Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Since 2001 we have facilitated the transport through Shannon of more than 2.5 million US and NATO troops and their munitions and supplies, primarily to engage in illegal wars based on fabricated evidence which wreaked havoc on societies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hardly a day goes by in which we do not read about deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. We were told these countries were being invaded in order to bring democracy and nation building to them but the bombs dropped on Kabul, Baghdad and Tripoli did not build much. They did not replace what they destroyed and they did not replace the people they killed. Sadly, we have played a part in bringing this about. Margaretta D'Arcy has been put in jail at the age of 79 years for highlighting that war is senseless and stupid. Wars allow a small elite to make a crazy amount of money. The permanent members of the UN Security Council have engaged in a colonial carve-up in order to exploit the planet. This woman is a hero. She has done what this State has lacked the courage to do and undertook great risk to highlight the shameful nature of our efforts to facilitate this destruction and murder. She should be honoured rather than thrown in prison.

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