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Irish America - It Must Seem So Romantic...
Getting it so unbelievably wrong for decades... and still going strong
According to a report in the Belfast Telegraph the Oirish-Americans of Boston who provided the guns and ammunition used in the slaughter of innocent Ulsterfolk seem to remain an ignorant bigoted old bunch; probably even more so than the people who actually live in Northern Ireland. I don't know if they buy the propaganda through laziness or sheer stupidity, but lets look at a few quotes from people the Tele says "never viewed unionists as the enemy."
Joe Dillon, who promoted "the cause" for decades in the US, seems to hark back through rose-tinted glasses for the days of slaughter and mayhem, of civilians being blown to pieces.
Maybe the relative peace and eventual turning of public opinion against murder leaves a bitter taste in Joe's mouth because deep down he knows he was in the wrong for so many years but doesn't want to face that uncomfortable truth? Much better to bandy about accusations of being sell outs and ramble on about the 'struggle for Irish freedom' (never mind the other uncomfortable fact that people of whatever religious persuasion in Northern Ireland are as free as anywhere else in the western world).
Follow up:
A man described as "a major player in supplying weaponry to the IRA for over a decade" voices opposition to decommissioning so the threat of violence can still be used to "keep loyalists under control" before regurgitating some standard Noraid/Sinn Fein rubbish.
"The fact that stuff would still be in a dump and was still available would tend to hold back certain elements - the Ku Klux Klan element - in the north. These people, loyalists, are basically cowards and any thought that there may be retaliation against them tended to keep them in control. They didn't even think too much of the police. The police certainly weren't doing it - the police were taking part in it."
Former IRA gun-runner "Matthew" on IRA decommissioning
I'm guessing he picked up the well rehearsed KKK reference and the crap about the police off a cheap pamphlet being handed out in an Oirish bar on Paddy's day. Looking at what he said, I can't help but be reminded of the opening lines of SLF's Each Dollar A Bullet.
He then goes on to say that 9/11 (bad, obviously) but the IRA's decades-long murder campaign (good, apparently) "are two totally different situations." OK Matthew, one was longer and more drawn-out, provoking fear and mistrust for decades and killing thousands. The other was a short, sharp shock involving the sudden slaughter of tens-of-thousands. The only differences are time and scale. They're equally reprehensible actions from people who were unable to further their cause through rational debate (even with America on their side) so resorted to violence to get their own way, like a child throwing its toys from the pram - in a tragically deadly way.
The worst of it is that I'd bet that aside from longing for the slaughter of thousands of innocent men and women, these folk probably lead fairly ordinary lives. Organisations that spread this sort of rubbish about Northern Ireland, and especially those that continue to do so, are dangerous, and their brainwashing is just as responsible for the murders as those sending the guns. The question is how to go about putting the record-straight, and how to get people to listen to what they don't want to hear?
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Most of the younger people interviewed are more supportive of the peace process. That's the story.
Referring to Northern Ireland as ‘the British run province’ only reaffirms the anti-British agenda that is rife throughout the US media, and this inaccurate reporting continues to re-write the world for the convenience of the US reader. Yesterday Fox News referred to Blair as the British ‘Head of State.’ Has he been promoted?
There should be some effort on the side of the UK government to stem this tide, or perhaps the media here should refer to Texas as the north of Mexico (and Arizona, New Mexico and California) But that would be stooping to their level.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that Oirish-Americans see republican terrorists as freedom fighters. Any attempt to point out parallels with their own history always falls on deaf ears. If, as a US citizen told me, the plantation of Ulster was ethnic cleansing, surely then the movement of thousands of settlers onto the lands of the native population of North America is comparable. Apparently not. It is wrong for the British Army to shoot dead IRA terrorists in Gibraltar but it is fine for the US air force to bomb AQ members in Somalia. It is wrong for the British government to find an Irish terrorist guilty in a court of law but the US can incarcerate ‘illegal combatants’ indefinitely. The republican movements links with FARC, ETA, Hamas and Hezbollah are always overlooked in the US – well we would not want that facts to get in the way of a good old rant. The list goes on.
The crimes of Oirish terrorists in the were always described as ‘political’ by the USA, and until they stop using their green tinted glasses and realise that crimes were committed on both sides there will always be geographically challenged idiots singing the same old ‘brits out’ tune. The average Oirish-American was always fairly keen on terrorism when it was 4000 miles away – they soon changed their tune after 9/11.
On the bright side Dillon is 79 and Madden is 80, so both will soon be pushing up the daisies and can sing their rebel songs with their good friend Bobby.
Newsflash - they were political. That says nothing about the rights and wrongs of them. When the situation started getting treated like a political problem rather than criminal one, we moved forward.
I will try and remember next time somebody tells me that 9/11 was terrorism. No – it’s a 'political crime’ by the brave and noble Muslim freedom fighters of AQ, struggling to throw of the shackles of the American oppressors who have occupied their land. LOL.
Knock yourself out on this thread – the murder of my uncle (an Irish catholic killed because he walked past a car packed with explosives) furthered the cause of a United Ireland by…….. Don’t tell me, ‘acceptable loss,’ ‘casualty of the struggle,’ ‘unfortunate’ or ‘regrettable.’
No, that is objective fact. The IRA was politically motivated, and had clear political objectives. Treating the situation as "criminal" and attempting to ignore that was incredibly destructive and prolonged the conflict. When did we move forward? When the British started talking to the IRA and the Hume started talking to Adams. The "peace process" is a political process. A political solution to political violence.
"I will try and remember next time somebody tells me that 9/11 was terrorism. No – it’s a 'political crime’ by the brave and noble Muslim freedom fighters of AQ, struggling to throw of the shackles of the American oppressors who have occupied their land. LOL."
9/11 is different in that there is a much greater religious component, and any political goals are deeply caught up in that. There is still some room for political action though; a lot of Muslims /are/ suffering as a result of Western policy, and your a fool if you deny it. That fuels resentments that Al-Qaeda use, and dealing with it could at least lessen problems.
"Knock yourself out on this thread – the murder of my uncle (an Irish catholic killed because he walked past a car packed with explosives) furthered the cause of a United Ireland by…….. Don’t tell me, ‘acceptable loss,’ ‘casualty of the struggle,’ ‘unfortunate’ or ‘regrettable.’"
I am sorry for your loss. Personally, I don't believe violence helped bring about a United Ireland at all; quite the opposite. I do understand why people did it, even though I disagree with them, and I understand why people on the other side did things there too, and I understand that once in a situation, it can become terribly hard to get out.
This is harsh, but what you are saying is meaningless in the context. You could easily say how does an innocent Iraqi who was blown up by a US bomb further the cause of freedom in the Middle East? How did dropping bombs on civilians in Dresden halt WW2? How did dropping Napalm on little girls stop the spread of Communism? Innocent people on all sides die in wars. There are political and moral reasons why the Troubles were wrong, but that is a cheap argument.
And just in the interests of balance - we should remember that the IRA wasn't the only actor in the Troubles.
Where the attrocities carried out by the UVF/UDA/UFF et all also 'political acts'?.
And the ethnic cleansing against Protestants in South Armagh..is that Political too?
Where the attrocities carried out by the UVF/UDA/UFF et all also 'political acts'?."
In many cases, yes.
"And the ethnic cleansing against Protestants in South Armagh..is that Political too?"
Don't belittle ethnic cleansing by comparing anything that happened here to any example of it.
i.e. The Shankill Butchers, Greysteel etc.
I'd also be interested if you could expand on the Political Agenda that was furthered by the La Mon House massacare?
If its not Ethnic Cleansing then what do you call it?
Or perhaps we could leave the whataboutery for another day? I'd say it's a fair bet most if not all of the actions were motivated both by "politics" (or what passes for it here) and blind sectarianism. There's nothing to gain from trying to dissect the exact composition in each and every one.
Anyone got any ideas on what might be done to prevent folk from getting caught up in romantic notions of either side's struggle? Maybe even teach people to cut through the loaded words (even if often that doesn't leave much by the way of actual content)?
"Anyone got any ideas on what might be done to prevent folk from getting caught up in romantic notions of either side's struggle"
Those who see romance in the actions of either side are people who are ignorant and/or bigoted, I don't know how you deal with cretins like that, I suppose calling them cretins isn't PC oops!!!
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