A Large Stone Marker With The Words 'Fallujah 2004' Was Left To Mark The Grave.
dublin |
anti-war / imperialism |
feature 
Friday December 31, 2004 15:53
by FEICer - Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign
FEIC carried out a number of actions recently in protest at the use of raytheon weapons in Fallujah.
On Friday 19 November and again on Friday Dec 10th and Fri 24th Dec, FEIC carried out the digging of a symbolic grave at Raytheon, Derry. During the protest, large numbers of white ribbons and flowers were tied to the railings which run along the perimeter of the Raytheon plant. A large stone marker, with the words, 'Fallujah 2004' was left to mark the grave. Flowers and candles were left in an act of solidarity with the people of Fallujah. Within two days, every single ribbon, flower and candle had been removed. The grave marker was taken away half a dozen times and was eventually broken in two. The grave continues to be removed and descrated every time it is dug. Despite this, FEIC continue the protest.
It's clear that raytheon in Derry are unnerved by the protest and threatened by white ribbons, flowers and candles. The people who make Tomahawk Cruise missiles and boast about the lethality of their product are unable to countenance the sight of simple symbols of peace.
It is no surprise that the dead of Fallujah are not respected by arms manufacturers: that a memorial to their suffering should be desecrated like this is simply another example -- were one needed -- of the primacy of profit over humanity. Those killed by the arms trade all over the world are afforded no dignity, either in life or death. Desecration of memorials to them is an attempt to erase their memory and the memory of what happened to them from our consciousness.
Related Story: Feast of the Innocents Dublin: Confronting Irish Complicity in the Slaughter in Iraq
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6Let's hope this protest against war capitalism is extended to Galway university.
Heres some news about the latest Raytheon good works.
Raytheon Delivers Five STANDARD Missile-3 Rounds For Aegis
December 2003 file photo of a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) being launched from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70), in Kauai, Hawaii, as part of the Missile Defense Agency's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) test to defeat a medium range ballistic missile threat.
Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 04, 2005
Raytheon has delivered five STANDARD Missile-3 rounds to the Missile Defense Agency for deployment as a key element of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.
The rounds are available for deployment on Aegis cruisers and destroyers to defend against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in the midcourse phase of flight or for flight testing.
Raytheon marked the first SM-3 delivery with a ceremony in Tucson on Oct. 22.
"Raytheon's deliveries of these STANDARD Missile-3s will help provide the United States with the first sea-based line of defense against a limited ballistic missile attack," said Ed Miyashiro, Raytheon's vice president for Naval Weapon Systems. "Our team is very proud of developing and delivering this needed capability."
As the prime contractor, Raytheon is responsible for the development and integration of the SM-3 "all up round," including the SM-3 kinetic warhead. Other SM-3 team members include Aerojet, Alliant Techsystems and The Boeing Company.
Since January 2002, the Aegis BMD system has successfully intercepted targets in space four times with SM-3. In all the flight tests, the SM-3 was launched from a U.S. Navy cruiser under very realistic, operational conditions.
There is already international interest in Aegis BMD and SM-3. Japan made the decision earlier this year to procure Aegis BMD and SM-3 missiles for its Kongo-class Aegis destroyers.
Raytheon is also responsible for the manufacture and deployment of the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program and is the interceptor lead for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program.
Raytheon is also providing the Sea-Based X-band radar and Upgraded Early Warning Radar for the GMD segment, the Space Tracking and Surveillance System payload, the Ballistic Missile Defense System radar, and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) radar and battle management software.
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-05a.html
Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin Mary Lou McDonald has this morning expressed her concern that over 26 billion euros of military related products have been exported to dozens of countries since 1997.
Figures released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has shown that Irish companies made a profit of 26.7 million euros last year alone in direct military sales. Ms McDonald said that 'Ireland is complicit in an industry obsessed with profit and seemingly unconcerned where many of these arms are ending up'.
http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/7956
Composite Testing Laboratory (CTL) was established in 1997 within N.U.I. Galway as part of a materials development project with Airbus U.K. (BAE systems). In July 2003 CTL announced a major contract with BAe systems. According to the CTL website, Bae systems delivers major structures for the primes which include Airbus, Boeing, Raytheon, Cessna and Lockheed. CTL's C.E.O is Dr. Conchur O Bradaigh. CTL claims the contract is for the 'civil' aerospace industry. CTL also does work for Hexcel, a U.S. company with 50% of its business with the U.S. military. Realistically civil use cannot be separated out from military applications when the companies involved are war industry companies. O Bradaigh runs a company which provides support to companies manufacturing imperial products of death and destruction. CTL is partly funded by the Irish Government. The Irish taxpayer is funding the Anglo-American war machine.
Fallujah was once the centre of the Baathist, Sunni Muslim and Al-Qaida insurgency.
The US military and the Iraqi national guard changed all that last November.
On January 20 Iraqis will vote for the first time in their history in democratic elections.
The insurgency will continue and US forces will continue to help Iraqis to defeat terror but the terrorist must know that they cannot win. Saddam Hussein nor Al-Qaida are in control of the destiny of Iraq. The Iraqi people are in control of their own destiny.
A crystal is what knowledge is, it was however fallen through-below a murky sea. They throw an anchor from a sea, making it stuck, and it will still be stuck if they don't do something about it.
But at present, they are confused. How has the anchor reacted? Did it undergo magnetic fusion with the seabed-rocks? Being sailors, they thus conjecture, not knowing that they might be on the mark.
However, religious zealots are people who blindly believe fiction. Blindly believing, they are deserving of the ignorance to which they are bound. Moreover, their erroneous impression is that the vague, error-prone religious scriptures are an evidence in support of their faith.
But, Occam's razor speaks differently. What Occam's razor is, is a rational principle. Telling us what not to believe, it protects our rationality.
Fantasy and reality merge together, though, and when the dangerous thrill of the unknown takes seize of everything that is living--then, only, can change occur. Then, only, is evolution able to take place!
Evolution contrasts itself to nihilism. It's in contrast to abandoning the anchor, forever in its depth. Having made that clear, it is now time for us to raise the anchor. We have reached the time to think rationally.
Is God real? The negative is concluded, given that Time Cube's proven true, meaning that a 1-corner God cannot be.
Time Cube, however, has four corners. Four corners.
Cubic Awareness Online explains timecube related issues
Indymedia Ireland is a media collective. We are independent volunteer citizen journalists producing and distributing the authentic voices of the people. Indymedia Ireland is an open news project where anyone can post their own news, comment, videos or photos about Ireland or related matters.