James Bannon (Fine Gael)

Clearly Saddam Hussein is a dangerous leader. He is a military dictator in charge of a large country and he wants to have weapons of mass destruction, although no evidence has been shown to date that he possesses them. Two weeks ago, President Bush stated that the US and Britain would have a quick military success and that Iraq would be liberated. However, the war has gone on for a fortnight and there is no end in sight. What is happening in Iraq at present is very sad. As stated previously, all wars are bad and they bring much death and destruction wherever they take place. The inevitable loss of life of men, women and children is the saddest result of any war.

Leaders from all over Europe, and particularly from neutral countries such as Ireland, need to display their leadership by speaking out courageously against this war. Any days of war are evil days and this is something we have recognised in the past. History has written about the evil days of war and it is no different today from what we learnt in our history classes at school. The majority of Irish people are opposed to this war and we have a duty towards those we represent to try to bring some realisation of what is happening.

We should be outraged at the level of military expenditure by the US and Britain at a time when famine is rampant in Africa and other parts of the world. If we are true friends of the American people, we must tell them of our concern that war achieves nothing but misery. There are many other ways of getting rid of a dictator. Ultimately, people power is what counts. If people rise up and they have the confidence and the support of all right-minded nations, they will eventually get rid of a dictator.

I have visited America on two occasions since Christmas. In general, its citizens are kind and generous but they are being conned by President Bush. Last night I spoke to friends in New York who are seeing a different side of the war in Iraq to that which we are seeing here. It is regrettable that people in the American media, who no doubt care about standards in the profession, are simply being used to deliver false information to the world. This was particularly evident when I spoke to my friends in America. It is being done through a system of censorship that applies to most journalists working in Iraq at present.

We hear about the so-called embedded journalists but they are referred to more on US television networks such as Fox News where they are most prevalent. These journalists come from all the major television and radio stations and newspapers and are officially part of the American and British war units in Iraq. They travel into action with the military and what they report is strictly controlled by the military, which means that the information the public gets from such reporters is largely propaganda. This is the annoying thing about the modern media, but thankfully there are also many good independent journalists working in Iraq, some of whom are from Ireland. I compliment them on a good job – they publish the truth, which is paramount in this situation. I am glad we have people who stand up to the mouthpieces of Bush in this State and other EU countries.