge victorious, Halliburton -- which develops oil fields and drills for oil all over the world -- has the connections and businesses to play a major role in "rebuilding" Iraq.

"They have the businesses. They have the government relationship already well-established, and, as we all know, Cheney was the CEO, so it makes logical sense," said Denis Walsh, an equity analyst who covers the energy sector for State Street Research and Management.

For all these reasons, one should not be surprised that the American VP will hurry to Amman and try to bring his "rebellious" daughter back home....(Albawaba.com)

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Aww, damn, looks like a false alarm.

http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20030325-062221-1372r

<i>Cheney: No daughters as human shields
From the International Desk
Published 3/25/2003 12:22 PM


WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- Vice President Dick Cheney's office denied reports on Tuesday that either of his daughters was even considering becoming a human shield in Iraq.

"Neither daughter even has plans to travel to that region, let alone Iraq," a member of the vice president's staff told United Press International in Washington. Elizabeth, 36, is married with three children in Washington, where she is deputy assistant secretary for Near-East affairs at the State Department. Mary, 34, has just completed her master's degree of business administration at Denver University.

Reports earlier on Tuesday suggested Cheney was on his way to Jordan to dissuade one of his daughters from joining the so-called human shield volunteers in Iraq. The shields are civilians, usually foreigners, who place themselves around hospitals, schools and other installations in an effort to keep opposing military forces from targeting them.

The United States has reiterated that it does not target civilian facilities and indeed has no plans to during its operations in Iraq.

When asked where the daughters were now, the staff member said, "Both the vice president and his daughters are in the United States."

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Amman, the Jordanian capital, also denied that Cheney was on his way to Jordan: "The embassy has no information that the U.S. vice president will arrive in Jordan Tuesday to convince one of his daughters not to travel to Iraq to join human shields opposed to war," he said.


Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International
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