No Irish Troops for Lebanon

international | anti-war / imperialism | press release Wednesday October 11, 2006 19:19 by MichaelY - iawm

Labour Party and Sinn Fein - where are thou?

PANA, the NGO Peace Alliance and the IAWM oppose Irish involvement in the war in Lebanon

The Irish Anti-War Movement, the NGOPA and PANA confirm their opposition to Irish participation in the International Force being sent to Lebanon .

The three campaigns view with grave concern proposals, discussed in the Dail today, to send Irish troops as part of a 16,000-strong UN force to Lebanon in the next few weeks.

Many in the wider anti war movement would accept the use of a small contingent of specialist troops to help in clearing away cluster bombs and assisting the Lebanese in rebuilding roads, bridges, homes, etc following the Israeli assault during the summer.

Because of our past history of opposing British Imperialism and the constructive role played by our troops in Lebanon in the past, it is more than possible that they will be initially welcomed by the people of Lebanon . The task which is to help remove the thousands upon thousands of cluster bombs dropped on the civilian area's by Israel is, in itself, a worthy task.

But the deployment of 16,000 foreign troops can only be seen as a politico-military intervention in the region at a time when powerful voices in the US administration are talking up the prospect of attacks on Iran.

The Israeli attack on Lebanon was widely seen as an attempt by the IDF (with US support) to destroy Iranian ally Hizbollah in preparation for an attack on Iran. The fact that the IDF was unsuccessful in that plan, due to the ferocious resistance of the Hizbollah militants, has left the US and its Israeli allies with the problem of Hizbollah which will certainly oppose any attack on Iran.

In this light, the committing of troops from a number of countries to Lebanon cannot be seen as a humanitarian gesture to assist in reconstruction, but rather as an internationalisation of the US requirement to disarm and render ineffective Hizbollah’s capacity to open a second front in the event of a US and/or Israeli attack on Iran.

That these are the real intentions of the US and Israel are clear from developments over the past few months. The American investigative reporter Seymour Hersh revealed that in the spring of 2006 high-level contacts were established between Israel and the US at which US approval was given for the assault on Lebanon. Recently the Israeli government appointed a top general to oversee a war against Iran. Maj. Gen. Elyezer Shkedy, Israel's air force chief, will be overall commander for the "Iran front," to take charge of planning an attack on Iran, it was reported in August..

The commitment of the US administration to regime change in Iran has repeatedly been put on the public record. As early as January 2005 it was revealed that the Bush administration was carrying out secret reconnaissance missions to identify sites in Iran in preparation for possible airstrikes there according to journalist Seymour Hersh.

In late September 2006 it was reported that the Bush Administration and the Pentagon had moved up the deployment of a major "strike group" of ships, including the nuclear aircraft carrier Eisenhower as well as a cruiser, destroyer, frigate, submarine escort and supply ship, to head for the Persian Gulf, just off Iran's western coast. This powerful armada is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or around October 21.

The insistent demand of the Israeli government for the UN to disarm and disband Hizbollah as well as UN patrols near the Syrian-Lebanese border to prevent any rearmament of Hizbollah are further indications of this.

Irish troops serving with the UN in Lebanon at this time would inevitably be put in a position of serving as an auxiliary to any US-Israeli attack on Iran. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that Irish public opinion is strongly opposed to any participation in Bush’s agenda of reconquest of the Middle East and the attempt to smuggle through this agenda under the guise of humanitarianism is as odious as it is mendacious. For these reasons the IAWM and PANA and the NGO Peace Alliance oppose current proposals for Irish troops to participate in the UN forces in Lebanon.

Ireland is no longer a neutral state. Under the leadership of the Ahern Government it is now an active and enthusiastic supporter of the Bush/Blair so called, "war on terrorism." It's troops now guard Shannon airport to facilitate the use of the airport in that war. Ireland is already an integral part of the Bush/Blair war machine. Therefore it is a logical step for the Ahern Government to send Irish troops to Lebanon .

What is happening in Lebanon cannot be viewed in isolation from other events throughout the wider Middle East . The Irish people will have to decide whether they want to continue supporting the Ahern Government's decision to back the Bush/Blair/Olmert axis or to restore Irish neutrality. It is our intention to make Ireland 's participation in that war an issue in the next election.

Irish Anti War Movement
Peace and Neutrality Alliance)
NGO Peace Alliance