Why are you calling the American colonists, terrorists? What terrorist acts, specifically, are you referring to?
I was not aware that American colonists assassinated a member of the royal family or attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister. Or that American colonists committed acts that can be compared to a terrorist organization.
"In 1972 the “provisionals” extended their terrorism to England, where it culminated in the bombing (1974) of a Birmingham pub that killed 19 persons. In response the British parliament passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, outlawing the IRA in Britain. The IRA assassinated (1979) Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and unsuccessfully tried to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Brighton, England."
It is a shame that some would think that because some Minutemen hid behind trees (cover and concealment) to fire at British soldiers they were no different than folks who leave bombs in pubs. These types of arguments are another example of why it is so hard to talk about the PLO with many Europeans too. They simply cannot make the moral distinction between the IDF killing senior PLO terrorists with precision, and often killing no one else, and the PLO's deliberate targeting of as many civilians as possible by blowing up Pizza Parlors, buses, and cafes. Too often otherwise intelligent people go for the facile comparison by saying "everything is just the same", even when it's clearly not.
12 March 2005
"IN the 10 years since the first ceasefire, over two dozen mostly young men from nationalist areas of the North were murdered by the IRA.
Alleged drug dealers, former members who spoke out, and those who faced down senior IRA personnel have been shot or stabbed to death. 'P O'Neill's' revelation this week that the IRA offered to shoot those allegedly involved in the murder of Robert McCartney was met with amazement and outrage. But shooting people, killing or maiming, is what the on-ceasefire IRA have been doing for the last 10 years.
It's just that the killings have been denied, or done under a cover name, or the political will was missing to attack Sinn Féin or those murdered did not have Robert McCartney's five sisters. Most were sanctioned, some were not, leading to internal disciplinary measures taken against members. The numbers killed are far less than those in 70s, 80s and early 90s, and, until Robert McCartney was killed five weeks' ago, members had not been implicated in any death for about 18 months.
Also, loyalists of various shades have killed far more people in the same period, mainly in internal feuds and sectarian assassinations. Four people was killed last year as a result of the security situation, by far the lowest in the history of the Troubles. None were killed by the IRA, though dissident Bobby Tohill only narrowly escaped after being abducted by an IRA gang. However, paramilitaries continue to exercise control of areas through the use of punishment attacks.
According to the PSNI, republicans carried out 23 shootings and 41 assaults last year. This year, four shootings and six assaults were blamed on various republican groupings. The majority of the attacks were carried out on the orders of the IRA, while others were blamed on the INLA.
Again, loyalist groups were responsible for a larger number of punishment attacks, 89 shootings and 75 assaults last year. Since 1994, republican groups have carried out 312 shootings and 740 punishment beatings. John Breslin reports."