Shane Ross (Independent)

I share many of the views Senator Quinn expressed. This is not so much about Iraq but about America. Everybody in this House and virtually in the world believes the same thing about Iraq, that is, that it has an evil regime. How that regime is toppled is obviously a matter of fierce debate. To Members of this House, it is a matter of our relationship with America. In the battle between Boston and Berlin, I would be unapologetically on the side of Boston. We should be grateful to the United States, on which we are economically dependent. More than any other country, the United States is responsible for the economic boom here. That is a seriously difficult position from which to start if one wants to take a neutral position in what is probably about to become a war.

As a nation, Ireland is, therefore, handicapped. As a demonstration of that, I would like to point out something about our attitude to Iraq. I remember that I and many others in this House pointed out what was happening to the Kurds in Iraq on many occasions. To be honest, and this applies to all parties, nobody was terribly interested at the time when these people were being slaughtered. Nobody was particularly interested in sanctions against Iraq at that stage, but we were perfectly happy, as part of our foreign policy, to impose sanctions against South Africa. We were utterly inconsistent in that regard. I find some of the sanctimonious comments being made now somewhat difficult to take.

The main problem with this war is that innocent Iraqi people will be killed. These people have no political voice and they have no part in and do not support this war. I will not come down on one side or the other, but we must ask whether it is worthwhile toppling an evil regime the resultant cost is measured in the deaths of Iraqi women, children and babies. That is a terrible choice to make. What is America doing in pursuing this war? Is it concerned with its political or economic interests or is it really the moral policeman of the world?

I wish to refer to Shannon Airport. The Government must take an agonising decision in that regard. People from all parties feel the same about humanitarian reasons for not supporting the Americans in any way. They do not want to be part of a war of any sort because of the consequences. However, imagine the consequences for Ireland – I would go further than Senator Quinn in this regard – if we were to tell the Americans they were unwelcome at Shannon. Why have we not done that? We would like to be able to tell them to fly to Frankfurt everyday and to forget about Shannon for the moment. The Americans are making a political point by landing there because they do not have to do so. They could land in London, Frankfurt or in other places. They are making the point that Ireland is not totally neutral in this war, and we are certainly not neutral in economic terms.