Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Paris Terrorist Attack: Statements

 

6:10 pm

Photo of Billy TimminsBilly Timmins (Wicklow, Renua Ireland) | Oireachtas source

The Paris attacks were an outrage and should be condemned by this House without qualification. The scale, proximity and familiarity associated with the attacks make it all the more real and horrific. We can easily identify with the location and environs. The portraits of those murdered could be portraits of a family member or the person next door. For many they were a family member or the person next door. One can imagine the grief and pain they are now experiencing. This same pain was suffered by some in this country following the terrorist attack on a Tunisian beach a few short months ago. We easily forget such tragedies.

Social media meant the tragic scenes were followed in real time leading to a real sense of helplessness and inadequacy. Only those who experienced the horror can really identify with it and the resulting chaos. To witness scenes of young women hanging from balconies and bodies being dragged across narrow laneways was almost surreal.

In recent decades conflict has escalated in the Middle East as one terror organisation after another seems to mushroom while the Western world seeks to design a solution. Not long ago the Palestinian question lay at the heart of conflict. Today the problems have fragmented and grown. ISIS grew from the Sunni communities of Iraq initially fighting against American occupation. Many of their leaders are former Iraqi military who were demobilised after the fall of Saddam Hussein and have remained dormant for the past ten years. They are financed through commerce, the sale of oil and the black market being the main source of income and giving rise to more than $1 million a day.

Their grievance against the Western world is based not on a clash of civilisations but on the discrimination by the Shia Government of Iraq. While one's initial reaction is to strike back, I do not believe there is a military solution to the monster ISIS has become. Airstrikes, carpet bombing and targeted drone strikes have not and will not work. There are very few angels in the Middle East. However, diplomacy, no matter how long or laboured, is the only way forward.

During my time in the Army, I served for a period in the Middle East. Since that time extremism has grown and the terrible scenes in Paris last Friday have been a frequent occurrence.

For our part, we must push the concept of diplomacy.

On a practical level, we must protect and assist everybody in the fight against such fundamentalism. We should contribute to protect democracy and our way of life. Where stands our neutrality in the face of such threats? To whom do we turn? Have we a satisfactory moral position with respect to our concept of neutrality, where we use the UN as a comfort blanket? The UN has proven to be ineffective in such situations. In so far as we can, we must ensure that adequate resources are made available to our security forces to anticipate and counter the threat. We must respect the necessity for confidentiality in such matters and, while reassuring the public, there should not be a necessity for Government Minister or members of the security forces to establish or outline what our plans are. Suffice to say that we must plan for every eventuality. Our greatest weapon for dealing with such terrorism is intelligence and the sharing of intelligence.

It is important that we play a vital role in Europe. However, we must again ask ourselves where we stand with respect to our military. It is an issue that was the subject of much debate in this House in the early part of this century, but it has lain dormant until recent times. We must have the moral courage to protect what we believe in. It is not satisfactory to turn to the Americans and hope that they can provide protection for us on every occasion. What voice have we at the table if we are not willing to contribute to the hard work of putting our own necks on the line?

I conclude by extending sympathy to all those who have suffered loss. This tragedy should not impact in any way on our refugee policy. When one is dealing with ISIS one is dealing with an organisation that possibly has the support of millions and that is spread across territory in Iraq and Syria. It is not a simple organisation and will not be tackled by military means. It must be tackled through diplomacy. However, we must look into our hearts and decide if we are going to contribute more than soft utterances from this House.

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