5th. Anniversary of Pitstop Ploughshares Action at Shannon, Tactical Genius Revealed

{special hints for a very special branch listed below}

How special is the Special Branch?
Not so much...

Happy 5th. anniversary of the Pitstop Ploughshares Feb 3 03 disarmament action at Shannon Airport 5 years ago today www.peaceontrial.com .

The Irish Special Branch continue to have the hots for the Pitstops
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85992

The Branch can't figure out what tactical mastermind managed to compromise their security 5 days after Mary Kellly had done the same in her disarmament action, 4 days after Special Branch with uzis were deployed to Shannon to stop a recurrence and 3 days after an Irish Minister on the popular Late Late Show guaranteed the U.S. military refueling base at Shannon was now totally secure . The tactical mastermind can now be revealed download attached photo!

Since the Pitstops acted at Shannon, over 1 million Iraqis (according to the Lancet Report) have been killed and millions more have been displaced and injured. 3,900 U.S. military personel, most who would have passed through the small departure lounge at Shannon, have returned home in body bags. Over 10,000+ U.S. combat veterans have evacuated with permanent injuries...due to advances in medical backup many who would have previously died from such injuries are now kept alive in a state of severe physical trauma. Another 10,000+ have been evacuated with injuries they should recover from.

Meanwhile in Britain injured veterans are treated like shite by the government who sent them to kill and be killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. See link....
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2251682,0....html

The war esclates (100 killed in suicide bombings in Baghdad in the last few daze, 5 U.S. army killed in Iraq this past week) and expands (C.I.A. bombing of northern Pakistan this past week) as the anti-war movement largely evaporates from public view.

NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE TO THE WAR

There are initiatiaves to redress this trend the London Catholic Worker has put out a call for all those opposed to the war to publicly vigil against the war for an hour a week
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85865

Meanwhile nonviolent resistance continues

Nonviolent direct anti-war intervetion on the U.S. presidential nomination process is being planned in San Francisco. See link....
http://www.counterpunch.org/campbell02012008.html

The raytheon 9 lads go to trial in Derry in April. See link...
http://www.raytheon9.org

Betsy Lamb, Fr. Jerry Zawada, Fr. Steve Kelly, Fr. Louie Vitale remain in U.S. prisons for their nonviolent resistance to torture traing at Fort Huachuca. See link.... http://www.tortureontrial,org

Christians Against All Terrorism Before the Courts in Darwin, Australia
http://www.pinegap6.org

Catholic Workers in England are before the courts for their nonviolent resistance at Northwood HQ. See link....
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85631

Nonviolent Resistance continues to occur in the U.S. military. See link...
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/

BACK AT SHANNON

Meanwhile, Shannon Airport continues to be exposed as servicing the CIA rendtion program. See link
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85567

Friends returned to protest at Shannon in the past few weeks. See link....
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85717

THE PITSTOPS
The Pitstops are all in good form

Deirdre remains in Ireland active in the anti-war scene

Damien is organsing against NATO bases being built in Poland.
See Link...
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86018
Damien has a blog
http://www.peacenikhurler.blogspot.com/

Ciaron is based at the London Catholic Worker with Fr. Martin Newell (Jubilee Ploughshares) and (Shannon banshee) Zelda Jeffers
See link... http://www.londoncatholicworker.org

Ciaron has a blog
http://ciaron.allotherplaces.org/

From all reports Nuin and Karen are in fine form.

ARCHIVING THE ACTION ETC.

The documentary film "Route Irish" archiving the nonviolent direct action taken at Shannon is is now easily viewable on google.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-24901172128135...hl=en
and you can download it from the new indymedia.ie page for 'Route Irish' at
http://indymedia.ie/routeirish

If you're interested in ordering a DVD of this 90 minute doc. Email ciaronx@hotmail.com

Harry Browne's "Hammered by the Irish" dealing with the Pitstop Ploughshares action and trials should be published in the U.S. in the coming months. This is an earlier synopsis published by the Dublin Review of Books.....

Rosalie Riegles "Doing Time" featuring interviews with Deirdre, Ciaron and Harry about custodial experiences of nonviolent direct actionists should also be published this year.

Sharon Nepstead's academic analysis of the plowshares movement should also be published in the U.S. this year.

Last week Ciaron was stopped by the Irish Special Branch who are still puzzled how the Pitstops pulled off the action five years ago and anxious that it may be repeated!. Yes folks, today we can reveal the brains behind the outfit, (see attached photo!) it was Sponge Bob that hatched the cunning plan! He went thataway.............