Shannonwatch fury at refusal to stop military use of Shannon

PEACE group Shannonwatch has reacted angrily to last weekend’s news that the US had been prepared to stop using Shannon Airport four years ago.
Documents obtained by RTÉ from the Pentagon quoted General John W Handy as saying in 2007, “If the Irish had said, ‘Quit coming to Shannon,’ then we would have found somewhere else to go.” The documents also stated that the Irish government didn’t want the US military use of Shannon to cease, not wanting to send out a signal that protestors had proven successful.
In a statement, a Shannonwatch spokesman said, “Far from being under pressure from the US to keep the Shannon military stopover, it now seems that the Fianna Fáil-led government was told by the US that they would quit if asked. The Irish government led first by Bertie Ahern, then Brian Cowen, ignored the wishes of the 100,000 people who marched in Dublin in 2003 in opposition to the war in Iraq. Moreover, an independent national survey carried out in 2007 showed a decisive majority of Irish people were against the use of Shannon Airport by US troops travelling to and from Iraq.
“Nevertheless, the Irish government worked covertly and consistently to keep the US military at Shannon. The justification they gave – that they didn’t want anyone thinking the protestors had won – is both insincere and undemocratic. If they had any desire to uphold Irish neutrality and not be party of the appalling suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan, they would have found a way to ask them to leave. And the Irish and US Government’s public relations folk could spin it any way they wanted,” the spokesperson said.
Shannonwatch were also critical of the sitting Government. “Even though the programme for Government says they will ‘enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace, airports and related facilities for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law’ they have not done so. In fact, Pat Breen stated in an interview on Today FM’s The Last Word programme on Friday that his party has always approved of military personnel going through Shannon. This is at odds with an assurance given by Eamon Gilmore at the Labour party special congress on March 5, when he confirmed that the Programme for Government means exactly what it says.”
Shannonwatch said it is time for Mr Gilmore to take action. “Eamon Gilmore is now Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and knows that Shannon is in violation of a range of international laws including the Hague Convention on Neutrality. But he could end the ongoing violations – and the role Ireland is playing in a deadly and destructive war in Afghanistan – now. If the US military were willing to stop using Shannon a few years ago, there is no reason why they would not still be willing to do so. All any Irish Government has to do is to implement the wishes of the Irish people and ask the US military to stop using Shannon,” the Shannonwatch spokesperson added.