Back Seat Drivers
Dick, you have to take a legal document as a whole. To illustrate, a bank can repossess your home if you don't pay your mortage, and somewhere in the agreement with them will be a clause saying, in legalese, 'the bank can repossess your home'. However, as everyone knows, it can only do so if you don't meet your payments.
Not entirely dissimilarly, the CIA are granted certain powers in the country, but they only take effect when the Irish government gives consent. Read Article 7 if you haven't already. It makes explicit that American services in the country operate here only with the express permission of the state. There's no two ways about it either.
Taking one section of the document and pointing to it as evidence is hopelessly misleading, as any potential ambiguity is trumped in any case by the necessity for Irish authorization. Your omission of the consent provisions means your analysis is DOA.
Which is a pity, because I was quite looking forward to seeing Michael D, Beirut Bob Fisk, Fintan O'Toole and sundry others in orange jumpsuits.
It makes explicit that American services in the country operate here only with the express permission of the state.
I think you may be misreading my pieces if you think I've stated otherwise.
The CIA has been interrogating Irish people for nearly 14 years. Of course, that has nothing to do with the fact I moved here nearly 14 years go. NOTHING.
I remember during my first visit to Ireland in the mid 80's I was talking to some guy who was complaining about the number of "spooks" they had at the US Embassy.
My jaw just hit the table. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was only after another 15 minutes or so that I realized he was talking about CIA guys (spies). You see, in New York (not sure about elsewhere) "spook" was a derogatory word for a black guy.
Dick, have you heard of the Italian snatch-case?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005...ion/
edgreen.php
EWI,
Yep, I have. I did a short post about it at the time.
As you can see, I like using the word "spooks" in headlines!
Without endorsing this surrender of Irish sovereignty to an organisation over which Irish citizens have no oversight or influence, I would like to snigger at its irony, considering how devoted the average Irish citizen is to both an inchoate notion of international law and to its more concrete manifestations and applications(UN, ICJ), which, generally speaking, Americans regard as...tools for the infringement of national sovereignty without proper oversight or democratic legitimacy.
Ah, but are you really comparing like with like?
Of course not. I'm just sneering.
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