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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Peter King is wrong , the IRA did kill an American --- Harrods car bomb attack was one of the worst of The Troubles

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Peter King is wrong , the IRA did kill an American --- Harrods car bomb attack was one of the worst of The Troubles

Posted on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 08:52 PM

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Congressman Peter King has stated the difference between the IRA and Al Qaeda is that the IRA never killed Americans.

He's wrong.

In December 1983 a car bomb was placed in a side street outside Harrods in Knightsbridge at the height of the Christmas shopping season.

The bomb contained between 25 and 30 lb of explosives and was left in a 1972 blue Austin car

A report of the incident at the time notes ;

At 12:44, a man using an IRA codeword phoned the central London branch of the Samaritans.

The caller said there were bombs inside and outside Harrods, specifying the registration number of the car, but not its make or color.

At about 1:21, four police officers in a car, a dog handler, and an officer on foot approached the car when the bomb went off
The police car absorbed much of the blast, probably reducing other casualties.

Six people were killed; three passers-by (including one citizen of the United States), and three Metropolitan Police officers Those killed were: Philip Geddes (journalist, 24), Kenneth Salvesen (28), Jasmine Cochrane-Patrick (25), Police Sergeant Noel Lane (28), and Police Constable Jane Arbuthnot (22).

Police Inspector Stephen Dodd (34) was fatally injured and died on 24 December. Police Constable Jon Gordon survived, but lost both legs and part of a hand in the blast.

90 others were injured, many seriously.

An Associated Press report at the time stated that "People were ... running from the scene, their faces absolutely covered in blood _ children, old people, men and women." said Jackie McPherson of Hamilton, Scotland, who was in a store 50 yards from Harrods.

"There was a tremendous explosion. There was blood everywhere," said 22-year-old Michael Francis. "One policeman had an eye hanging from its socket. He was very brave. I can't describe the horror of it," said the young man, who was standing outside the store when the bomb went off."

Among the dead was the 28-year old young American, Kenneth Salvesan, a businessman from Chicago. Severely injured was an Irish American, Mark McDonald from Michigan. He was later visited by Prince Charles and Lady Diana in hospital.

The bomb prompted Margaret Thatcher to write to Ronald Reagan demanding he crack down on Irish Northern Aid, the Republican support group in America, which King supported

All those killed and injured were utterly innocent, there was no attempt to claim it was a military target.

It was as bad as anything Al Qaeda could have pulled off .

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maireadinmelb | Mar 15, 2011, 04:53 AM EDT

Realist I hope you go just as hard at the british security forces who killed 12 year old Majella OHare as she went to church or the Maguire children, or the innocents on bloody sunday! I hope you go running after the politicians who will not remove diplock courts from the justice system in NI. I hope you are just as harsh on the UVF people who raided homes and shot people infront of their children, You seem blind to the fact that in most wars there are TWO SIDES!!! TWO lots of murders and killings and a government who say one thing and do another!

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Realist | Mar 15, 2011, 04:45 AM EDT

Fact: The Provisional IRA was proscribed as a terrorist organization under law in, among other countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. Fact: Peter King was an active and vocal supporter of the Provisional IRA. Fact: The IRA murdered 1709 people (that we know of) with nearly 600 of them being civilians. Fact: Peter King is on record as refusing to condemn IRA atrocities, even the murder of civilians (like 12-year-old Tim Parry or 2-year-old Johnathan Ball). Fact: Peter King is now an official government appointed anti-terrorist champion. Fact: Peter King is a hypocrite.

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Realist | Mar 15, 2011, 04:19 AM EDT

Lol....apart from the United States and the United Kingdom, even the Republic of Ireland (the very country that the IRA sought to 'unite' with Northern Ireland) proscribed the Provisional IRA as terrorists and put its members in prison on capture and trial.

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Realist | Mar 15, 2011, 04:16 AM EDT

Would you please name one country in the World that has officially designated the United Kingdom Government as terrorists? Now, please name one country that did not proscribe the Provisional IRA as a terrorist organization?

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Freeman | Mar 15, 2011, 12:40 AM EDT

Why do the British cringe at the words British murderers

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mamaginnty | Mar 14, 2011, 10:57 PM EDT

The loyalists killed many innocents, and targeting shoppers is true terrorism. The guns and bombs were given to them by the british army, the same army that was sent over to protect the catholics from the butchers. The IRA of 1916 fought for their country too, thousands of irish were killed then, british soldiers admitted they were told to burn every village and town, to shoot any male who was old enough to carry a gun. Terrorism lies with the british goverment. The same government rule that watched 1 million men women and children starve to death. Hitler wasn't the only bad guy in that respect.

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hancock | Mar 14, 2011, 02:23 PM EDT

The English killed many innocents all over the world, usually for money and power. True terrorists.

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elektros | Mar 14, 2011, 01:03 PM EDT

The provos killed many innocents, and targeting shoppers is true terrorism, although that tag gets applied to much today that isn't. And yes, I am a Brit, but I am neither a unionist nor a protestant, I'm an Englishman whose family can be traced to County Cork. The end does not justify the means.

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wizardofoz | Mar 14, 2011, 10:45 AM EDT

“again not factually accurate First Past The Post as used around the world including the USA is still used UK wide for Westminster UK government elections” I am not talking about “Westminster” elections! Read my lips, dear, Northern Ireland introduced Proportional Representation in 1969. I am not talking about Westminster! Northern Ireland needed the PR system to even up the vote, cause the prods (being the majority) would always be FIRST PAST THE POST!!! Christ… you a slow leaner of what?

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wizardofoz | Mar 14, 2011, 10:14 AM EDT

Sally, if you had an ounce of brains you’d be dangerous! The electoral reform “ACT” enacted on mainland Britain (1949) removed from the local elections the right of rate payers to hold multiply votes according to how many properties they paid rates on! Hence, the demand for ‘One Man One Vote’ in Northern Ireland, if you rented a house from the housing commission in Northern Ireland in 1968, that household got one vote ONLY no matter how many adults resided within, (see, they didn’t pay rates, one vote only) If five adults lived there, only one vote was allowed in LOCAL elections no matter if the house was a Protestant one, or a Catholic one, only one vote was allowed, in LOCAL elections, hence the hue and cry ‘ONE MAN ONE VOTE’ for both Protestants and Catholics. All was reformed in the 1969 reform act, that you don’t understand the difference between ‘first past the post’ and ‘Proportional Representation (PR) voting and the fact NO gerrymander was allowed after 1969 is a problem you have yet to come to grips with! The fact that the reforms were past by the legislator in 1969 is a moot point as the first time they would be tested would be the next general and local elections, which would not take place until 1973, at which time all the adult people of Northern would, for the first time ever, go to the polls as equals. You need to read your history my dear. And stop positing rubbish, which the facts do not support. To claim when Willie Whitelaw was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, (1973) the people of Northern Ireland, STILL, did not have ‘ONE MAN ONE VOTE is the hight of nonsense!!!!

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Kilsally | Mar 14, 2011, 07:23 AM EDT

GONE was first past the post voting, .... GONE was any gerrymander, and in its place was ‘one man one vote’ ` again not factually accurate First Past The Post as used around the world including the USA is still used UK wide for Westminster UK government elections (there is to be a referendum UK wide in May about changing to the AV system). Local council elections and elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly use PR.

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Kilsally | Mar 14, 2011, 06:58 AM EDT

“and in whitelaws time NI did not have one man one vote!!!” rubbish voting was the same across the entire UK for the UK government - what you are probably referring to was the local council elections about 40 years previous. In the local elections entitlement to vote was restricted to those who paid taxes to the local council which was the head of the household. The rest of the UK also used the same sytem before changing to everyone getting avote in local council elections regardless of whether they actually paid taxes to the local council. For example I run my own business, I pay thousands of pounds in business rates to the local council. I have a house and pay rates on that too yet someone living with their relatives and paying no rates still gets a vote. Northern Ireland kept the old system for 20 years longer than the rest of the UK I believe but that was or local council elections only (ie the people that run sports centres, collect your bins)

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wizardofoz | Mar 13, 2011, 11:48 PM EDT

“and in whitelaws time NI did not have one man one vote!!!” That’s a barefaced LIE! In 1969 a Unionist government at Stormont past news laws, which amended the electoral act in order to bring it in line with mainland Britain, in fact they went one further, they did away with ‘first past the post’ voting and introduced ; Proportional Representation (PR) voting a much fairer system where votes could be transferred to second and third preferences So, at the next local and state elections, (1973) every single adult in Northern Ireland could exercise their democratic franchise, GONE was first past the post voting, it was replaced by PR (Proportional Representation) GONE was any gerrymander, and in its place was ‘one man one vote’ lave the lies and propaganda alone the truth will always win out in the end. .

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hancock | Mar 13, 2011, 11:13 PM EDT

Engtlish terrorists and their Irish apologist stooges.

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mayoman | Mar 13, 2011, 08:44 PM EDT

O'Dowd is accused here of being an apologist. Yet why were these Americans killed? Did they perpetrate any violence against Ireland? Did they have a hand in the Irish Famine? Were they English agents? No, they were merely innocent people. As were the people who died on 9/11.

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