Peace in Ireland - at what price?

[garabaldi]

Came across this little snippett on another website recently - it's food for thought?

The sudden (?) capitulation of the IRA, fronted by Gerry Adams has been puzzling me. Here is an organisation that for years has been fighting and bombing fiercely and refusing to surrender or negotiate peace at any cost and then suddenly out the the blue they offer it.

I may be old and cynical but I smell a rat! - so I spoke to a few European friends with their ears to the ground.
I'd quite forgotten that the IRA have been accused of having relationships to the Basque movement, training camps in Libya and in the Bekkar valley and also the FARC in Columbia. So their fight was not just against the Brits but also aiding and abetting terrorism around the world it would seem. It wouldn't go down too well at the moment if IRA links to other Arab and European atrocities were exposed. they could get very bad publicity!
Now that the Brits and the rest of European secret services are working much more closely together and cooperatively, perhaps the IRA have decided the kitchen is indeed getting too hot and it's about time they cooled down?
I have no problems with the present actions I am just curious about the motives! - if there is a kernel of truth in all of this it would prove to me at least that the war on terrorism is being won and that Bush, even though I dislike the man is on the right track and so is Howard and Blair.
The spoils of all this warfare for the West maybe economical but I still believe we are witnessing ideological Holy Wars at play!

[Burnley (USA)]

On a great many points I find himself in agreement with you. But the term ideological Holy War, I have problems with-true that there is some religious dogma at play here but still I think it's best just to call it a war of ideological differing point of veiw. An as to why Adams thought now was the right time to start sucking up, it's because he knows a terrorist in Ireland is no different then a terrorist in Iraq and wider world is longer going to put up with there cr#^!!!!

[garabaldi]

Another view point recently offered was that the Americans had stopped giving the IRA any more money -perhaps because they were beginning to think they (IRA) looked like any other terrorist minus the dish clothe headband!

[wayneyboy1942]

I'm of the opinion that the people in Ireland must learn to draw a line under whats gone on in the past, and for the sake of their kids try and live together in peace! Both sides must look to the future and conpromise,lets hope peace can be found there after all these years of strife!