|
|
It's now well known that Shannon airport is being used by the USmilitary for refuelling en route to Iraq. Getting it well known wasan important victory but it's not enough
- now we've got to stop it!
As usual the Irish Government are blatantly ignoring publicopinion - they haveundermined Irish neutrality despite theoverwhelming majority of residents of Ireland opposing this war. Upto five such flights a day are now passing through Shannon and thegovernment freely admits that the soldiers carry personal fire armson board. This may only be the tip of the ice berg as no official hasever asked to inspect any plane. We do know that 30 planes were givenpermission to carry arms and munitions last year. The US navy and airforce C 130s which pass through regularly are often used as bombersand gun ships and can also transport so called daisy cutter bombs
We don't have to be powerless spectators; we CAN stop the US usingShannon. While this may not stop the war, it would be a huge boost toanti-war activists around the world and could have a major impact. Wehave a better chance than anyone outside of the US and the UK ofstriking a major blow against this war.
So how can we do this?
It's not just a question of making our voices heard but makingthem impossible to ignore! Direct Action is just that - taking theinitiative and implementing change ourselves - why rely on the actionof others when our appeals obviously fall on deaf ears?
We don't have to be super-brave commandos; direct action can takemany forms, from just being there supporting, to blockading,"trespassing", witnessing, to getting in the way when the cops try toarrest others; your level of involvement is your choice.
Several such actions have happened already - a military plane wassprayed with paint last September, over a hundred people "trespassed"inside the fence in October while just recently one woman did 500,000 euros of damage to a Navy jet! Five members of the CatholicWorker Movement disarmed the same Navy jet after it had been repaireddelaying its involvement in the massacre of Iraqis.
Direct action can take many forms, but all contribute towardspreventing this war. We've already seen how effective this form ofresistance can be. The challenge is to continue with direct action,making it larger, bolder and more powerful. Direct action is perhapsthe most empowering means of resistance - and is for everyone; ourtools are creativity, spontaneity and imagination .and the occasionalhammer!
The war is illegal under both Irish and International law, raisingseveral possibledefences, some of which are being tried already,however such actions may result in fines or even prison time. It'stherefore vital that we support and offer our solidarity to those whotake direct action and suffer legal consequences as a result.
Creating a diverse, imaginative campaign of actions will enable usto succeed in preventing the use of Irish airports to bomb innocentpeople for the sake of oil & power.
solidarity [sldært] n., pl. -ties.: to achieve collectivestrength and political power through unity of interest, equality andmutual aid