latest Shannon airport abuse

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Friday February 11, 2005 20:54 by Edward Horgan - peace anytime

Hercules and US VIPs at Shannon?

Today, Feb 11, 2005, a US airforce C 130 landed at Shannon, also expected later were some hundreds of US troops on chartered flights to and from Iraq, and other likely air trafic over the weekend will be executive type jets, carrying either so-called VIPs of the US administration or kidnapped prisoners for torture. All should be arrested, but none are likely to be, except that is peaceful protesters who object to unlawful killing.

Friday 11 February, was just another day at Shannon. A US air force Hercules C130 lands at about 1pm, and is quickly directed to the cargo area, where some mysterious cargo is either on-loaded or off-loaded. Re-fuelling did not appear to take place, which indicates that it may have already been refuelled in midair. The registration number of this warplane was ANG Charlotte 31456, which belongs to the 145th Airlift Wing, of the 156th Squadron, based at Charlotte US air force base in North Carolina, USA. This Air National Guard unit was mobilised on 30th October 2001, presumably for the war against Afghanistan.
The rear tail-gate door of the warplane was open, and two US soldiers were seen manhandling some item of equipment on to the aircraft. At least one of these soldiers appeared to be armed with a side-arm, when observed from the terminal building by binoculars. A complaint was later lodged with the Garda Station at Shannon town, concerning this aircraft on the basis that the presence of a military aircraft, soldiers in uniform, and the possibility that these soldiers were carrying weapons, were all in contravention of international law, that is the Hague Convention V, 1907, and the San Remo Conventions on neutrality. A Garda at Shannon assured the complainant that he was sure that no weapons were being carried on this US military aircraft, and specifically that the soldiers complained about were not carrying weapons.
Curiously, this statement by the Garda does confirm that he was aware of both the presence of the military aircraft at Shannon and of the presence of US troops in uniform, but he clearly choose to ignore this fact. He did not indicate how he ascertained that these soldiers were not armed.
Were these soldiers and this aircraft searched for weapons by the Gardai? Are all such aircraft, including the chartered aircraft carrying troops to Iraq also being searched by Gardai?
My information is that this is not the case, and that large numbers of weapons and munitions are still being transported daily through Shannon airport.
A formal written complaint has been lodged with Gardai, who said it would be forward upwards to the “authorities”.
Many such complaints have been lodged in the past, and the only results have been that more US soldiers, more weapons and munitions and more US military and chartered aircraft have been abusing Shannon airport and Irish neutrality. Very many of these soldiers and military aircraft later went on to commit crimes against humanity in the killing fields of Iraq, and are still doing so, with impunity as far as Ireland is concerned.
Photographs of the Hercules C130 at Shannon will follow later.
The only arrests at Shannon by Gardai have been peaceful peace-activists, including this one, who has been one of the few who has actually been acquitted of what were trumped up, and unsustainable charges. (Shannon Boat People http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68377) Many other peace activists have been convicted in what has amounted to a very questionable judicial process.
Edward Horgan.