Greens welcome re-routing of US troops from Shannon

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday February 05, 2003 18:34 by Graham Caswell - Green Party

Green Party Press Release

The Greens don't think much of Colin Powell's UN 'evidence' speech at the UN today but welcome the re-routing of US troop flights to Frankfurt

The Green Party has stated that Colin Powell's statement to the UN today did not make a convincing case for a new resolution and cannot justify a war against Iraq.

Green Party Chairman and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, John Gormley, T.D., said the evidence provided by Colin Powell fell far short of what was required to justify a war.

"To justify a war on this flimsy evidence is inexcusable. The presentation by Mr. Powell to the UN was slick and dramatic but was based mostly on assertion. His statement begs the question - if the US has had such damning information in its possession why has it not passed this on to the arms inspectors for verification. This was a last ditch effort by the US to secure a UN resolution. Unfortunately, such is the might of the US they may well succeed in their goal. However a cobbled together UN resolution based on such propaganda would undermine the credibility of the organisation. It is quite clear at this stage that the French are ready to capitulate to American interests. There can be no doubt that world governments are out of touch with world opinion on this matter."

Mr. Gormley had earlier welcomed the re-routing of 17 US troop-carrying planes to Frankfurt from Shannon. "Obviously this is only a small step in the right direction. Our ultimate aim is that no US troops will land in Shannon as part of the American war effort against Iraq," he concluded.