Vocal Protest for Obama's Speech in Dublin: "Close Guantanamo Bay!"

by anarcha Fri May 20, 2011 11:11

This is a good idea. Simple yet effective - standing up to the leader of a massive global military machine in a dignified and direct way, the voice of the people heard, the garda and their precious ring of steel powerless to stop it.

by Mairtin Sat May 21, 2011 13:30

Good idea but how about putting a little bit of heat on Obama and at the same time raising awareness for Bradley Manning (who has an Irish grandfather!), the US Marine who is accused of releasing footage of a US Army massacre of civilians in Iraq and is consequently in prison for it awaiting a military trial, by shouting for the release of Bradley Manning as in "FREE BRADLEY MANNING!"...Obama is coming under fire in the States for this detention of a truth teller despite promising to protect such people before he got elected and despite saying he would end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...a simple yet significant demonstration of solidarity for someone who had the courage to resist the wars from within the belly of the beast!

by Joe Mcivor Sun May 22, 2011 17:32

Why would Irish people want to protest at wars they are complicit in ?

According to a leaflet being distibuted by the Irish Anti war Movement ahead of Obama's arrival , the Irish gvernments support for Obama's war makes the Irish people complicit in those wars:

"Now we are all complicit in gross violations of human rights , the killing of innocent civillians and unending cycles of suffering for millions of people"

"We" are not complicit in the crimes of the Irish government over the use by NATO of Shannon or Aldergrove airports anymore than "we" are complicit in giving away billions to the banks . That is the sort of "they're all the same" rationale that the war criminals using Shannon employ to justify the murder of non-combatants in the countries they are bombing .

This Irish- people-as-willing-executioner type rationale actually reinforces the notion that Ireland is for all its faults a democracy whose people have a choice about the use of Shannon by the US military . It helps make the case for those who say that we the Irish people have expressed our will through the ballot box and have made our feelings about bombing Afghanistan and Iraq clear through the democratic process . It is essentially the same argument put forward by the government. .

Surely opponents of war in Ireland need to be advancing the exact opposite argument . The continued use of Shannon , despite the overwhelming opposition of the majority of people in Ireland to war ,is an expression of the lack of genuine democracy in this country .

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party Mon May 23, 2011 14:36

If it was only here it wouldn't be so critical. You are probably up to speed with this, but it might interest the democratically inclined.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24886

A nice succinct summation, methinks.