_____
From: World Beyond War via WorldBeyondWar.org [mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 9:03 AM
To: miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: The World Must Support Ireland Against U.S. Wars
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h0/Jb9ZUZ-2BHBLFAkQw-2FQ1kTOl3geL9PmLlAz6s04TuLxeDWJJCZuK6KTLb-2Bg2krKhlRDe2nJ5kNc1OFFQ5mB1TflJbn4iyfS-2F5RLwDudcX4-2Bc2Vc0dK5iehm2SsEpEEtEgXbAGEFotK3-2BBFKLFOWx4pweVP6z-2F7CKYXH5cq9PJtrG0FzmD0j7sB4Lcv-2BuTIxxuOazwquHWx7q7IR7cvsOEnrmDmk2ITIpVGFyodsXu4eyhy8cpoaJ2YgOpCNfgfLhjEPqhTsNqXQwOAE3ae7Sqxy-2BBUcGFnYUVoUtidfOupHoSlMgY0Gxh-2BJ7Wru4MDD1CGggVFkHmwLQSwM4DufxZlRUUaTQa1teGXZXTwNHURgGg-3D>
The World Must Support Ireland Against U.S. Wars
A Letter to Ireland from World Beyond War
Add your name here.
Those of us outside Ireland, and in particular those of us in the United
States, have a pressing and urgent responsibility to lend all the support we
can to our brothers and sisters in Ireland who are resisting U.S. wars.
Despite Ireland’s officially neutral status and its claim to have not gone to
war since its founding in 1922, Ireland allowed the United States to use
Shannon Airport during the Gulf War and, as part of the so-called coalition of
the willing, during the wars that began in 2001. Between 2002 and the present
date, over 2.5 million U.S. troops have passed through Shannon Airport, along
with many weapons, and CIA airplanes used to transfer prisoners to places of
torture. Casement Aerodrome has also been used. And, despite not being a member
of NATO, Ireland has sent troops to participate in the illegal war on
Afghanistan.
Under Hague Convention V in force since 1910, and to which the United States
has been a party from the start, and which under Article VI of the U.S.
Constitution is part of the supreme law of the United States, “Belligerents are
forbidden to move troops or convoys of either munitions of war or supplies
across the territory of a neutral Power.” Under the United Nations Convention
Against Torture, to which both the United States and Ireland are parties, and
which has been incorporated into very selectively enforced felonies in the U.S.
Code since before George W. Bush left Texas for Washington, D.C., any
complicity in torture must be investigated and prosecuted. Under both the U.N.
Charter and the Kellogg-Briand Pact, to both of which the United States and
Ireland have been parties since their creation, the war in Afghanistan and all
the other U.S. wars since 2001 have been illegal.
The people of Ireland have a strong tradition of resisting imperialism, dating
back even before the 1916 revolution of which this year is the centenary, and
they aspire to representative or democratic government. In a 2007 poll, by 58%
to 19% they opposed allowing the U.S. military to use Shannon Airport. In a
2013 poll, over 75% supported neutrality. In 2011, a new government of Ireland
announced that it would support neutrality, but it did not. Instead it has
continued to allow the U.S. military to keep planes and personnel at Shannon
Airport, and to bring troops and weapons through on a regular basis, including
over 20,000 troops already this year.
The United States military has no need for Shannon Airport. Its planes could
reach other destinations without running out of fuel. One of the purposes of
regularly using Shannon Airport, perhaps the main purpose, is very likely
simply to keep Ireland within the coalition of the killing. On U.S. television,
announcers thank “the troops” for watching this or that major sporting event
from 175 countries. The U.S. military and its profiteers would hardly notice if
that number dropped to 174, but their goal, perhaps their main purpose and
driving objective, is to increase that number to 200. Total global dominance is
the explicitly stated objective of the U.S. military. Once a nation is added to
the list, all steps will be taken, by the State Department, by the military, by
the CIA, and by any possible collaborators, to keep that nation on the list.
The United States government fears an Ireland free of U.S. militarism more than
we probably can imagine. The global peace movement should desire it more than
we probably do, including for the example it would set to Scotland, Wales,
England, and the rest of the world.
How do we, outside of Ireland, know anything at all about what the U.S.
military does in Ireland? We certainly don’t learn it from the U.S. government
or U.S. journalism. And the Irish government takes no active steps to reveal
what it knows, which is likely not everything. We know what we know because of
brave and dedicated peace activists in Ireland, representing majority opinion,
upholding the rule of law, exercising creative nonviolence, and working through
numerous organizations, most prominently Shannonwatch.org
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h3/4FCpFJHWtHQNu-2BMW3PI4DPLeHO2YI7U03ECABkVeO7Z-2F7QIePWwE0zuSA-2BRWEYTPGOar2ivsTOk2-2BbDp7KVgtI38Vp2QZ-2FkxznO7EgJPWTHgoviXcPAuQRLqvAz7VZoky2J1tY3cE0UM-2BdOprs4z9CwN5hnAwutPH44GWDQrpq2feaGCLCsO7lWm4EDW0RIvVQvNktvZUxj-2BA-2B9A75II9Jzw5XY8DX3FCNFYu6arXJwhfX4jKilPQ7HN0PArRjMbGPYigJIszXDlphoTEC6n0uzAg157d8bXmSAeNQfMomYm1vY31dhbNEsP10BvOOfwxRRHEUI3-2B91mZb3kfsCoXg-3D-3D>
. These heroes have pried loose information, elected and lobbied members of
the Irish legislature, entered the grounds of Shannon Airport to ask question
and draw attention and face criminal prosecution for the cause of peace. If not
for them, citizens of the United States — a nation that literally bombs other
countries in the name of democracy — would have no idea what was happening
whatsoever. Even now, most people in the United States have no idea. We have to
help tell them. Even U.S. supporters of war don’t support a mandatory draft, at
least not until they themselves are too old to qualify. Many should be willing
to oppose forcing Ireland to take part in wars it wants no part in.
If U.S. military transport continues to make use of Shannon Airport, a disaster
will inevitably occur there. Of course the moral disaster of participating in
the mass killing of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, etc., is ongoing. The
cultural disaster of insidiously creating the impression that war is normal is
underway. The financial cost to Ireland, the environmental and noise pollution,
the heightened “security” that erodes civil liberties: all of those things are
part of the package, along with the racism that finds a target in the refugees
fleeing the wars. But if Shannon Airport survives routine U.S. military use
without a major accident, spill, explosion, crash, or mass-killing, it will be
the first. The U.S. military has poisoned and polluted some of the most
beautiful spots in the United States and around the world. The unsurpassed
beauty of Ireland is not immune.
And then there is the blowback. By participating in counterproductive wars that
generate international terrorism, Ireland makes itself a target. When Spain
became a target it pulled out of the war on Iraq, making itself safer. When
Britain and France became targets, they doubled down on their own participation
in terrorism-too-large-to-carry-that-name, generating more blowback and
deepening the vicious cycle of violence. Which path would Ireland choose? We
cannot know. But we do know that it would be wisest for Ireland to pull out of
its criminal participation in the barbaric institution of war before the war
comes home.
Sign here.
Please share.
Twitter.
Facebook.
Sign
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h7/7CBW3QOYpmFsnSfOK5kPeAeCw1TEUzd5srKKUntGshqbGovPV5IC9oc96cWnwXW5XL1ZwiaGUBw5nwY1H0cn4nAYR8vFngHjWDuwTj7w0hKEKZKb2UMpa4T-2FPEqgptFBvtPHETLriVuapv0kXBCU0mbCmN4lK0urOdinIAd69sq9LAVw4G1k2kvy1MwMvNzFwTOuWA9KIYor2GaZO4Fn5vYRszlH-2BHBQQ0tqdxCPL1pjU-2F689CpGZgz19Cr4X-2Fgz8-2FBaRUHMo10aJ-2BxqpCkA3AdOyOWdeLrzIB7yWY6q62tcT-2FzMLOhEBfGqyJkBb7fedFZoJwU84MKNlH7ZvbuSyOrfSkaX8mOu7rvvpvCPcmU-2BrmlyhQNy3PvYANgLFgot>
the Declaration of Peace.
Find
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h8/Jb9ZUZ-2BHBLFAkQw-2FQ1kTOsum3HXWAfT4Or3HgOb-2BNf3yHM-2B8dyUDh50ZTwUSsy0YJRU0REnSZJteTQJwl-2BouNLHVRqh2Vd0vze3njw8Ufl4MrKcAz-2F9y3cP8L1KAH8FPMVsjLS8L9AKlTNI05esaPqRqstOgNoRR3s3evMcn-2FQ-2BSuuyhXirAG0qnmcWUOA4IHp4AO0-2FRdtnOH-2FZRpdgND64b-2Bg9dvF3rAB84O4yKr8TRGPX-2FJFVor83A21AOYH0rnt-2B2h5zg6xKa9GFIvAPEywz-2BL0NZJpSz05fZEg-2B4KykV4n476dlV3tTy1Ble60T3BwaP7CQ8LvMidAwVETi1PURXjofAd5dGrXB0WiYOCUw-3D>
events all over the world that you can take part in.
Join us on Facebook
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h9/HE2UYZIDTZxfLuJ8qHDFiDm7vYuLTAkQPOYHBYIS-2B-2Bwrmxxvx2tLIbDcASCSj41AzKCD57-2FJTrhvhTW36-2B-2FE4UPSf-2FimnavdANlonfLji9mHKoGHNSn05CAqMDjxse-2BsnNh061t5Kg38Nbe6FSj54NyRBmT82dBjbpm4ils-2FhjJN8xOnmA-2BOCHI7B-2Biadu5SYuKLcC2zhy3CSFJDvDjmy7qIfokNfZGizdto2sTfe-2Bzl-2Bh1CzmJdZKRYHtZKwzp8d-2B7pA0Kp1ukB2qeypqYoEDTRPmtqP9K-2B2EXMUsIzJRcM-2B3tuJvbttuBVF8Pnx-2B9y82PXLa79kCw5hm5ih6hxohqRT1L6PWkALY1bGU2-2BTdM-3D>
and Twitter
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h10/9RXDenI7BReTpKa-2F42PXTLiLh98V4KYxPh2yHapKEpPrEfGn7aIcFf-2FN-2BBZrA-2B8-2Fb9WAia3y-2FcA-2BZtbO7BOfRjMy-2Bi57DSif9OCqI4Tey5Ox-2Fm8bqQuKCzzrfwCYIGO1sYdE3ckDQcggJ6jwx9xLuxSrRL-2Bg04yRqxSrdy8ub0vAtjeXtrk81LDlPF3VXkKy6JXgqv9jvTpyDuiQdJHWz1FdlNuhqEN-2FxDn3dOtjj5GA4YbJiS3EoX6UWAFT3QUOt56nkdXPmbpbG8svsz-2BF-2BOFT7ama69o5yJCEjyzYI8v9-2FYy93HjNRnW8exXHyuCTdRcvMLYF2A1X6Gm3-2FKhbXeVHtNtevLarv67zZP60O5s-3D>
.
Support World Beyond War's work by clicking here.
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h12/7CBW3QOYpmFsnSfOK5kPeI03DnkAwwFo-2BgGvszIsiWrPdQgJj6bUoBlJpcIZubsD-2F-2Bv74LC9I7E-2Bz61a1N6kHHUsTjrYKzrSlX61HUbDUk-2B5kKtzMiWpClcYF7vohCIxZvQ-2BVKuwvlCtZlNpLrUX1IeD8o2vRowJLlqGtXC7txWfIXXFWsKw5t7hzCV7eoLJqHO7NxX37Uymw4mGNtWkMp6guc26VuHXmMjNFlMElUiO4D6UPv84er-2BzIuS8omGn5JIPpp9lTJplCbctBq3fKzX-2BIUA2EzUZ0aJdYwTAttpWGYRYLvNmaWUDY6NnUHHM6VCLUr5buxe0vociAEpfiaPWeDT40U80SHwp76JtIKY-3D>
Sent via ActionNetwork.org
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h13/55uI0ZjpoLA9-2FYhqE-2F4Eitwb7nFGaBM-2BttuyqSTdMS4-3D>
. To update your email address or to stop receiving emails from World Beyond
War, please click
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/h14/WQ-2BlIwq7W2eCmkkcwbDiBfTpRTONPBIO8v6WfDIYEh-2Fu5p-2F1KMkyPsB-2BIywv0lSaXcIsqVuTA-2FtFwqZHXes4iR1RK2dGPKN-2BzZ-2BFKHr-2BbaA8gjxhqGgjPBe9blESa-2BisH6DF4rtn4Q7Tr9YOvYGKBI5e-2FG2Whtbl67SkXLsPg2WYQA6wYsre4x2lwj8FdZ7jKlLzejMK1E5sP-2FmIDMKQJp5cmIhhJGlbFuFc4KNPmdk-3D>
here.
<http://click.actionnetwork.org/mpss/o/6QA/ni0YAA/t.1z6/I098RCcaQkaC2VQdjnz9rw/o.gif>
