Hard Truths in Seanad Via Sweden Via Indymedia Ireland

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Wednesday December 01, 2004 19:36 by as do many other extraordinary rendees

David Norris Kicking up a Righteous Stink

questions questions questions and very very very few Answers

******Readers Please note the interjection from one of Ireland's leading hawks - Terry Leyden. A man who had the audacity to rationalise the Vote which took place on day X in Dail Eireann to allow Ireland to become involved in an illegal war by stating that he had a nephew in the US Military who was deployed to Iraq. This story stinks to high heaven and the Government is playing see no evil hear no evil with it. It is a shame that Primetime or some other mainstream journalists with time and resources do not pursue this story for all it is worth. Basically all of the information that has made it to the media in this country so far on this issue has come from Sweden via the dogged planespotters at Shannon and their use of indymedia as a conduit for any information they have gleaned.

David Norris (and any other TD's or Senators or Journalists in a position to pursue this matter should ask some harder questions of Michael Mc Do Well and Willie 'Doktor' O'Dea. One might be - 'Is there a permanent Central Intelligence Agency presence at Shannon Airport?' - another might be 'Can I get a list of all of the dates on which this plane transited through Shannon?'.*******




The transcript Referred to by Senator Norris in the Seanad excerpt below is here: http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=67678


1 December 2004 - Order of Business:


Mr. Norris: As the Leader and you, a Chathaoirligh, have been so helpful, I would like to ask the Leader if she would again raise the question of the Gulfstream jet in the light of the "Kalla Fakta" television programme broadcast by a Swedish television station on 22 November, which demonstrated that since October 2001, the aeroplane completed 72 operations in over 30 countries. The aeroplane's routes always take the same pattern. After take-off from its home base in Smithfield, North Carolina, it makes a short stop at Dulles Airport in Washington, close to the CIA headquarters. After crossing the Atlantic it makes stops in places-----

An Cathaoirleach: I have been very generous in allowing the Senator to raise this matter every morning.

Mr. Norris: While that is true, if I could just complete this paragraph, it would assist the Leader in raising this question with the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Leyden: Put him out.

Mr. Norris: Shannon is listed first then Frankfurt and Prague. Thereafter, it flies exclusively to countries with which the United States is allied in its so-called war against terror, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. These are countries where prisoners are kept and interrogated, far beyond the reach of American or international law

An Cathaoirleach: Senator Norris-----

Mr. Norris: These patterns are consistent and are repeated. This is all this aeroplane does.

An Cathaoirleach: I ask the Senator to resume his sea

Mr. Norris: What I have said comes from a direct translation of a summary of a Swedish television programme broadcast last week. I ask the Leader to raise this matter with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Transport.

Mr. Norris: All Members of the House will take the matter I wish to raise seriously. I have asked the Leader on numerous occasions in recent months to provide information about a Gulfstream jet that has been landing at Shannon Airport and last week she kindly furnished me with the information she had succeeded in getting. I read it carefully; it consists of a report from The Sunday Business Post and answers to parliamentary questions in the other House.


These are all matters of public record, but they raise serious questions and do not answer the questions I have been asking. It is clear that the Minister was aware of reports that the aeroplane, N379P, had been involved in extraordinary rendition, namely, kidnapping citizens of other countries and taking them to third locations for torture. He also confirmed he was aware of these reports, and now of course we know that this is the subject of international legal action by one of the victims involved and of a protest by the Swedish Government. He confirmed that the aeroplane had landed 13 times up until the end of 2003. The American authorities have never notified the Minister for Transport or the Department of Transport of these landings. The aircraft got a new registration this year, N8068V, and has used Shannon three times already in 2004.


I would like the Leader to ascertain the reason for this change. It obviously succeeded in one respect - it misled the Minister. He stated on 19 October that the aeroplane had not used Shannon at all in 2004-----

An Cathaoirleach: We cannot debate-----

Mr. Norris: -----but by 24 November he had to acknowledge three landings under the new call sign.

An Cathaoirleach: The Senator cannot debate-----

Mr. Norris: I am not debating. I am asking a question and I want the Leader to get answers to this issue. The Government has repeatedly made a weak case to the effect that it had no information concerning the aircraft being used for these illicit purposes. Eventually it said that the embassy had been told by the United States authorities that it was not used and would not be used in future. Will the Leader ask, in addition to the question I have already put, that we be told what personnel, at what level, gave the embassy these assurances? As a secret covert operation, it is covered by the plausible deniability doctrine, which is part of United States policy. Unless these questions are answered, we could be in a situation whereby a civilian kidnapped somewhere such as JFK, where one of these kidnaps occurred, could, strapped into an aircraft, land on Irish soil on the way to be tortured at some other destination. No Member of this House can regard this with other than the utmost seriousness. It will only be stopped if these questions are asked, or if the Garda Síochána uses its power to board that aircraft every single time it lands at Shannon Airport.