Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams will be in Buffalo as the guest of Congressman Brian Higgins this St. Patrick’s Day [Update: Adams never showed up, due to hold-ups in airport security]. Adams is in the United States for his annual St. Patrick’s Day fund junket to raise money for the political wing of the Irish Republican Army. What better time for Adams to raise money for Ireland’s continued struggle to free itself from British occupation than from drunken Irishmen celebrating their heritage and feeling nostalgic for the old sod? So who better for Adams to latch onto than a first generation Irish Congressional doofus like Higgins? After all, the one thing done efficiently in Congress is fundraising.

While Adams is taking advantage of the effete Higgins’ entree into the wallets of wealthy Irish Americans, would it be too much to ask that Gerry sit our boy Brian down for a little talking to about the war in Iraq? You see, Brian just doesn’t get it. Higgins’ stand on the war to date has been abysmal. He’s what you would call it a play-it-safe Democrat. If Higgins were a politician in Ireland, however, he would not be a friend of Adams and Sinn Fein.

So maybe Adams can talk some sense into Higgins on the war. If he does, Adams will tell Higgins that the first lesson of Ireland is not to invade and occupy another country. He’ll tell Higgins that Sinn Fein and he are in favor of immediate withdrawal of American and British troops from Iraq. Not only that, but they support the right of the Iraqi people through the insurgency to wage war against the occupation. That means that Sinn Fein and Adams support the right of Iraqis to attack American and British soldiers occupying Iraqi territory. On the other hand, it also implies the right of Iraqi Kurds to defend themselves against their Arab persecutors.

Adams might further point out to Higgins that it is vital for the working class people of America to campaign against the war and the end of the occupation. He can explain to Higgins that what the United States is doing in Iraq and in the Middle East in the name of the American people means that it is up to the people to be involved in ending it. So far Higgins has done nothing to try to end the war.

According to the Western New York Anti-Iraq-War Lobbying Delegation which met with Congressman Higgins in January, Higgins has had ample opportunity to voice opposition to the war in Iraq and has failed to do so.

The “Victory in Iraq” Resolution congratulating Iraq on holding successful elections included Bush Administration pro-war rhetoric. A majority of Democrats attempted to strip the resolution of its pro-war rhetoric. Higgins voted with the Republicans, an alarmingly routine move on his part.

A Discharge Petition for the “Homeward Bound” Bill would bring to the floor for full debate a resolution requiring the President of the United States to develop and implement a plan for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. Higgins refused to sign onto the discharge petition, preferring a continuation of the Bush Administration’s war objectives without allowing for any debate by the Congress.

A Joint Resolution to Re-Deploy U.S. Forces from Iraq (the Murtha Bill) currently has 99 co-sponsors. John Murtha (D-PA), the leading military expert of his party, well regarded among generals, conceives of withdrawal taking place in a phased manner over six months at most. Brian Higgins considers the Murtha idea of beginning that withdrawal immediately as “idiotic” (declared over local radio).

H.R. 4232, the End the War in Iraq Act, would prohibit the use of funds to deploy armed forces to or for further aggression within Iraq, providing for the safe and orderly withdrawal of US forces from that country. Brian Higgins has declined to support that bill without articulating any special reasons.

The “No Permanent Bases in Iraq” resolution would declare that it is the policy of the United States not to enter into any base agreement with the government of Iraq that would lead to a permanent US presence in that country. Brian Higgins says he opposes any permanent US presence in Iraq, but refuses to join the Barbara Lee (D-CA) Bill.

Brian Higgins has not supported any of the bills pushing inquiry of the White House over the disclosures in the Downing Street Memo or about the systematic use of torture by covert White House policy. Nor is he expected to support measures to determine whether President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have failed to respond to requests for information on the allegations that they misled the Congress and the American people over the grounds for war and employed torture as an instrument of war.

We know Adams probably despises the gentle Mr. Higgins as much as we do but maybe he can have a little sympathy for him. They were both born on October 6th, so maybe in some cosmic way it is Gerry Adams’ duty to take little boy Brian under his wing and show him what it means to stand up for the people that you represent. Then maybe he might also tell him that Third World debt should be cancelled, the environment should be protected, private corporations should be kept out from the public sector, diversity should be respected and equality defended. Then, last but not least, Gerry Adams could tell Brian Higgins there is a close affinity and affection between the Irish and Palestinian people. “The most fitting legacy to President Arafat is for the international community to act immediately to ensure that the Israeli Government remove its troops and illegal settlements from Palestinian lands and a return to the negotiating table,” Adams has said.

Now wouldn’t that be a hoot?