Scenes of jubilation in Baghdad did not indicate that the anti-war movement had been wrong, one of its leading members said yesterday.
"If I was Iraqi, I'd be cheering," said Mr Roger Cole, of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance. "But those scenes will turn very quickly when they see an American-Israeli puppet government put in place. This is now a case of occupation. The whole of Iraq has effectively become a west Belfast. The British were cheered when they arrived in 1969, but we all know how long that lasted."
The war was not over, said Sinn Féin's spokesman on international affairs. Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh. It was important, he added, that everyone who opposed the war in Iraq remained focused. It was still important to "hold this Government accountable for their decision to aid and abet the invasion of Iraq", he said at a press conference in Dublin.
Protesters are organising a demonstration tomorrow, starting at Shannon town centre at 2 p.m. and marching to Shannon Airport. Mr Cole said that he did not expect as many protesters as in previous demonstrations.
