Phone Calls from America and Britain

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Saturday October 09, 2004 17:56 by Sean Crudden sean.crudden at iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth. 087 9739945

The Best of Friends

It's a small world and one searches for a reason why Ireland's bona fides were rejected in the search for the release of Ken Bigley R.I.P.

In a front-page article in this week’s (Wednesday) edition of The Dundalk Democrat, headed "Baptism of fire - and brimstone - for Ahern," Anne Marie Eaton writes of Dermot Ahern "He has received best wishes from US Secretary of State, Colin Powell and UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw, but says he is equally enthused about supportive messages he has received from his constituents."

In another article on page 4 the same reporter writes:

"Within a short time of his appointment, the new Minister had a phone call from America, as he explained ‘Not long after I received the seal, I received a phone call from US Secretary of State, Colin Powell wishing me well. I was delighted to receive the call and I think it demonstrates the closeness between Ireland and America.

‘I also spoke with UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw in the days after my appointment.’"

The final paragraph in this particular article reads:

"I’m delighted to have been given this post and in following in the footsteps of the late great Frank Aiken."

I know Anne Marie Eaton personally and I can safely say that she is an accurate reporter who never tries to distort the message she receives.

Frank Aiken was a soldier in The War of Independence and on the anti-treaty side in The Civil War. The stories of his military engagements are legendary but I have forgotten them and, in any case, there is no need to detail them here. He was a prominent member of The Irish Government throughout the Second World War.

The point I want to make is that in his mature years and especially as Minister for Foreign Affairs he upheld Ireland’s independence and neutrality and respect for the rule of international law as embodied in The United Nations. Ireland was respected by both sides in The Cold War and widely throughout the third world of developing countries.

I need hardly point out that we have a "hot" war brewing between Islam and The "Allies" amid many smokescreens and dazzling mirrors seeking to conceal distorted interpretations of the rights of a powerful nation to attack and interfere in the internal politics of smaller less powerful countries for reasons which while they are not widely understood are thought by many to be rooted in strategic selfishness.

I can only guess what Frank Aiken (from a place above politics) thinks of all this?

Readers of indymedia can judge for themselves if he would ever have drooled like a schoolboy over phone calls from Colin Powell and Jack Straw.