The ditch is now gone. Osama bin Laden brought it down with the twin towers. That is the big difference between the current situation and the Gulf War of 1991. Many commentators, including distinguished former Members of the Oireachtas, are mistaken and have failed to recognised how deeply the events of 11 September 2001 have impacted upon the US. There is no middle ground anymore. Ireland is not France. We are economically dependent on the US and the UK, no matter how we might wish otherwise. We dare not lose the goodwill and friendship of these countries. Our primary duty is the care of our own people. We must think of the people of Shannon, Limerick, Clare and elsewhere who rely on the economic dynamo of the Shannon airport zone, which has been built since the 1960s on the back of US investment.