Posted on 05/30/2006 1:19:49 PM PDT by Irish_Thatcherite
IRA were behind 48pc of Troubles murders A UNIVERSITY of Ulster academic yesterday blamed the IRA for the overwhelming majority of murders during the Troubles.
Henry Patterson, Professor of History at Jordanstown, challenged the view that the Northern Ireland conflict was a simple "war of liberation" by republicans against colonial interests and said there were key differences between the Troubles in Northern Ireland and struggles in Africa and Latin America. He told the sixth International Conference of The Spanish Association for Irish Studies at the University of Valladolid in Spain that the Provisional IRA was responsible for 48 per cent of deaths while the RUC was responsible for just 1.4 per cent and the UDR 0.2 per cent.
Mr Patterson pointed out that even if claims of widespread collusion between state forces and loyalist paramilitaries were true and 50 per cent of those killed by loyalists were added to the security forces' figure, it would still amount to only 17 per cent of all deaths.
In an address entitled War of National Liberation or Ethnic Cleansing: IRA violence in Fermanagh during the Troubles, Prof Patterson examined the IRA campaign in the county. Prof Patterson recalled how the IRA in Fermanagh had carried out a number of widely-condemned killings including the Enniskillen Poppy Day bombing, and said many unionists believed the campaign in the county was a form of ethnic cleansing.
"No doubt many Provisionals then and now would sincerely and forcefully deny that their campaign in Fermanagh was a form of ethnic cleansing," he said. "As we have seen, most of the Protestants killed were in the security forces, and Fermanagh did not experience the wholesale evacuation of Protestants that occurred in West Cork during the War of Independence. "Yet, that the killings struck at the Protestant community's morale, sense of security and belonging in the area was undeniable. "It was being made clear to them that they could continue to live in Fermanagh, but only on terms defined by the Provisional IRA." Prof Patterson said the conflicting views of the Troubles – was it a war of liberation or ethnic cleansing? – has been one of the reasons for the unease with the peace process among the unionist community. 30 May 2006
I condemn attacks on civilian targets.
I don't condemn attacks on legitimate military targets.
Isn't that big hearted of you, are US troops in Iraq legitimate military targets for terrorists?????
British soldiers, just doing their job, keeping the peace in NI, but because you have an opinion about the status of NI, which is the exact opposite of the majority opinion in the polity, they are legitimate targets for IRA scumbags!!
If a southern Irish Catholic can unequivocally condemn all IRA acts, then why can't you?
That statement makes no sense. As terrorists, either the IRA presented no military targets to attack, or nothing was off-limits. And the British military also went after loyalist terrorist groups, so don't lump the two together. The IRA is a bunch of communist, drug-dealing mafia-wannabe thugs who also trained with arab terrorists in the 70's and 80's. If you're romanticizing their begavior, you are part of the problem.
Then you are a terrorist scumbag.
Case closed.
It's interesting how some people who claim to be "conservatives" support Marxist groups who blow up pregnant women and children.
OH, that guy. He came up with some weirdness on a thread I was on, but I decided not to respond to someone with such a stupid name.
Good practitioners of doublethink is my best bet, though I think at least some of them are agent provocateurs, the way they make an 180' u-turn from supporting the WOT to supporting the IRA.
Yeah, I looked at his user posts, I saw him posting something stupid to you.
We Southern ladies are good at ignoring people.
Southern Irish Catholics aren't! ;)
I guess that Noraid check won't clear, now that you have been zotted and all.....
You're young :-).
Is the IRA a terrorist org.?
I know, it's not good for the blood pressure to get worked up with these people, I actually held my temper with him, though.
A few months back, I jumped down people's throats more, here - a head injury leaves one with a low tolerance level whilst recovering.
It should be a proscribed(?) one!
Wait just a minute:
While I reject Thunderpants' opinions, he has taken the name from the Hulk Hogan character in Rocky III, my all-time favorite guilty pleasure movie.
Speaking from the experience of someone who went to a heavily Irish lower-middle class Jesuit High School in the Bronx, and an even more heavily Irish Jesuit college in Massachusettes, I can tell you that the people who end up supporting the IRA are not really familiar with these thugs true behavior and they have romanticized the whole thing. It happens more often than you'd think. But then, the money has got to be coming from somewhere, right?
I see thunderpants has been silenced.
correction: On further refelection, Hulk Hogan character was actually called ThunderLIPS. Thunderpants is an idiot after all...
Can't all be coming from the Colombians!
Yes.. I wonder who reported him?
*whistling innocently*
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