Madam, - A report in your edition of October 4th tells us that US military use of Shannon Airport is now at its highest since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Furthermore, there are now serious concerns that Shannon is being used by aircraft transporting terrorist suspects, picked up or kidnapped by US agents worldwide, and secretly flown to Guantanamo Bay for interrogation, with all that that implies.
Gardaí have carried out no inspections at Shannon of US aircraft involved in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, though they have legal powers to do so.
Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern has said in the Dáil: "If a government of the stature of the US government, which has such a connection with this country, gives us an absolute assurance in this regard [ that it has not flown such prisoners through Shannon] we accept it". I would like to ask Mr Ahern how much "an absolute assurance" from the Bush government is worth.
The "status" of the Bush government sinks daily ever lower, even among the people of America, but should we be surprised? This is the government which based its illegal, imperialist invasion of Iraq on deceit and lies, and in so doing deliberately flouted international law and defied the UN, contemptuously spurning the pleas of the world community of nations not to proceed with its "pre-emptive strike".
Since then, as we know, tens of thousands of innocent people have been butchered, Iraq brought to the verge of civil war, the Middle East further destabilised, and the security of the whole world threatened as never before. Some "status" surely, Minister!
Are Mr Bush and his callous collaborators the kind of megalomaniac government we should be supporting by our present Shannon airport policy? As long as we allow the airport to be used by warmongers, the security and safety of our country and our people is seriously compromised. To think otherwise is to ignore the facts. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's assurances that we are in no danger can carry no weight, while we continue to support the American war machine.
We should be seen to support the majority of the American people who are now opposed to the war, instead of pandering to George W. Bush and his discredited cabal. It is worth noting that Bush's approval rating, according to a recent CBS poll, is at its lowest level ever - 37 per cent.
We can most effectively assist the American people in their travail by banning the passage of US military through Shannon. This would provide a huge morale boost to the growing US anti-war movement.
In fact we should ban all foreign troop movements through Irish airports, as befits a neutral country. - Yours, etc,
GEARÓID KILGALLEN, Crosthwaite Park South, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.