I miss Sicarius.

lol

miss me no longer

the war on terror is ridiculous, just like the war on drugs or the war on poverty or the war on illiteracy, in that they ghave all been complete failures.

Americans arnt very good at warring with words

I'm starting the war against the symbolic use of the word war to bolster a social cause.

who needs words! ALL problems can be solved with enough firepower.

weird, but true.

All it takes is some Russian soldier spilling coffee on their nuclear controls and all our problems are solved.

Wouldn't it be nuts if we detonated everynuke on one place... the Canadian shield for instance?

Useless scrap of land anyway.

Just like the rest of Canada

The onion are currently running a series on the "War for the White House"... brilliant coverage of the US election, though a bit of shame that it's so anti-McCain when both candidates have plenty of scope for ridicule.

yes i love the war for the west wing series, watch them thru youtube channel. thye have bit of a slant but maybe its just McCain has more to make fun off.

I am not sure if I understand this thread properly. When to the Americans fund the IRA? I know they helped the Taliban, but the IRA? That sounds unlikely.

I read that the American government supported Irish seccesion a while back but I'm pretty sure that funding the IRA is hearsay. Could you provide a source trim?

"It appears that if you bomb a country long enough and hard enough, the problems in the neighbouring countries disappear"

From a John Bird & John Fortune interview. (note sarcasm)

the american government never directly sponsered the ira but there was enough "fundraising" events in american which were there to provide funds for the ira, to be honest i was bored and watching al murray and he said that and i thought i would post it to see what kind of reaction i got.

"I'd like to thank {group or nation} for {conflict group or nation is involved in}, because if they hadn't {engaged in short term action}, then we wouldn't have {long term consequence of short term action, foreseen and unforeseen}!"

Ah yes, there were private citizens donating to the IRA. And I.m sure there were others donating to Protestant militias.

i doubt it considering the large catholic comuinity in america not to mention the irish

Well, the protestant community in America is larger. But it was the British secret service and army and the Northern Irish police that were openly cooperating with Loyalist militias.

The equivalent in Iraq would be the states backing the Shia to kick the Sunni out. That would stabilise everything.

I had a distant uncle in the IRA. Connor O'Flahertie, if you can believe it. He was a World War I veteran.

Thats very strange as an Irish Nationalist would be opposed to fighting in the World Wars. Was he conscripted?

so your related to a terrorist!

Depends on your definition of terrorist.

We think he was drafted, since Britain took a lot of soldiers from Ireland. I think he was my great grandmother's brother or maybe cousin who stayed behind or something. We mostly know about him from this little story. I suppose he got pretty jaded from the war.

He fought when it was really a war for freedom, not terrorism. I know that's pretty subjective, but 800 years of British domination ought to be put in perspective. The violence wouldn't be justified now that there is an Irish state, albeit an incomplete one.

well the ira targeted civilains just like al qaeda so they are exactly the same, the american government counts the tailban as terrorists so whats the diference between them and the ira?

Sent from: Centurian (69 ) Sent: 06:25 PM
Depends on your definition of terrorist.
=======================================
This is a good point for many people such as Nelson Mandela and others I just can't think of at the moment could be refered to as terrorist or freedom fighter depending on your point of view. Is there a neutral term for such a person?

Clearly you don't know alot about the IRA. They showed a general humanity to their attacks that was not evident in those of Al-Qaeda. For instance, when they were about to set off a carbomb they would often phone the building it was in front of to warn them. The vast majority of civilian deaths were caused by bomb accidents or they were informers. Not saying its the right way to go about it, but its just not a comparison.

As for your comment Maniac, thats a good point. Nelson Mandela is currently on the official terrorist watchlist because he is a member of the ANC which was considered terrorist during apartheid. Of course it is the governing party of South Africa now.

but they still set off the bombs though didnt they im not saying there on the same level but both groups are terrorists pure and simple.

Use a goddamn period.