IRA says it is resuming disarmament but won’t disband
The history of the past decade in Northern Ireland is littered with IRA statements which we were told were ‘historic,’ ‘ground-breaking’ and ‘seismic.’ These same statements were followed by the IRA reverting to type and carrying out more of its horrific murders and squalid criminality. We will judge the IRA’s bona fides over the next months and years based on its behavior and activity.
- Rev. Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
So the Irish Republican Army has renounced the use of violence and is disarming. After killing 1,775 people and maiming untolds thousands more over the past 35 years, the IRA has finally decided that violence is not the answer? These thugs have done little more than make a calculated political decision. They have determined that violent extremism will no longer suffice as a means toward achieiving their ends.
While renouncing violence is certainly a good and worthwhile thing, I see no reason why the IRA leadership deserves to be lauded for their decision. Indeed, the IRA is repsonsible for 1,775 murders at the very least. Ask the families of the dead and wounded whether they think the IRA should be congratulated and patted on the back. I’m sorry, but for 35 years, IRA thugs murdered innocent civilians in the name of their cause. Now that they have decided to stop committing murder, this is cause for congratulations? These murdering thugs should have long ago been put behind bars.
From Dublin to Washington, leaders voiced hope that the IRA really is going out of business after killing 1,775 people and maiming thousands more in a dogged but doomed campaign. In all, 3,650 people have been killed in the conflict over this British territory since 1969, the year the modern “Provisional” IRA was founded in Belfast with the aim of abolishing Northern Ireland as a predominantly Protestant corner of the United Kingdom.
“This statement is unprecedented. If the IRA’s words are borne out by verified actions, it will be a stark and momentous development,” said Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who has worked closely with Blair since 1997 to broker compromise in the British territory.
Interesting, isn’t it? After 35 years of murder and mayhem, the IRA finally decides to become law-abiding citizens, and political leaders throughout the West are falling all over themselves in lauding the IRA’s decision. SO, if al-Qaeda made a similar move, we’d congratulate them and welcome them into the political process as full participants? Oh, right…there’s that little matter of 9.11. Given the IRA’s murderous career, why should they be given a free pass?
I’m no fan of Rev. Paisley and his fellow Unionists, who have their own history of thuggery and brutality (though admittedly nowhere near as bloody and deadly as the IRA). Nonetheless, Paisley has a point. After 35 years of senseless murder and mayhem, there’s no reason to jump on the “pat the IRA on the back” bandwagon just yet.
Peace is good, if for no other reason than it sure as hell beats the alternative. In Ireland’s case, though, it has been 35 years of sectarian violence, hatred, and murder. Putting the pieces back together will not be an overnight process, but anything that doesn’t involve senseless murder and destruction has got to be a positive step.
Time will be the judge, and for Ireland’s sake, I hope the IRA will prove true to it’s word. Anything that reduce the senseless pain and suffering that has been Ireland’s lot since 1969 can only be a good thing. An even better thing would be bringing the IRA to justice for it’s 35-year-long reign of terror and murder. For now, though, I suppose we’ll have to settle for seeing the killing (hopefully) come to an end. That’s a good start…but it IS only a start. It’s going to take some time before Ireland can be made whole again, but stopping the violence can only assist in that process.
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