Iraq and Irish neutrality

Madam, - Anyone who cares about democratic accountability and Irish foreign policy must be concerned about the Taoiseach's recent…

Madam, - Anyone who cares about democratic accountability and Irish foreign policy must be concerned about the Taoiseach's recent statement in the US.

Mr Ahern used his visit to say he would consider the possibility of sending Irish soldiers to Iraq if a UN mandate was in place. This tendency of Mr Ahern to announce foreign policy initiatives while "out foreign" - as with the pre-war hand-over of Shannon to the US military - is a matter of great concern.

He seems to feel it necessary to hand over another slice of what remains of our neutrality on each successive US visit.

The Taoiseach should remember that 100,000 Irish people marched, in Dublin alone, to oppose the US-UK war on Iraq; that the US and UK went against the expressed will of the UN in their rush to war; that there is now chaos in Iraq, with an estimated 10,000 Iraqi civilians killed since the war was declared over; and that those involved in the Iraqi resistance make little distinction between the US, the UK or indeed the UN.

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"Internationalising" the occupation would not help the Iraqi people. It would, rather, buttress and lend a veneer of legitimacy to an illegal invasion.

It would be an act of unbelievable folly if Mr Ahern were to send Irish troops into the tragic mess that is "post"-war Iraq. Unfortunately, his folly would be paid for with the lives of Irish soldiers who would find themselves embroiled in the murky aftermath of an illegal war and the military occupation of a sovereign country. - Yours, etc.,

JOE MURRAY, Co-ordinator, Afri, Phibsborough, Dublin 7.