Hippies!
Dublin city centre, February 15, 2003.
Some 100,000 people marched in protest against the Iraq War – as part of simultaneous protests across the world.
Peace Fight!
Pic 3 from left: Finian McGrath, Tony Gregory and David Norris.
Pics 6-8 from left: Fintan O’Toole, John Gormley and Richard Boyd Barrett.
Pics: Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews
Meanwhile
Irish Examiner, November 5, 2002:
Rollingnews and Irish Newspaper Archive
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Still got military flights going through Shannon. Right? So, when all is said and done, we’re STILL supporting these wars.
Yes, I was there and proud to do it, even though I knew it was futile. Blair ignored a million marchers in London. Incidentally, we peaceful marchers were very closely supervised by hundreds of Gardai. Some things never change.
I most certainly was there.
“100,000 people marched in protest against the Iraq War protest” ??
Sorry pillboxhat, fixed now. Thanks.
I was there, and it did not achieve anything.
I remember being challenged by a bunch of UK guys over on a stag weekend who wanted to know why we were objecting.
At the time, there was an almost sexual excitment about the inevitability in going to war in US/UK.
A million marched against the war in London, so there’s that. Not really fair to suggest UK people were all delighted with the situation, they were for the large part absolutely opposed to the war.
In terms of what it achieved, well Bertie made one of his “I’m a man of the people statements” where he said he supported the people marching and understood how they felt, but failed to make even the vaguest of side swipes against Tony & George’s war, let alone condemn it.
So yeah, not much achieved in tangible terms, but, to paraphrase Blair, I’d do the same again.
Mick Wallace had a slightly controversial anti-Bush banner on one of his buildings on the quays for months as I recall.
RBB hasn’t aged a day.
Fair play to him.
Neither have thousands of Iraqi victims
Well aren’t you great craic. Making jokes about mass murder. Your parents must be so proud.
Who the f**k is making jokes?
Rugbyfan: RBB hasn’t aged a day.
You: Neither have thousands of Iraqi victims
Self explanatory.
Wasn’t aware that Ireland was involved in the Iraq war. Unless you call having a handy airport involvement.
Well, now you have a learning opportunity – you can find out all the ways that logistics of fuel and rest are considered material support.
You could read the judgement in Horgan v Ireland.
You could ask Geoffrey Oxley, a former officer of the RAF, and logistics expert – who testified in court in Dublin about the importance of logistics to a war effort.
Or Tom Clonan who has testified in court as follows:
Dr. Tom Clonan : Shannon has a designated military liaison, whose name I won’t give here, but it’s a Lt. Col reporting directly to the US Base at Stuttgart.
Dr. Tom Clonan : “Virtual Forward Operating Base” is a term used by Donald Rumsfeld in 2002, (when he was US Secretary of Defence). He argued that the US Military should sub-contract out some of the logistics functions and spread the costs. In that context, Shannon was identified as a Virtual Forward Operating Base.
Since that time, over Two-and-a-quarter million US troops have passed through Shannon Airport., making it the largest invading force to ever pass through the State.
Other costs such as the € 17.5 million security cost is charged to the exchequer, and additional air navigation fees. As a direct result of the ‘Defence-lite’ policy, the Irish Taxpayer makes a substantial contribution to this. ”
(and subsequently)
“In a conversation with the US ambassador to the EU, the ambassador referred to ‘surprise’ that as a member of the ‘coalition-of-the-willing’ Ireland has no input, that we have ‘no representation, though we have taxation ‘ -through our subsidising of the US military.”
“Dr. Tom Clonan : Prior to the ground invasion of Iraq, I was told by a member of the US General Staff, that they would be committing about quarter of a million troops. He said “We’re not politicians. We don’t make decisions. We break things and kill people. We set up a logistics chain. Shannon is a fulcrum of the logistics “.
Shannon is so intergal that is has become part of the US military folklore, the aural culture. Going to a warzone is referred to as “A pint of Guinness in Shannon and then a wake-up”. ”
Dr. Tom Clonan : I spoke to a US Air Force Colonel in charge of KC-767 mid air refeulling tankers. Those aircraft aren’t armed, but she said to me in discussion “It’s a weapons system, dumbass. The logistics are part of the weapons system. Shannon is part of the weapons system.”
Mr. Nicholas: Are you familiar with the phrase “Teeth-to-Tail”?
Dr. Tom Clonan : It refers to the ratio of logistics support to the front line. In the second world war, it was 5 to 1. For current asymmetrical world wide force projection it’s 12 to 1, and that includes Shannon in those logistics. It’s considered an integral part of the weapons system. If the shoe was on the other foot, and enemies of the US were using Shannon, the US would consider Shannon a legitimate target.
The fact like groups like Hezbollah refer to the role of Shannon Airport means it could be subject to hostile scrutiny at best, and targetting at worst. With the increasing numbers of radicalised resistance groups, Shannon could be a tempting target.
I don’t agree completely with Margaretta D’Arcy and other people in court on their politics, but I do agree 100% with them in identifying Shannon for what it is – an essential and key component of the US military projection of power.
It’s corrosive to our international reputation as a neutral state, which we have all benefited from when abroad.
+1
Fair play there Sam.
Yes I was there. For all the good it did. But I was there.
was there too, millions marched worldwide that day and while we weren’t listened to it was still important to make to point. Whatever about the US hopefully the UK will be very reluctant to get involved in these follies again
Dead right, Bonkers. We all suspected we couldn’t win, but the dastardly plans couldn’t go unchallenged.
All that’s really missing from a giant demo like that is to include a real demand, not just to the govt, but a challenge to the assembled thousands. Do more than simply disavow the slaughter, but really challenge it.
There was over 100,000 people, possibly up to 150,000 there. That many people marching past an empty Leinster House on a Saturday shouting ‘not in our name’ makes for great spectacle, but doesn’t shake the corridors of power very much, cos they know it’s just spectacle. If even 2% of those turned up a month later, after the bombing started, and queued up at the Dept of Finance and Dept of Transport on a work day demanding a refund of the portion of their taxes used to subsidise the US military use of Shannon, it would cause confusion, derisive laughter, and then fear. Actually empowering people to do more than just chant or applaud for speeches, and encouraging them to directly engage with the state, and demand that their taxes not fund death, that is something I would have wished to see happen that day. A bit too radical for the agenda unfortunately.
In terms of the Bush administration at the time, the only way to influence Bush would have been, get a big black board and chalk and spell it out, war is bad, what is war, bad.
And even then.
Lovely factories in this country manufacturing bomb parts, filters for Apache helicopters, circuit boards for guided missiles etc.
We are dripping in blood but at least the GDP is going in the right direction. America owns us. We just don’t care to acknowledge it.
More drink, more chips and the greatest fans in the world.
Thanks for that – cheered me up no end. Do I get chips now?