“We know only too well how in the Middle East and in Central America the pursuit of a militaristic and aggressive policy by US governments and by those governments it sponsored, led to the deaths of many thousands of innocent people. It will compound the tragedy of 11 September 2001 if that is repeated…it is a disaster area for which the `West' and its client governments bear much responsibility…”

  Quote taken from An Phoblact (IRA/Sinn Fein Newspaper)

Republicans Blame America

There has been a great deal of hypocrisy lately from the republican movement in Northern Ireland. There has been the hypocrisy of Gerry Adams and other Sinn Fein notables condemning the horrific act of terrorism that claimed thousands of innocent lives. It was hypocritical for the loyalist population to see such men condemning violence occurring many thousands of miles away yet not once have Sinn Fein condemned violence perpetrated by the IRA against innocent civilians in Northern Ireland. It was also hypocritical in that many of those condemning the violence have been responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the last three decades of violence and in some cases they were the hidden hands that directed the terrorism. Not once have Sinn Fein apologized for the violence of the last three decades, for the death and destruction caused by the IRA. When the loyalist paramilitaries announced their own ceasefire they offered their “abject and true remorse” to the loved ones of all those innocent victims of the troubles. The loyalist ceasefires have since then remained in tact, despite various attempts by the republican movement to provoke them to return to war. The IRA on the other hand offered no such apology to the victims of their own violence and instead talked of a conditional ceasefire that allowed the door to remain open for a return to violence should Sinn Fein believe that it was politically expedient. The IRA would soon break their ceasefire with the Canary Wharf bomb killing and injuring innocent British civilians on the mainland. Even when a splinter group of the IRA detonated a bomb in the town of Omagh killing some 28 innocent men, women and children (two of whom were killed in the womb of their mother) the representatives of Sinn Fein still refused to condemn the atrocity. Martin McGuinness, Minister for Education in the power-sharing executive, even went as far to urge republicans not to cooperate with the police on either side of the border in the hunt for the bombers. As a result the perpetrators remain at large.

The words of condemnation and sorrow from Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein must also leave a sour taste in the mouth of any American considering that the official view of the republican movement is that the Americans only have themselves to blame. The quote taken from An Phoblact, the newspaper of the IRA, takes the line that due to American foreign policy in the middle east they brought this destruction upon themselves. What slavish devotion to the policy line of the various Palestinian terrorist organizations and Islamic fundamentalism in general. This is just another affirmation of the close ties that exist between the IRA and their Palestinian counterparts. They appear to see the world, with regard to the situation in the Middle East, through the same distorted eyes. The Americans are yet again cast in the role as the great and evil imperialistic power whilst the various organizations resisting them are freedom fighters in the anti-imperialistic struggle. Loyalists realize that the situation in the Middle East is not as simple as the republican propagandist would have the world believe and we lay responsibility for the violence that was perpetrated against civilians at the feet of those who carried out the action. It would be easy to allege that the Taliban and the terrorist network it harbors are the creation of USA foreign policy but it would also be erroneous. That America supported and indeed armed the Mujhadin during the war against the Soviet Union is true but it is only a partial truth. Amongst those in the North of Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance, it is not the Americans who are blamed for the situation in which Afghanistan finds itself but the regime in Pakistan. Much of the resentment is fueled by the fact that although America armed the Mujahidin it was through a third party, that third party was Pakistan who at that time found themselves at the frontline of the cold war. Unfortunately weapons were channeled to the more fundamentalist element within the Mujahidin, as the Pakistani regime believed that these men were also the best fighters but it had more to do with the ethnic ties that exist between the dominant Islamic grouping within Afghanistan and Pakistan. The propagandists of Sinn Fein and the IRA, however, conveniently overlook this fact as it does not serve their anti-imperialist alliance, and does not mesh with their ideological view of America.

That the republican community, and a section of the Catholic community, supports the actions and motivations that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans can be seen in the streets of republican areas. On streets in republican areas of Belfast and Londonderry warped graffiti has begun to appear praising the actions of Bin Laden and his terrorist network.  One particular phrase, a pun on words, has started to appear on the walls in areas of Derry: “Penta-gone” a reference to the attack made on the Pentagon building that claimed the lives of hundreds of people who worked there. There has, however, been a much more tangible and public backlash against America as republicans have taken to the streets of Derry to demand that the American government halts its attacks upon Bin Laden, his terrorist organization and the Taliban who shelter him. At the head of recent “anti-war” protests has been the prominent republican Bernadette McAliskey who is well respected by all shades of republicanism due to her involvement in the “Battle of the Bogside”. She has called upon all republicans to pack the city of Londonderry as they did in the 1960s to protest at the bombing of Afghanistan. In support of the regime in Afghanistan a mass rally was organized, the first of many, in which hundreds of protestors voiced their anger at all things American. Amongst those taken part were Turkish militants who were supporting Turkish hunger strikers. The republican movement has vowed to create another Vietnam situation for the American people and their government with calls to organize against the war effort. A republican spokesperson stated: “That (the anti-American protests) is a proud history we should remember and repeat.” Although the protests are as yet small in comparison to those of the Vietnam war there is no doubting the potential for the weakening of the public resolve in America if as the bombings continue, with no end in sight, and the American public witness such scenes of anti-American fervour throughout the world, by those who are apparently supposed to be allies.

The capture of the Bogotá three also drew attention to the fact that the IRA and Sinn Fein have within their organizations a strong anti-American element. The capture of two IRA men and one Sinn Fein electoral coordinator, also an IRA man, has proved highly embarrassing to the republican movement. No amount of washing hands on the part of Sinn Fein, or offering of feeble excuses such as the men were merely on holiday enjoying the sights and smells of an area under the control of the FARC have been able to paper over this revelatory event. It confirmed the fears of many civilians in Northern Ireland that the IRA was still perfecting their weapons of destruction, gaining new explosive technology and supply routes for narcotics. It also was highly damaging for their American operations as America has made it a priority to try and combat the supply of narcotics from Columbia, a supply that is in part due to the actions of the FARC. The FARC make no secret of their anti-American hatreds and their leader Mr. Briceno has been quoted as saying:

“…combat them (America) wherever they may be, until we get to their own territory. To make them feel the pain they have inflicted on other peoples. To take away their economic resources from them by any means in order to defeat them. Reach out to North Americans who are unhappy and organise them. Reach out to black North Americans and make them see how they are discriminated against.”

That the IRA has made established links with the FARC must be extremely worrying not just to the American government but also to many citizens, particularly as this time of heightened terrorist activity. This alliance that has been forged between international terrorists will allow for a much greater sharing of technological innovation. It is probable that the IRA has already passed on its advanced bomb making skills, particularly in the field of fabricating detonating systems that cannot be detected by the security forces. Over 30 years of violence the IRA have perfected the ability to set off an explosion without any detection on the part of the security force scanners.

At the present moment Sinn Fein and the IRA are caught in a dilemma: they want to maintain good relations with American so as to bring into play American political clout as well as maintain fund raising activities but they also want to appease their supporters in Ireland who have deep seated hatreds for America and an anti-imperialistic analysis of American foreign policy. The result has been that the left hand has sometimes not known what the right hand has been doing. Thus, whilst we have had condemnation from some members of Sinn Fein the official line of their newspaper has been that America has brought this devastation upon itself. This official line is also the line of the republican community in general, and is finding increasingly vocal expression in terms of the protest rallies being organized in support of their fellow “anti-imperialistic” Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups. The IRA and Sinn Fein have also forged political and military links with the FARC, another organization that makes no secret of its anti-American views. It would appear that there has been realignment within the republican movement, with American support now regarded as secondary to the support that can be gained by making alliances with groups such as the FARC and other “anti-imperialist” groupings in the Middle East. This may well signal a new phase in their terrorist campaign in Northern Ireland, as we all know when government fails to deliver everything that the IRA want, a principle that hold true with regard to all terrorist groupings, then violence is once again resorted to in order to influence the political process. International terrorism as a whole is entering a new more deadly phase; we can only hope that this alliance between the IRA and the FARC/Middle East terrorism does not offer up to the people of the world any more scenes of carnage.

With friends like these: who needs enemies?