Bush at Shannon USAF Base Tomorrow

by Fubar Mon May 09, 2005 17:11

Expected to land at 1pm

by R. Isible Mon May 09, 2005 17:35

in fact I call troll on this post. Even if it isn't the person posting it should consider that it does no good to post this information anonymously as we can't believe it and so it might as well be a troll.

by Jimbob Mon May 09, 2005 17:41

The local journos all know about it as well (none of them were unaware of it when contacted) but of course, they weren't going to tell us about it. And of course, we weren't going to tell them how we knew about it either... but the fact that they knew, did corroborate the story.

I guess you'll find out tomorrow afternoon then...

by R. Isible Mon May 09, 2005 17:44

I've since been reliably informed that you are reliably informed (!).

by politicowatcher Mon May 09, 2005 18:01

The real question here is whether any of our chinless wonders will be meeting him. I know they are generally thick, but surely any of them with a bit of cop-on will avoid him like the plauge.

by R. Isible Mon May 09, 2005 18:08

There's probably room at the back of Airforce 1 and sure the wee fella won't take up much space!

by redjade Mon May 09, 2005 18:09

there seems to be some truth to the rumour - or maybe that its a true rumour, even if it doesn't actually happen...

Rummy at Shannon...
Feb 2004
http://www.defenselink.mil/home/photoessays/2004-02/p20040227b1.html

Dick Cheney Visit...
Dec 7 2004, 10:11pm
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=67834

by hello, operator? Mon May 09, 2005 22:25

...ring Shannon Airport Authority: 061 - 712000
and, in your best telephone voice, ask them to page Passenger G.W. Bush, travelling from Moscow (probably doing a Yeltsin and staying on the plane), as you have something very important to say.

Then call Shannon Garda Station: 061 - 361212
and, again in your polite voice but this time with an accent of concern, report the war criminal parked at the Airport. Ask that they arrest him before he refuels and escapes.

If they laugh at you, keep ringing. And get your friends to call.

by Mary Kelly Tue May 10, 2005 10:43

Just because the Irish government and its "security" forces choose to follow the US administration's assertion that the Geneva Convention and International Law are "obsolete" does not mean that Irish citizens accept this.

We are ashamed of our government's assistence to the US military, and denounce its ministers as greedy spineless cowards.

If any of those working in "security" forces really believe they are working to protect the security of the state, they must arrest Bush and ALL of his accomplices that land on Irish soil.
These are the real terrorists. The media knows this, and its high time for any real journalists to show themselves and stop covering for this criminal government.
NO WELCOME FOR US TERRORISTS AT SHANNON!

by ground control Tue May 10, 2005 11:01

When the C-5s landed on Sunday to deliver the advance team fo Secret Service they decided to park the black -tinted window vehicles inside the SRS hangar.

I wonder if anyone has told them that the SRS hangar is where a US navy jet got parked after a lovely action, and was still sitting there when it got disarmed again...

A nice reminder for them...

by ground control Tue May 10, 2005 12:41

he's just leaving Tbilisi now, and it's 2575 miles to Shannon, so it will be about 5 hours before he gets there.

by The Devil and George Warmonger Bush - Bushites For Armageddon Now Tue May 10, 2005 12:44 666 War Criminal Rd., El Diablo, TX, Black Op Box Samael 666-Ass-Holy Ext. Bush

Looks like The Devil will be passing through the Ireland. Be sure Wave at Old Nick and his Evangelical Lackeys with the Left Hand.

by Clare FM Tue May 10, 2005 13:47

see link for story.

by blowing my own trumpet Tue May 10, 2005 13:59

Remember where you heard it first!

by bojangles Tue May 10, 2005 15:16

In fact, RTE have only updated their news at lunchtime to mention his landing


Mr Bush's aircraft will make a brief refuelling stop at Shannon this afternoon while en route to Washington.

Peace activists are planning to protest at the airport this afternoon, though it is not known if Mr Bush will leave the aircraft.

by Ciaron Tue May 10, 2005 15:44

When iss the estimated time of arrival at Shannon?
Might try and get a visiual presence at GPO?

by SNN Watch Tue May 10, 2005 15:55

between 5 and 6 pm.

We'll keep you updated.

by Ciaron - DCW/PSP (personal capacity) Tue May 10, 2005 16:13 GPO 5 PM 087 918 4552

OK Vigil against U.S.Military use of Shannon & George Bush at Shannon - 5 pm GPO Tuesday.

I'll bring some posters, banners and stuff on the LUAS. Be there or be square...if you can't make it down to Shannon.

by RTE consumer Tue May 10, 2005 16:42

Bush not to land at Shannon

10 May 2005 15:23
The US President, George W Bush, will not land at Shannon Airport this evening as was expected.

Airforce One was to make a brief refuelling stop shortly before 5pm. However, Mr Bush now intends to fly directly from the former Soviet republic of Georgia to Washington.

Mr Bush was on a five-day trip through Europe where he marked the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.



A small protest had been planned for Shannon by anti-war protestors this afternoon. A massive security operation in the area involving airport police and the gardaí has now been stood down.

by SNN Watch Tue May 10, 2005 17:05

It occured to him that he's not welcome.

by righteous pragmatist Tue May 10, 2005 18:28

The current presidential fleet consists of two specifically-configured Boeing 747-200B series aircraft - tail numbers 28000 and 29000 - with Air Force designation VC-25A.

by Ciaron - DCW/PSP5 Tue May 10, 2005 20:29 087 918 4552

7 folks turned up from a vigil. A woman passing by claimed the pit Stop Ploughshares have brought down Waterford Crystal with much of it returned from the U.S. One of our French vigilers would have been struck by the name change to Freedom Fries over there!

Joe Higgins dropped by and wished us well. Looks like George was scared off by our mobiliastion and did a by pass, meanwhile 30,000 cannon fodder a month a touching down to and froming form the illegal war on Iraq.

Anti-War vigils continue Mondays 4pm-6pm at GPO

by righteous pragmatist Wed May 11, 2005 10:21

President Bush addressed a huge and exuberant crowd here in Georgia's Freedom Square, but Georgian authorities later told the Secret Service that someone in the crowd threw a hand grenade toward the stage that landed within 100 feet of where the president was speaking but did not explode, a Secret Service spokeswoman said.

Lorie Lewis, the spokeswoman, said Georgian authorities did not report the grenade-throwing incident until Bush was safely aboard Air Force One on the way back to the United States. Bush gave his speech, in which he credited Georgia for touching off a global "freedom movement," apparently unaware of the possible attack.

"It was reported (that) the device described as a possible hand grenade hit an individual in the crowd and the device fell to the ground," Lewis said Tuesday night in Washington. "It is reported a Georgian security official picked up the device, which did not detonate, and removed it from the area."

U.S. authorities had not seen the device as of Tuesday night. The Secret Service has agents in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, working with the FBI, State Department and Georgian authorities to investigate the report, which had not been confirmed.

Guram Donadze, a spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, at first denied a hand grenade was thrown close to the president, telling the Associated Press. "This is an absolute lie." But he later said the secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, Gela Bezhuashvili, would make an announcement about the incident Wednesday."

In his speech, Bush said the Georgian street revolt known as the Rose Revolution had touched off similar movements in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Iraq.

"You're making many important contributions to freedom's cause, but your most important contribution is your example," Bush told the crowd, speaking in bright sunshine. "Your courage is inspiring democratic reformers and sending a message that echoes across the world; freedom will be the future of every nation and every people on Earth."

People waited for hours in the square for Bush to step onto the speaker's platform, some of them dressed in red, white and blue to form a human U.S. flag. Others wore red and white for a counterpart Georgian flag.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili estimated that 150,000 people showed up; the White House put the number at 250,000.

Bush's presence was a huge boost to Saakashvili, the 37-year-old architect of street protests that brought down the discredited government of Eduard Shevardnadze. "For the Georgian people, this is really a sign of strong solidarity with them," Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili said in an interview. "It's one thing to know it. It's another thing to see it."

The visit irritated the Russia government, which views recent uprisings along its borders as an effort by the United States to extend its influence into Moscow's historic zone of influence. When Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov learned of Bush's itinerary weeks ago, he wrote a letter of complaint to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Bush took a gentle jab at Russian President Vladimir Putin during his speech and at a news conference here Tuesday when he endorsed Saakashvili's plans to peacefully return the pro-Russian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgian control while granting them considerable autonomy. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected," Bush said, an implicit reference to Moscow's longstanding support for the separatists.

But in a message calibrated to please Russia, Bush warned Georgia to respect the rights of its minority Abkhaz and Ossetian populations. Senior U.S. officials said before the trip that Bush planned to urge Saakashvili in private talks not to take provocative actions in the regions.

Bush also volunteered to help mediate a dispute over Russia's two remaining Soviet-era military bases in Georgia. Moscow has failed to fulfill a 1999 agreement to withdraw 3,500 troops it has stationed in Georgia. In recent negotiations, Georgian officials insisted they leave by 2008, but Moscow balked. In response, the Georgian president on Monday boycotted Moscow's 60th anniversary celebration of the end of World War II.

Educated at George Washington University and Columbia University School of Law, Saakashvili came to international attention when he mobilized tens of thousands of demonstrators into Freedom Square to protest electoral fraud.

His campaign culminated in November 2003 when he burst into parliament with a rose demanding the resignation of Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister. Saakashvili was subsequently elected president - with Shevardnadze's support - and set about remaking a country on the verge of collapse, where electricity often did not work, retirees scraped by on $7 a month and the government was suffused with corruption.

Saakashvili's boundless energy and buoyant optimism have made him a favorite in Washington, and Bush has clearly been taken with him. The president told interviewers before leaving Washington that he decided to make the trip in part because of Saakashvili's enthusiasm in inviting him.

While still broadly popular at home, Saakashvili has stirred growing criticism with a brash and impetuous manner. His blunt candor and thirst for radical change that appeal to many people strike others as needlessly confrontational. Some critics complain he has concentrated power at the expense of the opposition and the news media. To discourage the notion of one-man rule, Bush made a point of meeting here with parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, who, while allied with Saakashvili, remains an independent political figure.

Saakashvili said the visit would embolden other would-be revolutionaries. "Georgia provides a living example that democracy can work in this part of the world ... and I think that's the message President Bush is sending to the outside world by coming here," he told reporters.

Among those watching from Freedom Square on Tuesday was Anatol Liabedzka, chairman of the opposition United People's Party in Belarus, whose government was labeled "the last dictatorship in Europe" by Rice last month.

Liabedzka and a colleague held up a large handwritten banner that said: "Freedom Belarus." It was drawn during the morning at the office of the International Republican Institute, a U.S.-funded group that promotes democracy. Liabedzka planned to meet with Saakashvili on Tuesday evening to garner support for the Belarusan opposition. Liabedzka, whose allies met with Rice recently, said Bush's visit here would bolster his efforts in Belarus.

"It means that yesterday Tbilisi, today Kiev, tomorrow Minsk," the Belarusan capital, he said.

by ed horgan Wed May 11, 2005 18:42

you a indeed a righteous p...k

by John Steele - None Thu May 12, 2005 14:24 steeler90 at yahoo dot com http://www.hollywoodempire.net/purplehead.htm

Hi, I'm getting more annoyed with being Irish every day. It seems the more we tell the government we don't want to Bush to even enter our airspace, the more they will waste 250,000 euro of taxpayers money on an aborted security detail. I have included the link above because, whoever this guy is, he is definitely on the right track. I think I found someone who is more disillusioned than I. There isn't a lot of relevant material on there but there's some. There was a thing about the Bush visit but it was taken off for some reason.