No to War Means No To Raytheon

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday March 24, 2003 20:10 by FEIcer - Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign feicmail at yahoo dot ie

Vigil at Derry's Guildhall Tuesday Night

The local campaign against the world's largest manufacturer of missiles continues in Derry. Derry City Council opposes the war in Iraq but welcomes Raytheon, the maker of Tomahawk Missiles, cluster bombs and land mines.

‘No to War means No To Raytheon’

Members of the Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign (FEIC) and others opposed to the presence in Derry of the world’s largest missile manufacturer, Raytheon will hold a vigil tomorrow night (Tuesday, 25th March) starting at 6.30pm outside the monthly meeting of Derry City Council at the Guildhall. Raytheon manufacture the Tomahawk Cruise missiles which have been raining down on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities resulting in untold numbers of civilian injuries and deaths. They also manufacture Patriot missiles such as those which shot down a British plane and killed its two crew in a ‘friendly fire’ incident. Local people have been campaigning against the presence of Raytheon in Derry ever since the arms manufacturers arrived over three years ago. This is the second such vigil at the Guildhall. Vigils are also held each month outside the Raytheon plant on the Branch Road.

Local human rights activist Dr Robbie McVeigh said:

We gave a personal letter to every City Councillor at last month’s council meeting pleading with them to take a stand against Raytheon before the start of this war. This is their final chance to do the right thing and support peace and justice and international law. Our letter made it clear that those who collude in this war by refusing to speak out on Raytheon will bear a heavy ethical responsibility. John Hume and David Trimble welcomed Raytheon to Derry with the grotesque argument that the arrival of the world’s leading missile manufacturers in Derry would somehow underline our own peace process. We now watch the grisly calculus of civilian and military dead in Iraq rise by the hour. It won’t be very long before this awful total passes the 4,000 lives lost in our own conflict over the past 30 years. Most of the civilians killed in Iraq have been killed with Raytheon weaponry. That’s a very heavy price for what Hume and Trimble called a ‘peace dividend’ for Derry. No to war in Derry means no to Raytheon.

FEIC spokesperson, Jim Keys said:

This is not just an attack against the people of Iraq, it is the latest stage of World Ward Three. And let’s not fool ourselves – Raytheon weapons will feature in every new phase of this war. This assault on Iraq is an attack on human rights and international law. Derry City Council has said it is opposed to this war but it also continues to provide a welcome to those who are making vast profits from the war. We need to remember that every Tomahawk missile falling on Baghdad costs over $1,000,000 – sources indicate that some 3000 missiles have be fired since the start of the war. This is an obscene waste of resources in pursuit of an illegal war. Think what that could do to eliminate hunger and poverty around the world. Derry people do not want their city to be associated with this evil trade. We will be insisting to our councillors that, ‘No to war means no to Raytheon’.