Sample Letter To Send To Your TDs
Here's a sample letter you might send to your TDs if they voted not
to suspend the use of Shannon in the recent Dail debate (if you're
not sure, the list of who voted and how is available here
http://www.indymedia.ie/cgi-bin/newswire.cgi?id=28244&start=220 ) .
Feel free to copy or use this letter as a template. It may not do
much good but it's one way to keep the pressure up.
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you, as a constituent, to take issue with this
Government's stance over the impending US-led war in Iraq, and the
continued use of Shannon Airport by the US military for the build-up
of that war.
By voting to allow the US military to continue using Shannon this
government has shown little regard for the opinion of the majority of
the Irish public as shown in Saturday's poll in the Irish Times and
by the extraordinary 100,000 people march in Dublin. You were elected
to represent the views of the Irish people, not the President of the
United States. We want no part in what amounts to a pre-emptive
military strike against International Law and the UN Charter.
Some of us think that economic concerns are not the be all and end
all, certainly not when what is good for our business is extremely
bad for a civilian population elsewhere in the world. A leaked
internal UN draft document entitled "Likely Humanitarian Scenarios"
dated 10th December 2002 (available at
www.casi.org.uk/info/undocs/war021210.html and widely reported in the
mainstream media) predicts "as many as 500,000 people could require
treatment to a greater or lesser degree as a result of direct or
indirect injuries", based upon World Health Organisation estimates of
100,000 direct and 400,000 indirect casualties".
It also warns "The outbreak of disease in epidemic if not pandemic
proportions is very likely" and that "It is estimated that the
nutritional status of some 3.03m people countrywide will be dire and
that they will require therapeutic feeding (according to UNICEF
estimates). This consists of 2.03m severely and moderately
malnourished children under 5 and one million pregnant women" - Aid
agencies will need to provide "food and necessities for some 5.4
million people"
This is the real human cost of war, and this is what we are buying
into by allowing the US military traffic pass through Shannon
Airport. Yes, of course I am aware of Saddam Husseins' dreadful human
rights record and of the effects of twelve years of pointless UN
sanctions. I am also aware of the terrible cost that the tons of
Depleted Uranium munitions fired by the US in the last Gulf War have
had, both on civilians and on the troops that served there, and that
any new conflict will bring a continued legacy of cancers, leukaemia
and birth defects for generations to come. The Uranium from
these "dirty bombs" will remain toxic for 4.5 billion years.
Whatever motivations truly lie behind the headlong US push for war,
second UN resolution or not, it comes down to this :-
Do you consider these truly terrible consequences to be an acceptable
price to pay for disarming/ousting Saddam Hussein, and do the Irish
people want to be a part of it?
I, for one, do not and it seems I am not alone. This Government's
attempts to reduce the debate of these serious human issues to the
level of economic concerns over US investment etc. is, in my opinion,
offensive, selfish, and morally indefensible.
The potential imminent threat of Saddam Hussein to the West has not
been proven, CIA Director George Tenet has previously stated as much.
Colin Powell's attempts at "proving" a terrorist link between Al-
Quaeda and Iraq were less than convincing. This is not part of a
fight against terrorism and as such hiding behind the UN resolution
passed on Sept 12th 2001 as justification for our assistance to the
US war-effort is disingenuous at best.
The protests at Shannon exposed this Government's complicity in the
build-up to war despite it's obvious desire for everyone to turn a
blind eye, and forced the issue into the spotlight. If it wasn't for
the protests and the peace camp, would we have been told that weapons
are being transported through the airport, or of the scale of troop
movements?
I think not.
We still have no idea what is being transported on US cargo planes
headed for Kuwait etc.
Do you?
Peace protests will continue to highlight the situation here, as they
will in many other nations around the world. The 100,000 people who
marched in Dublin and the millions of people who showed their
opposition to this war globally, made it clear that there are many,
many people who place human lives above financial profit.
Your current position is quite apparent. However, I implore you to
reconsider and to acknowledge the very clear sentiment of the
majority of the Irish electorate.
I hope you will find the moral courage to vote in the Dail against
the continued US military use of Shannon Airport, and to put the
lives of the innocent before economic expediency.
Yours sincerely,
Created By: frank black