Israel, Shannon and the Lebanon.

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Wednesday July 26, 2006 18:02 by Conor Cregan

Refugees, Shannon and Smart Bombs.

As the Lebanon burns by blitzkrieg the lucky ones escape through the west of Ireland and those of us reading through lines wait for “Laser Guided Munitions” or “Smart Bombs” to travel through Shannon International Airport.

On 3rd February 2003 the group known as the Pit-stop Ploughshare gained access into an old hanger, on the edge of Shannon Airport, and lawfully decommissioned a US Navy C140 Boeing cargo plane.Before entering the old SRS maintenance hanger one of them took time to spray “Pit-Stop of Death” on the massive roller door and still this statement rings true with Shannon Airport facilitating in a third war.

Today they have been found not guilty after three years and three trials but by the time this piece gets published this will be old news.

As the Lebanon burns by blitzkrieg the lucky ones escape through the west of Ireland and those of us reading through lines wait for “Laser Guided Munitions” or “Smart Bombs” to travel through Shannon International Airport.

The month of July saw the departure of World Airways from the war port but with war there is always opportunities so the base line will be buffered for another little while as Uncle Sam transports beleaguered citizens to a safe zone thousand of miles away from the action. Many of these refugees are travelling through Shannon. Although these flights have been roaring in and out of Shannon Airport for days the mainstream press didn't pick this up until several children were brought to Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment. Freelance journalist Pat Flynn reports in the Irish Times that on Tuesday “A number of the passengers were treated by doctors …….. before 11 mothers and children were taken by three ambulances to [Limerick].

On Saturday an ambulance was called to take the remains of a man who was suspected of having a cardiac arrest. A spokesman for An Gardai Siochana stated that when this scheduled charter flight from the Lebanon landed late last Saturday evening all was well with the man in question. To date thousands of Lebanese and US citizens have been transported to Shannon.

Also in the mainstream press this weekend America’s New Yorker newspaper reported on Saturday that Israel has called for the US to accelerate its order of 100 GBU-28 “bunker busting bombs”. These so called “smart bombs” will no doubt come through Shannon Airport like the Cruise missiles used by American lead NATO to bomb the Chinese embassy and civilian television station and other targets during the Kosovo War. The missiles came through Shannon while this was raged killing thousands One can only image the how these Lebanese children might feel if they knew they were sharing an airport with the very weapons that will be used to murder their friends and destroy there homes.

Shannon Airport has exposed to have been facilitating the worlds arms traders for decades. Recently leaked papers have shown the US to be transporting Apache Helicopters to Israel and M16 assault rifles to Bulgaria. These shipments were flown by ex-Soviet built airplanes. One such shipment went through Shannon on an Antonov 124 during the last stopover made by George W. Bush last March. The Russian logistics company, Volga Dnepr, has a permanent maintenance depot at Shannon so these massive cargo planes are regular visitors to Ireland. During the Horgan High Court case a motion of discovery was made by Judge Kearns and hundreds of documents were released by the Dept. of Foreign Affairs. Many of these documents have used in the defence of peace activists. These documents confirm that the US and Israeli militaries have used Shannon Airport to missiles, including patriots, back and forth to both countries. Ironically these weapons of mass destruction are being transported by civilian cargo companies such as Evergreen Airlines and Polar Air.

Recently the Bertie Ahern government has hosted the Israeli Air force when two mid air refueling tankers touched down on the Airport’s runway. These converted Boeing 737s landed twice at Shannon over three week period suggesting serious munitions of war using Ireland’s airspace. One such plane landed made emergency landing at Shannon Airport last march. The US embassy made categorical assurances that this C17 Globemaster was ferrying a cargo of Helium (HE) an inert gas used for buoyancy of weather balloons. The pilot most have seemed to be over cautious after informing Air Traffic Control that he would ditch in the sea if the plane overshot the runway. Could this plane be carrying nuclear or othe WMD's? Irish Emergency Services are not allowed to board US military planes at Shannon Airport so the cargo manifest could never be confirmed. On one occassion memers of Shannon Fire Serive were met with armed US Airmen who refused entry to a similar aircraft in 2002.

Shannon Airport seems to have been put on a higher security footing now that the Bush regime has brought the Unites States of America into another proxy war. This weekend in a period just barely over 24 hours Shannon’s Airport Police and Emergency Services (APES) detained and arrested the noted anti-war campaigner and Indymedia contributor, Conor Cregan, on two occasions. He was twice handed over to An Gardai Siochana and brought to Shannon Gardai Station where he was released without charge. Mr. Cregan made a complaint of assault and wrongful arrest. A file is to be sent to the DPP. Later on Saturday evening Cregan’s confiscated bicycle was returned by An Gardai Siochana. This petty act is just one in a long list making up a campaign of harassment perpetrated by these APES since the so-called plane spotters started monitoring Ireland’s second international airport.