Launch of "Remembering Gallipoli, President McAleese’s Great War Crusade” By Dr. Pat Walsh

by Ataturk Fri Mar 12, 2010 21:07

See also:
Ireland's Great War on Turkey
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94348

by Zebulon Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:04

Where is this event taking place?

by Angry Sat Mar 13, 2010 13:44

Getting rid of Bunreacht na hEireann (the Republic of Ireland's written Constitution) by treasonously signing her name to a pile of unconstitutional legislation (illegal law in other words) during the lengthy period she's been in office appears to be another of President Mary McAleese's ploys to facilitate this ambition (i.e. "to reconcile Protestant Ulster to Catholic Ireland").

For an example of some of the results -- in her capacity as "Guardian" of our Constitution -- of her unbelievably stupid and completely irresponsible handiwork relating to this matter of she signing her name to unconstitutional legislation, and thereby creating bogus "law" for our judges to criminalise and imprison law-abiding people with, like Pat O'Donnell for example (now in jail), please see at: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83306#comment200358

It might be a lot more sensible (and by contrast completely lawful) if President Mary McAleese was to help and encourage "Protestant Ulster" to produce a written constitution of it's own, instead of very seriously undermining and half-destroying ours: to an extent whereby we might now never be able to recover our status as a sovereign nation state, which is completely separate, and totally independent from, the United Kingdom?

Sometimes I think that's what President Mary McAleese and her supporters are really after, in the longer term (and to do by sly and unlawful means which nevertheless appear "lawful" to many): i.e. to -- in effect -- make the Republic of Ireland part of the United Kingdom again?

by Jack Lane Sat Mar 13, 2010 15:03

Venue is the Teachers Club, Parnell Square.

by Zebulon Thu Mar 25, 2010 09:12

This issue of McAleese and Gallipoli is mentioned in today's Irish Examiner's letters page:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/letters/

by Ciaron O'Reilly Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:57 Brisbane, Australia

"McAleese's visit to Gallipoli wins praise from Australia" is the headline of the Irish Echo ("Australia's Irish Newspaper").

It reports that the Irish Prez is busy laying foundation stones from Kerry to Turkey to to celebrate the irish contribution to the body count in the British invasion of Turkey.

I live on the back of Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane where young men women raised on the Gallipoli myth are presently being dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over the past decade and half, ANZAC(Gallipoli/April 25th) Day has been seriously hyped up first by conservtive governments and now embraced by the present Labor Government. It is instructive that it was largely the Australian Catholic church that defeated the WW1 Australian government twice in referendums over the issue of conscription dring for WW1. Motivated more by Irish nationalism than Christian pacifism, these historic victories/defeats are not taught in Australian Catholic schools in the lead up to the Gallipoli April 25th anniversary.

Gallipoli is celebrated in Australia to rouse the next generation of cannon fodder for whatever empire we happen to be running with.
To celebrate the bloodbath of Gallipoli runs with the Irish Prez selling out Irish neutrality, creating a U.S. base at Shannon and servicing the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

An interjection a friend made at the re-opening of the U.S. consul in Brisbane during the Reagan years seems to equally apply to Ireland as Australia.
The U.S. consul declared "Australia has always had a special relationship with the America".
My friend yelled just before being dragged of by the cops.....
"Yeah, faking orgasm while being raped!" Seems to sum it up for the position of the present crop of Irish politicians as it does for the Australians.

by Aussie Thu Mar 25, 2010 16:31

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

by kevin murphy Sat Mar 27, 2010 16:01

Its a national disgrace this woman is glorifying Winston Churchills act of imperialist aggression against Turkey . Sounds like shes bucking for a damehood or MBE after she leaves the Aras . As regards the comment from a poster above querying whether or not theres an agenda to bring the 26 counties closer into the fold of the UK and its past empire I think its a fair one to make . Theres no doubt theres a well funded and organised campaign to promote similar British militarist edifices and the message that goes with it accross the country . That British monstrosity in Mayo being a prime example , again of course marketed under the banner of " peace" , meaning you darent criticise it or be denounced by by the southern media and their rabble rousers as being a warmonger whos stuck in the past . A major irony bypass being quite evident .
Hopefully a turkish socialist will give this imperialist Gallipoli monument the Nelsons column treatment . As an irish citizen id fully applaud that .

by Aussie Sat Mar 27, 2010 17:19

Most Irish guys went there out of a sense of adventure.
They had a swashbukling image of warfare akin to the Napoleonic wars.
They never reckoned with modern technology.

A single nest of machine guns will kill everybody, no matter how brave, who tries to run at it.

A nest of 4 working machine guns,spitting hundreds of bullets per minute, would effortlessly cut down an attack by the entire armies of Caesar and Napoleon combined.

The generals were the fools to ask riflemen with baynots attached to attack machine gun posts.
The English say: "Lions being led by Donkeys".

I would honour the poor unfortunates who were ordered to attack machine guns.
If they refused they would be shot for cowardise.

Most of them hadn't even reached their 20th birthday.
.

by A Freeman Sat Mar 27, 2010 17:34

It seems to me that Mrs. McAleese is behaving in a completely proper and respectful fashion in honouring the thousands of Irishmen who lost their lives in what was a disastrous military operation (they didn't draw up the plans!), they deserve recognition for their sacrifice and suffering. Turkey itself honours the war dead of BOTH sides each year and has done since the foundation of the Turkish republic in 1923.

As for the usual bleating about imperialism lets not forget that Turkey itself was the main part of the Ottoman EMPIRE and had entered the war of its own volition (with German encouragement) in Nov. 1914 in the hope of securing its position in the Middle East and perhaps regaining some of its lost empire in N.Africa and the Balkans. As for the calls of one idiot on this thread for some 'Turkish socialist ' to blow up the monument - what a callous and cretinous thing to say! I'd imagine leftists in Turkey have more pressing issues such as workers rights and the rise of political Islam to contend with!

by We the People Sat Mar 27, 2010 18:50

Don't be too surprised about Mc Aleese , after all she is a sworn member of the Bar legal system of London although gives the imperial impression she is the protector of the Irish Constitution.

She could find the time to travel to 'celebrate ' the above invasion Ceremony but not find the time to attend Ireland's Day of Independence Celebration in the Mansion House for an Hour , the event of which was filmed for all to see and witness.

See link below.

by Shakespeare. Sat Mar 27, 2010 18:58

The First World War was started in Sarajevo.
On 28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was murdered in Serbia.
Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia in reply.
Russia attacked Austria-Hungary.
This dragged in Germany in defence of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.

There was skulduggery on all sides.
(The British claim “Defence of Small Nations” is laughable.)

Due to the “Triple Entente” France and England became embroiled on Russia’s side.
Nice poster here from 1914 showing Russia and France and Britain united against the German and Austro-Hungarian foe:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Trip...e.jpg

More and more countries became embroiled.
The real losers were the foot-soldiers.

The goings on in the Balkans in 1914 are eerily being re-enacted today in ex-Yugoslavia.
This map from 1910 shows the recipe for the Balkans Bedlam which caused World War 1:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Austria_Hungary_ethni...c.svg

(Some say that if the victorious French and British and Russians had not humiliated and even further impoverished the defeated Germans after WW1 (by “reparations”) the Nazis may never have come to power.)

All the killing achieved nothing at all.

by V for vendetta Mon Mar 29, 2010 07:00

Makem and clancy sing "The band played waltzing matilda"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDit0DyItsM&feature=related

Peter weirs film "Gallipoli" was on RTE tonight. Sums up the absurd waste of young life. (beautifully sad music by albinoni and giazotto)

Mcaleese is and always was a business/ fianna fail shill, a sycophantic forelock tugger to empire and was installed as a safe political antidote to Mary Robinson when fianna fail realised the dangers of a clever well educated and principled president