Something to declare

The latest installment on the Irish government's tacit collusion with extraordinary rendition:

The Government is to reconsider introducing inspections on US military-related flights landing in Shannon after a US marine being held prisoner was transported through the airport without the necessary permission being obtained from the Irish authorities.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern told journalists the Government was "now going to engage with the US embassy with a view to strengthening the verification procedures and if that entails inspection so be it. We have an open mind in relation to that." [Irish Election has his full statement]

The Irish Times story goes on to note Foreign Minister Ahern's description of the US failure to declare the imprisoned marine as an "administrative cock-up" -- the only alternative to admitting that the US is so used to transporting prisoners through Shannon that they couldn't be bothered seeking permission.

And of course the unanswered question: if this is what an observant cleaner was able to find purely by accident, who knows what was going on on the CIA flights that were doubtless more fussy about who got a look into the plane while it was on the ground? In fact the IT story also reports that the government has not even conceived of the possibility:

It has emerged the Government has no proper arrangements or protocols in place for the notification of incidents of concern by airport authorities relating to US military flights. In this case Shannon airport did not inform the Government or the Garda about the incident but raised the matter with the US embassy staff.

Presumably Air Force 1 will be exempt from the new inspections regimen, although there is no word whether it stopped there in either direction en route to Baghdad.