David Norris (Independent)

While the vote was taking place – I wonder if this escaped the attention of my friends; I would like to think they are all still my friends – General Michael Jackson was giving evidence in Derry. He is the man who was in command of the entire British army. He was giving evidence to the effect that what the British army did in Derry was perfectly reasonable, that it was perfectly well justified. I am not at all surprised that he takes the same view about what is going on in Iraq. I doubt if that recommends itself to my good independent-minded colleagues in Fianna Fáil.

We should also support what Senator Ryan said, especially in the light of the call by the International Federation of Journalists for a full independent inquiry into the apparently deliberate assassination of European journalists and those from Al-Jazeera, which was targeted not just in this war but also in the previous one. It has been said that we should look at the success of Afghanistan. Let us listen to what happened; today or yesterday, 11 civilians were killed in a bombing by the Americans because the only bit—