If you want to know how to grovel, take a lesson from the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. Speaking in Washington, he told Biden that he ‘would roll out the red carpet’ for his visit to Ireland. In words reminiscent of the Cold War, he spoke about America as the ‘leader of the free world’ that fought against ‘fascism and communism’.
Varadkar, as always, is somewhat shaky on his history. The greatest loss of life in fighting Hitler was in the Soviet Union – and that is not, for an instant, to praise Stalin. It is just a statement of fact. And the US’s mission to ‘fight communism’ included such democratic activities as staging coups in countries like Guatemala or funding a school for torture, known as the ‘School of the Americas’ to train army and police officers throughout Latin America.
Without the slightest hint of irony, Varadkar praised the US for standing up to imperialism, referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But what of the US invasion of Iraq, whose 20th anniversary falls on March 20th? Remember all the lies about weapons of mass destruction in order to stage an invasion that, according to the Lancet, led to 654,965 excess deaths related to the war, or 2.5% of the population.
While we rightly condemn Russia’s targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, the US did the same, attacking water, sewerage stations, and electricity networks in Iraq. Today we recoil in horror Russian efforts to crush Bakhmut. But the US did exactly the same in Fallujah, when thousands were killed, and the city reduced to rouble.
Varadkar may grovel to his emperor but People Before Profit reject both thugs who deploy military machines to wreak murder and havoc on the world.
The Irish mainstream media has moved into lockstep with the political elite to suggest that all the Irish population will give a delirious welcome to Biden when he visits here.
We beg to disagree – we have no time for any imperialist leader. Biden should be met with protest.
While Biden condemns Russia, he gives military support to Israel which has embarked on a spree of murder in Palestine. Almost every week Israeli settlers and the Israel army raid Palestinian towns, killing scores of civilians. But there is no talk to sending tanks or Javelin missiles to the Palestinians to protect themselves. It is a pure case of double standards.
Nor is Biden a friend of working people. He has banned a strike of railways workers who were seeking higher pay.
Despite all his talk about climate change, he has approved a multi-billion-dollar ConocoPhillips oil project, situated on the tundra of Alaska’s northern Arctic coast.
There are many good reasons to protest Biden’s visit – not to welcome him.
