Fire on US Military Contracted Plane at Shannon Airport Raises Serious Questions
ShannonWatch / Monitoring Foreign Military Use of Shannon Airport
SHANNON, Ireland (August 16, 2019) — Shannonwatch are calling for an immediate review of the safety standards applied to US military and military contracted planes at Shannon Airport. A fire on an Omni Air International troop carrier brought the airport to a standstill on Thursday August 15th. This once again highlights the dangers posed by daily military traffic at a civilian airport like Shannon.
The troop carrier, which is reported to be carrying approximately 150 troops, was on its way to the Middle East. It had arrived earlier from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma USA.
“We know that it’s standard practice for the troops on these planes to have their weapons with them,” said John Lannon of Shannonwatch. “But what we don’t know, because the Irish government refuses to conduct proper inspections of US military planes at Shannon, is whether or not there were munitions on board.”
Edward Horgan of Veterans for Peace said “It appears there was a significant fire on the undercarriage of the aircraft as it was taking off, and that this required the airport fire brigade to use flame retardant foam to extinguish the fire. The flame retardant foams used at US military bases around the world have been causing very serious pollution. Are similar polluting fire-fighting foams being used at Shannon as part of the US military business?”
It was reported in July that Shannon was the first airport in the country to take delivery of new High Reach fire tenders. “Is this another example of US military dictating practice at Shannon to counteract the risk posed by their use of the airport?” asked Mr Horgan.
According to data gathered by Shannonwatch, the military contracted plane on which the fire broke out has, over the past week, been at Biggs Air Force Base in Texas, Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, as well as US Air Bases in Japan (Yokota) and South Korea (Osan). It has also travelled to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, via Kuwait. As well as being a US base, Al Udeid also houses the Qatari Air Force that has been part of the Saudi-led military offensive in Yemen. This has left millions of people facing famine since 2016.
Close to 3 million US troops have gone through Shannon Airport since 2001. Troop carriers continue to land and take off from Shannon on a daily basis.
In addition to the US troop carrier flights, aircraft operated directly by the US Air Force and Navy also land at Shannon. The Irish government has admitted that there are weapons on board the troop carriers. But they claim that the other US military aircraft are carrying no arms, ammunition or explosives and are not part of military exercises or operations.
“This is utterly incredible,” said John Lannon. “It is normal procedure for crews of US military aircraft to carry personal weapons, and since thousands of these have been refuelled at Shannon since 2001 it is inconceivable that there wasn’t a single weapon on even one of them. We therefore find it impossible to believe any “assurances” about the US military use of Shannon.”
“Given the regularity of US military aircraft at Shannon, incidents like the fire on Thursday morning are potential disaster waiting to happen.” said Edward Horgan. “Furthermore, the presence of hundreds of US military personnel presents major security risks for everyone using or working at the airport.”
The use of Shannon Airport is also in contravention of Ireland’s stated policy of neutrality.
“The use of Shannon to directly support US unjustified wars in the Middle East, including wars crimes committed by some of the US military and their allies is unjustified and unacceptable,” said Edward Horgan of Veterans for Peace.
According to an RTÉ TG4 Exit Poll after the May elections, 82% of those polled said Ireland should remain a neutral country in all aspects.
Roger Cole, Chair of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), said “The danger to Shannon Airport and the passengers posed by US military planes that carry military equipment to the perpetual wars of the US have been highlighted by Shannonwatch and PANA. PANA once more calls upon the immediate termination of the use of Shannon Airport by US troops”.
“More important than anything however, is the Irish Government should stop collaborating with the US in killing hundreds of thousands of men, women and children,” he added.
Shannonwatch reiterate their calls for an end to all US military use of Shannon Airport, in the interests of local safety and global stability.
Clare Daly is an independent socialist TD for Dublin Fingal. She’ll be at the #NoWar2019 conference and rally on October 5-6 in Limerick, Ireland, and at Shannon Airport. Learn more and join her: https://worldbeyondwar.org/nowar2019
NoWar2020 Conference at Shannon in October
Shannon Airport is the focus of an antiwar campaign demanding that the Irish government stop letting the US use the airport as a de facto military base. Campaigners say that over 3 million US troops have passed through the airport since 2003.”
World BEYOND War’s fourth annual global conference on the abolition of war will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 5th and 6th, in Limerick, Ireland, and include a rally on the 6th at Shannon Airport, where U.S. military forces routinely pass through in violation of Irish neutrality and of laws against war.
We’ll be marking the completion of the 18th year of the endless war on Afghanistan, as well as the 150th birthday of Mohandas Gandhi.
See list of 2019 speakers.
You can read about and watch videos of past conferences here: 2018 Toronto, 2017 Washington, 2016 Washington.
Location: Great National South
Court Hotel
Address: Raheen Roundabout, Raheen, Limerick,
V94 E77X, Ireland. Google map.
Timing: 9 to 6:30 Saturday October 5th, and
9 to 2:30 Sunday October 6th, followed by 3:00 to 5:00 rally and tour at
Shannon Airport.
Shannon Airport Address: M3XP+V4 Lismacleane, County Clare,
Ireland. Google map.
Registrants for the conference can get reimbursed by World BEYOND War for travel cost to get there and back, up to 50 euros. Registrants can also get a discounted rate to stay at the hotel Friday and/or Saturday evenings, and can stay additional nights at the standard rate. Or particpants can stay at our Peace Camp for free! Details on these and other options are at our rides and lodging board.
Limerick is easily accessible from Shannon Airport or by bus from Dublin Airport.
AGENDA:
Saturday October 5
9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Welcome and hear from World BEYOND War organizers from around the world: Leah Bolger, Greta Zarro, Barry Sweeney, Liz Remmerswaal Hughes, Joseph Essertier, Tim Pluta, et alia.
10:00 to 11:15 a.m. Nonviolence: The
Foundation of Peace
Mairead Maguire, Kathy Kelly, Vijay Mehta.
Moderator: Pat Elder.
11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Irish Neutrality
& the EU
Roger Cole, John Maguire, Clare Daly.
Moderator: Barry Sweeney
1:00 to 2:15 p.m. vegan lunch provided.
2:30 to 3:45 p.m. Human and Environmental
Rights: Sanctions, Wars, and Refugees.
Maya Evans, John Lannon, Foad Izadi, Pat Elder.
Moderator: Liz Remmerswaal Hughes
4:00 to 5:15 p.m. Participatory Workshops and Discussions
1) Divestment
101
Greta Zarro, Aine O Gorman.
Grassroots-led war divestment campaigns are springing up all over the world,
from students organizing to divest university endowments from weapons
manufacturers and war profiteers, to municipalities and states coming together
to divest public pension funds from the war machine. In this workshop, we’ll
talk through the steps needed to start up a divest campaign in your community.
Using examples from fossil fuel and weapons divestment campaigns, we’ll
identify effective strategies & tactics for engaging community members and
influencing decision-makers.
2) Youth
Activism and Peace in Schools
Luke Addison, Vanda Proskova.
Description coming soon.
3) Art Creation
for Sunday
Description coming soon.
4) Activism to
End the War on Afghanistan
Kathy Kelly, Maya Evans, Hakim Young
Description coming soon.
5) Closing Bases
to Protect the Environment
Pat Elder, Glenda Cimino.
Description coming soon.
6) Using Music
to Build the Movement
Laura Hassler
In this interactive, participatory workshop led by the Director of Musicians
Without Borders, and limited to 30 participants, those taking part will learn
skills to make use of music in their activism to end war. Musicians Without
Borders’ working principles are: safety, inclusion, equality, creativity, and
quality. In this ‘taster’ workshop, Laura Hassler will lead participants in
participatory exercises exemplifying these principles and introduce various
approaches within the training program.
5:30 to 6:30 Reports Back From Workshops
Moderator: Marc Eliot Stein
8:30 Film screening and discussion with the filmmaker: Palestinian Refugees in The Lebanon: No Direction Home, by Peadar King.
See list of speakers.
Sunday October 6
9:00 to 10:15 a.m. Demilitarising
Security: Closing Bases, Outlawing the Arms Trade
Mairead Maguire, Abby Martin, Dave Webb.
Moderator: David Swanson
10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Activism to Abolish
War
Mike Prysner, John Reuwer, Kristine Karch.
Moderator: Foad Izadi
12:00 to 1:15 p.m. Plans for Shannon and
Ireland Today and in the Days to Come:
Barry Sweeney, Ed Horgan, Tarak Kauff, Kenneth Mayers.
Moderator: Leah Bolger
1:15 to 2:30 p.m. vegan lunch provided.
3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Rally and tour at Shannon Airport.
Informal networking, strategizing, and open-mic Sunday evening at Peace Camp near Shannon and Monday morning.
See list of speakers.
