Dear editor,
We, the undersigned staff at NUI, Galway, wish to express our support for the students who have written a public letter in opposition to the recent visit of the US ambassador to the university.

Ambassador Thomas C. Foley was invited by the student Law Society. In a previous post, the ambassador was sent as a representative of George Bush and Dick Cheney to implement privatisation in Iraq under the Coalition Provisional Authority. This makes him an accessory to war crimes in the occupation of Iraq and responsible for the theft of the oil and other resources of the Iraqi people for the profit of private corporations. He has assisted in a war in which it is now estimated that over one million Iraqis have been killed, the majority women and children. Of course, many more have died as a result of the occupation, from food shortages, pollution from uranium and other toxic weapons, lack of clean drinking water and medicines. The culture, heritage and environment of Iraq have been devastated.

Many have also been tortured by US forces while others have fallen victim to the US 'rendition' policy, in which Shannon Airport plays a role. It has led former US President Jimmy Carter to comment recently that the US is now a torturing state. The majority of people in Ireland have been with the peoples of the Middle East against the occupation - we have been through this ourselves in past centuries.

The ambassador has spoken of how Ireland and the US share the same foreign policy goals. What are these goals? Bombing people into democracy? Forced privatisation? The imposition of market values in our universities?

We always welcome visiting students from the US. But we are shocked that the student Law Society would invite Ambassador Foley, as we were when they invited the Israeli ambassador last year, and we are glad to add our names in support of those students who have opposed the ambassador's visit.

Yours etc,

Maggie Ronayne
Tadhg Foley
Sinead Ní Fhaoláin
Kieran O'Conor
John Waddell

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