Background To This Story From Indymedia Archives: Amnesty Cite Shannon Complicity In US "Extraordinary Renditions" | Shannon: Hard Truths In Seanad Via Sweden Via Indymedia Ireland | Guantanámo Bay Express uses Shannon Airport | Peace Activists Call For Govt To Come Clean On CIA At Shannon | Activists lodge complaint about Guantanamo Bay Express | CIA Torture Jet Sold In Attempted Cover Up | More On The US 'Secret Commando Unit' That Has In Past Repeatedly Transited Thru Shannon

It has been a busy few weeks for Shannon airport news. There have been banner drops, arrests, IAWM demos, John Gormley of the Greens sparring with Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, and the media mostly taking a government line. Today [Saturday, October 9th], a small group of protestors decided to bring the message back to the scene of the crime.

"John Gormley had a battle with Ahern this week about these jets, the fact that they are not inspected, and the fact that Denmark has BANNED the CIA from using their airspace, while we allow them at our airport. A Danish official recently sent me a list of CIA flights through Danish Airspace. One of them was from Shannon to Kabul, in Afghanistan. Denmark has forced them to make a detour around their airspace, but they are still welcome at Shannon.

An Indymedia Editor presents: A short analysis of ongoing anti-war activity in Ireland within the context of global events including some of the most prominent upcoming events.

One Mother's Quest For Justice “If my son had died for a noble cause, I would be just as heartbroken...I would have cried just as many tears. A noble and just cause would be some wee consolation for my boy’s death.”

"Janey mac" sez yer man Wag "they call that a short analysis? There's a quare load of material to shift through here boy, I'm off to catch d'wedder."

While Hurricane Katrina recently devastated the lives and livelihood of many US citizens, we approach the anniversary of another disaster where many other Americans also lost their lives. Though some people are saying that the recent disaster is worse than that of September 11th, the events of that day have had a far greater impact than that of those whose lives were lost on the day itself. Indeed, four years later many lives are still being destroyed as an indirect result of what happened on that day. The barbaric attack on the World Trade Centre provided the neo-conservative Bush administration with the excuse they wanted to invade and occupy other countries resulting in the maimimg, torture and death of civilians from those countries.

Another side-effect of the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is that the maximum overseas deployment time of the National Guardsmen was increased from 6 months to 24 months so that while the troops are killing and dieing for the interests of the neocons, other US citizens feel that they are more urgently needed back home.

However, it's not only US soldiers and the victims of US state violence that are losing their lives in the open-ended "War on Terror" which was declared in the aftermath of September 11th. Many other allies of the US have joined with them in their imperialist ventures. The most notable of these is the United Kingdom who has since the Second World War enjoyed a "special relationship" with the US. Tony Blair has been an ardent supporter of the "War on Terror" but it's not Blair or those who supported the decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq who are dying in the conflict. It's others such as Glaswegian, Gordon Gentle who was killed in June 2004 by a roadside bomb in Basra, Iraq.

From Elaine and Ciaran on the newswire:The point blank killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, the lack of charging or even suspension of those who killed him (1 shot to the shoulder, 7 to the head) and the New Labour rationalizations that lay a basis for more of these killings to come redefine what is considered as acceptable collateral damage in this war. Blair has decided that these Judge Dredd scenes are part of the price 'we' are willing to pay for his war on Iraq. Meanwhile, the Ahern led government has made us morally culpable in the indiscriminate killings in the U.S invasions of Iraq & Afghanistan and have of course transformed Shannon Airport, hosting 25,000 U.S. troops a month, into a soft and significant target.

The absence of a courageous and nonviolently militant anti-war movement in the imperial centres enhances a vacuum for the pathetic mimicry of the fundamentalist warriors as they bring the war home to London. Whether these attacks and the state's post-attack prepackaged scenarios of expanding police powers (they want to increase the time they can detain a suspect without charge from 14 days to 3 months) and reduced liberties lead to the death of active citizenship remains to be seen. The pressures on the Muslim community, once active in the anti-war movement, to internally migrate and depoliticize will be massive.

More Indymedia Ireland Coverage Of The Death Of De Menezes:
Police shoot man dead on London Tube. "suspicious"
Bertie Ahern says: Al-Qaeda watched 'closely' - Shannon not Al-Qaeda Fly Trap

...And Of The Pitstop Ploughshares:
Pit Stop Ploughshares Head to Oct. 24th. Trial- Update & Call for Solidarity!

Yesterday's bomb attacks in London have been universally condemned by Anti-war groups in Ireland and Britain. Many right wing commentators have tried to link the murder of these innocent people to the anti-war movements, to the broad muslim community, to those people who protested against poverty and war at the G8 summit in Scotland, and in particular to anarchists. However, these claims are contradicted by the sweeping condemnations of this act that have been issued by the groups in question.

Statement by Irish Muslim Representative | Statement by SWP (UK) | Statement from British & Irish Anarchists | CWI Statement | Sinn Fein Statement | Labour Party Statement | UK Indymedia Statement | Scottish Socialist Party Statement | Respect Statement

Indymedia Ireland Debates On The Bombings: 1. | 2. | 3.
Wikipedia Entry On The 7/7 London Bombings

The arrival of the first two of an expected six foreign warships to Cork was marked by pickets mounted by Cork Anti-War Campaign (CAWC) and also by Republican Sinn Féin (RSF). The presence of the warships to 'celebrate' Cork 2005 reflects poorly on the organisers of the Capital of Culture. The protests were there to remind them and the visiting warships that not everyone here in this city is taken in by this hogwash.

Protests took place today in Cork at the presence of two floating killing machines in the city, on a so-called 'courtesy visit' to the city to 'celebrate' the Cork 2005 Capital of Culture scam. The warships in question were from Britain and Australia, the HMS Grafton and HMAS Anzac respectively. Pickets were mounted alongside both ships in a good-natured and non-confrontational manner. Protestors from the Cork Anti-War Campaign (joined by the redoubtable Tim Hourigan) picketed the Anzac, while protestors from Republican Sinn Fein picketed the Grafton, which had docked at the Custom House, presumably to frustrate any protestor who wished to get any closer.