Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope the Tánaiste will join me in condemning outright the illegal and immoral air strikes conducted by the United States, the United Kingdom and France against Syria last weekend. I do not know who these people think they are that they can appoint themselves as judge, jury and executioner.

6 o’clock

I do not know who these people think they are, appointing themselves as judge, jury and executioner. They demand that international law is upheld by others but seem to have no problem with ignoring it themselves. The auspices given that this was to enforce the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons is a joke when we know that the system to deal with this was outlined in the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. International investigators were en routeto Syria, due to land there within hours when these so-called world powers decided to strike without any lawful basis. Can the Minister imagine what would have happened in a similar situation? We all know that the US, UK and Israel have used, for example, depleted uranium and white phosphorous. What would have happened if the Russians or Chinese decided to bomb Maryland or Porton Down in the UK without a proper, independent investigation? It is ludicrous. These are the same powers that lied about Iraq and Libya. These are very dangerous times.

We, as an independent country, should firmly stand up and argue for diplomatic solutions and an end to war, not its continuation. We do not know whether chemical weapons were used at all. If they were, it is abhorrent. Unlike others, we condemn the use of all weaponry, not just chemical weaponry. We do not know if they were used and if they were used, we do not know by whom. The people who were charged with carrying out the investigation have not got there yet. The Minister may have read today's article in the British Independentby Robert Fisk, hardly a radical, who was in Douma yesterday. He spoke to some of the doctors who were present who put forward the idea that what happened there was not a gas attack at all but hypoxia caused by bombing that was taking place, dust clouds, wind, and people being withheld from oxygen underground, causing the symptoms that were displayed. The Minister can read the article. It is incredibly illustrative. Robert Fisk is hardly a radical and is on the ground in Douma, talking to people today and yesterday, including survivors of that incident. We have to be very careful in this situation and we should be taking a lead on it. It is somewhat ironic when one considers that ISIS has used chemical weapons provided by Saudi Arabia on multiple locations in Iraq and Syria and that no action was taken. These powers could not care less that the Saudi dictator who supplied the weaponry in Yemen is slaughtering innocent women and children. No action has been taken there relating to gas or the killing of civilians. We cannot choose our battles. We have to stand up for the upholding of international law for everybody and we should make a stand on this.

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