The following is a slightly modified version of a letter from Shannonwatch's Edward Horgan that appeared in the Sunday Independent of 2nd August.

Recent reports of fewer US troops use Shannon Airport cite figures provided by Shannon Airport stating that the number of US troops using it was 15,326 from January 1 to the end of June, a drop of 42% on the 26,340 who went through in the same period last year. 

The total strength of the Irish Permanent Defence Forces in 2026 is about 7,500. Therefore, more than twice the strength of the Irish Defence Forces passed through Shannon Airport during the first half of 2026. However, it’s not so much the numbers of US troops through Shannon that’s important, it’s the fact that they are still going through while the US military is engaged in wars and acts of aggression, including the kidnapping of the President of Venezuela and the unlawful killing of over 220 boat people off the coast of South America.

Up to 10,000 people have been killed in Iran, Palestine and Lebanon since the beginning of 2026. A Sunday Independent article of 26th July stated that: “Between 2001 and 2012, around two million US troops passed through Shannon as part of the US war effort in Afghanistan and Iraq.” The total number of US soldiers through Shannon Airport between 1991 and 2026 is likely to be up or above four million. During this period Brown University Costs of War Project estimates that US led wars over this period across the wider Middle East region caused direct and indirect deaths of over 4.5 million people.

It is vital that the full human costs of these wars be fully evaluated and reported. US military use of Shannon Airport makes Ireland complicit in these deaths and in the genocide in Palestine.