IAWM Press Statement

national | anti-war / imperialism | press release Thursday February 15, 2007 13:59 by MichaelY - iawm

Press Statement on Fourth Anniversary of February 15 Global day of Protest against war in 2003

The Irish Anti War Movement and its allies, the NGO Peace Alliance and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, together the Stop Bush Campaign, held a press conference on Thursday 15th February at 11.00 am in Buswells Hotel, Molesworth St

The Press Conference was attended by Michael D Higgins (Labour), John Gormley (Green Party) Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD (Sinn Fein), all Foreign Affairs spokespersons of their respective parties, and Tony Gregory, a spokesperson of the Independent group in the Dail. Representing anti war campaigns were Richard Boyd Barrett, from the Irish Anti War Movement; Roger Cole of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and Brendan Butler of the NGO Peace.Alliance. The Press Conference was called on the fourth anniversary of the global demonstrations and the 150,000-strong protest in Dublin in 2003 against the imminent invasion of Iraq .

It announced a number of major initiatives to make Irish government collaboration in the US/UK war in Iraq and in particular the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military and by the CIA for rendition flights an election issue. The IAWM also announced a major national demonstration on March 24 on the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis at Dublin ’s Citywest Conference Centre.

The Press Release continues:
'February 15th is the fourth anniversary of the 150,000 demonstration in Dublin against the war then being planned in Iraq . This took place as millions of people demonstrated against the forthcoming war around the world. The sentiment expressed in those demonstrations has been entirely vindicated by the disaster that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has caused, including 650,000 dead.

Four years on and the US administration is now beating the war drum for attacks on Iran . Public opinion in Ireland decisively opposes the war and occupation and the use by the US military of Irish airport facilities. Yet the government parties have continued to arrogantly ignore the wishes of the Irish people, trampling on Irish neutrality.

Instead the government has allowed US military aircraft to continue to use Shannon airport and even turned a blind eye to “rendition” – torture—flights. According to the EU there have been at least 147 of these flights landing and taking off from Irish airports. The last desperate gamble of Bush and his cronies is to consciously encourage and plan civil war in a doomed bid to salvage some political advantage from the bloodshed.

Two weeks ago outside Najaf US troops massacred over 200 civilians on a religious pilgrimage. The US administration claimed they were fanatical sectarian assassins, armed with heavy artillery and dug into fortress like positions. Their lies were exposed when local journalists established that those killed were pilgrims, with a large number of children and women among them, who were sheltering in a wood from US and Iraqi death squad attacks.

Irish people recall the lies and spin that we heard four years ago in relation to WMDs in Iraq ready at 45 minutes notice, the mobile chemical warfare stations and links to Al Qaida that paved the way for the invasion and occupation of Iraq . The same type of lies and spurious allegations are now at work to prepare us for fresh US attacks on Iran .

Briefings by anonymous US officials about alleged Iranian supplies of weapons to insurgents and ‘intelligence inferences’ are fetched out as the pretext for inflicting on Iran some of what has been visited on Iraq . Even US Congress members and the US media, usually very supportive of the White House agenda, are repudiating this nonsense, but the Bush gang persists.

Top generals and Washington insiders from across the political spectrum are calling the war a disaster. 70% of Americans oppose their government on the war. They want their soldiers brought home. This has been shown in opinion polls and in the large anti war protests in the US ---including half a million who marched in Washington DC, and i a number of large US cities, a couple of weeks ago.

The excuse Irish government gave for its collaboration in Bush’s war was that it was helping a friendly country. Has Bertie Ahern no shame? If Ireland wants to do right by its friends, it will stand with the people of the USA against their government’s escalation of the war by refusing US military access to Irish airports and airspace.

We in the Irish Anti-War Movement, along with our allies, members, friends and affiliated organisations, will break the silence of the Irish political establishment on this issue. That's a promise!

The anti war movement will ensure that these issues are prominently raised in the election campaign. We are organising a major intervention in the forthcoming Dail election. Thousands of posters and tens of thousands of leaflets have been distributed to anti war constituency groups around the country to help ensure Bush’s war and Shannon are election issues. As part of a major mobilisation in the constituencies, all election candidates will be publicly quizzed on where they stand on Ireland ’s support for Bush’s war and the use of Shannon airport by the US military.

Part of this will be a major national demonstration at the Fianna Fail special ard fheis on March 24 at the Citywest Conference Centre in Dublin . We will be assembling at 2.00pm at the LIDL Supermarket car park in Citywest.

Buses are being organised from around the country, and to facilitate people using public transport, the Irish Anti War Movement is organising special shuttle buses from the LUAS station at the Red Cow to Citywest