(March 24, 2017 at 8:52 am)abaris Wrote:(March 24, 2017 at 6:54 am)Isis Wrote: I despise the IRA (and loyalist paramilitaries, although, admittedly, I did go through a phase of seeing them as "protectors" and "freedom fighters" in the past) but I don't know how to feel about this. Yes, he was an IRA commander and I certainly don't think his past should be forgotten that easily, but as you say, he did spend years working towards his goals in a peaceful and democratic manner. Even I have to give him credit for that.
What makes the French Resistance freedom fighters or the IRA terrorists? It all depends on the side you are on. But from their perspective they both fought occupying forces, using violent means. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
If you win, you're a freedom fighter. If you lose, you're a terrorist. If Norn Iron had devolved from the UK at any time before Stormont, McGuinness, Adams and their ilk would be hailed as 'courageous freedom fighters throwing off the iron boot of British oppression'. And if the Axis had won the Second World War, Harry Truman would, to this day, be excoriated as a genocidal maniac.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
