Léargas
By Gerry Adams
Thursday, November 21, 2013
The BBC Panorama
programme on the Military Reaction Force shines a light on the one aspect of
Britain’s dirty war in Ireland. The
existence of the MRF has been known for over 30 years but John Ware’s
documentary usefully provides new information on a secret British Army unit
that operated with impunity in the early 70s.
The use of
counter-gangs, like the MRF and the Force Reconnaissance Unit (FRU) and others;
of agents and informers; and of specialist military units is as old as war
itself. The British military establishment has long made use of these tactical
tools. I am quite confident it is passing that experience on to its current
crop of young officers in Sandhurst.
As used by successive
British governments in Ireland this involved reshaping the judiciary, the law,
the police and the media to suit the political and military objectives of the
generals and the politicians. According
to Frank Kitson the British Army’s foremost proponent of counter-insurgency
tactics: ‘Everything done by a
government and its agents in combating insurgency must be legitimate. But this
does not mean that the government must work within exactly the same set of laws
during an emergency as existed before hand. The law should be used as just
another weapon in the government’s arsenal, in which case it becomes little
more than a propaganda cover for the disposal of unwanted members of the
public.’
That was the job of
the MRF. To kill unwanted members of the public. If unarmed republicans or
civilians were killed that was acceptable.
In every major
conflict in the 20th century and in the colonial struggles for
independence – in Algeria and Vietnam, in Kenya and Mozambique, in Aden and
Cyprus – the same strategies were employed. The court case taken by Kenyans who
were imprisoned and tortured by the British Army in Kenya and which was covered
extensively in the Guardian provides one example outside of Ireland of these
practices at work.
It is a sad fact that
the conflict in Ireland has left thousands of families bereaved and hurting. In
the last month there have been anniversaries to mark the Enniskillen bomb, the
Greysteel Massacre, the Shankill bomb and other similar events. There has also been the recent publication of ‘Lethal Allies’.
Through a detailed examination of the facts this book connects British state
forces with 120 deaths of civilians in a five year period in the 1970s. And it
reveals the way in which the political and judicial system covered up these
actions.
This is what happens
when politicians surrender their power to the generals. When diplomacy ends and
war takes over and generals and their armies do what they have been trained to
do, which is defeat the enemy.
I am an Irish
republican. British government involvement in Irish affairs and the partition
of my country are in my view at the core of the problem but I recognise that
others, for example, the unionists, have a different view and their own sense
of truth. There will be those in the British system who also have a different
analysis. There are many differing narratives. Different perspectives on the
causes of the conflict, what happened and who was responsible. All of these
narratives have their own truth. There is no single voice for victims. Some
want truth. Some want judicial processes. We need to set all of these
narratives side by side and respect them all.
The war is over. But
the legacy of conflict remains with us. The pain from decades of conflict is,
for many, as real today as it was when a loved one was killed.
US diplomats Richard
Haass and Meghan O Sullivan are currently conducting intensive negotiations to
deal with outstanding aspects of the Good Friday and other Agreements. These include the legacy issues. Everyone who has an interest
in peace knows that the past cannot be allowed to be an obstacle to building
the future. So, there needs to be a measured and inclusive debate on all of the
issues involved.
Sinn Féin has proposed
that an international, independent truth recovery process underpinned in
legislation should be established. Others have different ideas of how this issue should be dealt
with and that is fair enough, but we need to take this opportunity to move the
process forward in a way that listens to, respects and treats all victims on
the basis of equality, and also builds the future for the survivors.
Here's the link to the BBC Panorama documentary that screened last night in Ireland on the activities of the secret British Army unit the Military Reaction Force in Belfast in the 1970s
Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community
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