An anniversary that won't feature on the BBC news today

Today is the 27th anniversary of the Provisional IRA firing mortars at Downing Street in an attempt to kill the Prime Minister and members of the British War cabinet sitting at the time. This attempt seems to have all but disappeared from the collective British memory.

Maybe Theresa May could have asked Jeremy Corbyn for his thoughts on the actions of the Provos on that day. I wonder if he could have managed to condemn their actions without also condemning the actions of the British state?

Bangkok bomb: Thai police charge man 'linked to Erawan blast' - BBC News

'... national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang downplayed any suggestion that the suspect was connected to terrorism.

"He is a foreigner, but it's unlikely he is an international terrorist. It's a personal feud," Mr Somyot told a televised news conference.'

Personal feud? Yes, sure...

More here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34101309

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight systems disabled

The BBC are reporting that which many people had suspected for a while that foul play may account for the disappearance of flight MH370. I wonder who might be too blame...

' The communications systems of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were deliberately disabled, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has said.The new evidence, based on satellite and radar tracking of the plane, is "consistent with the deliberate action of someone on the plane", he said.

The investigation is "now entering a new phase", he said, focusing on the crew and passengers on board.Flight MH370 disappeared a week ago with 239 people on board.'

Source here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26591056

I think we know where this is heading...

Getting ever more interesting

CNN are reporting the following:

Tickets linked to stolen passports for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were purchased by an Iranian man, authorities say.

At least two people on board the plane were traveling on passports stolen from an Austrian and an Italian.

According to Thai police officials, an Iranian man by the name of Kazem Ali purchased the tickets for two friends who he said wanted to return home to Europe. While Ali made the initial booking by telephone, either Ali or someone acting on his behalf paid for the tickets in cash, according to police.

Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile.

Iran, possible Islamist terrorism... I expect the BBC to be all over this story!

BBC News - Gatwick Airport: Controlled explosions carried out

Testing security systems? Trying to disrupt Gatwick without actually planting any explosives?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-22374309

Aircraft terrorism defeated?

I am not sure if this is, as they say, 'for real' but it seems a sensible idea to me...

'The Israelis are developing an airport security device that eliminates the privacy concerns that come with full-body scanners.

It’s an armored booth you step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on your person.

Israel sees this as a win-win situation for everyone, with none of this crap about racial profiling.

It will also eliminate the costs of long and expensive trials. You’re in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion.

Shortly thereafter, an announcement: “Attention to all standby passengers, we now have a seat available on flight 670 to London . Shalom!”'

Could anyone argue against such a system? The bomber gets to explode as he/she wanted, albeit killing only themselves, and the general law-abiding public don't have to queue for ages, be subjected to ever more personal searches or be made to feel like a criminal for carrying some nail clippers or a Swiss Army penknife.

The report comes from Colonel 6.

Airport security - there is another way

I posted this last November  and think it's time for a re-post...

'The Star reports on why security is so much better and less intrusive at Israel's airports than in the USA (and indeed Europe). Here's an extract, do read the whole piece:

'"The first thing you do is to look at who is coming into your airport," said Sela. 

The first layer of actual security that greets travellers at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport is a roadside check. All drivers are stopped and asked two questions: How are you? Where are you coming from? 

"Two benign questions. The questions aren't important. The way people act when they answer them is," Sela said. 

Officers are looking for nervousness or other signs of "distress" — behavioural profiling. Sela rejects the argument that profiling is discriminatory. 

"The word 'profiling' is a political invention by people who don't want to do security," he said. "To us, it doesn't matter if he's black, white, young or old. It's just his behaviour. So what kind of privacy am I really stepping on when I'm doing this?" 

Once you've parked your car or gotten off your bus, you pass through the second and third security perimeters. 

Armed guards outside the terminal are trained to observe passengers as they move toward the doors, again looking for odd behaviour. At Ben Gurion's half-dozen entrances, another layer of security are watching. At this point, some travellers will be randomly taken aside, and their person and their luggage run through a magnometer. 

"This is to see that you don't have heavy metals on you or something that looks suspicious," said Sela.

You are now in the terminal. As you approach your airline check-in desk, a trained interviewer takes your passport and ticket. They ask a series of questions: Who packed your luggage? Has it left your side? 

"The whole time, they are looking into your eyes — which is very embarrassing. But this is one of the ways they figure out if you are suspicious or not. It takes 20, 25 seconds," said Sela. 

Lines are staggered. People are not allowed to bunch up into inviting targets for a bomber who has gotten this far. 

At the check-in desk, your luggage is scanned immediately in a purpose-built area. Sela plays devil's advocate — what if you have escaped the attention of the first four layers of security, and now try to pass a bag with a bomb in it? 

"I once put this question to Jacques Duchesneau (the former head of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority): say there is a bag with play-doh in it and two pens stuck in the play-doh. That is 'Bombs 101' to a screener. I asked Ducheneau, 'What would you do?' And he said, 'Evacuate the terminal.' And I said, 'Oh. My. God.' 

"Take Pearson. Do you know how many people are in the terminal at all times? Many thousands. Let's say I'm (doing an evacuation) without panic — which will never happen. But let's say this is the case. How long will it take? Nobody thought about it. I said, 'Two days.'" 

A screener at Ben-Gurion has a pair of better options.

First, the screening area is surrounded by contoured, blast-proof glass that can contain the detonation of up to 100 kilos of plastic explosive. Only the few dozen people within the screening area need be removed, and only to a point a few metres away. 

Second, all the screening areas contain 'bomb boxes'. If a screener spots a suspect bag, he/she is trained to pick it up and place it in the box, which is blast proof. A bomb squad arrives shortly and wheels the box away for further investigation.
"This is a very small simple example of how we can simply stop a problem that would cripple one of your airports," Sela said. 

Five security layers down: you now finally arrive at the only one which Ben-Gurion Airport shares with Pearson — the body and hand-luggage check. 

"But here it is done completely, absolutely 180 degrees differently than it is done in North America," Sela said. 

"First, it's fast — there's almost no line. That's because they're not looking for liquids, they're not looking at your shoes. They're not looking for everything they look for in North America. They just look at you," said Sela. "Even today with the heightened security in North America, they will check your items to death. But they will never look at you, at how you behave. They will never look into your eyes ... and that's how you figure out the bad guys from the good guys." 

That's the process — six layers, four hard, two soft. The goal at Ben-Gurion is to move fliers from the parking lot to the airport lounge in a maximum of 25 minutes.'

Why are we so fixated on looking for liquids and bombs rather than doing some intelligent profiling?' Why do we inconvenience the majority?

Delhi explosions - cause?

There has been an explosion outside the high court in New Delhi, dozens of people are said to be injured. According to New Delhi-based news channel, NDTV, the blast took place just before the court opened for hearings. Meanwhile Reuters cite local TV networks and say that least 24 people had been injured. The New Delhi police have declined to comment on whether the blast was a bomb attack an if so who might be behind it. If it was a bomb I think we all know the background of the likely culprits.

The Oslo attacks

Vile, disgusting and evil; that just about covers my feelings regarding the Oslo attacks. However there is one wrinkle that I need to write about - the BBC.

This is Christmas and all their birthdays in one for the BBC. From now on if anyone dares to doubt the 'religion of peace' then this Oslo attack will be brought up to show that 'all religions have their extremists'. The BBC will ignore the relative number of attacks, ignore the vicious genocidal hatred pumped out by Islamic regimes and the multitude of Islamic terrorist groups on a daily basis and instead concentrate on one isolated event. The BBC were muted in their initial coverage of these attacks as they feared an Islamic dimension but now are in full flow. The BBC disgust me on a daily basis.

The BBC have a problem

The BBC have a problem this morning. A Briton has been killed overseas in a terrorist attack so the BBC would usually be headlining this news. However the Briton was killed in Jerusalem by a terrorist bomb which makes reporting the news tricky. At the moment the BBC news website has simply changed the report headline to 'Jerusalem bus stop bomb victim was British' and the first two paragraphs now run:

'A woman who was killed when a bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop in Jerusalem on Wednesday was British.

The British Embassy said the woman's family in the UK had been informed.'

I suppose the BBC are hoping that the murdered woman's family come out and say that they don't blame the Palestinians for their daughter/wife/mother's death and that she was in Israel campaigning for the rights of the Palestinians against their Israeli oppressors. If this is the case then the story will start to be reported as headline news. If however it emerges that this woman was a Jewish supporter of Israel then you can expect the BBC coverage to slowly disappear. Certainly the death of this British woman will not receive a tenth of the coverage of the death of the American Rachel Corrie.

Things to worry about - Middle East and North Africa related

Two news stories to worry about overnight.

1) Defensetech asks the question that I have been wondering about for a few days now - Will Gadhafi Resort to Terrorism to Fight Back?'
DefenseTech puts it this way:

'We all know Gadhafi is no stranger from using such tactics from bombing several European airports and a Berlin nightclub to blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland, the colonel has long used terror as a way of hitting Western governments for perceived slights against his regime.

With his forces being pounded into oblivion by a number of foreign miltaries, who knows what Gadhafi will do. Yes, he gave up his nuclear weapons program years ago. However, Libya is still reported to have tons of chemical weapons stockpiled. Keep in mind, that the colonel has said that his weapons depots are open to loyalists. We don’t know what type of weapons, money or combination of both he’s giving to potential terrorists. U.S. officials are already worried about this, as they should be.

DT has already discussed the potential for the weapons looted by rebels to make their way to conflicts around the world. This situation could be made far worse if Gadhafi deliberately arms bad organizers in one last spite-ridden effort to hurt the West.'

DefenseTech are right but also remember that this is also the man who supplied arms to the IRA in order to enable them to kill and maim as many Britons as possible. He has no scruples and he has the contacts to once more spread his lethal legacy around the world. I have no doubt that if he felt he had no way out then any WMD stocks he has would be supplied to whichever terrorists want to make use of them and as usual London will be one of the first targets. Whilst you wince at the possible prospect don't forget that this 'mad dog' regime is one that until very recently had the Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and LSE seal of approval - I still await their apologies, I suspect in vain.


2) Pajamas Media as usual provide more analysis than the main Stream Media as they report this:

'Several grand ayatollahs in Iran have issued a fatwa for Muslims to come to the aid of their Shiite brothers in Bahrain, who they claim are suffering horrific crimes from their government in collaboration with the Saudi armed forces. They further emphasized that the people of Bahrain have every right to demand freedom and their fair share from the state.

Shia-News, a site associated with Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi (a hard-line Shiite Twelver and an influential figure in the suppression of Iranians during their uprising to protest the fraudulent presidential election of 2009), is registering volunteers to participate in suicide bombings against Saudi interests around the world. Hundreds have already registered. Reports from inside Iran indicate that an alert has gone out to the Revolutionary Guards Quds forces throughout the world to prepare for attacks on Saudi establishments.

...

The ayatollahs who cry foul over the Saudi action in Bahrain have not spoken one word against their own Islamic regime, which is guilty of the rape, torture, and the murder of thousands of Iranian boys and girls for their uprising and demand for freedom and democracy. Human rights groups have reported that Iran, in just one month, executed more than one hundred people. The slaughter continues on a daily basis: the Iranian Supreme Court recently stepped up the executions by “expediting” death sentences.

The proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia is just beginning — expect to see many more such conflicts in the Middle East which will expand onto the world stage.'

Shiite against Sunni, anyone who remembers the horrors of the 1980's Iran Iraq war
with its half a million or so dead, knows what that might entail.



2011 is looking like becoming a very very dangerous year in the Middle East and beyond as the tensions long suppressed explode both metaphorically and literally.

Possibly the only time in history that a wireless carrier’s SMS message has been useful

Wired.Com report on an unforseen benefit of mobile phone carrier's messages:

'An unexpected and unwanted text message from a wireless company prematurely exploded a would-be suicide bomber’s vest bomb in Russia New Year’s Eve, inadvertently thwarting a planned attack on revelers in Moscow, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The would-be suicide bomber was planning to detonate a suicide belt bomb near Red Square, a plan that was foiled when her wireless carrier sent her an SMS while she was still at a safe house, setting off the bomb and killing her. The message reportedly wished her a Happy New Years, according to the report, which sourced the info from security forces in Russia. Cell phones are often used as makeshift detonators by terrorist and insurgent groups.

If true, the SMS might be the only time that a wireless carrier’s SMS message has ever been useful.

The authorities suspect the female bomber was part of the same Jihadist group that is suspected of hitting Moscow’s airport on Monday with a suicide bomb attack that killed 35.'

Why do I get the feeling that carrier's will be told to start sending more of these messages as a precautionary tactic?

Airport security UK and abroad

Jon Worth explains why if he wanted to bomb an airliner he wouldn't pick one leaving a UK airport. Here's an extract:

'I’ve recently taken return flights from the UK to Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt (to go diving in Dahab), and my parents have flown to and from Morocco, returning to the UK from Fez.

On the way to Egypt and Morocco we were subject to the normal checks on liquids in our hand luggage, and obliged to bin anything over 100ml, still in response to the 2006 transatlantic bomb plot.

But what about the other way around?

You can take as much liquid as you like (within reason) through security in both Fez and Sharm-el-Sheikh – I took 2 litres of water through, just to test it. Not an explosives check in sight, just a metal detector, and through went my water. Isn’t there something a bit odd about that, as there are some rather unpleasant groups operating in both Egypt and Morocco? If I wanted to bring down an airliner I sure would do it departing from there towards London rather than the other way around.'

Unusually I find myself agreeing with Jon Worth as I too have flown from airports where security is a joke and where people are allowed to carry what they like through as cabin luggage. I have mistakenly taken a penknife through x-ray machines in my hand luggage without being detected. Yet in other foreign airports I have had my hand luggage checked by sniffer dogs, electronic explosive sniffers and thorough hand searches.

Racial profiling at airports

The Mail amongst other news outlets, reports that the government are to consider allowing the security services to use racial profiling in the fight against terrorists getting onto a plane, exploding a device and killing a couple of hundred or more people. Apparently

'Passenger profiling would see selected travellers given tougher security checks before a flight.

Those behaving suspiciously or having an unusual travel pattern could be picked out
Other factors might include racial or religious profiling. This has sparked concern Muslims will be disproportionately targeted.

The profiling could be carried out by airport security staff or through computer analysis.

A passenger could be given extra screening if they ‘tick boxes’ such as arriving from a high-risk country, being alone or not having a return flight or luggage.

Currently, airport staff act on suspicious passenger behaviour or specific intelligence instead of profiling.'

'This has sparked concern Muslims will be disproportionately targeted.' - Disproportionate to what? Disproportionate to the number of Muslims in the UK population? Probably. Disproportionate to the number of Muslims flying out of the UK on any particular day? Probably. Disproportionate to the proportion of terrorists who are members of the 'religion of peace'? Probably not.

Racial profiling is not racist, it simply recognises who are likely to pose the greatest threat to the population in general. Racial profiling does not mean only searching Muslims, it does not mean ignoring the threat posed by such as Richard Read. It does mean concentrating more resources on the six young nervous looking Muslims sitting together with one way tickets to Detroit, Chicago and New York and less on the family of four flying to Alicante for a week's package holiday. Yes it also means not concentrating on searching the two eighty year old nuns flying to Rome but maybe giving the two Imams flying to Washington DC a second look.

Yes this may mean that totally innocent Muslims get searched more often and/or more thoroughly than totally innocent non-Muslims. It may mean that totally innocent Muslims find travelling by air more onerous than do totally innocent non-Muslims. But I am afraid that whilst a sizable proportion of Muslims both within and without this country are fixated on killing as many Westerners, including Muslims, as they can; security needs must be prioritised.

I presume that totally innocent Muslims would rather be subjected to stricter security checks than risk dying in an Islamic terrorist attack.

Strict airport security?

I have lost count of how many people I have seen at UK and foreign airports having small quantities of liquids confiscated at airport security because of the checks instigated a few years back. Mostly pointless as I am sure everyone knows, but it keeps the fear levels up and of course allows the state to exert more control over the population. So I was intrigued to read this BBC article that tells this story:

'An airline passenger claims he was allowed to take more than 200 fireworks on two flights in the United States.

Paul Jones, 29, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, flew across the US from Kansas to Houston and back to the UK with a bag of bangers - and a lighter.

It was only at Heathrow Airport that officials expressed concern, he said.

Continental Airlines said it did not have a record of the incident, but that it warned customers about hazardous materials prohibited on aircraft.

Bangers, which are explosives packed in a small tube, are banned from sale in the UK under The Fireworks (Safety) Regulation 1997.

US Federal law prohibits hazardous materials, such as fireworks, from being included in either checked in or carry-on baggage.

Mr Jones had been visiting Wichita, Kansas, during US Independence Day celebrations on 4 July and was left with the bag of Black Cat fireworks.

Deciding to take them home to Greater Manchester, he did not consider the security implications.

"I put them in my pocket, walked through then put them on a grey tray at the customs and security. They had to go through the x-ray," he said.

It was when Mr Jones arrived back at Heathrow earlier this month that his prohibited goods were discovered by UK staff.

"I was waiting for my suitcase at the carousel and when I picked it up I'd opened it up and put my tobacco and everything inside to carry it through," he said.

"The customs said I was looking suspicious so they pulled me, emptied it all out, and asked me how I got it through customs."

Despite their concerns, Mr Jones was allowed to leave with the fireworks.

In a statement, the Department for Transport's Aviation Desk said it was not aware of the incident, and that it was a matter for the US Authorities.

A spokesperson for Continental Airlines, the airline Mr Jones flew with, said security screening of passengers was the responsibility of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

"However, our airport agents are trained to respond immediately they become aware of any security breach," they added.

"We warn customers on our website about hazardous materials which are prohibited on aircraft under federal law, and the list includes fireworks."

No-one from the TSA could be reached for comment.'

So most people are prevented from carrying 250ml of water but Mr Jones was allowed through security carrying explosives; security?

Pakistan, terorism and the BBC

The BBC have been attacking David Cameron for daring to point out that elements connected with Pakistan's government have been involved in sponsoring terrorism. Part of the reason for the attack is the BBC's endless war on Conservative politicians but part is also due to the BBC's slavish adherence to the mantras 'Islam good, other religions bad' and 'Pakistan good, India bad' - I am sure you can see the connection between these two mantras.

The trouble with the BBC's indignation and reporting of the 'fury' at David Cameron's comments is that Pakistan and terrorism are as intertwined as the BBC and the Labour party. Here are just some examples, the first is one the BBC should remember as it comes from a 2006 Newsnight programme (my comments in italics):

'Key quotes from a leaked Ministry of Defence think-tank paper which alleges that Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, has indirectly helped the Taleban and al-Qaeda and should be dismantled. The research paper was written by a senior officer at the MoD-run Defence Academy. The Ministry of Defence have responded that the views contained in it do not reflect the views of the MOD or the government. (not that the views are not correct just that they do not reflect MOD or government opinion)

...

"The Army's dual role in combating terrorism and at the same time promoting the MMA and so indirectly supporting the Taliban (through the ISI) is coming under closer and closer international scrutiny.

Pakistan is not currently stable but on the edge of chaos.

[The West has] turned a blind eye towards existing instability and the indirect protection of Al Qaeda and promotion of terrorism.

Indirectly Pakistan (through the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism - whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq. The deaths of Britons on or under the streets of London is less important to the BBC than protecting the good name of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?

The US/UK cannot begin to turn the tide until they identify the real enemies from attacking ideas tactically - and seek to put in place a more just vision. This will require Pakistan to move away from Army rule and for the ISI to be dismantled and more significantly something to be put in its place."'That's the same ISI who the BBC were shocked to learn had cancelled a visit to London.

There is more evidence of Pakistan's involvement with terrorism: In a May 2009 interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said "to a certain extent, they play both sides." Gates and others suggest the ISI maintains links with groups like the Afghan Taliban as a "strategic hedge" to help Islamabad gain influence in Kabul once U.S. troops exit the region.


And what if the recent Wikileaks, the BBC have concentrated on the leaks that pertain to UK and US troops but the leaks also described the ISI's links to militant groups fighting U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan.

For more on Pakistan, Waziristan, Afghanistan, India and terrorism take a read of this Council on Foreign Relations document.


You might also like to consider Wikipedia's section on Pakistan on its State Sponsored Terrorism page:

'In July 2009, current President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari admitted that the Pakistani government had "created and nurtured" terrorist groups to achieve its short-term foreign policy goals. According to a analysis published by Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution in 2008 Pakistan was the worlds 'most active' state sponsor of terrorism including aiding groups which were considered a direct threat to USA.'

Read the rest of that article and wonder why the BBC are so keen to report Pakistan's fury at being linked to terrorism.

The BBC's attacks on David Cameron are disingenuous at best and symptomatic of what should be a news reporting organisation having become a propaganda vehicle.

Holidaying in Greece this summer? Something to think about...

"Tourists should know that Greece is no longer a safe haven of capitalism... We aim to transform it into a war zone of revolutionary processes, with arson, sabotage, fierce demonstrations, bomb attacks, armed killings."

The words of the Sect of Revolutionaries, an urban guerilla group, which has threatened to turn Greece into a war zone this summer, adding further concern for holidaymakers who already faced food and fuel shortages last week due to a strike by truck and tanker drivers. Some tourists where also caught up in flight delays and cancellations after air traffic controllers began 'working to rule'.

Καλές γιορτές - kales giortes

The BBC and the Saville Inquiry

I paused in my blogging yesterday for two reasons; first I was busy, busy, busy at work and second because I was too disgusted with the BBC's coverage of the Saville Inquiry to post anything coherent. Nearly 24 hours on and I think I can keep my anger under control enough to post this.

The BBC's coverage of the Saville Enquiry during the Radio 4 Today programme was as one-sided and blinkered as I would have expected. It was the BBC's stance on 'reporting' on Northern Ireland that first lead me to realise that the BBC was not the unbiased news reporting organisation that I had always been told it was, but was in fact a campaigning organisation willing (indeed wanting) to brainwash the British public in order to spread its views and further the ends of itself and its comrades.

James Naughtie's report was typical of the BBC's coverage with its sympathetic setting out of the Nationalist ca(u)se with several soft human interest stories/claims and the grudging slipping in of one balancing argument from Patrick Mercer (obviously in the wrong as he was a TORY). Naughtie's piece conveniently and blatantly rewrote history as he claimed the IRA was very weak at the time of Bloody Sunday and was playing second fiddle to the civil rights movement and that the IRA membership increased massively as a direct result of the deaths.

Anyone, who didn't know the history of 'the Troubles', listening to the BBC yesterday would have been left with the impression that Bloody Sunday was the cause of the Provisional IRA's murderous terrorist campaign. This is factually incorrect. It is generally accepted that the Provisional IRA's killing campaign started in 1969, three years before Bloody Sunday. Indeed by the time of Bloody Sunday the Provisional IRA had already murdered dozens of British soldiers and civilians. One incident that a decent BBC would commemorate happened on 9 February 1971 when an IRA landmine killed five men near a BBC transmitter on Brougher Mountain in County Tyrone. Two of the dead were BBC engineers, the other three were construction workers. It was believed their vehicle was mistaken for a British Army Landrover. British mobile patrols frequently inspected the transmitter.

Will there ever be an 'Inquiry' into the deaths of thousands of people at the hands, guns and bombs of the IRA? There seems to be no appetite in government and certainly
not any interest at the BBC. Martin McGuinness for example has often been given a platform to make unchallenged claims about Bloody Sunday and other aspects of Northern Ireland. So it seems unlikely that Martin McGuinness, the second in command of the Provisional IRA on that day in January 1972, will ever be questioned by the BBC as to his role on that day. However if they ever do interview him they might ask what he was doing armed with a Thompson submachine gun in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday and why the Saville Inquiry concluded that he had been "engaged in paramilitary activity" on that day? Maybe the BBC could also remind the British public, before their next soft-soap interview with him, that Martin McGuinness was convicted in 1973 by the Republic of Ireland's Special Criminal Court after being caught with a car containing 250 lb (113 kg) of explosives and nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition. A crime for which he received the derisory sentence of six months imprisonment. Maybe the BC could ask Martin McGuiness how he squares his proud boast in the 1973 trial that 'I am a member of Óglaigh na hÉireann and very, very proud of it' with his claim after the 1993 Cook Report programme that "I have never been in the IRA. I don't have any sway over the IRA"? Finally maybe someone could ask Martin McGuinness about his role as head of the IRA's Northern Command which had advance knowledge of the IRA's 1987 Enniskillen bombing which left 11 civilians dead.

The BBC's pro-nationalist policy that I first noticed in the 1980s is poisonous and just one example of the way the BBC has worked to destroy parts of the fabric of the United Kingdom. I am disgusted, but not surprised, by their reporting of the Saville Inquiry and their collective amnesia over the murders carried out by the IRA over the years. So as to show that some of us do remember here, from Wikipedia is a list of the Provisional IRA's attacks and their victims prior to Bloody Sunday:

'1970

* 26 June 1970: Three IRA volunteers and two young girls were killed when a bomb being assembled accidentally exploded in the Creggan, Derry.[1]
* 27 June 1970: IRA volunteers used firearms to defend Clonard monastery in west Belfast, the Short Strand in east Belfast (see Battle of St. Matthews) and other nationalist areas from attack by loyalist mobs. Six people (one Catholic IRA member and five loyalists Protestants) were killed in gun battles.[2]
* 3–5 July 1970: During the Falls Curfew the Official IRA and Provisional IRA fought a three day gun battle with 3,000 British troops who imposed a curfew on the Lower Falls area of Belfast, over 1,500 rounds were fired by British troops. Four civilians were killed.[3]
* 11 August 1970: Two RUC officers were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to an abandoned car in Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The bomb contained 20 lbs of gelignite and exploded when one of the officers attempted to open one of the car's doors.[4][5][6]
* 4 September 1970: IRA volunteer Michael Kane (35) was killed when a bomb he was placing at an electricity transformer in Belfast exploded accidentally.[4]
* 16 November 1970: The IRA shot and killed two alleged criminals in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.[4] The men are alleged to have been involved in protection rackets, fencing stolen goods, minor racketeering, moneylending, burglary and robbery.[7]

[edit] 1971

* 6 February 1971: A British soldier on security duties, Gunner Robert Curtis, was killed by Billy Reid in a gun battle in North Belfast. Curtis was the first British soldier to die in Ireland since the 1920s. IRA volunteer James Saunders (21) was shot dead in a shoot out with the British Army in the Bone area of Belfast and one Catholic civilian was shot dead by three British soldiers. Eight British soldiers and five civilians were also injured in various gun battles around Belfast.[8][9]
* 9 February 1971: An IRA landmine killed five men near a BBC transmitter on Brougher Mountain in County Tyrone. Two of the dead were BBC engineers, the other three were construction workers. It was believed their vehicle was mistaken for a British Army landrover. British mobile patrols frequently inspected the transmitter.[10][11]
* 15 February 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while taking part in a mobile-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. Two British Army scout cars came under sniper fire and had a bomb thrown at them. The soldier was shot in the head.[12][13]
* 26 February 1971: Two RUC officers who were attached to the forces Special Patrol Group (RUC) were killed in a gun battle with the IRA in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.[10][14]
* 8 March 1971: IRA volunteer Charles Hughes (26) was shot dead by the Official IRA in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. This was part of an ongoing dispute between the IRA and the OIRA.[12] In response the IRA shot and seriously injured a member of the OIRA.[15]
* 10 March 1971: The IRA abducted three off-duty British soldiers from Belfast and brought them to a mountain road outside the city, lined them up, and shot each of them in the head. They were the first off-duty soldiers to be killed in the conflict.[16][17]
* 15 May 1971: IRA volunteer Billy Reid (32) was killed during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army on Academy Street, Belfast. Two British soldiers were wounded in the incident.[12][18]
* 25 May 1971: A bomb was thrown into Springfield Road British Army/RUC base in Belfast, killing army Sergeant Michael Willetts as he shielded civilians from the blast with his body. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. Seven RUC officers, two British soldiers and eighteen civilians were injured.[12][19]
* 12 July 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper at a British Observation post on Northumberland Street in Belfast. The IRA claimed his death was in retaliation for the killings of two civilians in Derry by the British Army the previous week.[12][20]
* 14 July 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed in an IRA ambush on a mobile-patrol in the Andersonstown area of Belfast. Three IRA gunmen using automatic weapons fired at least 35 shots at the patrol.[12][21]
* 8 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA sniper attack while on foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The IRA said he was shot in retaliation for the shooting dead of a civilian by the British Army the day before on the Springfield Road.[12][22]
* 9 August 1971: 343 suspects were detained as internment was introduced. In the following two days 17 people were killed in gun battles between the IRA and British Army.The IRA killed one British soldier and one UDR soldier while the British Army shot dead one IRA volunteer, Patrick McAdorey (24) and 14 civilians. Between 1971 and 1975, 1,981 people were interned; 1,874 were Catholic/Republican, while only 107 were Protestant/Loyalist.[10]
* 9 August 1971: A British Army UDR soldier was killed in a joined Provisional & Official IRA ambush in Clady, Tyrone.[23]
* 11 August 1971: IRA volunteer Seamus Simpson (21) was shot and killed by the British Army while carrying out a bomb attack on their patrol in the Andersonstown area of Belfast.[12]
* 16 August 1971: The commander of the Provisionals' Belfast Brigade, Joe Cahill, gave a press conference claiming only 30 IRA volunteers had been interned.[10][24]
* 18 August 1971: IRA volunteer Eamon Lafferty (20) was shot and killed during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army in the Creggan area of Derry City.[12]
* 23 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Flax Street in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The soldier was shot in the head as he exited a British armoured vehicle.[12][25] Another British soldier from the same regiment was shot dead by an IRA sniper in Ardoyne during a gun attack on an observation post. He had been shot in the mouth. The Daily Express published a picture of the dead soldier, George Crozier, on its front page the next day.[26]
* 25 August 1971: A civilian was killed when the IRA bombed the NIES office on Malone Road in Belfast. An inadequate warning was given.[12]
* 29 August 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper in near Crossmaglen in County Armagh. The soldier was travelling in a British patrol consisting of two armoured vehicles when they accidentally crossed the border into County Monaghan. When attempting to turn back angry locals blocked their way and set one of the vehicles on fire. After eventually managing to get back across the border the patrol had to stop to change a damaged wheel. While this was happening a six man unit from the IRA's Monaghan Brigade arrived on the scene and took up sniping positions in nearby fields. One soldiers was killed after being shot in the neck and another injured when he was struck in the shoulder.[27][28]
* 31 August 1971: A British soldier was killed when he was shot by an IRA sniper in Stockmans Lane in the Andersonstown area of Belfast. A single shot was fired by a sniper which passed through the shoulder strap of another soldiers flak-jacket before hitting the other soldier in the head.[12][29]
* 3 September 1971: A British Army UDR soldier was shot dead when an IRA unit attacked Kilawley British Army base in County Fermanagh.[12][29]
* 9 September 1971: A British Army bomb-disposal expert was killed attempting to defuse an IRA bomb in Drumankelly in County Antrim.[12]
* 14 September 1971: A British soldier was shot dead during an IRA attack on a British Army mobile-patrol in Edendork, County Tyrone.[12]
* 15 September 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by the IRA in the grounds of Victoria Hospital in Belfast.[12]
* 17 September 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.[12]
* 18 September 1971: An RUC officer was shot and killed in an IRA gun attack on his foot-patrol in Strabane, County Tyrone.[12]
* 1 October 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun-attack on a British Army foot-patrol in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.[12]
* 2 October 1971: IRA volunteer Terence McDermott (19) died after the bomb he was transporting exploded accidentally outside Lisburn, County Antrim.[12]
* 11 October 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by the IRA while on foot-patrol on the Letterkenny Road in Derry.[12]
* 15 October 1971: Two RUC officers were shot and killed when an IRA unit attacked their patrol car on the Woodvale Road in Belfast.[12]
* 16 October 1971: A British Army soldier was shot dead by the IRA during riots in the Bogside area of Derry.[12]
* 17 October 1971: Two British soldiers were killed when their armoured-mobile-patrol was caught in an IRA sniper ambush in Belfast.[12]
* 23 October 1971: Two unarmed female IRA volunteers, Maura Meehan (30) and Dorothy Maguire (19), were shot and killed by the British Army in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.[12]
* 24 October 1971: IRA volunteer Martin Forsythe (19) was shot and killed by undercover RUC officers during a bomb attack in Donegall Place, Belfast.[12]
* 27 October 1971: Two British soldiers were killed when the IRA bombed Rosemount British Army base in Derry.[12]
* 27 October 1971: An RUC officer was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while on patrol near Toome in County Antrim.[12]
* 27 October 1971: A British soldier was killed when a British Army armoured personnel carrier struck an IRA landmine in Kinawley, County Fermanagh.[12]
* 29 October 1971: An RUC officer was killed when the IRA bombed the RUC base on the Antrim Road in Belfast.[12]
* 30 October 1971: A British soldier was killed when the IRA bombed a British Army Observation Post on the corner of Cupar Street in Belfast.[12]
* 31 October 1971: A British soldier was killed in an IRA sniper attack on his patrol in Stockmans Lane, Belfast.[12]
* 1 November 1971: Two RUC officers were shot dead by an IRA unit while investigating a robbery at Avoca Shopping Centre in Belfast.[12]
* 2 November 1971: Three civilians were killed when the IRA bombed the Ormeau Road RUC base. The three were drinking in the Red Lion bar which is next-door to the base.[12]
* 4 November 1971: A British soldier was killed in an IRA sniper attack on Henry Taggart British Army base in Ballymurphy, Belfast.[12]
* 7 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA drive-by attack in Lurgan, County Armagh.[12]
* 9 November 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by an IRA sniper on Foyle Road in Derry City.[12]
* 11 November 1971: Two RUC officers were shot dead by the IRA in Belfast. They had left the base to go into a shop on the street behind it when they were ambushed by an IRA unit.[12]
* 18 November 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by the IRA while guarding a bus depot in the Short Strand area of Belfast.[12]
* 24 November 1971: A civilian was killed in the crossfire during an IRA attack on a British Army base in Strabane.[12]
* 24 November 1971: A British Army bomb disposal expert was killed attempting to defuse a car-bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh.[12]
* 27 November 1971: Two Customs Officials were killed when IRA snipers attacked Killen Customs Post near Newry, County Armagh. The soldiers guarding the post were the intended targets.[12]
* 27 November 1971: A British soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in the Falls area of Belfast.[12]
* 29 November 1971: An off-duty British soldier was shot dead by the IRA near Crossmaglen, Armagh.[12]
* 6 December 1971: A civilian was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Belfast. The bomb destroyed a business premises. The damage resulted in one of the walls collapsing in on top of the building next door, crushing a civilian.[12]
* 7 December 1971: A British Army UDR soldier was shot dead by the IRA in Curlagh, County Tyrone.[12]
* 8 December 1971: Two British soldiers were killed in separate IRA gun attacks in Belfast.[12]
* 10 December 1971: A British UDR soldier and an ex-soldier were killed when their car was attacked by an IRA unit near Clady. County Tyrone.[12]
* 11 December 1971: A bomb attack on a furniture shop on the Shankill Road in Belfast killed four Protestant civilians, including two children.[12]
* 16 December 1971: A British soldier was shot and killed by an IRA sniper in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.[12]
* 18 December 1971: IRA volunteers James Sheridan (20), John Bateson (19) and Martin Lee (19) died in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.[10]
* 21 December 1971: A Publican was killed when he picked up and attempted to remove an IRA bomb which had been planted in his bar on the Lisburn Road in Belfast.[12]
* 21 December 1971: Unarmed IRA volunteer Gerald McDade (23) was shot after being captured by the British Army in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.[12]
* 29 December 1971: A British soldier was shot dead in an IRA gun attack on a foot-patrol in the Brandywell area of Derry City.[12]
* 31 December 1971: IRA volunteer Jack McCabe (55) was killed when a bomb he was assembling exploded accidentally in Santry, Dublin.[12]

[edit] 1972

* 5 January 1972: A British soldier was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while on foot-patrol in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.[30]
* 7 January 1972: IRA volunteer Daniel O'Neill (20) was killed in a gun-battle with British troops in the Falls area of Belfast.[30]
* 12 January 1972: An off duty RIC officer was shot dead by an IRA unit in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.[30]
* 13 January 1972: A British UDR soldier was shot dead by an IRA sniper while driving a van through Newtownabbey, County Antrim.[30]
* 18 January 1972: A civilian was shot dead by the IRA after he came forward as a witness to the IRA hijacking of a bus in The Mount area of Belfast.[30]
* 21 January 1972: A British soldier was killed when he stepped on an IRA landmine near Keady in County Armagh.[30]
* 26 January 1972: IRA volunteer Peter McNulty (47) was killed when a bomb he was planting at an RUC base in Castlewellan, County Down, exploded accidentally.[30]
* 27 January 1972: An IRA unit which included Martin Meehan fought a 4-hour gun battle with a British Army detachment at Dungooley in south Armagh. The British Army alone fired over 4,500 rounds while the IRA returned fire with assault rifles and an anti-tank gun. There were no casualties in the battle with the exception of a farmers pig which was caught in the crossfire. 8 IRA volunteers were arrested south of the border but were eventually acquitted.[31]
* 27 January 1972: Two RUC officers were killed when their patrol vehicle was hit by IRA gunfire in the Creggan area of Derry City.[30]
* 28 January 1972: An off-duty RUC officer was shot dead in an IRA gun attack at a garage in the Oldpark area of Belfast.[30]
* 30 January 1972: A British soldier died four months after being injured in an IRA sniper attack in the Bogside area of Derry.[30]'

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry in context

The BBC are in raptures that the Saville Inquiry will finally, after 12 years and £200 million, report today. The BBC fervently hope that the report lays blame on the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment and that they can then continue their long love of kicking the British Army whilst absolving the IRA of any blame for anything. As the commander of 1 Para that day in 1972, Colonel Wilford, said in a 1999 Radio 4 interview:

"What about Bloody Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and every day of the week? What about Bloody Omagh? What about Bloody Warrenpoint, Ennidkillen, Hyde Park or Bloody Aldershot and Brighton - Bloody everything the IRA have ever touched?"

Maybe with the Saville Inquiry finished it is time for an inquiry into the murders of British civilians and soldiers by the IRA and the parts played in those murders, whether direct of indirect, by people now in positions of power in Northern Ireland. I won't hold my breath though as that is a part of history that the BBC and the liberal elite in this Country do not want raked over.

The terrorists won the war in Northern Ireland and to see certain people strutting around in positions of some power makes me sick to the stomach for the families of those people killed by the IRA.

A Labour leadership contender said what!

The BBC report that in 2003 John McDonnell

'sparked outrage by saying IRA terrorists should be "honoured" for taking part in their "armed struggle".

...

The MP praised the "bravery" of the IRA, whose "bombs and bullets" had resulted, he said, in the peace process in Northern Ireland.'

Hmm an excuser of IRA terrorism who also said 'that if he could go back in time and do one thing, he would visit the 1980s and "assassinate Thatcher".'



Seems an ideal Labour leader, at least he's honest about his views unlike the cowards, idiots, creeps and thugs that are standing against him. I'll leave it to you to decide which of the other Labour leadership contenders fall into which one (or more) of these categories.