Posted on 02/11/2005 5:36:35 PM PST by FederalistVet
The following is the full text of a statement issued tonight by The Irish Republican Army 2 Feb 2005: In August 1994, the leadership of Oglaigh na hEireann announced a complete cessation of all military operations. We did so to enhance the democratic peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success. That cessation ended in February 1996 because the British Government acted in bad faith when the then British Prime Minister John Major and Unionist leaders squandered that unprecedented opportunity to resolve the conflict. However, we remained ready to engage positively and in July 1997 we reinstated the cessation on the same basis as before. Subsequently, we honoured the terms of our cessation with discipline and honesty, despite numerous attempts to misrepresent those terms by others. Since then - over a period of almost eight years - our leadership took a succession of significant and ambitious initiatives designed to develop or save the peace process.
(Excerpt) Read more at inac.org ...
The Protestants are the ones who don't want peace. They like having their priviledged status in Ireland's Northern region.
How many times has lasting peace been negotiated? True peace only comes about when one side is completely exhausted or an even greater enemy appears.
SO9
Flame on!
A bigger enemy may soon appear for the Protestants of North Ireland.
The IRA in the US, a distinct group, has been passive mostly except in the Armed Forces where it made short work of the KKK.
Some military historians think they are just biding their time. The indications are that the Secret Service and the CIA have also been infiltrated.
Meanwhile the Irish and German populations have been intermixing here in America. The Germans are the largest ethnic group, the Irish the second, the English the third, and the French the fourth. The Mexican/Latin American community is also growing. Of all the groups listed above only part of one is a diehard supporter of the Unionists.
The future puts American foreign policy at odds with the British foreign policy and the continued presence of British citizens in the Ireland's Northern area combined with the continued discrimination against Irish Catholics will provide an excuse to invade England.
The British should consider pulling out now, while they have the choice because it isn't likely they will have that choice for more than another twenty years.
No flame from me. I call it how I see it - a Spade is a Spade, a Terrorist is a Terrorist.
And you want to really stir up a hornet's nest? The "battle" in Britain is one of the longest running "struggles" over old and exhausted reasons on the face of this earth. I see it no different than the Muslim and Israel fight - except Israel literally does act in it's own defense (and takes a great deal of flack for it).
Back when the church controlled the government, I can understand the battle - especially if the church in power opressed the other faiths. But this battle is nothing more than a pissing match between two sides who don't really have a reason to fight, other than pride. Quite stupid.
When was the last time the Protestants carried out a terrorist attack in the Irish? Yet it sounds like that is exactly what the IRA has planned.
Now it's my turn to put on my flame-resistant suit.
The Brits are in over their head.
The American IRA was boasting of their access to nuclear weapons thirty years ago. We assume by now they've got their own stockpile.
LOL. Are you serious. US invading 'England'? Which US administration is going to go along with that one?
The IRA was formed in the first place because violence seemed to be the only answer to British colonial oppression, first in all of Ireland and then in Northern Ireland. I'm not excusing it, but it was the only tool they had.
In 1994 the IRA pledged to give up violence, the only tool they have, in return for negotiations. Those negotiations have now gone on for ten years, and the Protestants have refused to negotiate in good faith. Why should they, when the IRA have given up their only effective weapon?
The two sides are usually called Catholic and Protestant, but that is a terrible simplification. The IRA are basically socialists, if not Communinists, and I have no sympathy for their ideology. But I do have some sympathy for their cause.
The Protestants are not so much Protestants as basically the corrupt party in power, and they don't want to give up their power. People like Ian Paisley are far worse than the IRA, in my opinion. The IRA, at least, targets the military or paramilitary. The Orangemen have regularly targeted innocent bystanders picked at random. The IRA blows up buildings. The Orangemen kill people.
The history of the Irish struggle has always been interesting to me. Can you shoot me some good, unbiased as possible links?
You nailed it. Just right.
An Irish Catholic Administration.
Exactly. I last saw my Irish relatives ages ago but they were certainly not taken in by the romance of these thugs. In more recent years I've met Irish Catholics through work and they are no more behind them than I am behind gangstas in South Central.
LOL Theyre just waiting for JUST the right time to use em...any day now...
There are a hell of a lot of dead civilians killed by IRA bombs that would argue your point, if they weren't dead. They've made it a point to not only target civilians, but also cripple alledged collaborators, much like the Palestenians do. You've got blinders on if you think the IRA doesn't kill civilians.
What about the attempt on Mrs. Thatcher? Innocents were killed then. Were the military staff assigned to Lord Mountbattan's yacht guilty? Oh, and what about Omagh, whose perps have been shielded by the IRA and Sinn Fein.
You're either with us (the civilized world), or you're with the terrorists.
To be honest I think the best thing to do would be to explore links from both sides.
Use this link to find Sinn Fein's page. The Orange Order link is there to. Do a search on Democrat Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party to find the their websites.
I have them all in my favorites etc on my 98 disk, but I would have to reboot to get them for you. I'll try to remember to do that tomorrow. You can also access many newspapers at newspapers.com. The Irish Times used to have all the links at one site for us but it isn't there anymore.
http://www.theirishgazette.com/Pages/troubles.html
I agree. I don't support violence except in self-defense or defense of others.
I'm not too optimistic.
I think the British government's position has been compromised too much for it to force the peace process to move forward.
I agree. In fact, I think you'll discover that the goal of Sinn Fein isn't violence if you bother visiting their website.
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