Shannon Airport and Iran

Lies and excuses

Both the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, have seen it necessary to state that Shannon Airport is not being used by the USA in relation to the USA and Israel’s war on Iran. Perhaps this is so. But we do not actually know since the Irish state refuses to search US planes at Shannon, accepting assurances from a state which is headed by a Liar in Chief. In any case Shannon is still being used as a de facto US military base and the USA in regard to its military policies is clearly a rogue state – especially so under President Trump but under most other presidents too. Ireland has not even had the courage of Spain – a NATO member – in banning US military flights and use of bases and this says something clear about Ireland’s supposed neutrality.

The Irish state is supporting a regime which kills – murders – with impunity. This is disgraceful from any moral or ethical standpoint and obviously a negation of neutrality. And still the state makes excuses and accepts lies, and lies itself. And the USA would not use Shannon unless it was advantageous to its enormous global military empire. Transporting troops is an essential part of any military engagement and the fact of whether there is or is not military equipment being transported as well does not take from the facilitation of war by allowing troops to pass through.

Government inaction is even more bizarre given Helen McEntee’s and Micheál Martin’s restrained but implicit criticism of US policies in the Middle East. Helen McEntee even stated that she agreed with President Connolly’s assessment of recent events in the Middle east as a breach of international law. She also stated “I am deeply concerned that the US and Israel have decided to launch widespread armed conflict against Iran at this time.” Micheál Martin said that Ireland always believed that conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiation, in line with the UN Charter and international law. However it is cowardice that neither would explicitly say USA actions were illegal or take action over Shannon.

Helen McEntee has also said that the Government has “no reason to believe” the US is using Irish airspace as part of its operations linked to the war in Iran – something which they actually have no way of knowing. Micheál Martin said similar things to his Minister for Foreign Affairs but stated that false claims about Shannon would damage Shannon airport itself. This is incredible. His concern about damage to Shannon shows no concern about ‘damage’ – obliteration – to those on the receiving end of US warmaking. He did admit that it was difficult to investigate if the USA was breaking the rules – another incredible statement because if he and the government had the courage they could routinely search all planes at Shannon which might be carrying weaponry. This is aside from the fact that allowing the transmission of troops is also breaking Irish neutrality.

In relation to all of this Niamh Ní Bhriain, writing in the Irish Examiner, https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41811128.html made the powerful point that “This failure to call out blatant violations of international law, and name those responsible for them, highlights precisely why we cannot trust the Government to decide on overseas troop deployment, and underscores why we must protect the Triple Lock. If the Government can’t say that a war is illegal, how can it decide whether to deploy troops to it?”

Meanwhile Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove (15 miles from Belfast to the west) is used freely by UK and US militaries with US flights refuelling there which go directly to the Gulf, presumably with war supplies. Aldergrove is thus directly complicit in the US-Israeli onslaught on Iran and the atrocities which have taken place as part of that. As the North is part of the United Kingdom which belongs to NATO, there are no legal grounds to object beyond facilitating wars illegal under international law – but there are huge ethical and moral grounds to do so.

In relation to the USA and Israeli war on Iran (and by the latter on Lebanon) more generally it is clear that US-Iranian negotiations were on the cusp of success, or at least a good chance of it, when Trump decided to bomb Iran into hell. International observers have stated as much. Presumably Trump, emboldened by his ‘success’ (from his point of view) in Venezuela, thought a couple of days bombing would overthrow the theocratic regime in Iran; he clearly wasn’t listening to advice, including from Gulf states. He knew best, as always. But military attacks tend to strengthen the regime in a country being attacked. Another factor is presumably that the US government decided to back Israeli bombing which was going to happen anyway. The environmental costs of war are also extremely severe, an issue of no concern to Trump but another nail in the coffin of a stable climate.

Whether Donald Trump will have a TACO moment (Trump Always Chickens Out) or will continue to exacerbate the complete mess he has got the region and the world into remains to be seen. Saving face may be his primary objective at this stage. The USA projects itself as a world peacekeeper when historically it has been a warmaker. Western states need to cotton on to this and no more so than a supposedly neutral state on the western extremity of the continent of Europe. Meanwhile everyone suffers from the economic fallout of the war, and poor people and countries most of all. The repercussions of this astoundingly stupid war have only just begun, most drastically for the families of those killed and for the displaced in Lebanon and Iran.

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Food security and sovereignty

The related issues of food security and food sovereignty tend to trundle on in the background, raised and discussed by groups like Afri, Feasta and some organic growers or educators but never or seldom reaching mainstream concern, even when a war, such as the current USA-Israel onslaught on Iran, disrupts the global economy. However you do not need to be a doomsday merchant to have concern in this whole area. Food security is just that, being secure in your food supply with adequate quality and nutrition. Food sovereignty is having control of your food growing, supply and distribution and not being dependent on outside corporations or multinationals who can turn the screw on you as soon as bid you the time of day. While these are major issues in poor countries (seed sovereignty was saved in Kenya with a contribution to that made by Clare O’Grady Walshe) this is also an urgent issue for Ireland.

The world has – just – avoided nuclear war which would herald a nuclear winter and possibly the starvation of most of the people on the globe. If that particular apocalypse comes about we are pretty much all doomed. However there are all sorts of lesser scenarios where food chains are at risk. One of these is clearly regional warfare not escalating to nuclear but which nevertheless manages to cause major disruption – the Iran war is an example of the kind of thing possible. Global heating will affect many, primarily poor, countries in their food production and it is hard to know what the repercussions will be. There are all sorts of unexpected circumstances which can, and will, arise, including natural disasters which may affect our ‘bread’ basket. And given the likely food crisis arising from global heating, as crops become impossible to grow though excessive heat and insufficient moisture, it is incumbent on us to be proactive in providing more, varied, food ourselves in an ecological and sustainable way.

Ireland exports food but it is mainly meat and dairy products. We are highly dependent on food imports for much of our diet. We might be all right for a bacon and cabbage diet (and that bacon may come from intensive factory-farming) but for most of what we eat today we are dependent on international trade, and most of that on a ‘just in time’ basis – meaning there are no stocks to fall back on. It is also true that a vegan or vegetarian diet, or at least a low meat consumption one, is an important contribution to avoiding global heating. Of course it may be more efficient ecologically for some crops to be grown in warmer countries than Ireland but these are at risk in crisis situations, and the supply of local seasonal food for our diet is the most sensible option.

Encouraging citizens to grow their own food is part of an appropriate response, and the 2024 law to have local councils provide community garden and allotment spaces in the Republic is a good one (all councils are obliged to be active in working on this and Ireland lags way behind other European countries in provision). The respective governments should be seeing what they can do to encourage responsible and diverse agriculture – not the intensive animal variety which has led, for example, to the destruction of Lough Neagh (still not being sorted out). But there could also be a lot more imagination applied, for example in public planting of trees to include a substantial number of fruit trees – birds and insects will benefit from these even if we humans do not. Education in sustainable and organic horticulture is never more needed,

This is all before we even broach the topic of Ultra Processed Foods, bad for us and often bad for the environment. Exercising food sovereignty and denying the power of large multinationals to control food and thereby control people’s (ill) health and livelihoods will be an ongoing struggle.

We live in a very uncertain world. We may wish for stability but we are unlikely to find it, and global heating will disrupt a huge amount of what we have previously taken for granted. We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet in terms of (forced) migration. We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet in terms of disruption to food production and food supplies. We would be wise to plan ahead while we can so that we are in a better place to ride out the coming storms – and not, as a rich country, be taking the food that belongs on poor people’s plates elsewhere if and when food supplies dry up.