Killing 1 Person is Murder - Killing 1,000's is Foreign Policy

Wednesday February 19, 2003 16:55

by Andrew - The struggle site

Shannon & Direct Action

This is the text of a leaflet drawn up by the Dublin grassroots gathering and distibuted on the Feb 15 anti-war march in Dublin. Its in the context of the planned mass direct action at Shannon on March 1st. Meet at the archway at the entrance at 2pm.

Killing 1 Person is Murder - Killing 1,000's is Foreign Policy

Shannon & Direct Action

It's now well known that Shannon airport is being used by the US military for refuelling en route to Iraq. Getting it well known was an important victory but it's not enough

- now we've got to stop it!

As usual the Irish Government are blatantly ignoring public opinion - they haveundermined Irish neutrality despite the overwhelming majority of residents of Ireland opposing this war. Up to five such flights a day are now passing through Shannon and the government freely admits that the soldiers carry personal fire arms on board. This may only be the tip of the ice berg as no official has ever asked to inspect any plane. We do know that 30 planes were given permission to carry arms and munitions last year. The US navy and air force C 130s which pass through regularly are often used as bombers and gun ships and can also transport so called daisy cutter bombs

We don't have to be powerless spectators; we CAN stop the US using Shannon. While this may not stop the war, it would be a huge boost to anti-war activists around the world and could have a major impact. We have a better chance than anyone outside of the US and the UK of striking a major blow against this war.

So how can we do this?

It's not just a question of making our voices heard but making them impossible to ignore! Direct Action is just that - taking the initiative and implementing change ourselves - why rely on the action of others when our appeals obviously fall on deaf ears?

We don't have to be super-brave commandos; direct action can take many forms, from just being there supporting, to blockading, "trespassing", witnessing, to getting in the way when the cops try to arrest others; your level of involvement is your choice.

Several such actions have happened already - a military plane was sprayed with paint last September, over a hundred people "trespassed" inside the fence in October while just recently one woman did 500, 000 euros of damage to a Navy jet! Five members of the Catholic Worker Movement disarmed the same Navy jet after it had been repaired delaying its involvement in the massacre of Iraqis.

Direct action can take many forms, but all contribute towards preventing this war. We've already seen how effective this form of resistance can be. The challenge is to continue with direct action, making it larger, bolder and more powerful. Direct action is perhaps the most empowering means of resistance - and is for everyone; our tools are creativity, spontaneity and imagination .and the occasional hammer!

The war is illegal under both Irish and International law, raising several possible defences, some of which are being tried already, however such actions may result in fines or even prison time. It's therefore vital that we support and offer our solidarity to those who take direct action and suffer legal consequences as a result.

Creating a diverse, imaginative campaign of actions will enable us to succeed in preventing the use of Irish airports to bomb innocent people for the sake of oil & power.

solidarity [sldært] n., pl. -ties.: to achieve collective strength and political power through unity of interest, equality and mutual aid

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Mass direct action at Shannon on March 1st. Meet at the archway at the entrance at 2pm.