Saville Report Released

[cheeky boy]

 

However I have no doubt in my mind that they were fired upon by the "IRA defenders" of the Catholics and the planks took that as a valid excuse to drop rioters. I also think the claim that all those shot were "innocent bystanders" is stretching it a bit. Throwing rocks at those trained to use lethal force to defend themselves is probably not the best of ideas, as some of them found out to their cost.

 

 

So despite the most extensive enquiry in British history you would still rather belive the lies put out from the previous whitewash

 

"Dropping" roiters, they must be big brave men these Paras shooting unarmed civilains. I hope they are prosected for murder

[P.K.]

So despite the most extensive enquiry in British history you would still rather belive the lies put out from the previous whitewash

 

"Dropping" roiters, they must be big brave men these Paras shooting unarmed civilains. I hope they are prosected for murder

 

Are they going to prosecute the likes of McGuiness?

 

As has been shown time and again there is no shortage of courage in the professional regiments. But I also have no doubt that they opened fire against SOP's. Of course it doesn't make it right but unlike most on here I can understand it.

[pongo]

The fact that it was a British Conservative PM who stood up in the House of Commons and apologised on behalf of Britain and the British Govt was an indication of just how much things have changed since the past 40 years.

 

The PM Cameron said:

 

the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities

.

 

PK - you and anyone else who chose to serve in Ireland was part of the same war as the people whose country you were fighting against.* You would be as much a victim as them in that sense. And no doubt you had few choices other than Ireland or the dole at 16. But you don't have any extra special right to a point of view.

 

*ETA: that doesn't sound quite right but you know what I mean.

[cheeky boy]

If I was being shot at my instinct would be to shoot back at the person firing at me, not at stone throwing teenagers

 

I belive McGuinnes was prosecuted and jailed, correct me if I'm wrong

[P.K.]

If I was being shot at my instinct would be to shoot back at the person firing at me, not at stone throwing teenagers

 

In an urban environment it's very difficult to figure out where the shots are coming from. In any event under fire your first instinct is to get into a hole in the foetal position and say "I want my mummy..."

[credente]

I was told by someone who served there that, "If the British public knew the kinds of things that their troops were sometimes doing in Northern Ireland they would all be deeply ashamed."

 

Those may not have been the exact words - but they accurately convey the meaning of the statement.

[P.K.]

PK - you and anyone else who chose to serve in Ireland was part of the same war as the people whose country you were fighting against.* You would be as much a victim as them in that sense. And no doubt you had few choices other than Ireland or the dole at 16. But you don't have any extra special right to a point of view.

 

Wrong. Experience ages a man don't you know. And you can't go on active service until you are 18. You need that extra maturity to deal with the situation. But it was frustrating. With no proper powers of search, arrest, whatever we could only turn places over with the RUC leading the way. And they were greatly disliked and so we were tarred with the same brush. Even though after a search the RUC would then turn us over in front of the locals to show we hadn't taken anything. Of course, no-one believed it so we would sanitise ourselves before going out...

 

Believe me after you lose someone you just want to tear the head off the first dicker you come across. Usually you don't. The paras obviously went for it. Shame on them. They should have gone ghosting.

[Max Power]

The British Government are the sole culpable body in this! Deploying trained and hardened killers, whose normal use is in a war zone was criminal in the extreme! How do you expect soldiers with that type of training to react to any provocation? The Para's should never have been deployed on British soil against British citizens!

[P.K.]

The British Government are the sole culpable body in this! Deploying trained and hardened killers, whose normal use is in a war zone was criminal in the extreme! How do you expect soldiers with that type of training to react to any provocation? The Para's should never have been deployed on British soil against British citizens!

 

So who would you have deployed against armed murderers like McGuiness - the WI?

[Max Power]

The British Government are the sole culpable body in this! Deploying trained and hardened killers, whose normal use is in a war zone was criminal in the extreme! How do you expect soldiers with that type of training to react to any provocation? The Para's should never have been deployed on British soil against British citizens!

 

So who would you have deployed against armed murderers like McGuiness - the WI?

 

Unfortunately the report doesn't seem to bear out the fact that there were armed murderers in the crowd. If this £200,000,000 report is accurate, the para's fired on people throwing rocks, running away and trying to help their friends!

 

Who should have been deployed is not for me to say, but I'm sure you know what jobs the Parachute Regiments specialities are! Crowd control isn't one of them!

[P.K.]

[McGuiness was present and probably armed with a sub-machine gun, according to the report.

[Max Power]

[McGuiness was present and probably armed with a sub-machine gun, according to the report.

 

'Probably'

 

Where was he? At the front of the demonstration with a sub machine gun?

 

I really would have liked the slaughter to have been justified, I'd have felt a lot better about the country I live in, it wasn't, they released the dogs of war on a crowd of mostly innocent demonstrators and that is murder! I say mostly innocent to allow for the fact that there was 'probably' a gunman somewhere who was never found. I agree that this and any other gunman present must share responsibility, but they need to be proven to have been there. No Para's were shot during the slaughter!

[La_Dolce_Vita]

Public opinion was informed and influenced by what happened that day when all those people were shot dead whilst marching for basic Civil Rights. Like Sharpeville or the end of the Prague Spring.

 

Some of those shot dead were not marching for basic human rights but rather to hurt soldiers sent there to protect them.

 

Sure the response by the Paras was disproportionate. But if you haven't been deluged in rotten eggs, used tampons, bags full of dogshit, spat at etc etc by those you've been sent to protect then I don't see how sitting on your fat arses in front of a screen you have any right to judge.

But I think the problem is that even though you had good intentions, many simply didn't want you there.

[Chinahand]

The report is all online. Just reading the Events of the Day shows what a sad set of circumstances had come to pass in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and earlier.

[P.K.]

'Probably'

 

Where was he? At the front of the demonstration with a sub machine gun?

 

I really would have liked the slaughter to have been justified, I'd have felt a lot better about the country I live in, it wasn't, they released the dogs of war on a crowd of mostly innocent demonstrators and that is murder! I say mostly innocent to allow for the fact that there was 'probably' a gunman somewhere who was never found. I agree that this and any other gunman present must share responsibility, but they need to be proven to have been there. No Para's were shot during the slaughter!

 

A civil rights march with hundreds of troops deployed and the chance of a serious riot and you don't think the likes of McGuiness would be there??? Jeeeze!!!

 

I sincerely hope that you have a truly wonderful life on whichever planet it is that you inhabit. I'll keep you informed about how things are here on earth via this forum if you like...