Ahern holds dagger to heart of UN

WITH war in Iraq only days away, the signal from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern that America will be able to use Shannon Airport even if it fails to secure UN backing is bound to cause anger and confusion among the Irish people.

It is disingenuous of Mr Ahern to claim the airport has nothing to do with the war effort.

Clearly, the growing number of flights re-fuelling there demonstrates its importance as a lynchpin in the military build up.

Whatever justification there may be for allowing troops to pass through the airport in peacetime, doubtless the majority of people would strongly disapprove of its on-going use if bombs were raining down on

innocent Iraqi citizens in the name of ridding them of the tyrant Saddam Hussein.

There is a basic contradiction in the Taoiseach’s logic. Mr Ahern argues that failure to reach UN agreement on war could mean Ireland would not officially support a US-led military campaign.

But in the same breath, he implies that America’s use of Shannon would continue in the absence of a UN mandate.

To quote Mr Ahern’s words, it is “important for people to understand that we would be the only country withdrawing something [use of the airport].

“Nobody else is doing that, not Germany, not France not anyone else.”

Mindful of US investment in this country, and fearful of offending the bellicose Bush regime, if the Taoiseach had things his way, the war planes would go on landing at Shannon whether or not hostilities were sanctioned by the UN.

In an almost back-handed reference to the Oireachtas, he insists the Shannon question would be put to a Dáil vote. But, in a telling omission, he leaves the deadline unclear.

With the Dáil in recess until March 25, everything suggests war in the Middle East will be well underway long before this vote takes place.

If Mr Ahern decides to call an emergency session of the Dáil, he will do so in the certain knowledge that the Government will win the day regardless of whether war is sanctioned by the UN.

The major flaw in the Government’s tight-rope act, is that Ireland will now be perceived as lending support to a unilateral declaration of war by America even though that means undermining the primacy of the United Nations.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the scenario now unfolding is the threat of irreparable damage being inflicted upon the UN.

Its role as peacekeeper will be so devalued that its word will count for little in future disputes between

nations.

Any country that wants to go to war can cite the US precedent as justification.

Meanwhile, as military preparations continue apace, US President George W Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria

Aznar meet in the Azores tomorrow under the long shadow of a veto by France, Russia and China.

In their lust for global domination, the warmongers of the Bush regime care not a whit for the United

Nations.

Redolent of a bully-boy, they spurn the pursuit of peace by other nations and see their reluctance to go to war to disarm Iraq as a sign they are against America.

Giving US planes the green light for use of Shannon in a go-it-alone war will be seen as a sure sign of

Ireland’s willingness to hold the dagger now being thrust into the very heart of the UN.