Kerry firm to supply technology to US military

kerry | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Wednesday May 02, 2007 19:51

by sean moraghan - tralee anti-war group

earthsoulrocknroll at hotmail dot com

Kerry firm to supply technology to US military

Just when you thought that the war in Iraq couldnt get even closer to us than Shannon, it turns out that an Irish company is planning to supply technology to the US military for use in Iraq.

According to The Kerryman newspaper 25/4/2007, Tralee company Altobridge will supply technology which will improve battlefield communications, and which will be ''in use in conflict zones like Iraq and Afghanistan''.

This is in marked contrast to an otherwise laudable development where the company created technology to allow mobile phone communications aboard aircraft.

The military technology appears to follow on from the earlier civilian use, and points up the problem of so-called ''dual-use'' products.
The latter form a large section of the largely unaknowledged Irish arms industry. About 60 companies based in Ireland, both Irish and multinational, supply various products to the world military market. In 2003 an Amnesty International report complained that Irish exports of military
or dual-use products were not being logged accurately, the implication being that government is unwilling to admit that our much-lauded technology industry is so involved in products with unsavoury end-uses and with states with poor human rights records. Of concern is the fact that US military
hardware and software often finds its way into other theatres of imperialist aggression, most notably Israel.

The fact that the company's product will, it claims, reduce friendly-fire incidents cannot belie the fact that the technology will be used by the most aggressive and powerful military force in the world in the pursuit of global political hegemony.

The company's insistence that there will be no risk of its staff going to Iraq or Afghanistan to monitor the equipment also betrays a certain cynicism.

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Action You Can Take

by Kieran O'Sullivan - IAWM

Fri May 04, 2007 10:35

Below is a letter which can be e-mailed to ##

Their contact details are here:

Altobridge Limited
Kerry Technology Park
Tralee
Co Kerry
Ireland

Phone: +353 (0) 66 71 90210
Fax: +353 (0) 66 71 90022
Email:info@altobridge.com

=================================== LETTER =============================================
Altobridge Limited
Kerry Technology Park
Tralee
Co Kerry
Ireland

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to express my opposition to Altobridge’s decision to supply the US Military with communications technology. The claim that this technology will reduce friendly fire incidents is simply cynical. Friendly fire is a consequence of war and the only way to prevent it is to end the war.

The US military is the most aggressive military on the planet at the moment they have been responsible for over 600,000 deaths in Iraq to date and they are already spoiling for another attack on Iran.

Since the attack on 9/11 the US has violated international law on numerous occasions in pursuit of their “war on terror”. The illegal invasion of Iraq was perhaps the most serious however the philosophy of “preemptive self defense” is leading to other countries to also violate international law by invading countries which do not pose a threat to them an example of this can be seen in Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia.

The fact that an Irish company is supplying one side in a conflict also violates our neutrality.

I am calling on your Altobridge to end their relationship with the us military immediately

Yours sincerely

=================================== LETTER =============================================

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Kerry firm to supply technology to US military

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