Shannon to Saudi

clare | anti-war / imperialism | news report Sunday November 26, 2006 00:54 by Conor Cregan

Dick Cheney on the Democracy Express!

On Seat of your pants mission to save the Middle East Dick Cheney stopped over at Shannon Airport this morning.

US Vice President Dick Cheney passed through Shannon Airport this morning on his way to a meeting with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. Cheney is due through Shannon again later tonight. According toUS news channel CNN “the brevity of Cheney's visit underlies the growing sense of urgency after a series of events highlighting an increasingly unstable Middle East”. It is also rumored that George W Bush will fly through Shannon Airport this Tuesday on his way to Jordan.

Earlier this week it was reported by a source at Shannon Airport that a US Air Force C17 Globemaster was on the runway. This massive cargo plane is one of 53 C17’s that operate from Charlestown Air, South Carolina, home to the 437th and 315th Airlift Wing. This is the second C17 to confirmed visit to Ireland this year. An Gardai Siochana and the Irish Defence Forces are guarding the plane in the centre security zone in the middle of the aerodrome. It is suspected that this plane carrying part of the security detail and an armored limousine should the Vice President need to leave the airport.

Local peace Activist Ed Horgan said “this suggests that Cheney will pass back through Shannon Airport”. Horgan an ex Officer in the Irish Defence forces has called for An Gardai Siochana to arrest Cheney, for war crimes, on his return to Shannon. During the week Horgan was accosted by a Sgt Mc Donagh and an Inspector Scanlan when he went to pick up his wife at Shannon Airport this week.

Last January a similar US war plane made an emergency landing as Shannon. In an unprecedented move Shannon Aviation Authority called for the adjacent industrial estate to be evacuated. Local plane spotters reported that the pilot informed air traffic control that he would ditch the plane in the river if he couldn’t land on the runway. After the extreme measures taken to ensure the safety of the workers in Shannon Industrial Estate the US embassy sent out a statement that the cargo plane was carrying the inert gas helium. It is widely believed that this plane was carrying a nuclear device heading for Iraq. None of this was reported by the mainstream media who took the official government line that nothing untoward is happening at Shannon Airport.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/73255

Today security was tight around Shannon Airport. Many travelers were asked to produce identification as the checkpoint on the main road leading into the airport. The Guards on duty made several id checks on the pulse computer before letting these innocent passengers on their way.

This presence of this war plane breaks a suspected agreement made by Dermot Ahern and the US Ambassador. It has been suggested that Ahern had asked requested that no obvious US military planes would land at Shannon Airport before the election.

The US Air Force Air Mobility Command stationed at Charleston has another connection to Shannon Airport. Tasked with “Global Reach airlift” the 437th Aerial Port Squadron has used a Russian cargo company to transport munitions of war to Iraq and Afghanistan. These Volga Dipnr Antonov AN 124 outsized cargo planes are a regular visitor to Shannon Airport where the company has a maintenance depot. Earlier this year Volga Dipnr was found to be in breach of Irish law. One there planes was found, at Shannon Airport, carrying nine Apache helicopters to the Israeli Defence force with out authorization for the Dept. of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75316

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74563#comment140451