"Death and destruction from the sky, all day long" was what Pete Hegseth, Secretary of War, said with glee from a podium. The man is a psychopath. He comes across as a psychopath. It is like he has styled himself on a film villain. He represents a psychopathic regime in a psychopathic system. Who is this death and destruction being rained down on? Well over 1,000 Iranians have now been killed. Although it has gotten shockingly little attention, we know that in one bombing of a school, over 160 young schoolgirls and teachers were murdered. On RTÉ and mainstream media, I have heard this being relativised by those who say we do not really know what happened here and so on. It tells us something about the distinct value of human life. If 160 schoolchildren were killed in many other places in the world, it would rightly be the number one item on the news for weeks and weeks, as of course it should be. Here, it is quickly forgotten because it is inconvenient and because it reveals the reality of what is happening. What is happening is a criminal, brutal, imperialist assault. The war being launched by the US and Israel against Iran and Lebanon threatens to become a fully regional war. It is an extension and a consequence of the impunity that Israel has been treated to after over two years of genocide of the Palestinian people. Where have we seen the targeting of schools before? Oh, yes. That is a strategy that Israel has deployed in Gaza again and again. It is a war that is based on lies, as they always are. Donald Trump said yesterday that if they did not hit within two weeks, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon. He said: "When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen." That is a lie. He knows it is a lie. It contradicts what he said before and what has been said by all the UN experts and so on. It is interesting; it is like a playing out again of the same lies about weapons of mass destruction that we heard in respect of Iraq, to try to create a public opinion - it is not working in America or elsewhere - that would be supportive of this military adventure. It is weapons of mass destruction without even the dodgy dossiers, without even going to the bother of manufacturing the evidence this time. Who will pay the price? First and foremost, the ordinary Iranian people, the ordinary people in Lebanon and other people across the region will do so. Then people in this country and elsewhere in the world will be subject to price gouging and massive price hikes as they get hit and the Government does not defend them. The Irish Government response has been utterly shameful. It is refusing to tell the basic truth. It is refusing to say that this is contrary to international law. You cannot bring yourselves to say it. It is refusing to condemn the bombing of a school, and refusing to condemn this imperialist assault. It speaks volumes about the position the Irish Government has gotten itself into as completely subordinate to US imperialism; in reality, it is a poodle of US imperialism. I listened earlier to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, condemning Hezbollah for attacking Israel and then regretting the response from Israel, while recognising Israel's right to defend itself. This stuff is absolutely crazy. Black is white, the world is upside down. Where is Iran's right to defend itself in this? Everyone in this House would recognise the right of Ukraine to defend itself against imperialist assault by Russia. Does Iran not have a right to defend itself against imperialist assault? Do the people of Lebanon not have a right to defend themselves against an invasion and an attempt to create a greater Israel which is happening right now, a land invasion by Israel in Lebanon? The European leaders who are turning a blind eye, or else applauding and assisting the US assault on Iran are going to look like big hypocrites if Trump does decide to invade Greenland. All of a sudden they will rediscover international law. The Irish Government is complicit. It is complicit in this illegal, criminal, imperialist war on Iran. It is complicit because of the use of Shannon Airport. Two US Air Force aircraft stopped at Shannon Airport before flying straight to the main European hub used to transport weapons for use in Iran. The Garda protected one of these aircraft, according to an image published by Shannonwatch. That is utterly shameful. We have to get the US military out of Shannon Airport. Follow the example of the Spanish; do not facilitate them at all. I also make a final appeal, on the last day of the Dáil before Micheál Martin is going to go and hand over the bowl of shamrock to Donald Trump. Do not do that. Do not allow him to use the Irish national day to present himself as a friend of the Irish, to greenwash himself and to cover up the war crimes he is currently engaged in.

Sentiment score: -0.24