John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. In preparing for this debate, I undertook an exercise which has served me well on previous occasions. I rigorously examined all my previous contributions in the House on the topic of Iraq and in light of current events. That re-examination led me to an uncomfortable weekend as long-cherished assumptions about the war in Iraq were placed under the spotlight and if not found wanting were at least found to be overoptimistic, which is an understandable human failing.

Just 12 days ago, many in this country remembered the armistice of 87 years ago which ended the Great War, a war that participants believed would be over by Christmas, and would end all wars. Alas, seldom can one predict the course that conflicts will take. Helmut von Moltke once said that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but it is obvious now that the rapid defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime was not the Godsend that many people hoped it would be, myself included, but was a precursor to a bitter struggle for democracy.

My own words of 21 March 2003 resonate strongly today. I stated:

"In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, all are losers." So said Neville Chamberlain in 1938. As a former United Nations peacekeeper, I can only concur with those sentiments. War and its aftermath are never pleasant. Death, destruction and destitution are the inevitable lot of the so-called losing side. War, terrorism, genocide, mass murder and injustice are all evil. All are human acts, committed by mankind. We live in an imperfect world run by imperfect people making imperfect decisions.

I repeat these words not in a sense of vindication but rather with a sense of sadness that these things have come to pass and that ordinary Iraqi citizens have suffered and continue to suffer today. I also repeat these words and speak of the suffering of the Iraqi people because the motion put forward by Senators Norris, Henry and O'Toole, while well meaning, suggests little to ease those sufferings. Condemnations of the use of phosphorus and torture apart, it should be calling on the Government to do all that it can in support of United Nations Resolution 1637 and to remind Britain and the United States of their international obligations to help rebuild Iraq's shattered society.

Since joining the United Nations in December 1955, this country has endeavoured to uphold the ethos and support the work of that organisation. I cannot imagine this House, this Government or the Irish people turning their backs on the UN when it calls on, "the international community... to support the Iraqi people in their pursuit of peace, stability, security, democracy, and prosperity".

While we are a small country, we have a distinct voice in the world and have taken a position of leadership in areas like human rights, conflict resolution and peacekeeping. To close Shannon Airport, or indeed Irish airspace, to United States military flights would do little to help the human rights of ordinary Iraqi citizens. It would do little to resolve conflict and bring peace to that far-off land. In effect, it would be an abdication of the role we have played for the past 50 years, a role that has seen us give assistance to whomever has desired it, regardless of colour or creed.