Seanad debates

Wednesday, 23 November 2005

6:00 pm

Photo of Brendan RyanBrendan Ryan (Labour)

I would appreciate if he gave the indication that the issue was serious.

Effectively, control of Iraq has been handed over to a Shi'ite militia in Shi'ite areas, to a nominal Iraqi army under the control of many of the militias fighting the insurgency and to a Kurdish army in the areas of Iraq which have a Kurdish majority. It is impossible to see the purpose served by the forces of occupation other than hiding the political embarrassment of the President of the United States. Iraq is not under the control of its own government, it is not under the control of the occupying forces and it is instead under the control of three different ethnic or sectarian groups — the Shi'ites, the Sunnis and the Kurds.

The role of the United States is to hold on to some semblance of public credibility in a position where it has no real influence. Of course there were elections and a referendum, and there will be more elections. The three sectarian groups, for reasons of their own, want them. The Shia militias and the Kurds will ensure that people can vote during a referendum while, yet again, the Sunni provinces will have a low — close to zero — turnout. This has happened repeatedly. It gives the semblance of democracy because it suits to do so. However, when I hear competent journalists say that women are being shot in Shia areas because they are not wearing appropriate dress and that there is no Western journalist able to go anywhere outside a couple of areas surrounded by American troops — when I know all that — I know we are living in an world of illusion.

I wish to refer to extraordinary rendition. Whatever I might think of the present US regime, the US is and ought to be a symbol of the best of what the world should hope for in terms of freedom and democracy. The problem with war, terrorism and the wrong response to the terrorism is that they insulate or anaesthetise us against any sense of morality. That is what this motion is concerned with and why the amendment is so unsuitable. George W. Bush could vote for the amendment without any problem. Tony Blair would vote for it enthusiastically — he might even toughen it up a bit, because he thinks everybody else is bound by a morality that he does not have to address. Tony Blair will not even say how many civilians his Government believes have been killed in Iraq since the invasion. Apparently, they do not count.

Every one of the innocent civilians killed by terrorists counts. If one wants to take the position that we are concerned about attacks on innocent civilians, then all innocent civilians count: the innocent civilians shaked and baked by high explosive and phosphorous; those left in the wake of murderous attacks such as that on Falluja; those bombed at a marketplace in Baghdad during the war, when we never heard the outcome other than through an attempt to defame one of the best and bravest journalists writing in the Western media, Robert Fisk; those killed when a wedding party was attacked; or those killed last week when understandably terrified young American soldiers opened fire on a car.

All of those innocent civilians are equally as innocent as the unfortunate people bombed on the London Underground. That is why this issue is so serious. It is not about George Bush's politics. It is about whether this country, having lived through and learned of the contaminating, corrupting nature of the belief that civilians are legitimate targets, is now walking away from a position just because our friends in Washington would be upset. That is the real debate around this issue: the fact that we do not want to upset those friends in Washington. How far do they have to go before the Irish Government will say that something is unequivocally wrong?

Some 20 years ago, when Ronald Reagan was exercising himself in Central America, Irish Governments were prepared to say that what was being done was wrong and immoral, and they took the side of the people who demanded that human rights be respected and upheld throughout Central America. Something has happened since and we have walked away from that position. There is no doubt that a Gulfstream jet which was used to transport people to be tortured, if not killed, was facilitated at Shannon Airport. The evidence for this is overwhelming and is believed by competent people in the US, Sweden and elsewhere. We know of this, yet some member of the Government said it had received repeated, high level assurances. When the New Yorker magazine was endeavouring to write a piece about extraordinary rendition, nobody in the US Administration was prepared to talk to that major US magazine. However, apparently, they are all prepared to talk to the Irish Government.

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