7 January 1999 Edition
Back issue: Twenty years on
Almost twenty years after the British army was deployed on the streets of Belfast and Derry a question which must eventually be answered is still being avoided by many people who have a justifiable desire to see peace in Ireland. This question could be framed in the following manner:
``Are we all doing what each of us needs to do to create the necessary conditions to bring about an end to the war?''
One technique that is constantly employed to avoid this question is to refuse to accept that there is a war being fought at all! This position has its genesis in the propagandist rationale of the British government which argues that it is involved in a peacekeeping role in Ireland and that the British army is active in Ireland only in support of the civil power. Obviously someone forgot to tell the SAS regiment and the paratroopers who shot fourteen unarmed civilians during the Bloody Sunday massacre. Although this position is patently dishonest it is possible to understand why the British have adopted this strategy because of a need to placate international opinion.
``Are we all doing what each of us needs to do to create the necessary conditions to bring about an end to the war?''
One technique that is constantly employed to avoid this question is to refuse to accept that there is a war being fought at all! This position has its genesis in the propagandist rationale of the British government which argues that it is involved in a peacekeeping role in Ireland and that the British army is active in Ireland only in support of the civil power. Obviously someone forgot to tell the SAS regiment and the paratroopers who shot fourteen unarmed civilians during the Bloody Sunday massacre. Although this position is patently dishonest it is possible to understand why the British have adopted this strategy because of a need to placate international opinion.