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IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM) PRESS RELEASE: 19 JUNE 2019 Don’t Attack Iran! The Irish Anti-War Movement is totally opposed to any attack on Iran. Like Jeremy Corbyn, former UK ambassador Craig Murray and many others we do not believe that there is credible evidence that Iran attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. As Craig Murray has pointed out it is highly implausible that Iran would attack a Japanese oil tanker at the very moment the Japanese Prime Minister was sitting down to friendly, US-disapproved of, talks in Tehran on economic cooperation that can help Iran survive US sanctions. And as he also notes: “The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous was holed above the water line. That rules out a torpedo attack, which is what is claimed. The second vessel, the Front Altair, is Norwegian owned and 50% Russian crewed. It is owned by Frontline, a massive tanker leasing company that also has a specific record of being helpful to Iran in continuing to ship oil despite sanctions. It was Iran that rescued the crews and helped bring the damaged vessels under control. That Iran would target a Japanese ship and a friendly Russian crewed ship is a ludicrous allegation”. But regardless of this particular dispute it is abundantly clear that a further war in the already war-torn and devastated region would be a catastrophe for all the peoples caught up in it, including ordinary US soldiers. Iran is more than three times the size of Iraq with more than double its population. The idea that Iran could be invaded and subdued is utter madness. It would inevitably involve a prolonged war costing hundreds of thousands, probably millions of lives.
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IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM) PRESS RELEASE: 04 JUNE 2019 • PROTEST AGAINST TRUMP - THE RACIST, SEXIST WARMONGER! The Irish Anti-war Movement opposes the visit to Ireland by US President Donald Trump for many reasons but primarily because he is currently the world’s top warmonger. The IAWM is calling on all Irish people who oppose war and racism to protest vigorously during his visit here. We call on those who wish to show their disdain with Trump to join the peace camp in Shannon Airport and the protests happening elsewhere this week including at the Spire in Dublin on Thursday evening, 6 June. Donald Trump has escalated US militarism abroad, thus making the world a more dangerous place. One of his first actions after being elected was to massively increase US defence spending, money that could be used to alleviate the hardship endured by so many poor Americans. He gloated at the dropping of the ‘mother of all bombs’ on Afghanistan, which was an empty, ultra-violent gesture that caused many deaths and much environmental damage but had little impact on the Taliban. He continues to send US troops to the USA’s longest running war ever in that country. He has trampled on the democratic protections built into the American constitution. He has sought to obstruct the will of Congress to stop supporting the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and to go around them illegally to build his border wall. He oversaw one of the most ferocious military bombardments of the war in Syria – that of the almost total destruction of the city of Raqqa - thus helping to prolong the immense suffering of the Syrian people. His provocative moving of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem gave the green light to Israel for yet further suppression of the Palestinians and instigated the killing of over 60 Palestinian civilians in one day at the border in Gaza on 15 May 2018.
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UNPUBLISHED LETTER SENT TO ALL IRISH BROADSHEETS Sir, the Green Party is to be congratulated on its electoral success. However one wonders will it continue to support the use of Shannon Airport by the US Military as it did in 2007 when it joined a Fianna Fáil led Government, despite all the then Green candidates having signed the Irish Anti-War Movement’s pledge that they would not do so. This was a shocking betrayal back then which was one of the reasons that caused principled and progressive members of the Greens to leave the party. Given the horrific environmental damage, apart from the immense human suffering, that the US-led wars in the Middle East have cost it has to be hoped that the younger members of the Green Party can persuade the older leaders to stop supporting Ireland's complicity in imperial wars abroad. Yours etc. JIM ROCHE, Tel: 087 6472737
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IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT (IAWM) PRESS RELEASE: 12 APRIL 2019 JULIAN ASSANGE SHOULD NOT BE EXTRADITED TO THE USA The IAWM condemns the arrest in London yesterday of the WikiLeaks founder and whistle blower Julian Assange. Julian Assange has been effectively incarcerated in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner noted in 2016, that his “Arbitrary Detention should be brought to an end and that Mr. Assange should be afforded the right to compensation”. It is clear his incarceration took a sinister turn in late 2018 due to pressure by the US Government on the new government of Ecuador to take away his last liberties. If he is extradited to the US, he could be jailed for espionage for up to 45 years. Some US politicians have even called for him to be assassinated. His extradition, if it happens, will also weaken the right of journalists to investigate and expose war crimes. The IAWM supports the Free Julian Assange Campaign and we call on Irish politicians to support the call for his release. Jim Roche PRO of the IAWM said: “Julian Assange has greatly served the cause of anti-war activism and the struggle for world peace by releasing footage and documents exposing some of the atrocities carried out by the US military and others in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars that were illegal, immoral and that caused untold sufferings to millions of people in those countries. He stands in that great anti-war tradition of whistle blowing on the machinations of war mongering governments and a secretive, egregious military industrial complex. The Irish Government should not support his extradition to the US and should speak out for the right of journalists to investigate and expose the kind of facts that Wikileaks brought to light.” END Contact:
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