I came across this quote in an article on Iraqi refugees heading for Jordan and though it interesting as a reflection on the less-informed position of the no-war-at-any-cost crowd in the US, but after a little digging I have dug up some interesting background on the quoted pastor.

A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."

So, on the surface you see a lefty repenting for his out-of-touch ways, and this is certainly how its being spun by the blogosphere, right and left.  In the interest of fairness I then decided to look up this particular gentlemen, to see what kind of person we're dealing with.  I found this article discussing the need for Assyrian Christians having a place in post-Saddam Iraq.  And here, presumably, is the gentleman's father, another Assyrian Christian minister, and alumni of infamous crazy-christian (and Bush-friendly) institution Bob Jones University.   Combine these facts with the fact that the story in question was distributed by the Bush-friendly Moonie-owned UPI and Washington Times and this story seems to beg for a bit more digging to determine the actual agenda of this particular individual.  Is he a plant, or just a right-wing-evangelical-christian human shield associate?  Unfortunately, thanks to work and other things I don't have the time.  Feel free to do so yourself ;)

ps. Note that I don't disagree with the general sentiment expressed by the pastor above, but I do consider the source a bit suspicious and thought it important to point out.