excuse my ignorance, my Northern Irish politics is not to good but an interesting point came up at work last night, if Bush has declared war on terrorism then he has surely declared war on Northern Ireland as well, but no one has mentioned going into northern ireland and bombing the ira or sinn fein. now this obviously is linked to the large presence of Irish imigrants and families in america, but certainly in the UK and particularly england, Irish terrorism is far more a threat than any attack from the middle east so before blair jumps on the bush bandwagon he should address matters slightly closer to home, not that i disagree with blair supporting bush, he just seems to be starting in the wrong place.
It's weird that it takes something like this to STOP a war.
Sand Person I know what you mean but it's kind of different. The IRA have a reason behind what they do and that's starting to be resolved. It's still wrong and it's still terrorism but it's more complicated so we can't really go in and stop it. Especially when a lot of the IRA is funded by Irish/Americans with American bank accounts.
Bin Laden has no reason other than to kill Americans and Jews. You can't resolve it peacfully.
Most terrorist activity is more complex. The Palestinian terrorists' case is more complicated and so is that of fundamentalism muslim factions. There's always an entire philisophy behind it. Key thing is though that terrorists kill or harm innocent people that are not (directly) involved in the conflict. So that goes for the IRA as well.
Originally posted by King Jedi
.The IRA have a reason behind what they do and that's starting to be resolved. It's still wrong and it's still terrorism but it's more complicated so we can't really go in and stop it. Especially when a lot of the IRA is funded by Irish/Americans with American bank accounts.
Bin Laden has no reason other than to kill Americans and Jews. You can't resolve it peacfully.
Actually I don't think you know enough to state that bin Laden and his men have no reason. It's more complicated than that. For many years they've hated the americans for many reasons. And it's not likey just dislike them, their hatred is more important than their own life. And the religous reasons are also very stong.
On a side entertainment note..I heard on the radio this morning that James Woods (the actor) was interviewed by the FBI because it seems that he might have been on an earlier flight (the week before) that the hijackers used as a rehearsal... Apparently he did find the way the men acted very strange and said something to LAX officials when he landed in LA but nothing apparently was done.
Well IRA are not the only terrorists in Northern Ireland the protestants have their Ulster fraction. Bin Laden is driven by hate toward anyone who actually disagree with his beliefs.
It all started during the Gulf war, he didn't want the interference of USA. Claiming the infidels shouldn't be allowed to thread on holly ground (Saudi Arabia/Mecca). He opposed his own government so he was put under house arrest. He manage to escape and went to Khartoum in Sudan(East Africa) He was there for a period of time until he became too much of a burden to the Sudan regime. He then went to Afghanistan and have supported and financed the Taliban regime since.
There is no clear difference between the motivations of the IRA, the Loyalist factions, and the sort of terrorism shown by Bin Laden. Both beleif passioantely in their cause, are unstoppably motivated and for all of them it is about LAND...
In no way can you say the IRA's cause is better or worse than Bin Laden's. Both are determined to use force to see of what they see as foreign aggressors.
The difference comes in the tactics; for decades now the IRA has been about destroying property to make it not worth the UK's while and trying to increase attention and sympathy to their cause.
The killing in the UK is almost a sideline; an inevitable consequnce of bombing (this invovles a mental attitude foreign to most of us but they ARE determined to win) most of the killing of the Troubles has come from internal disputes and wars with the Loyalists (a whole different and much nastier area)...
There is a religious element to the fighting there, but at no point does either side claim that killing is a holy duty and those who do it will be rewarded in heaven.
Bin Laden thinks it is his duty to kill as many enemies of Islam as possible. He thinks those Muslims who do not join this duty are as damned as the Westerners he so hates.
(BTW, Northern Ireland is my specialist subject along with the Battle of Britain)
There's the difference. And there will NEVER be any reasoning with this man; your choices are give up, contain, or destroy. I think we know where the US are looking.
Anywayl. Northern Ireland is in a very delicate peace process that trampling over now woiuld be a disaster.
However, if those IRA men in Colombia are indeed shown to have aided the Columbian terrorsits in operations (which include anti-US ones), then in the current climate the IRA can probably kiss its American base goodbye. Lord knows what will happen then.
BTW, I think we should bear in mind that the World Trade Centre attack killed more Britains than the IRA has in two decades.