IRELAND: US Airforce Uses Major Sports Event For War Proganda

Photo: 2 F 16s flying over peaceful Dublin on a quiet Saturday afternoon, source

It is a Saturday afternoon in supposedly neutral Ireland. A quiet Saturday afternoon in Dublin.

In Croke Park, the national stadium of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association / Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) which is Ireland’s largest sporting organisation and is celebrated as one of the great amateur sporting associations in the world today a match is played. Penn State  v/s UCF.

Then - out of the blue - two  F16 fighter jets of the US Airforce thunder overhead. The following is taken from a press release by the activist and peace group AFRI (you can read the complete statement here):

“Many people in the surrounding areas were shocked and frightened when the silence of a quiet Saturday afternoon was shattered by the thunder of 2 F16 fighter jets which, without warning or explanation, flew overhead in a “lap of honour” for the participating teams.What would it be like if, as in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, they were firing the missiles which are their stock in trade? ”

Who gave consent for this invasion of Irish air space by elements of the U.S. war machine”? Is it appropriate that the Headquarters of Ireland’s National Games, built over many years by the pence and shillings, cents and euros, of loyal supporters should be used as a backdrop for U.S. war propaganda?

If official permission was given, Afri condemns the authorities in Croke Park and the Irish Government for their collusion with this disgraceful display. As with Shannon Airport, this shows a typically supine attitude by the Irish Government to U.S. power. Is there no limit to our willingness to prostrate ourselves before the alter of U.S. militarism?  Sport should be a means of bringing people together and promoting peace, not a vehicle for promoting war and militarism”

The Irish government has a long history colluding with the US Military contrary to the Irish Constitution. Shannon airport has been (and still is) used by the US Military as well as by the CIA. Thousands of troops have passed through it as well as those poor souls on so called 'rendition flights'. The Irish government was criticised by Amnesty International as well as the EU because of it. Now it has allowed these fighter jets into its airspace. The government does not represent the Irish people. The great majority values the neutrality of the country. The peace activists in Ireland are planning a mass demonstration against the continuous use of Shannon airport by the US Military on the 12th of October.