US anti-war campaigner Cindy Sheehan has called on Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to end the use of Shannon airport by the US military aircraft.
Before meeting Mr Ahern in Dublin this afternoon, she said the US government was not to be trusted.
Ms Sheehan, whose son US soldier son Casey (24) was killed five days after he arrived in Iraq in April 2004, was speaking at a press conference chaired by the Irish Anti-War Movement in Dublin.
Wearing a badge with a photo of her son and visibly upset throughout, Ms Sheehan said it was vital that all anti-war movements joined together to end the occupation of Iraq by US-led forces.
"My son was one of the 240,000 troops who passed through Shannon. A woman there spoke to him about his Irish name. He wrote about that in his last letter home. A letter that was never sent. We got it with his things after he was killed," she said.
"Over 63 per cent of Americans believe this war is a mistake. I will say to Dermot Ahern, don't believe what my government says. They are liars.
"We're all members of humanity. What is happening in Iraq are crimes against humanity. If we don't stand up against it, we are compliant," she added.
Ms Sheehan appealed to Irish people to put pressure on the Government to end the use of Shannon airport.
"I'm here to rally Irish people and ask them to stop allowing their Government to participate in this war. Ireland is not a satellite of the United States. Ireland is independent," she said.
Ms Sheehan said the argument that there would be civil war in Iraq if the troops were to pull out was "the same argument that kept our troops in Vietnam. They shouldn't have been there.
"Continued insurgency is caused by the occupation. Our military presence in Iraq is the cause not the solution. The bull needs to be taken out of the china shop. We're the bull," she added.
Asked whether she would resume her vigil at President Bush's Texas ranch, she said: "Every time he goes there, I'll be there. Looks like I'll be there a lot. He's there a lot."
Ms Julie Cuniglio, whose nephew Aaron Dean White was killed in Baghdad, said the majority of Americans wanted an end to the occupation. "Don't support our administration. This administration is not supporting its citizens. American people do not want this war," she said.