Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Not Over Yet

Just because Gerry Adams has spoken does not mean that everyone is on the same page. In County Armagh today, the PSNI arrested four men who were in possession of 250 lb. of bomb making materials, including fertilizer, and a shiny red car.

The Provisional IRA has laid down its arms and is following along behind Gerry, going the political route. The Continuity IRA, on the other hand, will not give up the bloody battle until Ireland is a nation once again, undivided and unoccupied by the Brits.

Can't fault the CIRA entirely, considering the fact that the loyalist paramilitary groups have been pretty decisive about not putting away their guns. And since the IRA was formed in response to loyalist groups creating armed militias, the CIRA does not wish to be the first to go in a new direction.

Police in the Six Counties are saying that the bomb was going to be put in the car and set off fairly soon, given that the bomb being planned would be of an unstable nature. Where the shiny red car was going to be driven to is anyone's guess at this point, but it sounds like the CIRA was planning a show of force, perhaps going back to the days of the Troubles.

The threat of bloodshed will not end until the British occupation is ended. Political pundits have suggested that Gerry Adams may accomplish this to an extent. If the DUP will not sit in government with Sinn Fein, then local councils will take over the work of running the colony. The councils with majority Sinn Fein representation are along the border, and with enough cross-border initiatives and cooperation, the Six Counties could be further divided along sectarian lines, leaving the Protestant loyalists even more isolated and more dependent on London's handouts.

There's little doing in the Six Counties. The linen industry is gone, the textile mills long shuttered, and Harland and Wolff is an historical artifact. Gerry Adams will cling to the Republic of Ireland and the Celtic Tiger. The little DUP zones will continue to wither, devoid of opportunity and hope. And the Continuity IRA will carry on with the futile gestures of a war that cannot be won by guns and bombs.

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