Anger as Rumsfeld talks to US troops at Shannon

US DEFENCE Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave a pep talk to American troops at Shannon Airport yesterday causing anti-war activists to criticise the Government's role in the ongoing occupation of Iraq.

While his jet was being refuelled on its journey to the Mideast, the US war hawk gave a motivational talk to troops who were en route to Iraq.

Mr Rumsfeld, President George W Bush's right-hand man in the Oval Office, had sought and was granted permission to carry out routine refuelling at Shannon Airport, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Mr Rumsfeld, under intense security, having completed his impromptu talk to the troops continued on his flight to the Mideast and Asia, where he will visit American army bases and meet with political leaders during the week. Irish Anti-war Movement chairman Richard Boyd Barrett said he was appalled by the Government's ongoing collusion with the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.