By Roger Cole, chair PANA
In November 2002 the Peace & Neutrality Alliance sought a meeting with the Irish Anti-War Movement and the NGOPA (Non-Government Organisation Peace Alliance) to seek to jointly organise a march against coming war on Iraq on 15 February 2003 and the use of Shannon Airport in that war. The three organisations appointed Roger Cole of PANA, Richard Boyd Barrett of the IAWM and Brendan Butler of the NGOPA to do so. On the 15/2/2003 in conjunction with similar marches all over the world, well over 100,000 people took part in the march in Dublin.

We failed. The war went ahead, and millions of men women and children died and are continuing to die as a consequence. While the Chilcot Report clearly lays the blame on the British MP and then Leader of the Labour Party Tony Blair the blame must be shared by virtually the entire corporate media in the UK that also backed the war, as did the vast majority of British members of the House of Commons. Neither have the vast majority of the of the British Labour Party MP's that supported the war changed their minds as they seek to destroy Jeremy Corbyn, its current Leader and one of the few that then opposed the war.

The last time Jeremy Corbyn spoke in the Republic of Ireland, he did so a a guest of PANA at a Conference in Shannon opposing its use as a de facto US Airforce base and that campaign has been central to PANA's activites ever since 2003. Again we have failed.

Over 2.5 million US troops have used the airport on the on their way to and from their perpetual wars with the total and active support of a clear and decisive majority of the members of Dail Eireann and the Irish corporate media even though the latest REDC public opinion poll (see www.pana.ie) shows its us by US troops is opposed by a clear majority of the people. Indeed since the Iraq war, France that then opposed it has joined NATO, Merkel who has supported the war in opposition has become the dominate political leader in the European Union. More wars supported by the US/EU/NATO axis have also destroyed Syria and Libya leading to the massive refugee crisis, a crisis that played a major role in the Brexit result and the potential disintegration of the EU.

Not content with the wars that destroyed Iraq, Syrian and the Libya the US/EU/NATO axis has deliberately sough a confrontation with Russia which they are now escalating to a very dangerous extent despite the fact that the recent Pew public opinion polls show that vast majority of the people do not support the confrontation.

PANA again call for the termination of the use of Shannon Airport by US troops and Irish withdrawal from the EU Battlegroups and the EDA. If the EU/US/NATO axis is determined to seek confrontation with a nuclear armed state there is little a small country like Ireland can do, but we do not have to actively support such a policy which could have such horrific consequences that would make the Iraq war and its continuing aftermath seem like a teddy bears' picnic.