ShannonWatch

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Irish Taxpayer is subsidising the US military use of Shannon

Although the security operation is not as big as it once once (up to a peak of about 18 million one year), it still costs about 4 million euro to provide extra security at Shannon (a civilian airport) around the aircraft carrying troops and weapons for the US military.On top of that the US Military decided not to pay the Air Traffic Control fees, and the Irish Govt decided that was okay, and the Dept of Transport could use taxpayers money to pay for the ATC fees instead. That comes to (at least) another 2,000,000 euros.So, on an annual basis, the taxpayer is paying between 6 and 7 MILLION to subsidise the US military use of our airport and airspace for an illegal war that killed hundreds of thousands.If an ordinary citizen did something like this, they'd be arrested for funding terrorism.

Time to demand a stop?
See this petition (and pledge to action) for more.

http://www.petitiononline...com/9312536/petition.html

US Air Force Hercules at Shannon: Jan 8th, 9th 2009

Over a 48 hour period starting on January 8th, four Hercules military aircraft landed and were refuelled at Shannon airport. Their destination is not known.

In recent times, only about three military aircraft were refuelled at Shannon per month. Three in two days is therefore significant and given the timing, quite worrying. The possibility exists that Israel is being resupplied with munitions by these aircraft passing through Shannon, possibly with - or without - the permission of the Irish Government .

The three planes were:
- Reg 92-0552, which is a C-130H type Hercules; USAF 463rd Airlift Group, usually based at Little Rock, Arkansas (Landed 8 Jan)
- Reg 92-1454, from North Carolina National Guard (Landed 9 Jan)
- Reg 96-1004, from Minnesota Air National Guard (Landed 9 Jan)

Perhaps these were on a mission to replenish the brutal Israeli attacks on Gaza. Or they were being used to carry munitions and other war materials to continue the wars that are killing thousands of innocant people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The fact is that our Irish government won't tell us - or doesn't know - what they are carrying.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Did Israeli bombs pass through Shannon Airport?

Kalitta Air is an airline known to have connections to covert intelligence and military operations (see Amnesty International report, USA: Below the radar: Secret flights to torture and disappearance). Their planes pass through Irish airspace with alarming regularity - there were over 220 of heir flights between the start of September and the end of December 2008. On Dec 20th and again on Dec 22nd one of their planes, N703CK, landed at Shannon Airport.

Kalitta Air operates "international scheduled and ad-hoc cargo charter services". In 2006 it transported laser-guided bombs through Prestwick for the Israeli bombing of Lebanon - they described them as "bunker-busters" to destroy Hizbollah hide-outs. According to a UK Airport News report in November 2006:

"It was suggested that Michigan-based Kalitta Air, which regularly works for the Department of Defence Air Mobility Command, an arm of the US Air Force, broke international law because it did not have the appropriate clearance. According to papers released under the Freedom of Information Act, Prestwick Airport's freight-handling department was told only verbally about the dangerous cargo, when the operator should have had special written permission to "carry munitions of war in UK airspace"" (see http://uk-airport-news.info/prestwick-airport-news-281106.htm)

Did Kalitta Air transport some of the bombs that are being used to indiscriminately kill and maim Palestinian people through Shannon Airport in December? And if so, was clearance requested or given to do so?

Other well-known carrier of war munitions, including Atlas Air Inc and Evergreen International Airlines Inc, are also overflying Ireland very regularly. These are also likely to be transporting death and destruction to Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world.

Anyone with further information on the Kalitta Air flights that landed at Shannon - or on any covert munitions cargos passing through the airport - should contact info(at)shannonwatch(dot)org .

Suspect CIA Aircraft

Have you seen any of these planes at Shannon? If you have, contact us at shannonwatch@gmail.com.


N1016M	N313P	N58AS	N965BW
N1018H	N368CE	N6161Q	N966BW
N120JM	N4009L	N719GB	N967BW
N157A	N40414	N8062Z	N968BW
N168D	N4042J	N8068V	N8213G
N173S	N4456A	N8183J	N168BF
N187D	N4476S	N837DR	N1HC
N196D	N4489A	N845S	N44892
N212CP	N44982	N85VM	N88ZL
N2189M	N4557C	N379P	N475LC
N219D	N486AE	N8068V	N476LC
N219MG	N505LL	N824MG	N478GS
N221SG	N50BH	N829MG	N1016M
N227SV	N5139A	N259SK	N5155A
N299AL	N5155A	N964BW	N588AE
N312ME

These suspect CIA aircraft tail numbers were identified by Reprieve in April 2008. See REPRIEVE SUBMISSION TO PORTUGUESE INQUIRY ON RENDITION 2 April 2008.

CIA-Controlled Planes spotted at Shannon

25 Oct 2008
N478GS (Gulfstream G-IV)
21 Oct 2008
N478GS (Gulfstream G-IV)
13 Oct 2008
N54PA (Learjet LJ36)
08 Sep 2008
N54PA (Learjet LJ36)
01 Aug 2008
N71PG (Learjet LJ35)

The planes listed here have all been identified in reports from Amnesty International, EU-TDIP and/or other reputable sources. However it is likely to be only a small sample of the rendition planes landing in Shannon. Anyone with information on other planes or with queries regarding possible landings should contact us at shannonwatch@gmail.com.

Military Flights August - December 2008

ShannonWatch records and documents US Air Force military aircraft and troop carriers in and out of Shannon Airport. Below is a summary of the data gathered.

For more detailed reports, contact shannonwatch@gmail.com

Commercial Airlines Carrying US Troops at Shannon
December 2008	68
November 2008	71
October 2008	79
September 2008	56
August 2008	60

All US Air Force aircraft at Shannon
	C130	C17	K35R*	DCC9	Jets	Other	Total
December 2008	2	0	0	2	5	10	19
November 2008	1	0	0	1	5	2	9
October 2008	0	0	1	1	2	2	6
September 2008	1	1	0	0	5	8	15
August 2008	4	0	0	2	0	12	18