Drug user analogy can be applied to war
Of course, Mr McDowell is not trying to say that a cocaine user actually puts a gun to the murder victim’s head and pulls the trigger but rather by supporting the drug system, in however small a way, they are as culpable as the actual gunman.
With all that in mind, perhaps the minister could apply it to his own case.
For some time now, Shannon airport has been used to transport US troops and munitions to Iraq and Afghanistan, where they resulted in thousands of civilian deaths. Most of these civilians had little or nothing to do with any of the supposed ‘terrorists’ the US administration is hunting.
Under international law, the war in Iraq is illegal, quite apart from being immoral. Morality aside, Mr McDowell is quite clear about the duty of citizens to uphold the laws of the State.
Are not elected leaders of countries signed up to the UN and the International Court of Justice equally obliged to uphold international law? Does this not especially apply to justice ministers, who, above, all should be expected to clearly understand the legal issues?
Shannon was also recently used as a stopover point in which to supply Israel with some of the weaponry used on Lebanese civilians and infrastructure. It has also been used by the CIA for so-called rendition — torture — flights, again contravening Irish law.
Following Mr McDowell’s clear example of the drug user, it is simple to see that he is as culpable as the gunman in Iraq who shoots civilians dead, as the Israeli pilot who bombs a Lebanese village.
In short, according to his own world view, by so far having done nothing to investigate these facts or stop the misuse of Shannon, Mr McDowell might as well have dropped those bombs and fired those shots himself. But who will arrest the lawmakers when they go rogue?
Nick Folley
36 Ardcarrig
Carrigaline
Co Cork
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