Shannon - a tale of two routes.

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Monday October 22, 2007 11:51 by Tim Hourigan

ethical aviation, democracy? Not with FF...

A look at the similarities and differences between two routes out of Shannon.
The Aer Lingus route SNN - LHR and the US military flights to Iraq.

So, people are suprised at the government handling of the Shannon -
Heathrow link?
Well, let's compare and contrast with another route they DO support -
Shannon- Iraq.

Shannon - Heathrow is a very popular route, which carries tourists,
and business people to Heathrow and beyond for fairly peaceful and
lawful purposes agreeable to the Irish people.
Shannon - Iraq flights move troops, weapons, the CIA and possibly the
odd torture victim, for purposes of war, illegal occupation, killing
Iraqis, and maybe a trip to Guantanamo Bay , which most Irish people
oppose.

That's a difference, but what about similarities?
The government played dumb about Aer Lingus' decision to pull out, now
it seems they knew a lot earlier than they said they did.
In defending the US military use of Shannon, the government parrotted
Bush's lies about Saddam and the Blair dossier. It later emerged that
the experts in our Dept of Foreign Affairs told them BEFORE the war,
that the dossier was NOT CREDIBLE. (1)

The government spends NO money subsidising Aer Lingus at Shannon, and
Aer Lingus were belatedly offered reduced landing charges at Shannon.

The government spends millions subsidising the US military at Shannon.
about 4 million euro in Air Traffic Control fees that the US refused
to pay, as well as an even larger figure for the extra security
including the army, Gardai, building a enclosure for the military
flights, and a hi-tech motion detection system to guard the enclosure
(2).
The fees the Pentagon pays do not cover these costs. They pay for fuel
and food and a bit of duty free. Taxpayers like myself pay for the
rest.
In fact the US military, representing 6% of passengers at Shannon,
account for 95% of security costs, and the more they use Shannon the
more it costs us.

The loss of Shannon - Heathrow would be a big blow to the Irish
economy, especially in the Mid-West.

Stopping Shannon - Iraq would reduce the likelihood of anything
blowing up in the Midwest or the Middle East, and despite the
government spin, it would NOT impact significantly on the economy.

In both cases however, the government is resolved to wash its hands,
and ignore the people who pay their salaries.

=====
(1) As reported in the (London) Independent on Sunday, Sep 14, 2003
BLAIR'S WAR: How one man deed logic and intelligence to take us to war.

relevant excerpt. =
That was the headline-grabber, the stark image that stuck in the mind
- that fearful weapons could be unleashed suddenly, without warning,
on any of Iraq's neighbours. It was spotted almost immediately by an
expert in the Irish Republic's Department of Foreign Affairs, when a
British diplomat arrived in Iveagh House with a copy of the dossier,
hoping it would secure Ireland's vital vote on the UN Security
Council. Their specialist instantly dismissed it as utterly
unbelievable, for technical and political reasons.

Politically, it was unthinkable that Saddam would allow the Iraqi
army, which he deeply mistrusted, to hold weapons that they could use
for a sudden strike against a presidential palace, he said. And
technically, it defied belief that they could store these materials
permanently in battle-ready conditions out in the heat of the Iraqi
desert. [end of excerpt]

full article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_2003091...45089

(2) Garda and Army costs at Shannon are in the region of ten million
euros per year. The weekend of the Bush visit alone cost between ten
and 15 million. Revenue from the military is about 7 million, which
is before deducting the cost of fuelling and servicing.
For a picture of the microwave motion detection system, click here...

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/68357