GAAW March Bulletin

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Wednesday March 30, 2011 11:12 by Galway Alliance Against War

The Galway Alliance Against War produces a monthly e-bulletin: this is the March 2011 edition.

GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR

MARCH BULLETIN 2011

GAAW ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Saturday 9th April 2011
Richardson’s, Eyre Square – 8pm sharp

Guest Speaker:
Harry Browne
Journalist and Broadcaster
His Topic: The Significance of Wikileaks

1. CHANGE – WHAT CHANGE?
2. OBAMA - SERIOUS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
3. LIBYA
4. OPEN LETTER TO MICHAEL D. HIGGINS & LABOUR
5. GAAW COMPETITION: GAELICISE BARAK OBAMA’S NAME
6. IRISH ART FOR GAZA
7. THE IRISH CENSUS & ABU GHRAIB INTERROGATORS
8. MEET THE ARAB REVOLUTION IN BEIRUT THIS JULY!

Website of the month: www.shannonwatch.org

1
CHANGE – WHAT CHANGE?

Yes, Change was the buzzword of the Irish general election. Alas, there was not much on view on the government benches during Thursday’s edition of RTE’s Oireachtas report. Not only did the speakers look like, but they sounded like the ancien regime.

There wasn’t much change either when Messrs. Kenny & Gilmore jetted off to Washington for St. Patrick’s Day. Obama did the now ritual thank you for using Shannon airport and Irish airspace for his military adventures and the new Taoiseach nodded deferentially.

Generally, one can only concur with the sentiments expressed by Vincent Browne when he wrote: “In what other country does the prime minister go to another country and feel so grateful to be honoured with a special audience by the head of state of that visited country? Isn’t there something of an abasement about that? Could we stop it now?” (S. B. Post 20/3/11)

Perhaps, even more debasing was the performance of our new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, as he held a joint press conference with Hilary Clinton. The flushed appearance of the leader of the Labour Party left one unsure whether he was suffering from high blood pressure or was experiencing a Síle Seoige moment. Whichever, it did not inspire any serious hope that there would soon be a radical change á la Michael D. in Irish foreign policy. (see below GAAW’s open letter to Michael D. Higgins and the Labour Party) But should we be surprised?
2
OBAMA – SERIOUS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

Of course, the Change slogan was Obama’s successful marketing strategy during his election campaign. So, as we prepare for Obama’s visit to Ireland we have to ask has there been any significant change in US foreign policy since the advent of the first black US President?

At the time of Obama’s inauguration we expressed a genuine degree of hope that he would see the errors of George Bush’s ways. The decision to end the use of torture was the first positive sign, the release of Binyam Mohamad from Guantanamo was another - you will recall his CIA kidnappers and torturers travelled on two occasions through Shannon (and stayed overnight) on their way to “rendition” Mr Mohamad.

And then there was the commitment to close Guantanamo and cease the kangaroo military commissions that accepted as evidence confessions extracted through torture. These commitments have not been kept.
( See Clive Stafford Smith’s recent statement on this http://www.cageprisoners.com/learn-more/recommended/ite...limbo )

There was no change either on “extraordinary rendition” – people continue to be kidnapped and held against their will by the US authorities. In the Dept of Defence things have remained the same too – Bush’s man, Robert Gates, retained the position of US Defence Secretary. This might explain why in Obama’s first week in office he sanctioned the firing of two drone rockets into Pakistan killing 22 civilians, 18 of them women and children.

But didn’t Obama commit to leaving Iraq and wasn’t there a major media fanfare to highlight this “withdrawal”. Obama may have declared the war in Iraq over, but 47,000 US troops remain, as do 180,000 foreign mercenaries euphemistically called private military contractors (pmcs). So, in reality there has been no change in Iraq either. At the same time the new administration has inexplicably upped the ante in Afghanistan

Since the war criminal Henry Kissinger was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 the worth of this award has been seriously diminished. Bestowing it on Barak Obama eight months into his presidency when he was waging wars on two fronts – Iraq and Afghanistan – hasn’t increased its value.

Obama may have ended the torture of “extraordinary rendition” victims, but he has remained silent concerning the inhuman treatment being meted out in a US military prison to Bradley Manning. We have Bradley Manning to thank for bringing to the screens of the world the apache helicopter attacks in Iraq and many more classified US documents. Bradley Manning needs our support. Indeed, if the Nobel Peace Prize was not so discredited, Bradley would be deserving of it. Through his whistleblowing he has genuinely made a contribution to world peace.

As Obama received the bowl of shamrock from the new Taoiseach his drones were killing even more civilians in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the Irish establishment supported by the media will overlook these bloody transgressions. So, no change here then either.

3
LIBYA

It was during GAAW’s campaign for the release of Omar Deghayes from Guantanamo that we got an insight into the repressive nature of the Gaddafi regime. Omar was born in Libya.

In a way, Omar Deghayes’ experiences of the Libyan regime and the US government expose the lack of humanity of both: Omar’s father had been a trade unionist in Libya. He was arrested, tortured and in 1980 executed. Omar fell into the clutches of the US as part of their "War Against Terror". He was kidnapped and incarcerated in Guantanamo. Whilst there he was regularly tortured, during which he was blinded in one eye. His interrogators used to threaten that they would hand him over to the Libyan authorities if he did not co-operate. Omar was lucky he didn’t “disappear”.

It is not only Omar’s story that fills us with great scepticism re the West’s new-found concerns for the plight of civilians. The history of the last 10 years is splattered with the blood of innocent Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians and Lebanese – and all of that blood has been directly or indirectly caused by the Nato countries or their Israeli ally.

Nato’s reasons for involvement in Libya are twofold: oil and its need to have a foothold in the Arab revolution. The uprisings sweeping the region have taken the Western powers by surprise. Humanitarian concerns are nothing but a smokescreen.

For some the West’s reasons are considered irrelevant. The main thing is Gaddafi did not overrun Benghazi and with the Western intervention his regime may fall. But it is still very early days.

Guardian article by Seumas Milne:
There's nothing moral about Nato's intervention in Libya

“It's as if it's a habit they can't kick. Once again US, British and other Nato forces are bombarding an Arab country with cruise missiles and bunker-busting bombs. Both David Cameron and Barack Obama insist this is nothing like Iraq. There will be no occupation. The attack is solely to protect civilians.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/not...=SRCH

George Galloway on Libya -

BBC Radio Scotland - Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRaSEA_2KbY

4

An Open Letter to Michael D. Higgins and the Labour Party

The presentation by Shannonwatch last Friday, 18th March, of evidence to the Gardaí of alleged illegal activity by the US military and the CIA at Shannon airport raises serious questions for the junior partner in the new government and its Party President – and former spokesperson on Foreign Affairs - Michael D. Higgins.

Back on the 15th March 2008 Michael D. had this to say at a Dublin anti-war rally to mark the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war:
"Ireland is complicit in war and torture- also referred to as 'extraordinary rendition'- by allowing the US military use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace. The Labour Party was the first party to oppose the war, and this is a position which we still hold today.”
Admittedly in January 2009 President Obama announced an end to CIA torture, but not the end of “extraordinary rendition” (i.e. the illegal abduction and detention of people) and certainly not the end of the US wars. According to the peace monitors at Shannon airport, under Obama it was “business as usual” in 2009 and 2010 with “rendition flights” and transporters of armed troops and military hardware (including depleted uranium weaponry) transiting Ireland.
We certainly welcome the sentence in the new Programme for Government 2011-2016 which states: “We 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.”
Can we therefore presume that CIA “rendition flights” will be banned? And that the government will ensure no “rendition flights” use our airports and airspace?
There is, however, the issue of Ireland facilitating US wars: will this be stopped? Will Shannon airport become a foreign military free zone? Will our troops and Gardaí be brought back from Afghanistan? Or do these anti-war principles fall victim to coalition politics?
On March 15th 2008 Michael D. Higgins had quite rightly only contempt for the then coalition’s “acquiescence to this disgraceful and wholly illegitimate imperial adventure”. Do Michael D and the Labour Party now believe that Ireland should be “complicit in war”?
We would welcome a public statement from the aspiring Labour Party presidential candidate, Michael D Higgins, and from the Labour leader and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore, on these important matters.

5
GAAW COMPETITION: GAELICISE BARKA OBAMA’S NAME

As part of the preparations for the momentous homecoming of US President Barak Obama to dear old Ireland, the Galway Alliance Against War is running a competition to find the most appropriate Gaelicisation of the great man’s name.
Already entries have been flooding in, including two that focus on a particular theme of his presidency: Barrack O’Bomber and Bomber O’Barrack

Great prizes to be won for the lucky winners
1st Prize: 1 week in Cuba (Guantanamo)
2nd Prize: 2 weeks in Cuba (Guantanamo)
3rd Prize: 3 weeks in Morocco (Rabat’s al-Tamara interrogation centre, the former abode of Binyam Mohamad)

All flights depart from Shannon Airport!

6
IRISH ART FOR GAZA

Go to - www.irishart4gaza.com - to view stunning works of art created by four leading Irish artists —to raise funds so an Irish ship can join a new Freedom Flotilla to the besieged people of Gaza.
7
THE IRISH CENSUS & ABU GHRAIB INTERROGATORS
A petition has been launched to urge the Irish Government to cancel its contract with CACI (UK), which has been contracted to collect data from Irish citizens for the upcoming Census 2011. 

CACI (UK) is a wholly owned subsidiary of US contractor CACI International, which provided interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison during the height of the prisoner abuse scandal in 2004. 


http://www.petitiononline.com/Census11/petition.html

8
MEET THE ARAB REVOLUTION IN BEIRUT THIS JULY!

A great revolutionary tide is ripping through the Arab world. Tyrants all falling. A new generation is rising and demanding freedom, justice, dignity. Discussion and debate are flourishing on every street corner, and in every coffee-shop and mosque across the Arab region.

Viva Palestina Arabia is therefore organising a week of debate, discussion and organising this summer - from 23 to 30 July - in Lebanon.

Thanks to the student Palestine Cultural Club, which is hosting the Summer University, it will take place at the prestigious American University of Beirut. That means it will be in the heart of one of the great Arab capital cities, which has suffered so much at the hands of Israeli aggression, but which has successfully resisted and rebuilt. It means that we will be able to host many more participants than last year and with considerably upgraded facilities.

Already 20 internationally known speakers have confirmed, and more are being booked. The Summer University will bring together scores of scholars and political/cultural figures with hundreds of activists and participants from East and West. Places will book up quickly!

Young Palestinian and Arab people - from the generation that is powering the revolutionary changes - are at the centre of organising the event, which is set to be a historic gathering.

How many of you marvelled at the scenes in Tunisia and Tahrir Square in Cairo and wished you could speak with those heroes? This is your chance to, along with people representing all the resistance and progressive traditions in the region.

To book, go to www.vivapalestinaarabia.org

Please spread the word through your networks. VPA is in discussion with many groups and organisations to sponsor or be a supporter of the event and we welcome the broadest participation.