Bill Clinton regards Good Friday agreement as his greatest foreign policy achievement says aide

Seanmor - My view of the troubles has been from the safety of America but I view them in the light of history and my Christianity. I grieve with you for all the innocent lives lost in all the years of unjust subjugation but I believe meeting violence with violence is wrong morally and counter-productive pragmatically. I look at what was achieved in India by Gandi and in America by the Civil Rights marches. India is on the rise while England declines. Here the rule by old white males declines while youth, color and womanhood thrive. I look at what was achieved in the World by Christ compared to what was achieved by the Jewish Sicarii Revolt just a few years after his crucifiction. Christianity has long outlived the Roman Empire but not before it destroyed the Jewish homeland in a rage over the revolt. Meeting deaths with more deaths just loses you the moral high ground and support from within the ranks of your adversary and others. You still end up getting crushed by the powerful. Peaceful diobedience is the ONLY successful tactic that the weak have against the powerful and sadly it costs innocent lives everytime and takes great patience. When their country men and women kill in revenge for the lost lives of peaceful protestors, the moral outrage over their sacrifices is diminished. Look how long it took for everyday, non-Irish Americans to finally realize that the IRA was not the only group killing people. If you are going to start shooting back or setting bombs, you better be sure you are strong enough to beat your adversary or they will destroy you all the more quickly.

Ephraim: The vast majority in the North of Ireland took place after Derry's Sunday (late Jan. of 72), when 13 peaceful Civil Rights marchers were shot dead by Brititsh 'security forces'. These 13 weren the first innocent victims of British agression in during the recent 'Troubles. On the 2nd weekend of August, 1971, 9 local civilianswho protested Internment were put to death by the forces of occupation. The deat included a mother of 9 children, also a Catholic priest. Fr. Hugh Mullan. Nine months later, 5 more were shot dead in Belfast, including Fr. Noel Fitzparick, a boy aged 16, a boy aged 15 and Margaret Gargan aged 13.To my knowledge, there wasn't a murmur of protest against these killings form political leaders, bishops or journalists in the South. Were it NOT for the shooting deaths of these priests and children, the Provos may never have reached the strength to fiercely resist the forces of occupation in their corner of Ireland.

Who needs Predator Drones, when you got William Jefferson Clinton ?

IrelandNorth “British imperialism and Irish democracy are mutually exclusive.” Yes, an eternal axiom (particularly given that even internally britain’s “democracy” has only ever been a pro-forma farce under that “unwritten constitution” of theirs).

Bill and Hillary Clinton committed the U.S. Government to the peace talks and the eventual peace agreement. It was the single most important foreign policy action since the Camp David meetings between Sadat and Begin.

I pray that ALL of Ireland has learned that violence is counter-productive. The freedom to talk frankly, the ability to really listen and the committment to real compromise, where no-one gets all that they want but everyone gets some of their needs satistied, are the tools of diplomacy and progress and they lead to better lives for all. The ability to forgive one's adversaries for the things they have done to you is also essential. That is probably the hardest lesson that Christ taught. Are YOU listening American Congress?

As unique as their contribution was/is, sooner or later people have to stand on their own two feet, and not expect perpetual babysitting. And to not descend into terrible two's temper tantrum when they loose a transitional object (or constitutional teddybear). British imperialism and Irish democracy are mutually exclusive.