From 2006 to 2023 - Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine Anti-War Protest
First published Oct 9 2023
The photo below was taken on the 12th of August, 2006 at an anti-war protest in Cork. At the time, the Iraq war was raging on having begun in 2003. A withdrawal of US combat troops in Iraq wouldn't complete until 2011.
Iraq War
Documented civilian deaths in Iraq peaked in 2006 at 29,526. It's very difficult to get accurate figures on the total death count of civilians for the entirety of the war. Several estimates based on randomly selected household surveys put the total death count among Iraqis in the hundreds of thousands, estimated numbers are likely under the real death toll. More than 7 million people from Iraq and Syria are currently refugees, and nearly 8 million people are internally displaced in the two countries. Cost of war
The United States based most of its rationale for the invasion on claims that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and posed a threat to the United States and its allies. ... No stockpiles of WMDs or active WMD program were ever found in Iraq. Wikipedia
Government of Ireland 2006: Fianna Fáil, Progressive Democrats.
Minister for Foreign Affairs 2006: Mr. Dermot Ahern.
Below follows a transcript of a Dail debate dated 23/11/2006 where the issue of US military being allowed to use Shannon airport during the Iraq war arose.
Mr. D. Ahern: .... Deputy Rabbitte of the Labour Party said at a recent conference that he did not envisage troops not using the airport, although this was contrary to a remark made by Deputy Broughan.
Mr. Gormley: This is a Green Party question.
Mr. D. Ahern: We know where the Green Party stands but the reality is that all three parties are on different wavelengths.
Mr. M. Higgins: Not at all.
Mr. D. Ahern: It is easy to believe that sitting where they are sitting. If they are ever on this side of the House——
Mr. Gormley: We will be.
Mr. D. Ahern: Will they? If so, it will be very interesting to see what they will do about Shannon Airport.
Full transcript at https://www.oireachtas.ie
Shannon airport in Ireland is still being used for US troop flights in 2023. Most recently Eamon Ryan, Green Party minister for transport answered questions on the below:
The Department of Transport confirmed that an Omni Air flight, which appears to have been the first US flight that applied to carry munitions through Ireland since the announcement that cluster bombs would be sent to Ukraine, was not inspected despite being given clearance. Irish Examiner
Lebanon War
The 2006 Lebanon war was also ongoing, alternatively known as the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Two days after this photo was taken, a ceasefire went into effect.
Israel fired 4.6 million submunitions into dozens of towns and villages in southern Lebanon in 962 separate strikes, circa 90% within the final 72 hours of the war, when the conflict already had been largely resolved by UN Security Council Resolution 1701.[162] Entire towns were covered in cluster bombs. Wikipedia
Gaza-Israel War
The 2006 Gaza-Israel conflict caused what was called a temporary blockade, to become permanent.
On July 20, Paul Hunt, the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health has claimed that some Israeli attacks on Gaza constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, and called for an independent inquiry into war crimes in Gaza by Israel.[84] Wikipedia
Since 2007 Gaza has been placed under a permanent blockade - 16 years long. This blockade has created prison-like conditions for people living in the Gaza Strip featuring food shortages, prevention from crossing the border, and even reports of cancer medicine being blocked to list just some of the repercussions of this blockade on Palestinian civilians. The economy in Gaza has been destroyed as a result of this blockade with over 65% of the population living under the poverty line.
Israel-Hamas War October 2023
Following an attack inside Israel on 07/10/23 by Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared war on Hamas.
Gaza has a population of around 2.3 million people.
"I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly,” Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said. LBC
I fear for the Palestinian population. They are under siege as we speak. Some world leaders rather than urge restraint to Israel, are whipping them up into a fervour with barely disguised blood lust. The killing must stop before this becomes a genocide of the Palestinian people.