When I heard of Gerry Adams arrest I was reminded of this remark from Norman Tebbit, which, though it doesn't give his name clearly means him.
" ...even the politicians within the Northern Ireland Office did not understand that despite their defeatism, the Army and security services had the IRA by the throat and on its knees, and that was why it sought a ceasefire and negotiation of a settlement.
As we all now know, our security service had informers in the highest councils of IRA/Sinn Fein.
Inevitably that meant that even with the knowledge of a planned bombing the security services could not always act to prevent it without giving away the identity of their informers.
What they could do, and I understand did do, was to methodically acquire the evidence with which one very senior IRA/Sinn Fein killer was to have been charged with eight killings.
I suspect that it was that which precipitated the IRA/Sinn Fein plea for talks. All that has now been exposed about the secret letters which in effect gave immunity from prosecution to a number of the "On The Runs" makes me wonder about what understandings were give before the senior IRA/Sinn Fein terrorists took their seats at the table to agree what is commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement."
Any sort of deal with the IRA would always have to have included not having one side prosecuting the other. I'm not going to say it shouldn't have been made when not making it, even if the IRA had been beaten, would have meant more deaths, but neither am I certain the Agreement was right - perhaps we may know the answer in a century.
Nonetheless it is worth it being publicly acknowledged that Adams and the rest did kill wholly innocent people.
It is said that "truth is the first casualty in war". It should not also be the last.
" ...even the politicians within the Northern Ireland Office did not understand that despite their defeatism, the Army and security services had the IRA by the throat and on its knees, and that was why it sought a ceasefire and negotiation of a settlement.
As we all now know, our security service had informers in the highest councils of IRA/Sinn Fein.
Inevitably that meant that even with the knowledge of a planned bombing the security services could not always act to prevent it without giving away the identity of their informers.
What they could do, and I understand did do, was to methodically acquire the evidence with which one very senior IRA/Sinn Fein killer was to have been charged with eight killings.
I suspect that it was that which precipitated the IRA/Sinn Fein plea for talks. All that has now been exposed about the secret letters which in effect gave immunity from prosecution to a number of the "On The Runs" makes me wonder about what understandings were give before the senior IRA/Sinn Fein terrorists took their seats at the table to agree what is commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement."
Any sort of deal with the IRA would always have to have included not having one side prosecuting the other. I'm not going to say it shouldn't have been made when not making it, even if the IRA had been beaten, would have meant more deaths, but neither am I certain the Agreement was right - perhaps we may know the answer in a century.
Nonetheless it is worth it being publicly acknowledged that Adams and the rest did kill wholly innocent people.
It is said that "truth is the first casualty in war". It should not also be the last.
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