Friday, May 11, 2012

EURO SLAVERY Christy Moore







How Soon Do Empires Forget The Lessons of History!
The 67th Anniversary of the Victory over Nazi-Fascism

By Fidel Castro

May 11, 2012 "
Information Clearing House" -- No political event can be judged outside of the era and the circumstances in which it took place. No one even knows one percent of the fabulous history of Man; but thanks to history, we know about occurrences that go beyond the limits of the imaginable.

The privilege of having known persons, even the locations where some of the events related to the historic battle took place, augmented the interest with which I awaited the anniversary this year.

The colossal deed was fruit of the heroism of a group of peoples that the revolution and socialism had united and intertwined to put an end to the brutal exploitation that the world had been putting up with throughout the millennia. The Russians were always proud of having headed that revolution and of the sacrifices they were capable of in bringing it to fruition.

This very important anniversary of the victory could not be understood under the colours of a flag or a name other than the one that presided over the heroism of the combatants of the Great Patriotic War. Without a doubt, something untouchable and unforgettable remained: the anthem whose unforgettable notes accompanied millions of men and women to challenge death and to crush the invaders who wished to impose a thousand years of Nazism and holocaust on all humanity.

With those ideas in mind, I enjoyed the hours I dedicated to the most organized and martial procession I could ever imagine, whose protagonists were men formed in the Russian military universities.

The Yankees and the blood-thirsty NATO armies could not imagine that the crimes committed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the attacks on Pakistan and Syria, the threats against Iran and other Middle Eastern countries, the military bases in Latin America, Africa and Asia could take place with absolute impunity, without the world becoming aware of the unusual and crazy threat.

How soon do empires forget the lessons of history!

The military technology exhibited in Moscow on May 9th demonstrated the impressive capacity of the Russian Federation to provide a proper and varied response to the conventional and nuclear resources of imperialism.

It was just the ceremony we were waiting for on the glorious anniversary of the Soviet victory over fascism.

Fidel Castro Ruz - May 10, 2012

Is The United States An Accidental Empire? 
By The Globalist
May 10, 2012 "Information Clearing House" --  The United States was born out of a struggle against an imperial power. Beginning in the 1840s — seven decades after its founding — it embarked on a succession of "wars of choice" that were profoundly at odds with its founding principles and left it with an empire of its own. This inaugural "Thomas Paine" column looks at how American changed — and how its empire is handicapping its future.

Our present predicament didn't happen overnight. It was a long time in the making. Along the way, America changed. We forsook our birthright, we deceived ourselves and, ever so slowly, our loadstar changed from liberty to force. When it was all over, we woke up and had an empire.

The United States broke with the foreign policy of its Founders in three wars of choice. We used guns to annex two-fifths of Mexico. We used guns to remove Spain from its colonies in the Caribbean and the Philippines. We used guns to replace Germany as the leading military power in Europe.

In the seven decades between the start of the Mexican-American war in 1848 and America entering World War I in 1917, the die was cast.

We didn't go to war with Mexico, Spain and Germany to defend ourselves. President James Polk proclaimed it was our Manifest Destiny to redraw our southern border to include almost half of Mexico. Likewise, President McKinley thought it was our Manifest Destiny to replace Spain as a colonial power in Cuba and the Philippines. In World War I, President Woodrow Wilson repackaged Manifest Destiny as saving the world for democracy.

War no longer needed to be justified as defending our country. War was now justified as promoting democracy around the world. Americans were now a force for good in the world.

The U.S. Constitution was subverted in the wars against Mexico, Spain and Germany. Yes, Congress declared war in the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and World War I. But the legitimacy of the congressional declaration was undermined by Presidential lies:

Americans weren't attacked on American soil, as President Polk claimed. In fact, volunteer American soldiers were attacked on Mexican soil.

The Spanish didn't sink our ship in Havana, as President McKinley claimed.

The Germans sunk our ship, but President Wilson didn't mention the American guns on board which violated our declared neutrality. Wilson's Secretary of State resigned in protest.

Each of these presidential lies was an impeachable offense. There were no impeachment proceedings. We just looked the other way.

These three wars of choice redefined American exceptionalism into something very different from what the Founders intended. We were no longer exceptional because of our unique form of government. The federal government no longer existed to protect the sovereignty of the individual.

The government now existed to promote democracy abroad. Never mind that the American republic was never a democracy. (The Constitution established a republic. The Founders rejected democracy because it didn't protect the individual from the tyranny of the majority.)

Each war of choice made the next one easier. President Polk's decision to take the country to war against Mexico made President McKinley's decision to go to war against Spain seem less unreasonable. It is hard to imagine President Wilson taking the country to war against Germany if Polk and McKinley hadn't gotten their wars.

Now the Constitution was turned upside down. We were set on a trajectory that turned the government against citizens. Wilson tolerated no war dissent and severely limited civil liberties.

We could have turned back to the foreign policy of the Founders. Mexico was no existential threat to the United States. But the war was popular and Polk gave the people what they wanted and made the country richer. We could have stopped there.

The little war with Spain was avoidable, too. But that war was also popular, cost-free and journalism became an accomplice in war. We could have stopped there. But wars of choice had become a habit for ambitious Presidents — and Wilson was ambitious.

Wilson's decision to take the country to war against Germany was far-reaching. The rapid rise of Germany was a reality that the major powers in Europe had to recognize. The Germans built an economy greater in size than the combined economies of France, England and Russia. Rather than let the Europeans find their own solution, Wilson decided to enter into an "entangling alliance" against Germany.

Unlike the two earlier wars of choice, World War I became unpopular at home. Fifty-thousand Americans gave their lives to fight the Kaiser. Clemenceau and Lloyd George ran circles around Wilson at the Versailles peace conference. Wilson lost the peace and the Versailles Treaty was rejected by the U.S. Senate.

World War I made World War II inevitable. Wilson's war of choice created Roosevelt's war of necessity. The French and English demanded onerous reparations from Germany. The ensuing inflation destroyed the Germany economy. Hitler rose to power by exploiting the political backlash inside Germany. The Second World War was a continuation of the unfinished business of the First.

World War II laid the foundation for an American empire. Six million Jews and 30 million Russians perished. This led to the creation of Israel and the outbreak of the Cold War. The United States took over British bases around the globe, and our forward presence gave impetus to bin Laden, 9/11 and the permanent war on terrorism.

The 120 million who perished in these 20th-century conflicts died mostly because of the failure of the existing major powers to accommodate the new strength of Germany on the European continent.
The solutions to yesterday's problems create today's problems. We live with the choices made by those who went before us. Looking back, Woodrow Wilson was the worst President in American history: His intervention in the First World War was the equivalent of a European power coming to the United States during the Civil War and saying South wins, North loses.
Now the Germans are back in the driver's seat in Europe. The Germans are once again dominating the economy of Europe. The United States is sidelined by the weakness of our economy and our staggering debt. We have lost our way and don't know how to get out of the empire business.
This article was first published at The Globalist



Poverty in Ireland: the facts

Author: 
Brian O’ Boyle
Ordinary people hardly need to be told that times are tough. Irish living standards have been absolutely decimated over the last four years and now we have the statistical evidence to prove it.
According to the Central Statistics Office Survey on Incomes and Living Conditions (SILC) for example, around 250,000 Irish people are now living in consistent poverty.
This is up by over 50% from the 160,000 deemed to be in absolute poverty in 2009 as a combination of welfare cuts and service reductions take their toll on the most vulnerable.
Alongside absolute poverty, around 1 million Irish people (23%) now experience some form of deprivation.
Deprivation occurs when someone has a lack of basic necessities at least once during the course of a year.
This can happen across the board, but children are particularly vulnerable with one in five kids going to school hungry on a consistent basis.
Perhaps the most shocking statistic to come out of the SILC report concerns the growing gap between rich and poor.
The elites in this country have been very good at pleading poverty.
But the SILC report tells a very different story, with the top 10% of Irish households actually increasing their disposable income by 8% since 2009 at the same time as the poorest 10% lost 26% of their disposable income.
This truly is a case of the rich getting rich at the expense of the poor and a second study carried out by Social Justice Ireland has found similar results.
The headline figure in the Social Justice report found that there are over 700,000 Irish people in poverty.
This is defined as having less than €10,000 for a single person or €24,000 for a family of four, and it comes in the same month as the Sunday Times Rich List revealed that Ireland’s richest 300 people increased their wealth by €12,000 million over the course of two years.
From an average of around €165 million per person each of these people now has around €210 million.
Every cut to schools, hospitals and welfare could have been avoided if these incredibly rich people had been forced to contribute to the welfare of society.
Instead our children’s futures are daily being sacrificed so that the mega rich can continue to accumulate.
April 25, 2012 - 10:53
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Olympics London Breaking News ; Undie British Butt Bombers



Olympics London Breaking News ; Undie British Butt Bombers


category international | miscellaneous | news report author Friday May 11, 2012 11:13author by BrianClarkeNUJ - AllVoices Report this post to the editors
Human Rights Interned
British paramilitary police have arrested several human rights activists and interned them without trial in British Occupied Ireland, prompting accusations by human rights groups that the British government is silencing critics before the London Olympics. While Al-Qaida has publicly boasted that they are making hundreds of new underwear bombs for Olympic London. There are concerns that there are many other versions of the underwear and butt bombs in the pipeline and teams of bomb makers assembling them specially for the Olympics. U.S. security and members of Congress have been briefed the public. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a member of the Homeland Security Committee said "They have a team of engineers, scientists and doctors. It's a little spooky. In my view, it’s very likely they have produced more of these."
 Undie British Butt Bomber Olympic Security
Undie British Butt Bomber Olympic Security
Meanwhile human rights activist Marian Price has been held in solitary confinement and tortured for over a year now along with Martin Corey, Gerry McGeough and other prisoners. Today a judge said that he had limited powers in cases like this, but:: "If I do not use what teeth I have, I may as well sit back and allow the prosecution to dictate the pace."He said that everyone was entitled to a fair trial within a reasonable period of time.The British prosecution requested a two-week adjournment to allow the papers to be finalized but Judge McElholm said he was not giving any more adjournments as there was no evidence before him.

However the British overlord Paterson ordered that Marian Price remain in custody, as the British come up with another trumped up charge to intern her and silence her ahead of the Olympic games. It is believed the British also intend to intern other human rights activists and political dissidents in London in carbon copy activity of what happened in Beijing four years ago. There is a gathering momentum on the issues and many believe that British Occupied Ireland will become the Tibet issue of the London Olympic.Today at an opening ceremony the Olympic flame was snuffed out a few minutes after being lit, serving as a bad omen for the games in London after an Irish soothsayer put an extremely powerful curse on the games. There are reports of increasing numbers of hotel room cancellations in London, amid heightening concerns of a terrorist attack, after the discovery of a sophisticated new underwear bomb, created by a British al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen specially for the London Olympics.

All-Qaida has publicly boasted that they are making hundreds of new underwear bombs for Olympic London. There are concerns that there are many other versions of the underwear and butt bombs in the pipeline and teams of bomb makers assembling them especially for the Olympics. U.S. security and members of congress have been briefed. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a member of the Homeland Security Committee said, "They have a team of engineers, scientists and doctors. It's a little spooky. In my view, it’s very likely they have produced more of these."

Just days before the news of the new underwear bombs in the pipeline for London broke, an al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen publicly said, that it had vastly expanded its capabilities for making such devices. They now claim after obtaining “a large deal of chemicals from military laboratories" in a city in southern Yemen that they said, "the modest lab has transformed into a modern one," adding "Hence, no wearisome measures are taken anymore to obtain the needed large amount of chemicals for explosives," they said. "Also, the operations now do not lack money as before. Isn't it funny how America thinks AQAP has only one major bomb maker?"

U.S. intelligence estimates, the number of fighters ready for suicide attacks on London may be more than 1,000. John Brennan, President Barack Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, said on Tuesday that U.S. officials are taking extra measures "to prevent any other type of IED similarly constructed from getting through security procedures." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security have issued new "guidance" calling for increased security at foreign airports, with additional pat-downs, intimate searches, as well as other extremely personal procedures for detecting such a typed of bomb.

Many have complained of the extremely intimate nature of British pat downs at airports, with many complaining of the perverse procedures adopted by the British. Many observers have compared them to the strip searches of Irish political prisoners, which borders on sexual assault and rape. Other complain that British official seem to spend far too long examining their crotch and anus and seem to be getting a perverse pleasure out of the procedure. Naturally as a result many people are cancelling their trips to the London Olympics.
Related Link: http://irishblog-irelandblog.blogspot.com/

Ireland Referendum Alternative is Icelandic Model



author by BrianClarkeNUJ - AllVoicespublication date Thu May 10, 2012 17:46Report this post to the editors
In 2008 the main bank of Iceland is nationalized.Their currency devalued and the stock market stopped. The country went bankruptcy. The citizens protested in front of parliament and got new elections after the resignation of the whole government. The country was actually in a worse economic situation than Ireland.




Unlike Ireland the people of Iceland made their government resign and have nationalized the primary banks. The country decided not pay the massive debts created with Britain and the Netherland and they have created a public assembly to rewrite their constitution.


They had a revolution against the powers who created their crisis in a peaceful way. It has been censored and covered up because if countries like Ireland or other EU citizens followed this example the commercial banks who are causing the crisis would be out of business.


In 2010 the people went out in the streets and demanded a referendum. In March the referendum and the refusal of payment was voted in by 93% of the people. The government is forced to investigate those responsible for the crisis including many senior executives and bankers who were arrested. Interpol was forced to dictate an order making all those implicated leave the country.


A fresh assembly has been elected to rewrite the Constitution to include the lessons learned which will replace the current one. The people chose 25 citizens with no political affiliation from 522 candidates. To be a candidate, all that was needed was to be an adult with the support of 30 people. 


So in summary of the Icelandic revolution:
-resignation of all of the government
-nationalization of the bank.
-referendum for people to decide about economic matters.
-jailing all responsible parties
-writing a new constitution for and by the people


Has Ireland been informed of this by their media?


Has RTE commented on this?


The People of Iceland have shown the way forward ! There is a very simple, peaceful way to beat the current rotten system in all of Ireland and Iceland has given a lesson in genuine democracy and solution to Ireland's problems. Its simple but unfortunately the Irish people cannot handle the simple truth !
Fuerher Kenny
Fuerher Kenny 
The truth about Enda Kenny, the Irish Household Tax & the Eu Fiscal Referendum


Related Link: http://irishblog-irelandblog.blogspot.com/



Before we know where we are going, it helps to have a clear picture of where we are comin from. I do not know RNU sufficiently well to endorse them but I do know the following is a very accurate and clear window to Ireland's immediate past.


A History of Felon-Setting
  national | rights and freedoms | opinion/analysis   Saturday May 05, 2012 23:36 by RNU Activist - Republican Network for Unity (RNU) 
A History of Felon-Setting:

Felon-Setting has a long and not very honorable place in Irish history. British imperialists have used various tactics to impose their rule in Ireland for centuries. Demonisation, Criminalisation and Felon-Setting has played a massive role in attempting to isolate Republicans from their communities.

A History of Felon-Setting:

Felon-Setting has a long and not very honorable place in Irish history. British imperialists have used various tactics to impose their rule in Ireland for centuries. Demonisation, Criminalisation and Felon-Setting has played a massive role in attempting to isolate Republicans from their communities.

In 1858, a Cork Newspaper Editor published an article about the drilling and marching of Fenians in the Skibbereen area. He called on the British Police to arrest and imprison those involved. In response, Leading Republican, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa described the article as; 'felon-setting’.Within a year, Rossa found himself in a British prison.

During the 1919-21 Tan War newspapers were forbidden to describe IRA Operations as ‘Guerilla Attacks’. Propaganda has always been an essential element by governments across the world to influence public opinion.

In modern Ireland with mass communications like the radio, television and the Internet. It is not surprising that the British and Irish States and their supporters use propaganda such as, felon-setting, censorship, smears, slurs and demonisation in describing Republican Activists. These Activists are regularly called; ‘Godfathers, Criminals, Racketeers, Drug Dealers, Informers’ etc. However, it is more akin to American than Irish politics.

The reality behind these smears seriously hurts Republican families who have to cope with stories in the media, rumours in local communities and the targeting of Activists who pursue a legitimate political objective. In a number of cases, negative slurs have led to the deaths of Republicans like, Óglach. Joe O’Connor (RIRA) shot dead in Ballymurphy in 2000 and former Volunteer, Gerry (Whitey) Bradley from sucide in Larne. The rumours continue even after death with others such as, IRA Leader, Brendan Hughes.

Anglo-Irish Treaty:

(IRA) fought a successful Guerrilla War against the British occupation in Ireland between 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, the majority of Volunteers in Óglaigh na hÉireann voted against it.

The Treaty was ratified by a slim majority. Éamon de Valera and a significant number of Dail Deputies left the Assembly in protest. The Free State issued directives to newspapers that its Forces were to be called; ‘The National Army’, its opponents were to be called; ‘Irregulars and were not to be associated with the IRA of 1919-1921'.

The Dublin Government called the IRA; ‘Rebels and were not entitled to recognition as legitimate Combatants’. The Free State executed over 77 Anti-Treaty POWs’ including, Veteran Republicans, Liam Mellows, Joe McKelvey, Dick Barrett, Rory O’Connor and Liam Lynch.
Fianna Fáil:

De Valera failed to persuade Sinn Féin to participate in the Free State’s institutions in 1926 and left the Party immediately. He later formed Fianna Fáil and his new Party took power in 1932. Initially, Fianna Fáil was friendly towards the IRA, legalising Óglaigh na hÉireann and freed all Republican Prisoners who had been interned by the Free State. However within a few years, this had dramatically changed.

In 1938 Óglaigh na hÉireann’s, new Chief-Of-Staff and 1916 Veteran, Sean Russell reiterated that the Free State and its Institutions were illegitimate. He maintained that the IRA was the true Army of the Irish Republic. The IRA was backed by a number of Second Dail Deputies who gave their legitimacy. They also declared War on Britain and conducted a bombing campaign in England. Fianna Fail responded by banning the IRA and introducing Internment against Republicans.

The IRA was severely damaged by the measures taken against it by the Dublin and Stormont Governments during the Second World War. A number of IRA Volunteers including, former Chief Of Staff , Charlie Kerins, was hanged in 1944. Despite legal moves by Seán MacBride, public protests, and parliamentary intervention by TDs in Leinster House, De Valera refused to issue a reprieve. Political Prisoners were also badly mistreated which led to former Adj-General, Sean McCaughey dying on Hunger & Thirst Strike for Political Status in Portlaoise in 1946.

Operation Harvest:

From 1948 on, under the leadership of Tony Magan the IRA rebuilt its organisation. They began a renewed armed campaign in 1957 that involved various military columns carrying out a range of military operations, from direct attacks on security installations to disruptive actions against infrastructure. However, Internment in both States seriously hampered Republican activities and broke morale.

During the 1957 Leinster House elections, S/F won four seats which helped end the criminalisation campaign by the Dublin and Stormont Governments. The IRA Campaign ended in 1962, due to a lack of support for Armed Struggle.

For the remainder of the Sixties, the IRA came under the influence of a Dublin-based Leadership and gradually lost touch with its grassroots. Northern Volunteers were sidelined in favour of left-wing thinkers.

Unionist Misrule:

Despite repeated warnings from senior Republicans, Cathal Goulding ignored the growing demand for Civil Rights in the Six Counties. In answer to the demands, the Unionist Government used the RUC to attack Civil Rights Marchers and vunerable Nationalist communities throughout the summer of 1969.

IRA Units in the North were not able to properly defend these areas because of the lack of arms. Many Volunteers laid the blame at the door at the Leadership. Around the same time, Republican Leaders wanted to end its policy of Absentionism from Leinster House and Stormont and called an Ard Fheis for December, 1969.
The Leadership failed to get the two-thirds needed to change policy. The Party split and a walk-out ensued with a number of Veterans forming the Provisional Movement. The IRA followed suit after an Army Convention was called in January, 1970. The PIRA was born and declared War against the British Government and her Forces.
The split was particularly bitter and caused long time friends, comrades and families to choose sides. In spite of the bitterness Goulding, continued with his plan to push the Official’s into electoral politics, while the Provisionals began attacking the British occupation. The Officials used phrases such as, Catholic Defenders, Dublin Government Dupes, Nationalist Militants, Sectarian Thugs to demonise the Volunteers. This type of language led to the killing of over 20 Activists.

The Officials also mounted attacks against the British until it declared a ceasefire in 1972. It split again in 1974, which led to the formation of the Irish National Liberation Army or INLA. The Provisional Movement had a number of ceasefires throughout the Seventies and Eighties, however they did not declare an end to hostilities until 2005. When they destroyed most of its weapons under British and international supervision. 

1981 Hunger-Strike:

Throughout the the late Seventies, the British Government implemented a number of new policies to suppress political dissent in the Six Counties. They were called Ulstersation, Normalisation and Criminalisation. Emotive and negative language used against Republicans such as, Godfathers, Criminals, Racketeers, Drug Dealers and Informers.

In the South, the Dublin Government reactivated the Special Criminal Court to ‘convict’ and imprison Republicans. They also imposed severe censorship against Political Activists particularly, those who opposed the British State in Ireland. Eoghan Harris and a number of other Officials used RTE to pursue an Anti-Republican agenda. Which in effect censored news from the North.

The truth of what was happening in the North was not being reported properly by the British media either. News stories had to be vetted by Government Censors before being aired. It wasn’t until 1988 that Maggie Thatcher introduced regulations similar to those in the South and censorship became formal.

Sadly, former comrades have taken on such tactics and use the same language against anyone who opposes their strategy. Provocative phrases like, Drug Dealers, Criminals, Conflict-Junkies, Traitors etc.
British Policing:

A year after the IRA ended its armed Campaign they were again forced into a corner by the British and Unionists to endorse the renamed RUC as a legitimate Police Force. In spite of generations of Republican and Nationalist communities being murdered, targeted, oppressed and criminalised by the British occupation of the Six Counties. The Provisional Movement attempted to convince its grassroots that the future of the struggle lay in such an endorsement. 

In response, the Republican lobby group, Concerned Republicans and Ex-POWs’ Against the RUC and MI5 was created and advocated a return to Republican principles. The new group received substantial support from a number of other groups including, the IRSP, 32CSM, Eirigi and a number of Independent Republicans. Due to the endorsement of British Policing, Concerned Republicans and Ex-POWs’ Against the RUC and MI5 changed its name to the Republican Network for Unity or RNU. 

Political Prisoners:

With the signing of the GFA, anyone ‘convicted’ of Republican Activities would no longer be treated as a Political Prisoner and have their Status removed. A status that was fought hard for and caused the agonising deaths of ten young Republican Volunteers in 1981.

Since then dozens of Republicans have been ‘convicted’ in Non-Jury (Diplock) Courts and incarcerated in Maghaberry and Portlaoise Gaols. Two former IRA Prisoners, Martin Corey from Lurgan and Marian Price from Belfast have had their Life Sentences revoked by the British Secretary of State and remain imprisoned. Another, Gerry McGeough from Tyrone was arrested by the new RUC, after he stood for election urging no support for the RUC/PSNI. He was subsequently tried in a Diplock Court and given 12 years for PIRA attack back in 1981. The ongoing imprisonment of Gerry McGeough, Martin Corey and Marian Price underscores the existence of Political Policing. Their incarceration is also a snub to the Provisional Movement who promised separation between political and civil Policing in the Six Counties.
Fourteen years after the GFA and five years after endorsing the British system of justice in Ireland. Political Prisoners in Maghaberry are still protesting for dignity, human rights and Political Status.

Conclusion:

According to Frank Burton who wrote; The Politics of Legitimacy, Struggle in a Belfast Community in 1978. ‘Irish Republicanism has a phrase — “felon-setting”. It is used to describe the enterprise of those people who, in classifying IRA violence as ordinary criminality, attempt to deny its political essence.’

Since the 1994 Ceasefire, much of our history has been revised to alter the truthful account of why the Nationalist and Republican community in the North revolted against Stormont and the British occupation. Part of that revisionism has included the myth that the 1969 Uprising and subsequent War were carried out to secure equality. It fails to mention that the discrimination, political policing, military curfews, state murders, draconian legislation and Internment added fuel to the fire. 

As part of the myth is that the Provisional Movement had popular support for its armed campaign in the Six Counties. Any former Combatant will testify that a small amount of people in working-class areas supported the IRA. It did not attract widespread support which the Provisionals claim today. They pretend that only the IRA had support and that current Volunteers have none. 

They fail to say that the British Government in still in full control of six Irish counties, with over 6,000 armed British Troops stationed on Irish soil, backed by MI5 and a British Political Police Force. Political Prisoners are still incarcerated by Diplock Courts. Partition and the Unionist Veto over reunification are still very much in operation. The Irish working-class continue to live in poverty with the crumbs from the Westminster table. 
The Provisional Movement condemn, criticise and actively work against their former comrades. They believe they are travelling the road to a United Ireland, but the objective has always been a 32 County Socialist Republic. They may have garnered tens of thousands of votes but what are votes when you leave working-class communities behind.

The term often used to describe current Volunteer and Political organisations, is Micro-Groups and an Alphabet Soup of initials in a demeaning manner. If one studies 1916 Rising, the Revolutionaries who fought that week consisted of various groups including the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, Cumann Na mBán, Na Fianna Éireann and the Hibernian Rifles. They united to form the IRA and struck a blow for Irish freedom.Surely, the Provisionals aren't suggesting that the above organisations were also Micro-Groups too?

Related Link: http://www.republicannetwork.ie

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