"The fact that the US establishment played a role in the Northern Ireland peace process does not give them licence to make war everywhere else. The recent decision by Obama to supply arms to the Syrian opposition will fuel the destabilisation of the region and will result in the loss of life of thousands of people. It is somewhat ironic that the UN report on refugees was published on the same day. The report revealed a 20-year high in the number of refugees globally. Every four seconds a person is displaced. This takes place in the main hotspots where US imperialism has intervened either directly or in directly. The role of American imperialism in the Middle East has been devastating. There has been a 200% increase in the use of drones under the Obama administration, which have killed thousands of people including hundreds of children. And yet we are expected to stand, and applaud, when he makes a speech in Ireland about peace. Obama’s record on Guantanamo again reflects his hypocrisy of making speeches about peace. Ten years on, Guantanamo still operates a policy of internment without trial or recourse to detainees’ legal or human rights. Is this not what we saw once upon a time in Northern Ireland? Perhaps if the media had bothered to place Obama’s speech within the context of his drone and Guantanamo policies, my statements would not seem so outrageous. The Taoiseach and sections of the media may want to continue to pull the wool over people’s eyes when it comes to the Obamas, but in reality, Obama is no friend of peace or the Irish people. When Ireland, in talks with the troika in 2010, attempted to repudiate some of the illegitimate banking debt, it was Obama who instructed Timothy Geithner to derail any deal to burn the bondholders and insisted they should be repaid in full. That intervention, by the United States, meant that the entire cost of the bank bailout was loaded on to the Irish people. Thank you Mr President."
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 00:54:32 +0000
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