John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I join with those speakers who congratulated Fr. Alec Reid this morning and welcome the ceasefire announced by ETA. We also heard arguments concerning the anti-war movement and marches against the war in Iraq. I believe everyone in this House is anti-war. Perhaps it is time to have a debate on the situation in the Middle East, particularly because the US now recognises that there is a reduction in the threat of terrorism and has lowered the national threat level for the US mass transit sector. Perhaps it is time to examine the situation at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay and whether a full judicial procedure should be established. This would mean that those prisoners who should be released are released, while those who must pay for any crimes they have committed are tried within the judicial system.

I look forward to the day when US soldiers return to barracks in Iraq, having brought about the restoration of democracy. Senator Quinn referred to the liberation of Afghanistan from the Taliban. This is exactly what happened; the country was liberated. I look forward to the day when both countries have thriving democracies. I also look forward to the day when having won the war, they achieve peace and the US will have achieved in the Middle East what it achieved in Europe after the Second World War.