ZOT! U.S.: IRA must disband now

Reuters ^ | Wednesday, March 9, 2005

[Rogers324]

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -- The United States has demanded that the IRA disband after the guerrilla group's astonishing offer to shoot the killers of a murdered Northern Ireland Catholic man. "It's time for the IRA to go out of business," U.S. special envoy Mitchell Reiss said Wednesday. For the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland's biggest Irish nationalist party, the U.S. demand was yet another blow to its democratic credentials. Reiss told BBC radio: "It's time for Sinn Fein to be able to say explicitly, without ambiguity, without ambivalence, that criminality will not be tolerated. "You can't sign up for the rule of law a la carte." The IRA's offer -- also condemned by London and Dublin -- handed fresh ammunition to Protestant rivals who say Sinn Fein is not fit for government until the Irish Republican Army disarms and disbands. The killing of Robert McCartney by a gang including IRA members has plunged the IRA and Sinn Fein into crisis -- coming just weeks after the guerrilla group was blamed for a £26.5 million ($50 million) bank raid in central Belfast. London and Dublin say there can be no progress on restoring the British-ruled province's regional government -- set up under a 1998 peace deal to share power between divided Protestants and Catholics -- until the issue of IRA criminality is resolved. Home rule was suspended in 2002 when unionists, who support ties to Britain, said they would no longer sit in government with Sinn Fein until the IRA got rid of the weapons which sustained its three-decade campaign against British rule. "It is their declared intent to murder," said hardline Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley in response to the IRA move.

[Rogers324]

"The Sinn Fein/IRA commitment to terror and criminality is total." Bar fight McCartney, a 33-year-old forklift truck driver, was beaten and stabbed to death in a bar fight at the end of January. His family, who hail from a working class Catholic district considered an IRA heartland, have mounted a vociferous campaign for the killers to be brought to justice, accusing the IRA of intimidating witnesses and cleaning the bar of evidence. The United States has already signaled its displeasure with the political stagnation in the province by failing to invite the leaders of Sinn Fein and the other Northern Ireland political parties to the White House for St. Patrick's Day celebrations this month. In a statement released on Tuesday, the IRA said it had held a five-and-a-half hour meeting with the dead man's sisters and fiancee, during which it "stated in clear terms that the IRA was prepared to shoot the people directly involved." The family rejected the offer, saying they wanted the killers brought to court. The IRA did not spell out whether it intended to kill or wound the suspects, but Northern Ireland's police chief Hugh Orde said he had no doubt the offer was to assassinate them. "We are not in the business of applauding or being impressed by illegal organizations' statements," he told the BBC. "We have to remember that it was IRA members who killed Mr. McCartney, it was IRA members who destroyed the evidence and it was IRA members who threatened and intimidated the witnesses.

[Cornpone]

ping...God be with you

[Rogers324]

Im dissapointed....Anyone who knows the real history of what has gone on in Ireland for the past century, knows which side to be on.

[Incorrigible]

Irish Bump.

The time is nigh.

[Incorrigible]

Irish Bump.

The time is nigh.

[Rogers324]

This is such a dissapointment, that a the group is responsible for the actions of a few. The IRA did not plan this murder.

What bothers me, the british killed millions of Irish from 1700-1916....and noone does anything. The IRA murders one, they get hoisted upon their own petard.

[johnmilken]

While their cause is just the IRA are terrorists and have been since the the early 70s. For a while they had the glamor and rightousness of 'freedom fighters', but nail bombs in public places are not pretty. All Republican parties now have access to legitmate political means and the continued existence of am 'armed struggle' - really now just a cover for a bunch of gangsters using terror for enforcement - cannot be justified.

But...read my tag and fire away.

[TBarnett34]

What bothers me, the british killed millions of Irish from 1700-1916....and noone does anything. The IRA murders one, they get hoisted upon their own petard.

Pretty sure the IRA has committed more than one murder during its existance.

I doubt you'll garner a lot of support claiming that the USA should throw its support behind a group of car bombers and thugs similar to the ones we're fighting and killing in Iraq.

[nuconvert]

?

[TBarnett34]

Im dissapointed....Anyone who knows the real history of what has gone on in Ireland for the past century, knows which side to be on.

I got the feeling we might need a horse nose for this one.

[Rogers324]

Im not supporting the IRA, and its killings...But I do support the Political Wing.
The IRA killings was a response to British Murders and Assinations that had been going on for hundreds of years.

Do I have to give a history lesson about England VS. The Irish Republic?

[GarySpFc]

Ping!

[nuconvert]

pong

[Rogers324]

I do not support the murder of the driver. Im Dissapointed it happened. And that now Sien fienn is taking the heat.

[Eurotwit]

The 1700's?

Well, why not?

A bunch of Andalusian muslims are demanding that the Spanish applogize for chasing them out of Spain a while back.

Cheers.

[johnmilken]

The IRA murdered far more than one, and while it's true that from 1700 - 1916 [and beyond - Bloody Sunday was more than a U2 song] the British killed many Irish Catholics, much the same could be said of whites killing Native Americans in the same period, and yet I think you'd have a rather different opinion of a Native American Independence group killing 'just one' white American.

[TBarnett34]

Im not supporting the IRA, and its killings...But I do support the Political Wing. The IRA killings was a response to British Murders and Assinations that had been going on for hundreds of years.

Do I have to give a history lesson about England VS. The Irish Republic?

I don't need a lecture; I'm quite aware. However, we simply cannot sanction their continued pursuits in murder due to past grievances. It'd be just as much of a mistake as it was for our lovely 42nd President to give political legitimacy to Arafat.

[Rogers324]

Sinn Fien is a legitamite political party. They are the Modernized IRA...The IRA realized that bombs wouldnt work. They formed a political party.

Remember, London once considered a rag-tag band of rebels murders and killers as well.

[TBarnett34]

And that now Sien fienn is taking the heat.

That's typically what happens to a political wing of a group dedicated to murder when dealing with an American president who actually has a backbone.

Perhaps if Sinn Fein would condemn this act?

[MadIvan]

The IRA has planted bombs in my city and killed my fellow citizens for years on end. If you want to start the discussion of who is murdering whom, be prepared to realise that there are victims on both sides. However, Britain is only in Northern Ireland because the Unionists want us there, and they are the majority. You and Sinn Fein need to grow up, get over yourselves, and realise it's 2005, not the age of Cromwell.

One final point - after September 11th, Britain has been supporting America in every way, including our dearest blood. Sinn Fein / IRA wrote editorials suggesting America got what it deserved. It's time you realised on which side your bread was buttered, who your friends are and who your enemies are, who sides with you and who sides with the terrorists (including FARC in your hemisphere). Keeping the IRA out of the White House's festivities is a sensible move.

Ivan