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Omagh Bomb Was Britain's Fault
As I said previously, I will (unlike some journalists) try and reserve judgement on The Wind That Shakes The Barley until I get a chance to see it, however it seems that my initial initial doubts over the director's mental state (apparently he's on the 'national council' of the Respect coalition too) may have been valid after all.
I stumbled across an interview with Ken Loach tonight while looking for Northern Ireland news and I'm glad I did, because I've been enlightened. For you see not only is Ken Loach an award winning film-maker, he has actually uncovered the genesis of the "Irish problem". It's all Britain's fault. No, I'm not being overly dramatic to emphasise my point, he actually believes the whole problem here is the "entire" responsibility of the British.
"The IRA of the 60s and 70s was a product of the despicable treaty that the British imposed at the point of a gun. If the British hadn't imposed partition, there would be no Provisional IRA. The entire responsibility lies with the British state. The entire responsibility. Everything that has emerged has been a protest, sometimes a violent protest, sometimes an aberrant protest, but nevertheless a protest, from the brutality of the British and the brutality of the British Empire embodied in bastards like Churchill, who not only sent the troops into Ireland, he sent the troops against Welsh miners in his own country when they wanted a decent wage. So I mean we should have no tolerance at all for these questions that try to indicate that somehow the resistance to British brutality is not acceptable."
Ken Loach, director of The Wind That Shakes The Barley [original emphasis used]
By the way, from what I can find (just through a couple of minutes searching mind you) it seems the troops were only on standby to assist the police. I won't even comment on the hypocricy of deeming Wales "his own country" but not Northern Ireland.