Notre Dame vs Navy will be security nightmare for Ireland
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Notre Dame is going to play Navy at the new soccer/rugby stadium in Dublin on September 1, 2012. It will be a great occasion, but not one without some not-so-serious and very serious security implications.
In America Notre Dame vs Navy is simply a college football game. Nothing more. That will probably not be the case here because Navy is, after all, part of the United States Navy, which is, as we all know, part of the 'American death machine.' I fully expect tens of people from the usual anti-American rent-a-crowd to turn up to protest at the presence of the Navy's midshipmen in Dublin.
Those protesters will be annoying, at most, but nothing the local police force can't handle. However, there is a far more spine-chilling threat that the Irish government and gardaí (Ireland's police force) will have to devote a great deal of time and energy on: al Qaeda and friends.
Is it likely al Qaeda will target the game? I don't really know, but I do know that there are very few opportunities in Europe where 30,000 Americans, including possibly thousands in the military, are gathered in one place. Yet, that's exactly what we'll have here on September 1, 2012.
I have great faith in the gardaí and I trust the Irish government to do their damnedest to guarantee the security of all the Americans who come to Dublin for the game, but nothing is 100% certain. And although the game was only formally announced this week, the details are as they were when it was first mooted back in 2005. Seven years is a long time if you wanted to plan something.
Of course, it isn't just the few hours during the game that the police will have to be worried about, but the whole weekend. Back in 1996 when ND and Navy last played here Dublin seemed to be filled with Americans, many in uniform. The city will have to be on alert the whole weekend.
I don't want to put you off coming for the game. I hope to see you all there. Just don't be surprised if you see A LOT of police personnel while you're here.
Oh, while I'm at it, I'd like to recommend that this game be called the Commodore John Barry Bowl. He was, after all, an Irish Catholic and the father of the American Navy. What could be more appropriate?
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Global terrorism may be an invention of the CIA. It's handy to tie unrelated events together as though there were directed by some central hierarchy, but there's little evidence for that. Even the Communists weren't as monolithic as people in the 1950's used to think.
When you look closely, groups that today are called terrorists bear a resemblance to local resistance movements. For example, if it weren't for Hezbollah, the Israelis would be occupying Lebanon - a country to which they have no claim at all. Although America has no right to be in Iraq either, the resistance fighters we've encountered there have been called terrorists.
Terminology is everything. The people you are calling "the usual anti-American rent-a-crowd" see themselves as defenders of humane values for not wanting Ireland to have any role in the slaughter of the innocent. But that of course is a separate discussion.
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I don't know Jeremiah O'Brien's story. I'll have to check into that.
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Frankly, if it was Notre Dame against Boston College or Pitt or whomever there'd be nothing to it. It's simply that Navy could attract attention. And, I wouldn't call Ireland a "seriously dangerous location" it's just that al Qaeda is stronger in Europe than in America and this game will probably be pretty tempting.
Regardless, I think the Irish authorities with the help of other European governments/police forces will cope with any potential threat. But they'll be on edge.
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