IRA Disarms

I'm not super up to date on Irish politics, but this seems to be good news.

The Irish Catholic/Protestant problem always seemed to me to be a very difficult one to solve. Did the Irish Catholics deserve complete authority as a result of their native heritage, or did the Irish (of English descent) Protestants deserve fair representation for having been in Ireland for generations? Did Ireland deserve to be completely independent of England?

Being of Irish Catholic descent myself, I've tended to side with Sinn Fein. But there are some interesting parallels between the IRA and the Muslim "terrorists".

"We understand that the IRA and its members will no longer have any contact with any foreign paramilitary and terrorist organizations," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

"We understand that many, especially victims and their families, will be skeptical," McClellan said. "They will want to be certain that this terrorism and criminality are indeed things of the past."

The IRA probably never thought of themselves as terrorists. The fact is, the English invaded and occupied northern Ireland. The IRA thought of themselves as resistance fighters, even though the merits of their tactics are highly debatable.

Unfortunately, the IRA seemed to have become involved in a lot of criminal enterprises - but they probably would justify it as being their means of raising funds to fight the occupation.

It's all very complex, but I'm glad there appears to be progress. It seems there was a lot of dialog involved.

That's a novel concept..

While I was looking for pictures, I came across this one of Tony Blair. What's wrong with this picture?



I know next to nothing about my heritage beyond just being of Irish Catholic descent. Looking through the picture slideshow it's pretty obvious. I look like them - very pale..