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I hope this article will be of interest to all grassroots activists in Poland who believe the growth of the Green Party in Poland can only mean a good thing. As the recent experience in Ireland proves, you are only setting yourself up for a big fall if you rely on parliamentary politics to make our planet more nonviolent, ecologically sustainable, socially just and democratic.

Image from www.indymedia.ie

The Green Party have decided to enter a coalition gvt. in Ireland dominated by the Pro-Iraq war Fianna Fail party. This has come as a shock too many but as a fulfillment of prophecy for others. Over 1 million U.S. troops have passed through Shannon Airport since the 9/11 attacks in Washington. U.S. military planes refuel there and weapons are transported to the theatre of war after the soldiers have a pint of guinness and buy some duty-free leprechauns for their loved ones back at home. The European Commission have alleged the Irish gvt. were also complict in the extraordinary rendition web that allowed the illegal transit by the C.I.A. of terrorism suspects

Trevor Sargent, the Green Party leader (who has just resigned), condemned the Pitstop Ploughshares (see www.peaceontrial.com) community after we disabled a U.S. Navy plane at Shannon in 2003. This was even a shock for us as 4 days previously he had praised a female activist,Mary Kelly, for doing a similar action. Another member of parliament for the Greens, Paul Gogarty, undermined dissent around the time the war was breaking out, telling demonstrators over a loudhailer to stop blockading the Dail (parliament) and to go home. Soon after he drove out the gates of parliament buildings in his fuel-guzzling car. Eamonn Ryan, TD (Irish for Member of Parliament) was so vague over the past few days that it was obvious he was going to sell out and vote for the deal to collaborate with imperialist free-marketeer swine. And last but by no means least, politician Ciaron Cuffe is infamous for the fact that he inherited €1.3 million and was so busy sleeping surrounded €100 notes that he allegedly didn't realise €70,000 was being held in oil company assets.

But mainly I am really disappointed with the Green Chairman John Gormley, who many of us in the Irish anti-war movement knew personally and was a major opponent to the Iraq war and the U.S. military use of Shannon. Maybe he wrestled with his conscience before supporting the deal - but when it comes to fundamental pillars of your own philosophy it should hardly take too much analysis to realise that you are totally and utterly betraying the principled stands you have taken for years and the reasons why people voted for you in the first place.

The leading Green's moral zeitgeist has grabbed them by the throat, punched them in the balls, and led them to the table of Mephistopheles (Read Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus)!

But lest we forget, the European Greens have a long history of selling out. The Czech Greens are currently supporting the basing of a radar site for the U.S. proposed ABM missile system in Eastern Europe - while the Poles will probably end up hosting the 10 interceptors themselves. The German Greens supported Schroeder in 2001 when his gvt. decided to join the war against Afghanistan.

Though the four traditional pillars of the Green Party are

1. Nonviolence
2. Ecological Sustainability
3. Grassroots Democracy
4. Social Justice

by joining the pro-market Progressive Democrats and Fianna Failers they have sold out on all counts. Green Party in Ireland is now a misnomer - "Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" (Romeo and Juliet) transformed to the Greens, might ring something like: "What's in a name? That which we call a Green in government would stench just as toxic".

But maybe the best description of what has just happened came be summed up by arguably Shakespeare's most powerful words, spoken by Caesar to Brutus in disbelief at the betrayal by his most loyal of friends: "Et tu, Brute?" (Even you, Brutus?)