A Chara, - In reply to Alan Eager (June 20th), as a pacifist he should consider the history of the warship JFK. In 1989 it shot down two Libyan jets in disputable circumstances, and was commander in chief of the Red Sea Battle Force and Desert Storm assaults against Iraq in 1991. These assaults were concentrated on Baghdad suburbs where the majority of casualties were civilian. In 1993, 21 civilians died when the JFK launched an attack on a hotel in Baghdad.
Most interventions by the US military, in regional conflicts are purely to defend its own interests in the region. These interventions usually exacerbate the problem. In the case of the Gulf it was a war about oil resources and not about international law or the sovereignty of Kuwait. The problem could have been resolved without the amount of death and destruction which followed.
It must be remembered that the US regularly uses its warships in total defiance of international law. Ten years ago, they were used to mine Nicaragua's ports. This devastated the Nicaraguan economy and resulted in ships from nations not involved in that conflict, being damaged. Nicaragua took its case to the World Court in the Hague and won. The US ignored the verdict.
In conclusion, I reiterate our opposition to the visit of the JFK and to any attempts made to glamorise the ideology which it embodies. - Is mise,
Coalition Against
Warship Visit c/o 10 Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.