US aircraft cargo puts Irish at risk

WHEN questioned on the RTÉ Joe Duffy programme last Tuesday (April 1), a spokesperson for Murray Air left us with the worrying doubt that one of its aircraft which experienced difficulties over the towns of Asketon and Shannon might have been carrying explosives.

Even more worryingly, the spokesperson could not assure us that there was no depleted uranium (DU) munitions on board.

British and US forces fired about 320 tonnes of DU munitions in the first Gulf war and may have used up to six times that amount during the Iraqi invasion in 2003. Meanwhile, the British Medical Journal has noted that reports from southern Iraq have documented a steep rise in the incidence of cancers since the 1990s, especially in children. It would be naive to think these are not linked.