[Marxism] The Real Truth About Shannon Airport

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This major extract from The Plough, Volume 3, Number 11, is a  
wonderful piece of writing on the complicity of Europe's "Tiger" in  
the U.S. War on Iraq. Charlie Clarke of the ISRP has done a terrific  
job of gathering this material and presenting it to the Irish people  
and through your post to the world.

It would be very useful if he would also present us with as many  
relevant citations as are available so we and others can follow up by  
reassembling these facts and presenting them in our own fashion.

It would also be good to learn whether the ISRP and other groups are  
waging any sort of campaign over Ireland's participation in the U.S.  
war.

Clarke seems to present "Ireland's neutrality" as some sort of ideal.  
He would appear to advocate af non-class attitude for Ireland and its  
citizens, which I am sure is not the case. Then, towards the end  
there is an unfortunate emphasis on the danger to Irish citizens who  
are at "risk of attack from these Islamic fundamentalists," even  
though his whole approach embodies a much more principled position  
for the right of the Iraqi people to determine their own fate and for  
ending all Irish complicity. This should be asserted completely  
independent of alleged threat. The greatest threat to the world is  
from U.S. imperialism.

Brian Shannon
_____________________

Iraq was the big catch for Bush and his military. . . . The US  
military needed to utilise all of their resources and manpower with  
the littlest of effort and ease in order to make this campaign  
successful, but there was something missing. They needed Shannon  
[Airport].

The Irish government accepted the American proposals and granted  
George Bush his wish. The full resources of Shannon airport and Irish  
air space were surrendered to the US Military, unbeknown to the  
citizens of this very same island. With one stroke of a pen Ireland's  
neutrality was flushed down the drains of history.

As the situation in Iraq deteriorated during the year of 2004, an  
increase of 30% was witnessed in US troop movements than that of  
2003. Over 158,000 US troops had passed through Shannon on chartered  
commercial aircraft in 2004, in comparison to the 120,000 in 2003.   
An amazing 18 million Euros had been generated in Shannon airport in  
charges in 2004, and a total of 43 million Euros since 2002, all a  
result of this US military business.  All of these troops are armed  
and are carrying their weapons of war with them. According to  
military analyst Tom Clonan, M16 rifles are standard issue for the  
troops and these are likely to be carried in the holds of the  
commercial aircraft. The M16 is personally adjusted for each soldier  
and therefore it is highly unlikely that they would be transported  
separately to the troops.

Possibly as many as half of the 150,000 troops who are currently  
situated in Iraq, some of whom have been there almost a year, have  
travelled through the Shannon route.  The increase from 2003 is due  
to heavy troop rotations in Iraq in March and September 2004. As  
troops were being rotated, the numbers passing through Shannon  
soared, to nearly 17,000 in March and over 22,000 in September. This  
is in comparison to the usual 12,000 in any of the other months.   
Another factor for the large increase is that the US Military  
reservists are being called into the war, which unlike their regular  
counterparts comes direct from the US and not from bases in Germany.

As Shannon is the nearest refuelling point to the US, it has been a  
vital resource to the US military in getting their troops in  
"theatre" in Iraq as quickly as possible and has enabled them to  
maximise their fuel to weight ratio, allowing them to carry less fuel  
in exchange for more soldiers and equipment, requiring less flights.  
However, this is only the amount of US troops that are being  
transported in civilian commercial aircraft.

A further 753 military aircraft has landed in Shannon in 2004  
according to the statistics that were released by the Department of  
Foreign Affairs, although they refused to disclose the number of  
troops that were carried on these flights.  Commercial airlines are  
also providing charter services to the US military to carry munitions  
and equipment. As with charter aircraft carrying troops, these are  
the responsibility of the Department of Transport. There were 816  
landings of "foreign aircraft carrying munitions or weapons of war"  
in 2004, according to the Department of Transport.  According to the  
Irish Aviation Authority, 75% of ALL air traffic from America to  
Europe has the permission to use Irish air space. Under a new  
agreement instituted earlier this year, Ireland has taken over a new  
portion of air space to the north west of the country, as a result of  
which it is estimated that 90% of all traffic from the USA will now  
pass through Irish air space. As well as the 43 million Euro that the  
airport has generated in un waived charges for commercial aircraft,  
the Irish Aviation Authority has also cashed in on the deal with  
millions that they have charged for over flights and landing  
facilities. The total sum of which has been undisclosed to the public.

The Irish government needs to readdress this issue and to stop the  
facilitation of the US military through our airports and ports. They  
have placed their citizens at risk of attack from these Islamic  
fundamentalists, all the while keeping their secret deals from the  
public eye. The Irish were loved throughout the world, now we face  
becoming the bete noire race of Europe.  Charlie Clarke – Irish  
Republican Socialist Party



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