Green party hails discovery of Government's Iraq policy

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday February 13, 2003 19:03 by Graham Caswell - Greens

Press Release

Green Party Chairman and Foreign Affairs spokesperson, John Gormley TD, tonight hailed Minister of State, Jim McDaid, as the 'smoking gun' of the Government's policy on Iraq.

"Minister McDaid's words to TV 3 News this evening can only be interpreted as full Government backing for the US war effort on Iraq, with or without a UN mandate. The Minister said he couldn't conceive of any circumstances in which the Irish Government would not back the United States in such a war. Minister McDaid's comments provide the 'smoking gun' for the Government's suspected, but up to now, unrevealed Iraq War policy, a policy of absolute subservience to the US Government. We must assume that Mr. McDaid, a Minister for State and former Government Minister, is speaking for the Government on this matter and reflecting true Government policy."

"We can only hope now", stated Deputy Gormley, "that the Irish Government is never caught between 'a rock and a hard place', as Minister McDaid portrayed the decision facing the Irish Government if the United States attacked Iraq without UN backing. UN arms inspector Hans Blix is now under enormous pressure from the
US Administration to provide a pretext for a UN backed war. Discovery of an Iraqi missile with the capability of traveling 24 miles further than it should is no reason to go to war. This dispute with Iraq can be peacefully resolved and the Irish Government should give its full backing to the French-German peace proposals, at the special EU Summit on Iraq next Monday, ".

"A war in Iraq would be a disaster, not just for the Iraqi people and world peace, but also for the reputation of our Government which has behaved in a totally craven, unprincipled and undemocratic manner on this all important issue of war and peace," concluded Deputy Gormley.