Sir, – The news that the Government has received a request by the US government to arrest Edward Snowden, the fugitive intelligence analyst, if he transits through Shannon on his way to Cuba, should not give the man many sleepless nights (Front page, July 5th).
For the past 10 years there has been compelling evidence that many planes, mainly military transports, have stopped at Shannon for refuelling while holding passengers for rendition and the Garda Síochána has done nothing about it. I suppose the US ambassador could follow the advice of the former taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and present himself at Shannon Garda station when a suspect plane arrives and demand that they search it. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN McMAHON,
Elmwood,
Naas, Co Kildare.
Sir, – Does Mr Snowden have a grandparent who was born in Ireland? – Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’BYRNE,
Shandon Crescent,
Phibsborough,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Reprehensible though the muscle flexing of the United States may be in its attempts to get its hands on Edward Snowden, we might well contemplate what the world might have been like had Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union ever achieved a comparable degree of omnipotence. – Yours, etc,
ADRIAN J ENGLISH,
Kilcolman Court,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Niall Ginty’s assessment (July 4th) is that we should be thankful that our democratically elected European leaders (and, perhaps, more opaque but nonetheless democratically approved European institutions) with “autocratic ambitions” have an eye kept on them by the United States, our benevolent global policeman.
Contrast that assessment with David Fitzgerald’s critique of the behaviour of “sovereign states” (also July 4th) and, given that as Europeans we have no input into the American democratic process, Mr Ginty’s policeman begins look a lot like a “benevolent” global autocrat. – Yours, etc,
SEÁN Ó SIOCHRÚ,
Dalcassian Downs,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 11.
Sir, – Earlier this week, the plane carrying Venezuelan president Evo Morales was apparently refused permission to over-fly certain European countries, and was diverted to Austria, allegedly in case it had US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden on board.
Surely all President Morales needed to say was that his plane was engaged in “extraordinary rendition”? He would then have had a clear passage through European airspace, and would certainly have escaped any possibility of his aircraft being searched. – Yours, etc,
DARIUS BARTLETT,
Midleton,
Co Cork.
A chara, – The arrest warrant for Edward Snowden US authorities handed our Government, on the off-chance his plane stops at Shannon, presents it with quite a dilemma. If it ignores it, who knows what action the US might take? Why it might even refuse to allow their “first family” to drop by on vacation ever again. But if they serve it, then they must deal with Mr Snowden’s asylum request. Which, of course, by current standards should take at least five years to process. Any less, and it will be accused of giving him special treatment just because he’s a US citizen.
All in all, I rather hope he does land at Shannon. – Is mise,
Revd Fr PATRICK G
BURKE,
Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.