One of my first demos I ever attended in a late January during the mid-1980s was one to remember unarmed people shot dead by the British Parachute Regiment on the streets of Derry in the North of Ireland in 1972, it was known as ‘Bloody Sunday’.
These people were massacred, they were executed and what ensued was a cover-up along with the lies and more damn lies told about that day. Yesterday, after 12 years of investigation and millions of pounds spent, Saville inquiry announced what we all ready knew….these civilians were unlawfully killed which could mean potential prosecutions of the squaddies involved. I would dearly love to see justice served after 38 years but I bet any prosecutions against any of those squaddies involved in Bloody Sunday will collapse…!!
If you are brave enough to kill someone else you should be brave enough to stand and answer in public for what you have done and be brave enough to do the time. Otherwise you are a coward with a rifle and nothing more.
Links:
Britain’s Bloody Sunday cover-up (H/T Kevin)
“Not one of the soldiers admitted any of this happened when they gave their evidence to the inquiry. But I lay there and watched it happen. I saw it. I didn’t need their evidence”. Still Waiting For Justice
“Unspeakable acts took place on Bloody Sunday. There was no justification for a single shot I saw fired.” (former paratrooper)
Did you hear Part 1 of Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry which was on earlier? It was first on in 2008 and definately worth a listen again (available for 7 days): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008vbc0 Part 2 is next Friday.
earwicga, No I didn’t but will as sounds interesting. Thanks for that btw.
28 years later and still obscuring the obvious, even with a facade of justice. It used to be said that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”, I would like to change that to “An inquiry by the accused is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
Some choice quotes from Bernadette McAliskey’s 200 testimony to the farce (which she was loathe to give to begin with, but did out of respect for the families):
The only proper forum, she said, was the international court of justice in the Hague or “somewhere else where the accused is not running the party,”
“I keep feeling that I am bring drawn further and further into matters of no consequence that I believe at the end of the day will become part of a great big cloud that will confuse the final issue: that the British government of the day ordered the army to shoot the citizens. That to me is all that matters.”
“It is, on the basis of personal experience, my honest belief that, at the highest level, British government, military and significant sections of the media acquiesced, conspired, organised and/or participated in and covered up terror and murder for political gain on January 30, 1972, and repeatedly thereafter.”
“Three thousand and more coffins followed and years of imprisonment and torture and pain and sorrow, and it is highly arguable that without Bloody Sunday, where we are today we would have been in 1972,” she said. “I cannot forgive the British government for that. The British army declared war on the people seeking justice in this country on that day.”
Thanks for that Rustbelt. Good and very political relevant from Bernadette McAliskey.
There’s an interesting piece on the Al-Jazeera website by my friend Arthur Neslen, which points out something I never realised before: the narrative about “terrorists” on the Bloody Sunday demonstration was the product of an intelligence officer named ‘Captain Michael Jackson’ – later General Sir Mike Jackson, who was Chief of the General Staff during the invasion of Iraq.
So not just the “accused running the party”, but a direct link between the deaths in Derry and the deaths of thousands of Iraqis.
Arthur’s article is at http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2003/09/200841014572011281.html
Thanks for that Kevin, I did include the Al-Jazeera article in the links in the post. But it is not surprising that there’s link between Iraq and Ireland, there’s always a link between imperialism and occupations.
An illustration of one such connection
http://www.ourweecountry.co.uk/troopingforces2.jpg
When will we hear about General Sir Mike Jackson’s involvement in the bloody sunday massacre. He went on to become the head of the British army. he was also the ground commander on the day. How did he get to the top? Why was he saved? With whom was he in collusion
The 839 year struggle continuues