GAAW Bulletin June 2013

galway | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Wednesday June 12, 2013 23:30 by Galway Alliance Against War

CONTENTS
1. FROM SOLDIER TO RESISTER – JOE GLENTON – TO SPEAK IN GALWAY
2. GAAW PAIR CHARGED OVER PEACE ACTION AT SHANNON
3. IRISH BACKING FOR BRITISH NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME
4. IS THE WAR IN SYRIA OVER OR ABOUT TO BEGIN?
5. PEACE PROCESS: COLUMBIA
6. MORE WARS IN AFRICA: SUDAN & SOUTH SUDAN – A (Thomas C.) MOUNTAIN VIEW

GALWAY ALLIANCE AGAINST WAR
JUNE 2013 BULLETIN
GAAW EVENT
PUBLIC MEETING & BOOK LAUNCH
FROM SOLDIER TO RESISTER
JOE GLENTON, EX-BRITISH SOLDIER,
THURSDAY 20th JUNE @ 8pm
RICHARDSON’S EYRE SQ., GALWAY
Soldier Box: Why I Won't Return to the War on Terror
http://www.versobooks.com/books/1428-soldier-box
&
GAAW SUPPORTED EVENT IN DUBLIN
BOOK LAUNCH: Soldier Box: Why I Won't Return to the War on Terror
CONNOLLY BOOKS
EAST ESSEX ST, TEMPLE BAR, DUBLIN
SATURDAY 22nd JUNE @ 2.30pm

SPEAKERS: JOE GLENTON
ROGER COLE (PANA)
(RTD) COMMANDANT EDWARD HORGAN (Vets for Peace Ireland)
SPONSORED BY PEACE AND NEUTRALITY ALLIANCE

1.
FROM SOLDIER TO RESISTER – JOE GLENTON – TO SPEAK IN GALWAY
Joe Glenton went to jail rather than return to Afghanistan to fight in a war he did not believe in. Next Thursday evening at 8pm in Richardson’s Eyre Square, Galway, he will give his eyewitness account of the “War on Terror” on the killing fields of Afghanistan. Joe will also have words of warning for any young Irishmen, who believe there is a worthwhile career in the British armed forces, or who naively believe that going to fight in Afghanistan is some kind of thrilling adventure. Joe is now an active member of Veterans for Peace London.
2.
GAAW PAIR CHARGED OVER PEACE ACTION AT SHANNON
Margaretta D’Arcy and Niall Farrell have received court summonses from the Gardaí. They are to be charged that they “on 7th day of October 2012 at Shannon airport….did interfere with the proper use of that airport by going on the runway without permission contrary to ….the Air Navigation and Transport Act…”
Fancy that! They interfered “with the proper use” of Shannon warport. Margaretta and Niall would suggest that they went on the runway to highlight the improper use of the airport. They were participating in an international week of action against killer drones, which are probably transported freely through Shannon. And they went on the runway to mark the 11th anniversary of the Afghanistan war and the turning of Shannon’s civil airport into a military base for the USA. Another irony of the charge is that under the Air Navigation and Transport Act the Irish state has the power to search all planes. Consecutive obsequious Irish governments have refused to search US military and CIA planes unless they might upset their Washington masters.
The court case has been adjourned from its initial date in July, but when it takes place it is the intention of Ms D’Arcy not to conduct a “defence” but – what our beloved President Michael D. Higgins has called for – “a conversation” in the court concerning the US military hub at Shannon. Margaretta is expected to arrive laden with wheelbarrow loads of evidence. It will be a conversation not to be missed!
3.
IRISH BACKING FOR BRITISH NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAMME

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has produced a report stating that a new nuclear power programme in Britain will cause negligible risk to the Irish population ... this is no surprise coming from the people who did nothing to warn people about the extent of the pollution from Fukushima , but instead , considered it to be a danger to the future of nuclear power . The report , which will have little effect outside Ireland , is a flawed document designed to thwart political interference from ministers and officials opposed to nuclear development near to Irish coasts. This is important as the UK government lied over Irish claims that uranium dumped in the Irish sea would account for the leukaemias caused by Sellafield discharges , after the 'Windscale Laundry' scandal, whereby a journalist counted the headstones in a local graveyard and found an inexplicably high number of child mortalities which turned out to be a leukaemia cluster . The UK government admitted to this uranium discharge recently proving Irish concerns to have been correct. As long as nuclear power has existed it has enjoyed the protection of bodies we are told are there to protect us , such as the RPII . The new report :

1) Fails to look at weather data from actual pollution events , such as the Chernobyl cloud which crossed Britain before coming to Ireland.

2) Uses only safety assessment data from the licensees, prejudiced and only considering plant design standards based on engineering judgement. It does not consider unseen, or variable data, such as operator error and natural disasters, which account for the three major disasters since the 1950's .

3) Doesn't take into account that it is an unproved design, never before operated in the US or Europe , a cheap and dirty version of a PWR , stripped of design features to keep down costs , and given the green light by Euratom radiological standards to cause more pollution than past designs in normal operation .

However, this report will do nothing to assuage the fears of investors who have begun to see nuclear as a dodgy option. What will help the British nuclear new-build will be the acceptance of EU directives on nuclear waste disposal by the Irish government , which will open the door for nuclear waste disposal in Ireland and clear away legal objection to power station development in Britain . Watch this space for more news on this.
Wayne Jones ex WANA, FOE, SIZEWELL B OBJECTOR

4.
IS THE WAR IN SYRIA OVER OR ABOUT TO BEGIN?
The Belfast Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Mairead Maguire, described the war that has raged for some two years in Syria as a “proxy war”: a war carried out on behalf of the West and its allies in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Israel. Mairead Maguire’s report of a visit to Syria and Lebanon is essential reading. Some will try to fob it off as being naïve, but Maguire is no innocent abroad. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky is of a like mind with the Belfast peace activist. However, he warns: “The war is over unless of course the West decides to continue this war e.g. with a no fly zone. That would be an extremely dangerous option at this stage because Syria has an advanced air defense system.”
There is a danger the West, having seen its proxies defeated, will implement a no fly zone – to protect civilian life, you understand. Is that why Washington has sent F16s and Patriot Missiles to the Jordanian border with Syria? Or maybe a no fly zone could be justified because the Assad forces have used WMD, as the Foreign Minister of France’s regime has been touting. All these excuses sound so familiar – and they should, as these same lies were used to invade Iraq and Libya.
Syria is different, it has allies: Iran, Russia and of course Hezbollah. A direct intervention by the West could have global consequences.
Belfast Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire reports on a visit to Lebanon and Syria!

http://www.globalresearch.ca/report-on-syria-nobel-peac...36569
http://www.globalresearch.ca/humanitarian-crisis-in-syr...38250
5.
PEACE PROCESS: COLUMBIA
In GAAW’s May 2013 Bulletin we looked at the on-going peace process between the Turkish Government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. Despite the present upheavals in Turkey, there is no sign of any disruption to these peace developments.
This month we want to look at another “trouble spot”; Columbia where the government is in peace negotiations with the guerrilla force, the FARC - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In the summer of 2012 President Santos of Colombia publicly announced that he is seeking a peace settlement with the FARC. Over several months now the Santos regime has held peace talks with representatives of FARC in Havana.
Below we present the most recent analysis of this peace process by James Petras. It is not an optimistic one. Prof Petras questions whether the true goal of President Santos’ peace gesture is to win the peace or actually to defeat the FARC.
Washington and the Breakdown of the Colombia-Venezuela -FARC Peace Process byJames Petras : http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1941
(As many will recall Jim Petras, an expert on Latin American affairs, addressed a GAAW meeting last month. Over the past almost 5 decades he has worked in South America, having advised Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Chile’s Salvador Allende. )
6.
MORE WARS IN AFRICA: SUDAN & SOUTH SUDAN - A (Thomas C.) MOUNTAIN VIEW

Two years after the secession of South Sudan from Sudan conflict has once again broken out between these two neighbours. The clashes have led to a mass exodus of thousands of refugees terrorised at the prospect of falling victim to either of the armies or to a rebel or paramilitary group.
The focal point of this violence is along the oil rich border between these two states. Last Thursday, 6th June, the UN was reporting renewed fighting between rebel groups and the Sudanese army. Khartoum believes the support for these rebels comes from the South Sudan capital, Dschuba. This may well be the case.
On the other hand, Thomas C. Mountain, the Intrepid Reporter, (http://www.intrepidreport.com) probably sees the blame lying closer to Washington. Writing back in January 2012 he had no doubts that disruption of oil production in this politically unstable area achieved two of the USA’s goals: To disrupt the only Chinese-owned oil fields in Africa; To destabilise the Sudanese Government by the loss of the huge funds it accrues from supplying the infrastructure to transport the oil.
The more one reads Mountain’s reports the more horrific and sinister developments in Sudan and East Africa appear: http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/4535 ; http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/5776
According to Counterpunch: “Thomas C. Mountain is the only independent western journalist in the Horn of Africa, living and reporting from Eritrea since 2006.”
He certainly is independent and does not have his head turned by Hollywood celebrities: George Clooney: CIA’s “Volunteer” Spokesman for Horn of Africa
http://blackagendareport.com/content/george-clooney-cia...frica