Blood on their hands: TDs voting for refueling war

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday February 10, 2003 19:00 by Eoin Dubsky - Refueling Peace info at refuelingpeace dot org

A Private Members Motion to withdraw our concent for the US-led assault against the people of Iraq was defeated at the start of this month. Don't let them ever forget the day they had an opportunity in Dail Eireann to vote against assisting the US war machine with overflights and refueling. Don't let these cowards, appeasers and go-along-with-the-big-boys jackeens every forget!

Below are the details of the motion, the government's proposed amendment, who voted which way, and how you can contact Dail Deputies.

Tony Gregory and Joe Higgins, and the other handful of TDs who have actually tried to do something with their positions to stop Bush's oil wars deserve thanks and support for their hard work.

But don't forget to remind the bastards who let us down, that they have the blood of countless Iraqi children on their hands.

Private Members' Business.
------------------------------------
Foreign Conflicts: Motion (Resumed).
------------------------------------

The following motion was moved by Deputy Gregory on Tuesday, 29 January 2003:

That Dáil Éireann:

- notes the huge build-up of United States and British troops and weapons in the Middle East in preparation for a war against Iraq;

- notes the relentless drive by President Bush and Prime Minister Blair for such a war;

- notes that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared on Fox News, 'there's currently a state of war with Iraq that has not ended' (19 January 2003);

- notes the systematic undermining by the US Administration of the work of the UN weapons inspectors in Iraq and the pre-empting by the United States of the provisions of UN Resolution 1441;

- notes the statement by Scott Ritter, a UN weapons inspector in Iraq during 1991-98 and a supporter of the US Republican Party, that 90 to 95% of Iraq's previous weapons of mass destruction were verifiably put beyond use during that time;

- notes a leaked UN report projecting potentially a large scale and protracted ground offensive, supported by aerial bombardment, giving rise to half a million direct or indirect casualties; a chronic situation in south and central Iraq for 4.2 million children under five and one million pregnant and lactating women, two million internally displaced persons and an unknown number of infirm, terminally ill and elderly; and the devastation of all major infrastructure facilities such as bridges, railroads, electricity supplies and the provision for potable water;

- notes that the United Nations sponsored economic sanctions against Iraq have already caused untold suffering among the ordinary people of Iraq, resulting in the premature death of hundreds of thousands of children;

- notes the ongoing and regular, little reported, bombing by the United States and British air forces in northern and southern Iraq;

- notes the sentiments of the Irish people expressed in an Irish Times-MRBI poll published on 1 October 2002 which found 68% of respondents profoundly opposed to unilateral US action against Iraq and 59% wishing this State to oppose any UN authority for action;

- notes the widespread growth of popular opposition against a war in the worldwide protests held on 18 January this year, including an anti-war demonstration in Washington with up to 200,000 attending;

- condemns the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and its suppression of human rights and national and ethnic rights; and

- notes the widespread belief that the real motivation for a war on Iraq is the desire of the US Administration to control that country's oil reserves and increase its presence in the Middle Eastern region; calls on the Government to explain why it is:

- facilitating the precipitation of a war in Iraq by allowing US military planes to land and refuel at Shannon Airport;

- allowing a flagrant breach of the Defence Act 1954 and the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order, 1973;

- in apparent breach of Article 5 of the Hague Convention (v) respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers whereby 'belligerents are forbidden to move troops or convoys of either munitions of war or supplies across the territory of a neutral power'; and

- in apparent breach of Article 28.3.1 of Bunreacht na hÉireann the Irish Constitution, which directs that the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of Dáil Éireann; further calls on the Government to:

- apply all possible pressure open to it to prevent an attack on Iraq by the United States or Britain; and

- immediately withdraw all landing and refuelling facilities in Shannon Airport for US military planes and any other aircraft carrying US military personnel, arms or munitions that may be used in a war in Iraq; and calls for the future of the peoples and resources of Iraq and the Middle East generally to be determined by the people there, based on the principles of freedom, justice, democracy and human rights, free from both local dictatorships and imperialist or corporate interference. Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"- affirms that the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security;

- reaffirms Ireland's determination to discharge its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council;

- remains convinced that the use of force should be a last resort to be employed only after all other means have been exhausted;

- notes the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1441 in which Ireland took an active part;

- considers that this resolution provides the best prospect for resolving the crisis without the use of military force and for ensuring the removal of Iraq's capability to deploy or develop weapons of mass destruction;

- records its dismay at the Iraqi Government's continued defiance over more than a decade of its obligations under Security Council resolutions, its appalling record of human rights abuses both within and outside its borders, its aggression against its neighbours and its repeated failure to co-operate with UN-mandated sanctions, to the detriment of the civilian population of Iraq;

- commends the various efforts being undertaken by the international community to find a peaceful resolution to this crisis and Ireland's contribution to these efforts;

- encourages the Government in the active role which it plays, in the EU and other international fora, in the international community's efforts to resolve this crisis peacefully;

- calls upon the Iraqi Government to comply immediately and fully with the obligations imposed upon it by numerous decisions of the Security Council and in particular to co-operate proactively with the arms inspectors;

- expresses its support for the continuing work of the arms inspectors in carrying forward their task and commends their work to date;

- calls on all Governments to extend every assistance to the arms inspectors, including the provision of relevant intelligence;

- urges all parties concerned, and in particular the Iraqi Government, to make every effort to ensure that this crisis will be resolved by peaceful diplomatic means;

- recognises that the ongoing granting of overflight and landing rights to US military aircraft and the transiting of US military personnel through Shannon Airport is consistent with arrangements going back decades and is being conducted in full accordance with all relevant constitutional and legislative provisions, most notably the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order, 1973 and section 317 of the Defence Act, 1954; and

- welcomes the commitment of the Government, in the event of military action being initiated against Iraq, either with or without further UN sanction, to review the situation with regard to overflight and landing facilities and to initiate a debate in this House."

Deputies who voted for Government amendment to motion
Ta
Ahern, Dermot.
Ahern, Noel.
Andrews, Barry.
Brady, Johnny.
Brady, Martin.
Breen, James.
Brennan, Seamus.
Browne, John.
Callanan, Joe.
Callely, Ivor.
Carey, Pat.
Carty, John.
Cassidy, Donie.
Collins, Michael.
Cooper-Flynn, Beverley.
Coughlan, Mary.
Cowen, Brian.
Cregan, John.
Cullen, Martin.
de Valera, S=EDle.
Dempsey, Noel.
Dempsey, Tony.
Dennehy, John.
Devins, Jimmy.
Ellis, John.
Fahey, Frank.
Finneran, Michael.
Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
Fleming, Se=E1n.
Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
Glennon, Jim.
Grealish, Noel.
Hanafin, Mary.
Haughey, Se=E1n.
Hoctor, M=E1ire.
Jacob, Joe.
Keaveney, Cecilia.
Kelleher, Billy.
Kelly, Peter.
Killeen, Tony.
Kirk, Seamus.
Kitt, Tom.
Lenihan, Conor.
McCreevy, Charlie.
McDaid, James.
McDowell, Michael.
McEllistrim, Thomas.
McGuinness, John.
Moloney, John.
Moynihan, Donal.
Moynihan, Michael.
Mulcahy, Michael.
Nolan, M.J.
=D3 Feargha=EDl, Se=E1n.
O'Connor, Charlie.
O'Dea, Willie.
O'Donnell, Liz.
O'Donoghue, John.
O'Donovan, Denis.
O'Flynn, Noel.
O'Keeffe, Ned.
O'Malley, Tim.
Parlon, Tom.
Power, Peter.
Power, Se=E1n.
Ryan, Eoin.
Sexton, Mae.
Smith, Brendan.
Smith, Michael.
Wallace, Dan.
Walsh, Joe.
Wilkinson, Ollie.
=
Woods, Michael.

Deputies who voted against Government amendment to motion
N=EDl
Allen, Bernard.
Blaney, Niall.
Boyle, Dan.
Breen, Pat.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Bruton, Richard.
Connaughton, Paul.
Connolly, Paudge.
Costello, Joe.
Cowley, Jerry.
Crawford, Seymour.
Crowe, Se=E1n.
Cuffe, Ciar=E1n.
Deasy, John.
Deenihan, Jimmy.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Fox, Mildred.
Gilmore, Eamon.
Gogarty, Paul.
Gormley, John.
Gregory, Tony.
Harkin, Marian.
Hayes, Tom.
Healy, Seamus.
Higgins, Joe.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kenny, Enda.
Lynch, Kathleen.
McGrath, Finian.
McGrath, Paul.
McManus, Liz.
Mitchell, Gay.
Mitchell, Olivia.
Moynihan-Cronin, Breeda.
Naughten, Denis.
Neville, Dan.
=D3 Caol=E1in, Caoimhgh=EDn.
=D3 Snodaigh, Aengus.
O'Shea, Brian.
O'Sullivan, Jan.
Pattison, Seamus.
Penrose, Willie.
Quinn, Ruairi.
Rabbitte, Pat.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Ryan, Se=E1n.
Sargent, Trevor.
Shortall, R=F3is=EDn.
Stagg, Emmet.
Stanton, David.
Twomey, Liam.
Upton, Mary.
Wall, Jack.

Tellers: Deputies Hanafin and Kelleher, Deputies Gregory and Boyle.

| |
| |
| Part Two of the debate on the Private Members |
| Motion on Iraq. |
| |
| |
| Mr J. Higgins: In wrapping up the debate, I |
| thank my colleagues from the Independent |
| group and Technical Group for their |
| considered speeches in the course of the |
| debate. Last night's speech by the Minister |
| for Foreign Affairs, by contrast, was a |
| despicable performance and, if analysed, was |
| a lightly embroidered repetition of the Bush |
| and Blair arguments for an attack on Iraq. |
| The game was given away when there was a |
| point blank refusal by the Government to say |
| that it would break ranks with the warmongers |
| in the case of a unilateral attack on Iraq by |
| the United States. The explanation by the |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs of procedures |
| governing the facilities given over to the US |
| military at Shannon was a totally dishonest |
| attempt to cover up the truth. Last year over |
| 500 military planes landed at Shannon in |
| building up the US war machine in the Middle |
| East and not a single one had permission to |
| carry weapons or munitions of war in flagrant |
| breach of Irish Government regulations. The |
| Government cravenly and deliberately turned a |
| blind eye to the weapons and munitions that |
| such planes were, undoubtedly, carrying and |
| which will, undoubtedly, be used in the event |
| of a war, to slaughter the innocent Iraqi |
| people. |
| |
| |
| Mr. Cowen: Untrue. |
| |
| |
| Mr. J. Higgins: Only now when its connivance |
| with the US military has been flushed out by |
| the anti-war movement is there a scramble to |
| give some cloak of legality to its |
| connivance. |
| |
| |
| We need a serious, sober and considered |
| debate-- |
| |
| |
| Mr. Cowen: Hear,hear. |
| |
| |
| Mr. J. Higgins: --on the critical issues that |
| a war against Iraq raises about the very |
| future of our planet. Radio Telef=EDs =C9ireann, |
| our national broadcasting authority, has a |
| crucial role in that and I have no doubt that |
| many within RTE will discharge that role |
| quite well. However, that belief was not |
| vindicated by the disgraceful pro-war snow |
| job on the Marian Finucane radio programme |
| this morning, which lined up a well meaning |
| but hapless peace activist in Shannon against |
| a sneering Sunday Independent journalist, a |
| obscurantist cold warrior and the presenter |
| herself in a disgracefully unbalanced |
| discussion. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| The Governments of the United States and |
| Britain, slavishly echoed by substantial |
| sections of the western media and the Irish |
| media, are attempting to shroud their |
| imminent war in a grotesque deception that it |
| is about weapons of mass destruction |
| allegedly held in Iraq. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| They know the bulk of such weapons were |
| destroyed by 1998 and that it is impossible |
| for the Iraqi dictatorship to develop nuclear |
| weapons. The Saddam Hussein dictatorship |
| knows that if it explodes as much as a single |
| hand grenade outside its borders it will |
| invite an attack by the massively more |
| destructive weapons of the United States, |
| Britain and others. |
| |
| |
| The media know that the obscurantist and |
| grotesque relic of Stalinism in North Korea |
| has incomparably more destructive power than |
| the Iraqi dictatorship but an entirely |
| different strategy will be adopted in that |
| case. The monstrous hypocrisy of the Irish |
| Government, as well as Mr. Bush and Mr. |
| Blair, must be exposed. They decry the |
| heinous nature of the Saddam Hussein |
| dictatorship. So do we. The difference is |
| that we always did. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| It is too bad Fianna F=E1il did not realise how |
| heinous a regime the Iraqi dictatorship was |
| in the 1980s when Saddam Hussein's army |
| committed unspeakable atrocities against the |
| Iranians, marching on stomachs filled with |
| Irish beef sent to Saddam Hussein by a |
| Government in which the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie |
| Ahern, was a senior Minister and which |
| exports were under-written by Mr. Ahern with |
| funds provided by Irish taxpayers. The US |
| Defence Secretary, Mr. Rumsfeld is also well |
| qualified to speak about Saddam Hussein. He |
| visited him in the mid-1980s in Baghdad to |
| bring the full support of the United States |
| Government for the terrible war against Iran |
| when Iraq was, on a daily basis at that very |
| time, using chemical weapons against the |
| Iranians in total defiance of international |
| conventions. A few weeks ago The Washington |
| Post published review of thousands of |
| declassified US documents which showed that |
| in the 1980s the United States sent numerous |
| items to Iraq, including poisonous chemicals |
| and deadly biological viruses such as anthrax |
| and bubonic plague. What hypocrisy? |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| This war is for control of Iraqi oil and to |
| send a signal to the world that the United |
| States is an imperial power and an armed |
| colossus that would bestride the world and |
| dictate its terms. Let no one attempt to |
| gainsay that. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| The motion stands against the rotten |
| dictatorship and against war. We stand with |
| the Irish people and the millions of |
| Americans and British who oppose it. On 15 |
| February I believe tens of thousands of Irish |
| people who oppose the Government's policy and |
| the war will join us in the Irish anti-war |
| mass demonstrations to send a signal to the |
| Government that it must stop its connivance. |
| |
|-----------------------------------------------|