I fail to see how anyone can regard the paramilitaries of either side of the Troubles as 'heroes'. Perhaps there was a time in Ireland's past where the only way to make a change and protect your nearest and dearest was with violence, but that has not been the case for a long time.
I think you need to ask yourself who exactly the paramilitaries are protecting people from, and the answer is the paramilitaries. I don't particularly care which side they're on, but they're killing, maiming, robbing and poisoning people while coincidentally lining their own pockets, while romanticising their actions with a spuriously noble cause.
There has been no reason for the violence for years, save that of racketeering and unjust vengeance. In the last decade the ballot box and political process has achieved far more than the guns. Indeed, it is the guns that have set the process back time and again. There are people out there who are afraid of peace. Who fear a time when they cannot be 'the big men' because they perpetrate violence with a gang of other cowards behind them to bring more violence to bear. How many or these organisations have the word 'Army' or 'Force' in their titles? They are organisations purely bent towards violence and their time is past. Anyone wishing to support their own view can do so through due political process now, and should be able to do so without threat of physical or psychological retribution.
Killers and thugs are not heroes. They are small men who seek to put the fear and inadequacy they feel into others' hearts and so find a sort of comparative courage. In most of my working years in Northern Ireland I worked for and supported those who represented my views, but never once did I find myself forced to commit violence or an illegal act against another person.
As for those who have gone from the gun to the soapbox: I can respect them for setting aside past misdeeds if they are willing to atone and acknowledge the wrongs they have done. Blatant hypocrisy in a leader is never a pleasant thing to see.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2005-03-03 05:16 pm (UTC)I think you need to ask yourself who exactly the paramilitaries are protecting people from, and the answer is the paramilitaries. I don't particularly care which side they're on, but they're killing, maiming, robbing and poisoning people while coincidentally lining their own pockets, while romanticising their actions with a spuriously noble cause.
There has been no reason for the violence for years, save that of racketeering and unjust vengeance. In the last decade the ballot box and political process has achieved far more than the guns. Indeed, it is the guns that have set the process back time and again. There are people out there who are afraid of peace. Who fear a time when they cannot be 'the big men' because they perpetrate violence with a gang of other cowards behind them to bring more violence to bear. How many or these organisations have the word 'Army' or 'Force' in their titles? They are organisations purely bent towards violence and their time is past. Anyone wishing to support their own view can do so through due political process now, and should be able to do so without threat of physical or psychological retribution.
Killers and thugs are not heroes. They are small men who seek to put the fear and inadequacy they feel into others' hearts and so find a sort of comparative courage. In most of my working years in Northern Ireland I worked for and supported those who represented my views, but never once did I find myself forced to commit violence or an illegal act against another person.
As for those who have gone from the gun to the soapbox: I can respect them for setting aside past misdeeds if they are willing to atone and acknowledge the wrongs they have done. Blatant hypocrisy in a leader is never a pleasant thing to see.
Make of that what you will.