To remove facilities at Shannon would be 'A Hostile Act'

international | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis

Friday January 28, 2005 13:00

by paul o toole

Shannon ;Two Years After Mary Kelly Disarmed A Warplane

Two years ago to-day, we were told that a US Navy plane at Shannon airport had been
damaged by a peace activist at a cost of 1.55 million dollars. The damage was described
largely as an act of ‘violence’ in the press, and also by those politicians who supported
the ‘coalition of the willing’... ‘I did this to stop this plane going to Iraq to kill innocent
children’.... was what nurse Mary Kelly told the police officer who arrested her.

Two months later on March 20th the ‘Shock and Awe’ bombing campaign started.
Shannon airport remained open to the US for re-fuelling military warplanes on their way
to Iraq. An Taoiseach Mr Aherne said, that it would be considered ‘a hostile act’ to
remove re-fuelling facilities to the American military at Shannon and this was agreed by
the Dail on the same day, ironically, as the bombing of Baghdad started. Without a UN
mandate, in breach of International law and in flagrant breach of democracy itself, it
seems that democracy as a rule, is applicable only as the leaders of the free world deem it
to be.The UN actually voted not to attack Iraq and this was ignored by the Dail.

Sadams crimes are that he ‘allegedly’ killed 5,000 of his ‘own people’ in Hallabja with
poison gas, Kurds, who in 1988 rose up against him -which would make them enemies of
his -no. And the ‘alleged’ WMD / threat to the west story. Winston Churchill killed tens
of thousands of Iraqi Kurds during W.W.II using gas saying ...‘Idont understand the
squeamishness about the gas, I have no problem using (poison) gas against uncivilised
tribes.
In the 90.s the so called ‘economic sanctions’ killed more than two million more innocent
Iraqis-900,000 were children under five.
Two years later with 120,000 Iraqis killed and nearly 2,000,000 injured and a whole
country reduced to rubble. A nation destroyed city by city, and its people left with
nothing, to get one man who was captured in the ultimate irony-without one single shot
being fired... I am left with one question for the members of the press and the members
Dail Eireann who voted and supported this atrocity on the innocent people of Iraq....what
is their definition of violence?
The dictionary says.. ‘ use of force intended to hurt or kill’, which would exclude damage
to a warplane. Conversely, damaging property vital to civilian existence is violence, as is
the killing of civilians themselves.
“If Mary Kelly damaged the train tracks going to Auschwitz would she not be considered
differently? would we call this violence?...no..I think not” This was a question posed by
Scott Ritter, Fmr Chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq up to 1998 who said then that
Sadams threat to the west was zero. He also described Shannon as ‘part of the US
military’s conveyorbelt of death to the Middle-East.
Good luck Mary Kelly wherever you are.