The Green Party chairman, Mr John Gormley, has condemned as "George W Bush propaganda" a letter to all TDs from the US ambassador highlighting what he says are positive effects of the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his letter, the ambassador, Mr James Kenny, says Ireland can take pride in these positive developments because "they would not have been possible without the support of friendly countries, including Ireland".
The letter goes on: "For example, Shannon Airport has enabled the transit of humanitarian supplies and aid workers, as well as peacekeepers working in many countries, so you can take pride in these accomplishments too."
Mr Gormley circulated Mr Kenny's letter to the press yesterday, calling it "an example of George W Bush spin at its worst".
Disputing the ambassador's description of the role of Shannon, he says the airport "is being used as a military stopover to assist this illegal, unjustified and counter-productive war. And in Iraq, the United States is not seen as a force of liberation, but rather as an occupying force, and casualties are mounting with each passing day."
He said the ambassador needed to realise "that most people in Ireland opposed the war in Iraq, and the use of Shannon Airport as a military stopover".
A spokesman for the ambassador - who is out of the country - last night said that an Irish Times TNS mrbi opinion poll last year appeared to contradict Mr Gormley. That poll showed that 51 per cent of voters approved of the Government decision to allow the US military use Shannon Airport, 39 per cent disapproved, and 10 per cent had no opinion.
The spokesman also rejected the claim that the letter was an example of "Bush spin". The letter "does not deny that bad things have happened, but there are positive things happening that the media is not reporting, and he wanted to bring them to their attention."
In his letter Mr Kenny is critical of what he sees as a lack of balance in the reporting of events in Iraq. "As sometimes happens in the coverage of 'hot' topics, the emphasis tends to be on the negative, while the positive is often ignored or under-reported," he says.
He attached to his letter "fact sheets" about Iraq and Afghanistan prepared by the US State Department. These detail advances in education, humanitarian assistance, the development of democratic institutions and the status of women. These developments "have taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan since the defeat of the Saddam regime and the collapse of Taliban rule", the ambassador says.
He also cites the recent election of Afghanistan's head of state, the first such election in the country's 5,000-year history. The UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, had described this as "impressive", he says.
However, in relation to Iraq, Mr Gormley said: "The country and entire region have been destabilised, and the invasion has provided terrorist groups with their best opportunity to gather more young recruits to their ranks.
Ambassador Kenny should know that the majority of Irish people oppose this war, and that no amount of George W Bush propaganda will change that view."