Michael Stone At Stormont

In the midst of all the drama happening up at Stormont, a lot of people seem to be revelling in mirth at the idiocy of the man. But despite the laughter, it must be remembered that this is a cold-hearted murderer. Aside from killing three people at a funeral in Milltown Cemetary in Belfast in 1988, he was also responsible for the deaths of at least three other people. The father of nine has been rebranding himself in recent years as an 'artist', but clearly today's events show that Stone is still an absolutle nutcase.

Loyalists complain that Sinn Féin is about to go into government, but that they are excluded from the process. However, perhaps if they chose more stable people to represent them instead of psychos who scrawl graffiti on the outside of Stormont before attempting to storm it with a bag, then they might get somewhere.

Hopefully Stone's actions today will land him back in prison where the only damage he can do is to himself.

Update: I just discovered this post by Parnell from earlier this year when Michael Stone appeared on the BBC programme Facing The Truth: http://elblogador.blogspot.com/2006/02/blood-from-stone.html ElBlogador.com

All Hail Our Glorious Leaders

And so it is that today the two largest parties in the north- the DUP and Sinn Féin- are scheduled to nominate the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister to be. Contrary to popular belief, both posts are created equal, and therefore Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness' roles will be constitutionally identical.

So what will the future hold with these two political juggernauts in place? It is said that David Trimble and Séamus Mallon didn't get on very well, but when you compare it with the partnership of Anti-Catholic Numero Uno Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, the man who said that Sinn Féin had 'absolutely no intention of going into Stormont' and that that position would 'never, never, never change,' then it seems like Trimble/ Mallon was a partnership made in heaven.

You think I'm lying? Well check out this... ElBlogador.com

Gerry Fitt

The Belfast Telegraph has some interesting extracts from Chris Ryder's new book on Gerry Fitt: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=715432

Update: Hearts and Minds tonight featured a discussion with Chris Ryder and Professor Richard English on Fitt and Irish Nationalism- online here (about two-thirds of the way through): http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/realmedia/hearts.ram ElBlogador.com

The Reverend Ivan Foster

The Reverend Ivan Foster of Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church has come out against power-sharing with Sinn Féin, saying: "The thought of one so highly esteemed and loved as Ian Paisley in political coalition with Martin McGuinness, I would say, is heart-breaking to most, if not every Free Presbyterian."

Is this the same Ivan Foster who attended a meeting at the Ulster Hall just over 20 years ago, during which loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance was formed?

Is this the same Ivan Foster who it has been alleged was the Third Force’s Fermanagh commander a few years previous to this?

Oh, and for the record (and at a slight digression), this is the same Ivan Foster who decribed the NSPCC's efforts to get corporal punishment banned as 'evil'.

And it is the same Ivan Foster who had the following to say on gay relationships: "Consequently I abhor the legalising of sodomy. I like that term , because if nothing else it annoys those who prefer to use modern euphemisms for what is nothing less than the sin which is associated with a city the doom of which is recorded in scripture."

Why would anyone listen to this man? ElBlogador.com

A Grave Mistake

What is it about vandalising graves in the north? Over the weekend, remembrance crosses that were placed on over 100 graves beside St. Patrick's Church of Ireland in Newry were ripped up and strewn across the graveyard- worse attacks have happened in the past at the church, with graves being damaged and windows broken. The attack was reminiscent of one two years ago when vandals attacked the Republican Plot in St. Mary's Catholic Church (the Old Chapel) graveyard in the city, destroying it with sledgehammers. And of course we have the routine desecration of graves at Carnmoney cemetery outside Belfast.

What do these people hope to achieve? Does it help them sleep better at night knowing that they have attacked someone’s final resting place, in the process probably adding to the anguish already being felt by the dead person’s family?

Those who attacked the graveyard in Newry over the weekend may have done so in the drunken belief that they were having a go at the 'Prods', but in fact, such actions damage all the people of Newry. St. Patrick's forms an integral part of the town's history- in fact, it is the oldest Protestant church in Ireland, dating from 1578. During the 1798 rebellion, a gallows was set up nearby, and United Irishmen were hanged and beheaded there- the area is still known as Gallows Hill. And the Presbyterian Irish Republican John Mitchel is buried alongside his parents just across the street at the Old Meeting House.

Just because some do not agree with the mode of commemoration which people choose for their deceased relatives, doesn’t mean that they should attack those relatives’ graves at places like St. Patrick's. Likewise with the Republican Plot- regardless of one’s views on physical force republicanism, the fact remains that such plots contain the remains of people, some of whom died violently, and their families have a right to remember them in whatever way they wish. It’s nobody else’s business.

It has nothing to do with making a judgement call about the religion, life or political affiliation of the dead- it is simply about common decency, in which some people seem to be sadly lacking. ElBlogador.com

PSNI Welcome In South Armagh

A report by Liam Clarke in this week's Sunday Times has revealed that the PSNI received 1,637 calls from people living in Crossmaglen and Forkhill in the past year asking for assistance or reporting crime- there is a combined population of only 2,000 people in these two places.

So the old CRJ mobile phones must be pretty quiet these days.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Bobby Hunniford said that such 'restorative justice' groups have often arrived at crime scenes before his officers but fade away once police arrive. "In legal and practical terms they can’t investigate crime."

Quite. People realise that the only way to catch and prosecute criminals such as speeding drivers who kill other people on the roads is by involving the police (especially if family members of provos are involved, which would prejudice any 'investigation' by self-apppointed provo-infiltrated groups).

Hunniford also revealed that a drive to recruit part-time officers in Newry and Mourne had been massively oversubscribed, with more than twice as many people applying as was needed.

SDLP councillor Geraldine Donnelly, who lives in the Crossmaglen area, said in the past there was "fear and apprehension" about going to the police, but "that attitude is gradually breaking down because people want normality".

The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Sinn Féin has already lost the policing argument, hence the fact that it is about to sign up to the Patten structures. It is now time to let the police do their job, and if their standard of work is not up to the mark, then to hold them to account. Bitching from the sidelines when the police doesn't do its job properly (despite the hilarious fact that those who complain in such a manner are the same ones who oppose the PSNI's very presence in certain areas in the first place) helps no one. The only way to ensure proper policing is to ensure the proper accountability of policing.

Meanwhile, the abstentionist 'MPs' of Sinn Féin have again left the SDLP to sort out a mess which affects us all- the proposed role of MI5 in the north.

The SDLP is tabling an amendment at Westminster to the Northern Ireland Bill, the legislation which will bring the St. Andrews Agreement into law. The SDLP's demands, if successful, would give the Police Ombudsman powers to investigate security operations that jointly involve MI5 and the PSNI.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: "If we don't act on this then MI5's role will undermine the whole point of Patten, which was to grant some democratic control and scrutiny over security policies.

"If the status quo remains, any future Minister of Justice or Policing will have no access, let alone control of, a crucial part of security policy. In the event of a terrorist outrage taking place here, a Minister of Justice would be standing up in the Assembly unable to give the full intelligence picture as he or she wouldn't have any access to that intelligence."

While the SDLP is maximising the power of its democratic mandate to prevent the MI5 aberration, Sinn Féin is staring blankly into space, preferring instead to wine and dine with the British Prime Minister and to go begging in America to line their pockets with money of apparently dubious origin.

Sinn Féin has plenty of experience of throwing dogma in the bin (destruction of the economy, use of armed conflict, opposing the principle of consent, etc. etc.) so there is no reason why it can't do the same at Westminster and take its seats to secure an accountable security system for the north. In the meantime, the SDLP is left to represent the true needs of nationalists and the community-at-large.

At least someone's prepared to roll-up their sleeves and do the work. ElBlogador.com

The 7th March 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly Elections: My Predictions

So the British Government has decreed that there will be Assembly elections next March. First off, it has to be said that this is wholly unnecessary- aside from being a waste of taxpayers' money, there is no legitimate reason to cut short the democratically mandated term of office of the 108 current MLAs. This election is simply and solely an attempt by the DUP to annihilate the Ulster Unionists, and as usual the British Government has acquiesced by way of backdoor deals.

Speaking of unionism, the current state of affairs in that camp is too volatile to enable an accurate prediction to be made on how things will go in March, so I'm not going to bother. Suffice to say, the DUP will consolidate its position as by far and away the largest unionist party, but due to PR-STV and six-seater constituencies, this will not be by the same stretch it enjoyed following the 2005 General Election.

On the nationalist side, I'm willing to go out on a limb and make the following predictions based on mathematical calculations (assisted by the graph I created above) and the current state of affairs:

Sinn Féin will remain on 24 seats, capturing 24% of the overall votes cast.

The SDLP will gain two seats overall, bringing it up to a representation of 20 in the Assembly. This will be the result of them securing 19% of votes.

In the two previous Assembly elections we have had, Sinn Féin's number of seats has coincidentally been the same as the percentage of the vote it received, and this is likely to be the case again.

Meanwhile, the SDLP tends to get a boost on the percentage of first preference votes it receives, through transfers, and this will likely be reflected in March's election. The party will also benefit from a small but not insignificant rump of republicanism who are disillusioned with the provisionals and are now more likely to identify with groups such as Sinn Féin Poblachtach. While these votes will simply disappear rather than going to the SDLP, it will take the edge off Provisional Sinn Féin's dominance. Likewise, the SDLP should benefit from a much weakened UUP across the north, which will help it consolidate its current position and pick up a couple of seats. One of these will be in Newry and Armagh (probably at the expense of Sinn Féin's Pat O'Rawe, assuming Davy Hyland runs again) and another in a heretofore unionist constituency.

Of course, these forecasts are based the situation currently, and a lot can change in three months. But assuming everything goes smoothly (and that's a big assumption) this is my prediction. ElBlogador.com

UVF Event Allowed At Belfast City Hall?

Shocking evidence has emerged that the Ulster Volunteer Force, a violently anti-Catholic terrorist organisation formed in the 1960s, may have been allowed to hold a ceremony at Belfast City Hall and deface the War Memorial with a sickening UVF wreath.

It appears that the UVF held a ceremony on Sunday, during which they laid the wreath at the city's Cenotaph.

SDLP MLA and Councillor Alban Maginness condemned the event and has called for an immediate investigation into the alleged UVF commemoration.

"This is an outrage. I am deeply concerned about information over a paramilitary forming of ranks on Remembrance Sunday.

"Thousands of young Irish and British people lost their lives in both world wars and hundreds have lost their lives to the modern UVF’s murder gangs.

"I want to know who has tolerated this on city council property for nearly a decade.

"In typical paramilitary fashion it seems it was a clandestine event and could have caused considerable fear for people in the area.

If the UVF want to become an old-boys’ commemorative organisation, then we will be expecting them to hand in their guns forthwith."

It is believed that the paramilitary event has been taking place annually since 1998.

The UVF is an illegal terrorist organisation which has slaughtered people indiscriminately for decades and continues to hold many unionist areas to ransom. It named itself after the original Ulster Volunteers in an attempt to gain respectability, but anyone with a modicum of sense realises that this is merely historical vandalism.

At a time when people from all sides of the community are beginning to examine the contribution which both nationalists and unionists made during the Great War, and when the Irish Government has officially recognised the sacrifice made by Irish troops at the time, the last thing that anyone wants is for bloodthirsty thugs from the UVF to stage an attempted hijacking of the issue- this would simply serve to make it more difficult for nationalists (and many unionists) to fully examine and publicly mark the memory of those who fought.

Neither unionists nor nationalists benefit from this crass charade by the UVF- it is time for them to leave the stage. ElBlogador.com

Target: Ireland

The BBC has uncovered startling revelations that Ireland is seen as a legitimate target by Islamist terrorists on account of the fact that American military planes are allowed to land here.

It has been discovered that Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was been banned from Britain last year, is holding online discussions with would-be Islamist terrorists. He previously ran the radical al-Muhajiroun group from London until it was proscribed.

During an online question and answer session, someone asked Omar Bakri Mohammed if Dublin Airport should be a terrorist target because US troops stop there on their way to Iraq.

He replied: "Hit the target and hit it very hard, that issue should be understood. Your situation there is quite difficult therefore the answer lies in your question."

This sends out a clear message, as if any were needed, that US military planes must not be allowed to land in Ireland.

Ireland is a neutral country, and should not be seen as taking sides in any international conflict. The revelations also show the danger posed by MI5's planned arrival in Northern Ireland, which will spread the terrorist threat from London to this part of the world.

It is time for Irish people to stand together. We've had enough violence in this country- the last thing we need is to suffer because of other people's misadventures. ElBlogador.com

Policing: A Lot Of Work Done, Much More To Do

I attended a rather interesting SDLP meeting with PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde over the weekend. Basically he gave a short speech, and then those attending had the opportunity to quiz him on any topic they wished.

I think the existence of this meeting in itself was a simple example of how much policing has changed in recent years- if one were to have suggested 10 years ago that the RUC Chief Constable would put himself on the line to face a barrage of unscripted questioning from politically-informed nationalists, people would have laughed in your face. Indeed, Orde has offered to address Provisional Sinn Féin members in relation to policing, but Alex Maskey responded that they "only want to listen to their own views". How enlightened...

At the Orde meeting I attended, he faced questions on a number of important issues including collusion, MI5, low-staffing at PSNI stations, tasers, removal of illegal flags from lamposts (or, more accurately, why they haven't been removed), and the work of the Historical Enquiries Team. These are issues which are important to nationalists across the north, and this meeting ensured that Orde was made fully aware of the nationalist views on them.

For his part, Orde was candid with his responses- from what I saw, his answers were pretty honest and he admitted to problems and shortcomings where they existed.

Aside from the issues mentioned above which Orde fielded questions on, one important area where the PSNI needs to improve is in its ability to solve day-to-day crimes such as burglary and car theft. Loyalist and Republican attempts to keep the PSNI out of 'their areas' has hindered attempts to promote community policing, but I think we're getting to a point whereby the communities of the north can feel they have a stakeholding in policing- hopefully this can increase the flow of information and improve crimefighting across the north for the benefit of everyone here (and to the detriment of criminals).

Policing in the north has changed beyond all recognition in recent years. However, I am first to admit that there is still a long way to go before we have fully integrated and effective policing here. In the meantime, the best way to expedite this transition is to fully utilise the Patten structures and to make the PSNI fully accountable to the people whom it serves. ElBlogador.com

Lest We Forget

Let us proudly remember the brave people from across the island of Ireland who put themselves on the line, at the risk of death and injury, in battle.

Rest In Peace.
ElBlogador.com

Catch Yourselves On!

The families of the Omagh bomb victims have still not seen a memorial stone erected for their loved ones at the site of the explosion.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the slaughter by the Real IRA in 1998, claims that it is because Sinn Féin in the area does not agree with the wording for the proposed monument. The families want it to read "To honour and remember 31 people murdered and hundreds injured from three nations by a dissident republican terrorist car bomb." Apparently the provisionals don't like the use of the word 'terrorist'.

For Christ's sake, lads. If that's what the people want, then that's what they should get. Anyone who can say that the mass slaughter of 29 innocent people and unborn twins was not an act of terror needs their heads seen to.

Sinn Féin in the area needs to choose between a misguided allegiance to their erstwhile chums who now constitute the Real IRA, or standing alongside the vast majority of people in Ireland who want to live by the rule of law and ensure that others are held accountable by it. This has nothing to do with the national question, but simply and solely to do with common decency and courtesy towards those who suffered a loss on that terrible day.

According to the BBC, even SF councillors in the area are contradicting each other, with some saying that they had seen the planned inscription and others claiming that they hadn't. Either way, it is irrelevant- it is up to the victims' families to speak their minds and have their say, regardless of whether local provos disagree or not. ElBlogador.com

Hearts And Minds Poll: Good And Bad News For The SDLP

The BBC Hearts and Minds poll, taken following the St. Andrews Agreement, makes for interesting reading. It seems that nationalists and unionists are tilting towards supporting the arrangement, although apparently not to the same extent as was enjoyed by the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

However, as a bit of an aside, the poll asked respondents which party best represented their views- 30.6% of people said the DUP, 20.1% favoured Sinn Fein, 17.7% backed the Ulster Unionists and 16.8% supported the SDLP.

SDLP Deputy Leader Alasdair McDonnell said in response to the survey: "Today’s poll shows that the growth in the SDLP share of the vote continues to rise. Looking at the overall nationalist vote the SDLP share of this has risen from 42% at last year's General Election to over 45% in today’s poll. These figures, taken in conjunction with other polls in circulation, point to a clear rise in support within the nationalist community for the SDLP."

It does indeed point to a rise within the nationalist vote for the SDLP. But the figures overall from 2005 were thus:

Sinn Féin: 24.32%

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP): 17.51%.

This reveals that there has been a drop in the overall nationalist vote, with SF falling by four percentage points and the SDLP by roughly three-quarters of a percentage point. While the SF drop is of course good news for the SDLP (and possibly due to republican disillusionment with SF's semi-commitment to policing), the SDLP is still not recapturing the votes it lost to Sinn Féin. However, the potential of SF suffering from 'Stay At Home Syndrome' similar to that endured by the SDLP, may indeed benefit the latter.

The SDLP's recent notable successes, such as in defeating the proposed OTR legislation and in promoting a North-South agenda, must be continued if the party is to wrest back the votes it haemorraged in 2001 to Sinn Féin and to encourage its inactive supporters back to the polling stations.

The journey has begun, but there is still a long way to go.

Ádh mór orthu! [ElBlogador.com]

A Pain In The Arse

Some fool in England has landed himself in hospital after a firework he attempted to launch from his backside ended up burning him. Here's a clip from YouTube which illustrates what he was presumably aiming to achieve... ElBlogador.com

Justice At Last: Executed Great War Soldiers Pardoned

The British Government has taken action to clear the names of over 300 servicemen who were executed in World War I for 'cowardice', an issue which was highlighted on El Blogador over a year ago.

Apart from the fact that capital punishment is wrong, these men were often duped or conscripted into a war in which they were used as pawns by the comfortably safe British Upper Classes. Also, most of those shot at dawn were probably suffering from the condition which we today know as post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing sheer horror on the fields of France and Belgium. All this comes in addition to the fact that they were not afforded a proper trial.

Of course there were many who ensured the war with bravery and valour, but some people just weren't able to deal with the enormity of the situation- they didn't deserve to die for that shortcoming though.

According to the BBC, the sentences will not be cancelled (obviously- it's a bit late now considering they were shot dead), nor will the convictions (I'm not quite sure what this means- I would have thought that the whole point of a pardon is to quash a conviction).

Among those pardoned were 26 Irishmen. Dermot Ahern said: "The legislation enacted by the British Government today recognises that execution was not a fate these young men deserved. This pardon will be formally recorded in their military files."

According to RTÉ, those Irishmen pardoned were:

Privates Albert Smythe and Thomas Cummings (Belfast), 1st Irish Guards; Privates Thomas Hope (Mullingar) and Patrick Joseph Downey (Limerick), Leinster Regiment; Privates Thomas Davis (Ennis) and James Graham (Cork), Royal Munster Fusiliers; Lance Cpl Peter Sands (Belfast), Riflemen James Crozier (Belfast), John F McCracken (Belfast), James Templeton (Belfast) and Samuel McBride, Royal Irish Rifles; Privates James Cassidy, Thomas Murphy (Tralee, also known as Hogan), John Wishart (Omagh), Robert Hepple (also known as J Hope) and John Seymour, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; Privates Joseph Carey (Dublin) and George Hanna (Belfast), Royal Irish Fusiliers; Private Stephen Byrne (Dublin, also known as M Monaghan), 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers; Private Benjamin O'Connell (Foulksmills), Irish Guards; Private Patrick Murphy (Dublin), Machine Gun Corps; Drivers James Mullany and John Bell (Dublin), Royal Field Artillery; Private Bernard McGeehan (Derry), (Irish) King's Liverpool; Private Arthur Hamilton, Durham Light Infantry; and Private James Wilson (Limerick), who served with the Canadian Infantry.

May we remember these men, and all those who fought in the Great War.

Rest in Peace. [ElBlogador.com]

The States See Sense

I'm glad to see that the U.S. electorate has seen sense, presumably due to the issues I highlighted during the summer, and has demolished the GOP's majority in the House of Representatives, putting it instead in the hands of the Democrats. The Senate is still a close call.

The humiliation of the Republicans has resulted in the resignation of Defense (sic) Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Adios! You won't be missed!

For nearly six years, the administration of George W. Bush has bullbozed through American democracy, completely oblivious of the views of others and ignorant of the damage it is causing both at home and abroad.

The message has gone out from U.S. voters that they want a better future- this cannot be achieved by blinkered, self-serving, self-righteous policies. It can only be achieved by bipartisanship.

Now we can look forward to an interesting presidential fight culminating in November 2008- signs are that whoever wins, the Executive Branch will be heading towards the centre. Among the Democratic hopefuls are Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama (who could become the first black President). Republican contenders may include former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain (who was defeated by George W. Bush in the Republican primaries prior to the 2000 election).

Watch this space. [ElBlogador.com]

Britney Spears To Get A Divorce

Britney Spears is divorcing her husband Kevin Federline, according to court officials in LA.

Spears, who married Federline in 2004, will seek custody of their two children.

Court documents cited "irreconcilable differences" for the divorce.

Spears was previously married a couple of years ago to Jason Alexander, but that was annulled two days after the couple exchanged vows in Las Vegas.

She gets around a bit, doesn't she... [ElBlogador.com]

Dirty, Filthy Collusion: Time For The Truth

The truth about the extent of collusion during the Troubles continues to reveal itself- a week after it became public that Nuala O’Loan had uncovered evidence that the RUC and the Catholic Church helped a Provisional IRA priest/bomber escape the law, an investigation by a group of international academics has found shocking (but unsurprising) evidence of RUC and British Army collusion in 74 sectarian murders.

The group, which includes American law lecturer Douglass Cassel and a member of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, found evidence of collusion in a number of high profile loyalist murders, including:

- the slaughter of 33 people in UVF bomb attacks in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974,

- the assassinations of Barry O’Dowd, his 19-year-old brother Declan and his 61-year-old uncle Joe (members of the SDLP) in the same weekend as the loyalist killings of 24-year-old John Reavey, his 22-year-old brother Brian and 17-year-old brother Anthony in January 1976, and

- the murders of three members of the Miami Showband- lead singer Fran O'Toole, Anthony Geraghty and Brian McCoy, after a UVF gang posing as a UDR patrol flagged-down their bus between Banbridge and Newry in July 1975.

The inquiry also heard about alleged Garda collusion to protect IRA activists.

Professor Cassel said: "There are some allegations we received of alleged failure of the Garda or the Irish authorities to properly co-operate with law enforcement in cases of violence against loyalists here in Northern Ireland.

"We will certainly be raising that with the Irish Government."

The group has called for investigations into the now apparent RUC/Loyalist Garda/Republican cases of collusion.

As I have said before on El Blogador, the only ones who have something to worry about if the truth comes out are those who have something to hide. All victims of the Troubles, or their surviving families, deserve to know the full story behind the violence which touched their lives. The security forces, regardless of what side of the border they operated on, had a duty to protect- if anything, they must be held to an even higher level of accountability compared to ‘ordinary’ terrorists.

The truth hurts, but it is only through its revelation that healing can properly take place. [ElBlogador.com]

Saddamed If They Do, Saddamed If They Don't

Aside from committing a mild crime against humanity with the above post title, let me make it quite clear that I think Saddam Hussein is an evil scumbag. However, two wrongs do not make a right, and by executing him, the current Iraqi authorities risk transforming the former dictator into a martyr. That is the last thing which that country needs.

No one has the right to take someone else’s life, whether it is Saddam Hussein having someone executed by lowering them into acid, or the new Iraqi government sending their former leader to the gallows. Instead, he should be sent to jail for life to serve out the rest of his days in solitary confinement- killing him merely lowers society to his level and gives him an easy escape from the punishment he should face. People like him relish the prospect of martyrdom.

Tony Blair claims that he is "against the death penalty, whether it is Saddam or anybody else," but the fact remains that he and George W. Bush installed the regime which will now put Saddam Hussein to death- Blair cannot wash his hands of it that easily. Under Human Rights law, the British Government cannot extradite a person if there is a likelihood that they will face execution in the country which seeks their custody- similarly, aside from the tens-of-thousands of people who have died in Iraq thanks to the British/US invasion, would the UK government not be guilty of a specific human rights violation if their invasion leads directly to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and in turn his execution?

Apart from the legal issues, the sentence passed plays into bloodthirsty vengeful hands of George W. Bush, and again shows Tony Blair up as being the US President’s lap-dog. Bush has no problem executing people, whether they are former dictators or simply mentally disabled Texans, and it was quite clear that this would be the fate of Saddam- Tony Blair knew this, and despite his protestations that he opposes the death penalty, he actively brought about the situation whereby Saddam will be put in the noose. It is not good enough to say that it is up to the Iraqi authorities to decide his fate- Blair helped bring about this situation, and therefore he has a direct responsibility regarding the outcome. Funny how he and Bush were more concerned with interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq when Saddam was leader, and weren’t so reticent when it came to getting involved then when they decided to invade. Or indeed when they were arming Saddam to the hilt in the 1980s during the Iran/Iraq War.

The British Government should know from history that political executions stoke the fires of anger- one only has to look at the killing of the 1916 rebels to see this. Surely it would by eminently more sensible to lock Saddam up and throw away the key, thus condemning him to an obscure and hidden life away from the media glare he craves.

Saddam has revelled in notoriety during his life- executing him will only ensure that he continues to do so in death. The greatest punishment he could face is enforced obscurity. [ElBlogador.com]

Homebase: Imperialist Oppressors

So dissident 'republicans' have struck again. Not content with burning the commercial heart out of Newry and putting people out of work, these brave patriots have struck another blow for the Irish Republic by destroying the bathware and tiles contained within Homebase on the Boucher Road in Belfast. Clearly such household accessories are a little too 'British'.

They also expedited the march towards freedom by exploding an incendiary device in a pile of children's teddybears in Smyth's toystore next door. In an additional act of bravery, these brave men attacked JJB sports on Ann Street on the same night- sure why worry about forcing a load of people onto the dole so long as you burn a few Rangers strips in the process?

Carmel Hanna has described the attackers as 'fascists'- I would use another word, but in this politically correct age it would be an insult to tar those not in charge of their mental faculties with the same brush as these firebombers.

<== A disgusting example of British Oppression. Apparently. [ElBlogador.com]

Separated At Birth?

Has anyone noticed the striking resemblance between Bairbre de Brún and Peter Robinson?












I always said Sinn Féin and the DUP were two sides of the same coin! In fact, look how well they blend together...











Scary! [ElBlogador.com]