PANA Opposes Irish participation in UN Lebanon Deployment

dublin | anti-war / imperialism | press release Tuesday August 29, 2006 19:31 by Sinéad Ní Bhroin on behalf of - PANA pana at eircom dot net

PANA
Press Statement 29.08.2006
Roger Cole, Chair
Tel. 087-2611597

Peace Group opposes Irish participation in International Force being sent to Lebanon

In a press statement the Peace & Neutrality Alliance (PANA) has said it opposes Irish participation in the International military force being sent to Lebanon.

PANA believes UN Resolution 1701 is an ambiguous and one-sided document that will not prevent the outbreak of further conflict and may be used to trigger further hostilities.

Resolution 1701 is a legal coup for Israel and the United States. It is an attempt to win diplomatically what Israel and its backers in the US administration failed to win militarily in its recent murderous assault in Lebanon.

The resolution provides Israel with ultimate leverage over its own withdrawal, contingent on disarming Hezbollah. It fails to condemn Israel for violating International Law for its onslaught on Lebanon. It fails to establish a basis for a serious peace process. Most worryingly it reflects the power of the alliance between President Bush's neo-conservative administration and Israel.

The resolution's call for the International Force to be used to prevent the resistance in Lebanon from rearming is recipe for possible future military conflict between UN forces and the resistance. In the words of the deputy general secretary of the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown- “if they don't voluntarily disarm when confronted by our troops then we will employ force to disarm them".
PANA believes there is growing evidence that the Israeli assault on Lebanon had little to do with hostages and was planned long in advance with US connivance as a dress rehearsal for a military assault on Iran.

PANA believes that an Irish Army that was formed as a consequence of a national war of resistance against an army of occupation has no role in a war against a national resistance movement.

The vast majority of the EU states that are taking part in the occupation are members of the nuclear armed military alliance NATO, which is dominated by the US and the UK, states which actively supported Israel in its war on Lebanon.

One of the European states taking part, Germany, has just sold 2 nuclear weapons capable subs to Israel. It is very possible that their troops will line up behind the US/UK/Israeli axis. They are part of the military forces fighting the so called "war on terror".

There can be no doubt that the Ahern Government which has already destroyed Irish neutrality and made Ireland an integral part of the BUSH/BLAIR war machine by turning Shannon Airport into a US airforce base, integrating the Irish Army into the EU Battle Groups and cutting off aid to Palestine because they did not like the result of their election, will send Irish troops to Lebanon.

The only way to ensure stability and lasting peace in the Middle East is for Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territory and for the US to end its occupation of Iraq & Afghanistan. These are the demands our government and the International community should be making.

PANA is convinced it reflects the views of a considerable number of Irish people in opposing Irish Troops being sent to Lebanon. If Irish soldiers come back in body bags having died for President Bush, leader of the US/UK/Israel axis, then that opposition will grow substantially. PANA therefore intends to make Irish participation in Bush's "war on terrorism", in particular, the use of Shannon Airport in that war, an issue in the general election."

ENDS