Seanad debates

Wednesday, 23 November 2005

6:00 pm

Photo of Labhrás Ó MurchúLabhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Teach. I have often said I am a friend and supporter of America and I have availed of American hospitality many times over the decades. Today I am deeply ashamed of America. What it is doing offends my sense of morality and I must speak from my heart. I return to the first shrieks we heard from the "shock and awe" invasion of Iraq. At that time I said it was immoral, illegal and totally unjustified because it was based on a wrong premise and was against the wishes of the United Nations. America and its few allies have damaged the credibility of the United Nations forever. In their subsequent actions, they damaged their own credibility. I have no doubt that young Americans in years to come will feel exactly like young Germans after the Holocaust. I have already seen the reaction to them. I hosted people from Canada and the US in this House in the early stages of the Iraqi invasion. They asked me the straight question of why Ireland was anti-American. I remember subsequently meeting a young couple from Clonmel who attended a funeral in Ireland. They asked me exactly the same question. I said that Ireland was not anti-American, but that enough Irish people and sections of the media were not prepared to accept what was happening, since it was an abhorrence. All that can flow from it is further inhumanity throughout the world.

We need not wait to learn about the use of chemical weapons, since I do not believe the Americans any more. It is as simple as that, and that is the saddest part. I do not accept it when they tell us that they made a mistake by saying that they were not using such weapons, nor do I accept the spin that they now put on it. They are trying to split the definition of chemical weapons. All that I know is that white phosphorous was very graphically explained today. We have all read similar reports and seen pictures of its results. The victims were not just insurgents, since we have seen the marks on children. It can burn human bodies indiscriminately. Let us all ask ourselves whether we would like our children or grandchildren to be on the receiving end of that weapon. We would not be splitting the definition if that happened, and it is happening.

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