Article from the March 2006 issue of the Socialist
newspaper of the Socialist Party, Irish section of the CWI

END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

WITHDRAW THE TROOPS NOW!

By Cillian Gillespie
AT THE beginning of this month the war criminal George W. Bush paid a visit to US soldiers at Shannon airport. This gave two fingers to the majority of Irish people who have opposed his brutal war and occupation of Iraq.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Irish government allowed him to pass through the airport on two separate occasions in the one week. They have allowed over 300,000 US soldiers to pass through Shannon since 2003. This devotion has not gone unnoticed by the Bush administration. The US special envoy to Ireland Richard Hass said that the use of Shannon was crucial to operations in Iraq.

The Irish Government's slavish support for so-called ''war on terror'' has not stopped there. They have been more than happy to turn a blind eye to the CIA using Shannon as a stopover for ''rendition'' flights. Rendition is the Bush administration's disgusting euphemism for the kidnapping and torture of mainly Muslim prisoners who are brought and held without charge in detention centres like Guantanamo Bay.

Using conservative estimates, over 100,000 have died as a result of the occupation in Iraq. Unemployment now stands at 70% and living standards in Iraq generally have declined significantly in the past three years. On top of this, imperialism has helped to fuel sectarian tensions that are potentially pushing Iraq in the direction of civil war. These facts speak for themselves. Bush and Blair's war was not waged in the interests of the Iraqi people but was a war for oil and profit waged under the flimsiest of pretences.

This is a conclusion shared by the vast majority of workers and young people across the globe. But on the third anniversary of the outbreak of the war, many will wonder how this brutal occupation (and in Ireland the use of Shannon Airport by the US) can be brought to an end. In the past year, we have seen mobilisations such as the successful campaign by school students to "Bring Kunle Home" and the successful strike of Turkish and Kurdish migrant workers against GAMA Construction. These glimpses of struggle show that we are not powerless against capitalist war criminals like Bush and their servants like Bertie Ahern. If any anti-war movement is to be successful in its aims, it needs to base itself on this real power and not just on annual protests.

Socialist Youth and the Socialist Party will be using the anti war protest on 18 March to hammer home this point as we have consistently done. Once again we will be arguing the need to link opposition to this imperialist war with the capitalist profit system that has created horror without end for the people of Iraq. The fact that $1 trillion has been squandered by the Bush administration to wage this war is as good an argument as any as to why young people need to fight for a socialist future. A future not based on wars waged for the blind pursuit of profit, but one where the collective ownership and control of our planet's resources can be utilised for the benefit of all.

US TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ & SHANNON!
DEMONSTRATE 18 MARCH, 2pm, PARNELL SQUARE