So France has launched a major air strike in retaliation for the mass killings in Paris over the weekend. That’ll not surprise anybody. France has been involved in bombing raids in Syria before this, and when you’ve been grievously attacked, it’s natural to strike back, preferably with greater force than that to which you were subjected in the first place.
It’s natural but it’s not smart. Because that’s what groups like ISIS want. During the Algerian war for independence from France, the National Liberation Front (FLN) was ruthlessly suppressed, with the most prominent FLN leaders killed or arrested. Unfortunately for France, this had the effect of stiffening support for the ideals of the FLN among the Algerian public. By the early 1960s and a lot of bloodshed, Algeria had won independence.
There can have been fewer more deadly responses to attack than that launched by the Americans after 9/11. “Shock and awe” were the order of the day, and we saw scenes of grateful Iraqis pulling down statues of Sadaam Hussein. But in fact the Iraqi people were clearly enraged by the invasion of their country, and the proof is in the continuing bloodshed in that country.
Here in Ireland, we know that Pearse was correct in his analysis of British response. The execution of leader after leader of the Easter Rising disgusted the general Irish population, which up to that point had been disgusted by the actions of the revolutionaries. The Black and Tan War followed and the British withdrawal from Dublin Castle and from three-quarters of Ireland.
Here in the north, the reaction of the state to peaceful marches by the Civil Rights Association led directly to increased recruitment in the IRA: after Bloody Sunday, we’re told, they were lining up to join. The Troubles followed for the next thirty years.
Then what to do? How should France react to these atrocities – turn the other cheek? Unlikely and probably undesirable. What’s required from France, along with other Western powers, is that they sit down and ask themselves “Is what we’re doing in Syria and the Middle East generally – is it wise? Is it working? Should we be attempting to impose our vision of how those countries should be governed?” In other words, they should do what has been conspicuously absent from the emotional account of the Paris killings in all the major media over the weekend: they need to look at the causes of these violent actions. If there’s to be military action, it needs to be based on logical and moral consideration of the issues in the Middle East, not a blind striking back at a barbarous enemy. If France continues to respond to violence with greater violence, it’ll be flying in the face of history. If you must box, box smart.
It’s a difficult one, Jude. I definitely think Jaw, jaw is preferable to war, war. Unfortunately the disparate nature of ISIL would appear to make an approach tricky. The U.S. Are killing their commanders as we speak. Apparently they have been vaporising 2 leading figures in IS every other day for the last 18 months. It doesn’t seem to be working. There will always be others to take their place. Although accommodation with these people looks fraught with issues, I believe that’s what we should be doing. Tell the Americans to back off. They’re certainly not helping. I think the Europeans are by nature more conciliatory people. The French should perhaps be in the new vanguard. They invented diplomacy after all. The whole thing is so sad.
Agree almost totally with all of this , Jude, except perhaps with use of the term, ‘natural’. I would suggest ‘predictable’ in its place. I like to believe that retaliation is not inherent in human nature. You are absolutely spot on that the usual beneficiaries of escalation are the original perpetrators; there is a clear line too from ‘Shock and Awe’ to the de-stabilisation of the Middle East Region. Saddam and Gaddafi may have been autocrats under whose reign many suffered but not anything like the scale of what is currently happening in Syria and Libya.
Thanks, John. I think retaliation is natural/instinctive: watch two youngsters, if one clouts the other…Predictable and natural/instinctive response usually…
Hi Jude, a reasoned analysis as usual. Surprised you went to post so early. Your good friend, Ruth DE, was on Nolan this morning propagating ( and facilitated by Stephen ) her usual anti republican garbage by linking the Paris bomb with the IRA campaign in England during the conflict here. For a historian, she always appears to be supportive of Britain’s role in world affairs. So I guess she supports Britain’s illegal occupation of fifty something countries at height of their empire, with all the unpleasantness that that entails – murder, bloodshed , torture, false imprisonment, slavery, exploitation of the countries’ resources.
A lot of the conflicts in the world are, I believe, as a result of past European colonialism and current American ( supported by their allies ) global expansionism. Best wishes , Jude.
Grma, Patrick. I didn’t hear Ruth on Nolan. I am bereft…
one thing they cant do is let it continue.
they could kill 2 birds with the one stone,go in hard then ship the refugee problem back to rebuild it.
You.are.a.smart.man.Jude.
Actually.I’m. Seriously.Dumb. But . Thanks.Anyway. Jim.
There is no more money for welfare services, however, there is no problem in finding extra funding for 1,900 security and intelligence staff to add to the current 12,700 people employed by the UK’s intelligence agencies MI6, MI5, and GCHQ. Regime change did not work in Iraq and bombing raids in the Middle East will result in even greater numbers of displaced people moving from country to country in order to seek sanctuary. A cleric in Paris opined that a man with a gun is a bully. He was correct, it is not possible to negotiate with a man with a gun. What does that make men with warships, aircraft, helicopters, tanks, body armour and assault rifles? It is perhaps time for less swords and more ploughing.
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite! What not to admire in that motto? It inspired Wolfe Tone and his followers.
It seems though that there’s more than a mild whiff of Hypocrisy among those who pose as its
adherents. Similarly amongst those who posed as advocates of free speech after the Charlie
Hebdo killings.
For a magazine to deliberately insult the adherents of a religion is a strange way to express
fraternity and equality. For the magazine’s champion to proclaim the right to FREE SPEECH
is very funny, in the French context especially. For FREE SPEECH is the English version
for the title of a scurrilous anti-semitic rag which long flourished in France and supported the scandalous framing of the good soldier DREYFUS for spying.
It is only in the last four years that I learned of the massacre of hundreds of Moslem citizens
in Paris by Police there and the throwing of their bodies into the Seine in 1961. I heard no
mention nor read any account of it in the Irish papers, Radio Eireann or the BBC. A few years ago French officials conceded there had been such an incident and put the numbers
at about twenty. But there were at least 200 killed. The Prefect of Police in Paris had been
active in Algeria, but had also been prominent in the Vichy establishment, overseeing the rounding up of French Citizens of the Jewish faith, and other Jews and their despatch to
NAZI death camps.
I regularly holiday in France. An uncle of mine was a Priest in Paris in the 1930s. My Great
Aunt Maureen lived there and ran a language school and my paternal Grandfather studied
there in the 1830s.
I consider myself a Francophile and still believe Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite are ideals to
fight and even to die for.
But to hell with hypocrisy and sycophancy and avoidable ignorance!
pa
My sympathy goes to the relatives of all humans senselessly slaughtered not only in Paris but all over the world.Perhaps it’s time to question the role of America,Britain,France etc etc in all this bloody mayhem . America’s military might is now in 147 countries …..WHY ? When the Mujahideen were fighting the Russians in the 1970’s the Yanks armed them to the teeth…..they eventually morphed into the Taliban and Al Qaeda ( and suddenly became the enemy ).There seems to be incontrovertible evidence that in their quest to destabilize Syria ,America again armed Muslim radicals who have now morphed into ISIS (and the enemy again ). Where the hell is this all going….nobody elected America to be the world’s policeman….or rather dictator.Everywhere they have gone,Afghanistan ,Iraq ,Libya ,Syria etc etc they have left millions dead and countries bombed back into the stone age…..some record of democracy !
I agree with what you said there Seamus but its important to point out that the role America currently occupies as “Dictator of the World” is a role that will still be around whether America exists or not, its not exclusive only to America. If the USA were to vanish tomorrow morning you can guarantee that China will most likely take the lead of “Dictator of the World” or the “World’s policeman” and basically produce the same results as America: Millions of people being slaughtered.
And of course if China were to disappear then another country would come forward and do the same thing. Its a classic example of “History repeating itself”. Previous occupants (and contenders to the role) of “Dictator of the World” was the Roman Empire, the British Empire (remember them?…) Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Japanese Empire, etc.
You can bet your last pretty penny Seamy that after America and China have gone, there will be more eager countries/alliances coming forward to fill the role of the “World’s Policeman”, leaving a trail of carnage in their wake.
Sorry, my Grandfather studied in Paris in the 1880s, not the 1830s. My Great aunt was
Peg not Maureen)
I think you could have got away with it, Donal – except you’ve got close blood relatives scanning these pages…
It is a difficult one Jude. I genuinely understand the frustration of the French but initiating the same devastation wont solve this crisis!
The old adage, “History repeats itself” could be analogised to this scenario. Continuously, the western powers repeat the same mistakes. The US in Vietnam believed that by bombing North Vietnam, the horrendous Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign, you defeat the enemy. Time and time again, we see this isn’t exactly true and it isn’t that simple. What it did in Vietnam was grow the enemy and make them more determined and ruthless against the US. What lesson did the US and other powers learn from such circumstances? Very little! I fear this is the impact these bombing missions could have. No doubt, civilians are dying in mass numbers – the media do not report this! They do not want this information being aired. Last week Jihadi John was allegedly murdered in an air strike? No doubt, the bombs dropped just didn’t kill Jihadi John – how many civilians were injured? How many died? How many, in the space of a few hours turned sympathetic to the cause of Islamic State?
Gandhi said “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.” I feel, dropping bombs wont solve the IS situation, how might it be tackled, is the big question!
PH Pearse:
“If you strike us down, we shall rise again … you cannot conquer Ireland; you cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom.”
“When we are all wiped out, people will blame us for everything, condemn us … but in a few years, they will see the meaning of what we tried to do.”
Again the usual narrative is sold hook line and sinker that the US and the west have been battling this unstoppable force(no laughing at the back) that is called ISIS. Another narrative that isn’t put forward is that the west have been using ISIS as its proxy to overthrow Assad which is their main objective. To counter the mounting evidence they continually claim they are supplying ‘moderate’ terrorists in Syria which is a kop out. They don’t care if ISIS come to power in Syria just as long as Assad and his pro Iranian govt is removed. It isn’t rocket science.
Last night I listened to an ex French ambassador claim Assad created ISIS and that he must be confronted. The penny should have dropped for anyone listening that they arnt serious in spite of what happened in Paris ie their priority is to remove a sovereign govt. When he was asked about Saudi arabia’s influence he visibly squirmed and made excuses and repeated that Assad was the problem.
The bottom line is that Putin has out smarted the west and decided to take action on behalf of the Syrian govt. This has disrupted the west plan and left them smarting. The west still refuses to join forces with the Russians in tackling ISIS which speaks volumes. Like it or not a sovereign govt invited Russia into their country so they arnt breaking any international law. Will the Paris attack allow NATO terrorists to bypass international law and bring their firepower to Syria? Dangerous times indeed and in spite of all the poppy furore and what it represents, that we recently endured here, it looks like another major war is on the cards because some view others around the world as lesser human beings, just like the poppy.
Heard Martin McGuinness speaking today after the one minute silence.
Is it my imagination or has he been transmogrified into a British politician?
Had I heard his words coming out of the mouth of Nelson McCausland I wouldn’t have been surprised!
TORY ISLAND
To judge by his comments this morning, Esteemed Blogmeister, the Tory Taoiseach is enthusiastically living up to the original meaning of his title.
-We shall pursue ISIS from Syria into Iraq. We shall not hesitate to cross borders. ISIS don’t recognize borders and neither shall we.
Although he didn’t mention it, perhaps due to an inherent modesty, his own predecessor Taoisigh of the Tory Party were not behind the drawing board when it came to carving out the same borders.
Come to think of it, Hot Pursuit was a term in use from the same sources during the Dirty Thirty Years War, particularly around the border area of the bandit country (sic ‘em up), including El Paso.
And even on one notable occasion – on May 17, 1974 in Monaghan and Dubling. It would appear that the Tories have a proprietorial interest in frontiers they once had a hand, act and indeed, part in the drawing up of.
Frontiers which might even have begun as doodles on a dinner napkin in the, erm, Drones Club on Dover Street, off Picadilly.
David Cameron (for it is he !) – recall how he (gasp) hogged the headlines recently due to certain pursuits of his undergraduate days – is not the only one who would be the living embodiment of the original meaning of Tory.
That would be ‘outlaw, robber, brigand’ from ‘torai’ in the (gulp) leprechaun And is in turn, derived from the other leprechaun word ‘toir’, meaning ‘pursue’. Little surprise that the Tory Party is the go-to party for the hale and hearty tally-ho types.
He is not the only high-ranking, why-ranking politician to have the whiff of the chase in his elevated nostrils. The Yawnaiste of the other Tory Island, aka, Free Southern Stateen, went bald-headed after the elaborate scalp of Mick Wallace yesterday. His crime being to voice a view which did not rhyme with either spice or all things nice.
The Yawnaiste was the Mistress of this particularly cunning stunt of a Hunt, with thousands of social media twiterrati as her followers. Over ditch and across drain, up hill and down dale through J. Bull’s other Tory Island. Somehow, the word ‘daemonic’ seemed to have escaped the voluble lips of the Yawnaiste on this occasion with relation to the twitterati.
As always, south of the Black Sow’s Dyke, it is open season on out of season unprocessed non-West Brits. Nil Alt 31 imithe go foil, ta’s agat / Section 31 hasn’t gone away, you know.
Curiously enough, another phrase from the leprechaun ‘raic, ri-ra agus ruaille-buaille’ is indelibly linked with the original ‘toraiocht’ (pursuit). Involving, the blowing of trumpets, the baying of newshounds, and invariably finishing up with the celebratory raising of the stirrup cup.
Raqqa, which is experiencing no little raic, ri-ra agus ruaille-bauille / uproar, ructions and commotion, is on the flight path of wannabe Wing-Commander Cameron on his gung-ho way to Iraq.
He might even find himself on his way to a legendary town in the Sunni Triangle of that country. A town which the wondrous W. Somerset Maugham first drew the attention of the Western World to in 1933 in the form of a micro-short story, a candidate for one of the scariest ever told. (And one of course which led US novelist John O Hara to pen a best seller of the same name).
Not sure if the Taoiseach of the Tory Party has ever read ‘The Appointment in Samarra’ but it might, perhaps give him pause if he did. Maugham was born, incidentally, in the UK Embassy in Paris where his pater was on the payroll.
One mentions this, E.B., as it has been on one’s mind for the past few days, for a menu of reasons. On Friday, one went from watching SCEPTRE (the latest J.Bond travelogue) in the local movie house to switching on the TV News in Warbeck Towers. It was almost a seamless exercise.
The essential difference of course was that one was fantasy, the other all too real. Imagine, the Tory Party giving their operatives a (gulp) Licence to Kill in real life !
The opening sequence in the travelogue is set in Mexico City. It was this much-hyped scene which drew one to the fillum palais in the first place: and it did not disappoint. Spectacular stuff.
And here’s a thing: it brought to mind a peculiar experience one had in that city a few years ago. At one stage one found himself with an appointment in a skyscraper located in the outer southern suburbs (reckoned to be in a non-earthquake zone in that vast metropolis). One was detailed to tutor some high rise ejecutivos in the joys of the German Q’s English.
The name of the building caused one some misgivings. However, needs must, so one went and one did as detailed. The name, btw, was ‘Samarra’. Despite mucho enquiring one failed to discover why the building was so called.
One survived, as indeed, the Taoiseach of the Tory Party’s pursuers may well do too.
IS binn guth gadhair ann i dtoraiocht elite / Sweet the voice of baying dogs there as they pursue the hind.
THE APPOINTMENT in SAMARRA
(as told by W. Somerset Maugham, 1933)
There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions. In a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said: Master, just now when I was in the marketplace, I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me.
She looked at me, and made a threatening gesture.
-Now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from the city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and then Death will not find me.
The merchant lend him his horse and the servant mounted it and dug his spurs in its flanks. As far as the horse could gallop, he went.
Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said.
-Why did you use a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?
-That was not a threatening gesture, I said. It was only a gesture of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him in Samarra.
(from a far older version told in the Babylonian Talmud).
Are Governments stupid? they seem to be prone to repeatedly making mistakes…or maybe they are not mistakes at all and are exactly what they want to do. What am I talking about? Well lets go back to the start of The Troubles here. Gusty Spence, head of the UVF, claimed he was paid by the Unionist Government to start a “sectarian war” back in the late 60’s. The Unionist Government responded to peaceful protests with brutal tactics, allowing RUC/B Specials to lead and help armed Loyalist mobs to attack the protestors. Of course they knew the Catholic population would be outraged. Its almost as if they wanted Catholics to resort to extremism…..maybe they were hoping for a mass pogrom of Catholics, similar to the one that occurred in Belfast where the vast majority of those who had their homes burnt out were Catholic (those Protestants that were forced to move even burnt their own homes to prevent them “falling into Catholic hands”) and put the blame of all the trouble on the IRA. Thousands of Catholic families had to flee over the border due to this ethnic cleansing by Loyalist mobs and the Southern Government had to set up refugee camps.
I could go on about the start of the troubles. The UVF planting bombs and trying to get them blamed on the IRA. The UVF bombing McGurks with British state help and again the attempt to blame the IRA. British Government collusion, etc. The point is these decisions by the British/Unionist Governments weren’t knee jerk reactions, they were calculated, they were deliberate, they knew what the reaction would be and wanted it.
Its the same with the French Government when it comes to the attacks in Paris and with Western Governments in general. They know what the consequences are when they bomb and do airstrikes, they know they cant sort out the Middle East but they stay there anyway, why? Well for their own self interests and of their friends. What those interests are could be many things but you can bet your last pretty penny one of them is money.
Well said Ryan, it still beggars belief people on these shores still maintain London govts and other govts would be so underhanded as to exploit/foment an agenda. The people who pulled the strings in the north didn’t go away you know. In fact some of them just went to other countries to teach others their expertise/dirty tricks.