At 05:48 PM 9/23/96 -0400, hallam@vesuvius.ai.mit.edu wrote:
So Jim Bell is opposed to "truly random attacks on ordinary citizens" Its this type ofappoligia for terrorism that disgusts me utterly. He is calling for murder but wants to dress it up in whatever psychotic justifications he can. He is also completely wrong. When the IRA attemoted to assasinate my cousin I was in no way intimidated and neither was he. He continued as a senior poitician for over a decade despite continued danger. I can think of no less effective method of bringing about change in attitudes.
And he, along with others, failed to solve the problems as well. Is this progress?
I am in no way intimidated by Bell either. He is a kook and I don;t think it he is worth further consideration. Phill
For the record, if an AP-type system were to operate it would: 1. Make it impossible for the British to continue to station troops in Northern Ireland, an eventuality that I suppose Phill resists. However, it would also: 2. Make it impossible and unnecessary for the British to have any troops anywhere, because it would eliminate its government and military. It would no longer be a country, merely an island with people living there. 3. Make it unnecessary in Northern Ireland to protect the Catholics from the Protestants, or the Protestants from the Catholics, because the trouble-makers from both (all?) sides would be quickly erased from the scene. Nobody would rule anybody. Nobody COULD rule anybody. All factions would either be peaceful or dead, their choice. No political advantage could be gained by violence, because all politics would have ceased. 4. Make it unnecessary and pointless for Northern Ireland to re-unify with Ireland, because likewise the government and military of Ireland would dissolve, as well as all political structure in that land as well. In short, the only reasons that the current problems are maintained in Northern Ireland and Britain would be eliminated by the advent of AP. So who is the "kook," really? Jim Bell jimbell@pacifier.com