Dermot Ahern says the CIA aren't using Shannon as a torture stopover - how would he know?

national | anti-war | opinion/analysis Wednesday June 07, 2006 20:45 by intellectual scud missile

There's never been any investigation of a US plane on Irish soil, because Dermot Ahern says "we accept the categoric assurances of a sovereign nation, of a sovereign friendly nation."

Map of rendition routes across Europe - with Shannon included

Dermot Ahern has today again denied that Shannon is being used by the CIA for its toture rendition flights. Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? Fianna Fáil, with Bertie the socialist at its healm who publicly stated he was "always dead against the war", have continually managed to deflect public attention away from the state's complicity in the war on terror, in the absence of a Dáil vote on the issue of course (not good for some TDs) which is in breach of the constitution. Regardless of the unconstitutionality of the actions of the current government, the current 'war on terror' is nothing more than the latest in an ongoing cycle of imperial expansion wars - remember, there were NO weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - and our support for such a war as a once colonised nation is a disgrance. War is hell, but when its done with complete disregard for international bodies like the UN, and regularly in breach of international law such as the 'enemy combatant holding camp' in Guantanamo, its a farce, especially considering the supposed values of freedom and liberty its supposedly being waged for.

But anyway, big Dermo says the CIA arent using Shannon as a stopover. How does he know this? Has he gone on the planes himself and had a look? Or more to the point, has he authorised or instructed the Gardaí to go on any of the planes, and investigate to see if any of the laws of the state are being broken? Of course not. They're busy outside the perimeter fence, hassling people like Tim Hourigan and Conor Cregan, who have been doing trojan work in plane spotting and logging of flights.

No, there doesnt necessarily need to be any investigations of the planes, despite the fact that hundreds of them are landing and refuelling here, without any investigation at all. For Dermot Ahern, the assurances of Condi Rice are enough. Late last year after a meeting with her, he informed the nation that "the US they have given us categoric assurances that Shannon has not been used for anything untoward and I have said publicly that we as a friendly nation towards the US totally accept the categoric assurances that they have given us and confirmed here today. I have to say that the Government would be very concerned and I think the Irish people would be very concerned if Shannon was to be used in any way that would infringe international law and that we would have to take immediate action if we felt that was the case. But as I said, Secretary of State Rice has confirmed the position as given to us by the US Embassy on a constant basis not least in the last couple of days."

The Council of Europe has published a report, which states that the United States has "progressively woven a clandestine 'spider’s web' of disappearances, secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers – spun with the collaboration or tolerance of Council of Europe member states." Ireland is described (in section 11 of the report) as being part of this network, and "could be held responsible for collusion – active or passive (in the sense of having tolerated or having been negligent in fulfilling the duty to supervise) - involving secret detention and unlawful inter-state transfers of a non specified number of persons whose identity so far remains unknown... being [a] ‘stopover’ for flights involving the unlawful transfer of detainees."

Ahern has already rubbished this report - but isnt it time he gave this report some measure of credence for the amount of investigative work that has been done by the Council of Europe? It will doubtlessly be dismissed by governments in the pay of the US, and by the US themselves (who have consistently lied in the four and a half years of the War On Terror). If Dermot Ahern is serious about democracy and accountability, there needs to be regular inspections of the US planes landing at Shannon. Of course, there should be no planes landing there in the first place at all, but at this point in time, the chance of FF and the PDs, or even FG & Labour stopping the US Military using Shannon as tea'n'torture rest stop is minimal, because they simply dont care about global political issues or the deaths of people in an illegal war thousands of miles away, because there's votes to be had for the careerists, and losing jobs in the west would be electoral suicide (so much for politics raising the collective consciousness).

Council of Europe Report: http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?Link=/CommitteeDocs/20...L.htm
Village Article about Dermot Ahern's meeting with Condoleezza Rice: http://www.villagemagazine.ie/article.asp?sid=1&sud=41&...d=874
Amnesty International on Rendition Flights: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAMR510512006
Human Rights Watch extended article on US Torture and abuse of detainees: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/13/global11871.htm