Death on the rock

Status
Not open for further replies.
redandwhiterob said:

Seemed to hell on at the time iirc, surely IRA people were fair game if they were there with the intention of killing British soldiers?
Click to expand...
Don't agree with terrorism in any way , shape or form. The bombings in Armagh etc etc were shocking.
However what happened in Gibraltar could be construed as many as an execution that made us no better than the people we were fighting against.
They were surrounded and didn't have a chance. Surely capturing, interrogating and imprisonmemt could have been more beneficial. Treat them like shite in prison, isolate them etc etc. Executing people that have no choice of fighting back and who have not faced a judge and jury doesn't gel.
Their shooting only made them martyrs in the eyes of money and hardened an already hard core.
The bottom line is that Thatcher was after a headline, and she got one . She never made one jot of difference in the resolution of the contract rather she upped the anti.
 


Right Brainless said:
Don't agree with terrorism in any way , shape or form. The bombings in Armagh etc etc were shocking.
However what happened in Gibraltar could be construed as many as an execution that made us no better than the people we were fighting against.
They were surrounded and didn't have a chance. Surely capturing, interrogating and imprisonmemt could have been more beneficial. Treat them like shite in prison, isolate them etc etc. Executing people that have no choice of fighting back and who have not faced a judge and jury doesn't gel.
Their shooting only made them martyrs in the eyes of money and hardened an already hard core.
The bottom line is that Thatcher was after a headline, and she got one . She never made one jot of difference in the resolution of the contract rather she upped the anti.
Click to expand...

don't agree for the following reasons:

prison does fuck all to terrorists except for galvanising them as they are mostly kept together. they ran the wings in the maze, crumlin road etc. same for guantanamo bay. most go back to bigger or badder things once released.
they also would have been out after a few years anyway due to the good friday agreement.
but mostly at this time and due to actions like this and the complete infiltration by the security services the ira became spent as an effective fighting organisation. they were too scared and too busy looking over their shoulders to carry out many more operations.
the good friday agreement was a f***ing good deal for them and they know it.
 
elder said:
don't agree for the following reasons:

prison does fuck all to terrorists except for galvanising them as they are mostly kept together. they ran the wings in the maze, crumlin road etc. same for guantanamo bay. most go back to bigger or badder things once released.
they also would have been out after a few years anyway due to the good friday agreement.
but mostly at this time and due to actions like this and the complete infiltration by the security services the ira became spent as an effective fighting organisation. they were too scared and too busy looking over their shoulders to carry out many more operations.
the good friday agreement was a f***ing good deal for them and they know it.
Click to expand...
Saved me writing it. Nail on head imo.
 
...ain't no surprise. Pour me a drink and I'll tell you some lies.
 
Boinger said:
The World in Action documentary about the possible miscarriage of justice re: The Birmingham Six, remains one of the best pieces of investigative journalism I've seen, Which, along with the superb "Error of Judgement" book by Chris Mullen (Mackem, I believe)?, led to their eventual release and subsequent huge changes in the judicial system.
Click to expand...

He was born in Essex but mp for sunderland

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Mullin_(politician)
 
+1 for Elder's post. Nail. Head. Nee squashed fingers.
 
If you've ever been to Gibralter you would be surprised where it happened, right on the main road in, the SAS didn't fuck about like.

Good.

Right Brainless said:
Don't agree with terrorism in any way , shape or form. The bombings in Armagh etc etc were shocking.
However what happened in Gibraltar could be construed as many as an execution that made us no better than the people we were fighting against.
They were surrounded and didn't have a chance. Surely capturing, interrogating and imprisonmemt could have been more beneficial. Treat them like shite in prison, isolate them etc etc. Executing people that have no choice of fighting back and who have not faced a judge and jury doesn't gel.
Their shooting only made them martyrs in the eyes of money and hardened an already hard core.
The bottom line is that Thatcher was after a headline, and she got one . She never made one jot of difference in the resolution of the contract rather she upped the anti.
Click to expand...

An ironic death for terrorist I would say....no?
 
Last edited:
peil said:
Start of a bloody month as I seem to recall, not long after you had that guy Stone attack a funeral and then the killings of the Corporals at a funeral in West Belfast.

Seems like a different planet now


World in Action on a Monday night wasn't it?

I seem to remember ones they did around 1980/81 with the Russians piling into Afghanistan and I'm sure there was one then around a famine in East Africa
Click to expand...

I read a book about michael stone and the duneral attack, think it was milltown. He's a complete and utter nut case. Was released under the good friday aggreement and decided it would be a good idea to burst into stormont with an axe or something similar!
 
Right Brainless said:
Don't agree with terrorism in any way , shape or form. The bombings in Armagh etc etc were shocking.
However what happened in Gibraltar could be construed as many as an execution that made us no better than the people we were fighting against.
They were surrounded and didn't have a chance. Surely capturing, interrogating and imprisonmemt could have been more beneficial. Treat them like shite in prison, isolate them etc etc. Executing people that have no choice of fighting back and who have not faced a judge and jury doesn't gel.
Their shooting only made them martyrs in the eyes of money and hardened an already hard core.
The bottom line is that Thatcher was after a headline, and she got one . She never made one jot of difference in the resolution of the contract rather she upped the anti.
Click to expand...
Absolute drivel
The ira were surrounded and didn't have a chance?!?!
Leaving aside the what "what chance were they giving the men, women and children in the vicinity of the bomb argument.....
The ira had purchased a substantial amount of explosives in spain, they had driven an old car fitted with a new antenna into a crowded street in Gibraltar. Everything poited to a remote operated device.
The sas tasked with stopping the slaughter of hundreds had no way of knowing if the ira were armed or not, nor did they know if the remote detonation device was being carried ready to use by the terrorists.
How would you go about "capturing" them? how would you give them a chance? What chance do you feel they deserved?in the middle of the street surrounded by civilians? risk a shootout?
As for the "Thatcher was after a headline" rubbish, it was a military operation to prevent hundreds being killed and maimed. Don't talk drivel daft lad
 
Boinger said:
The World in Action documentary about the possible miscarriage of justice re: The Birmingham Six, remains one of the best pieces of investigative journalism I've seen, Which, along with the superb "Error of Judgement" book by Chris Mullen (Mackem, I believe)?, led to their eventual release and subsequent huge changes in the judicial system.
Click to expand...

Weird as out I was reading this thread the other day and Chris Mullen is actually standing in reception of my work now. Just been talking to him
 
I have just been watching this and my view is that in an ideal world this shouldn't happen but in the real world it probably has to be done occasionally. Osama Bin Laden never got a fair trial but I doubt many people (apart from his supporters) shed any tears over him.
 
We moved out to Gib a few months after that and were warned about the possibility of car bombs in retaliation. I was 10 year old, and because I was small, for the first week my dad had me under the car looking for suspicious looking stuff.

Didn't have a clue what I was looking for but give us the all clear till we got sick of checking
 
Was talking about this with my younger son just yesterday - he couldn't comprehend what it was like. My brother in law was in the RAF - when we went to visit him in Germany, every time we went anywhere we had to check under the car. Even when I was in the Air Cadets we were advised from time to time not to wear uniform in public depending on the level of security alert. Should've shot every one of the f*ckers.
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Which he only did after John Major played some serious hardball
Click to expand...

TBH I think he started doing to long before then, started when he won the power struggle in sinn fien in I think late 70's or it could of been early 80's. Took him best part of 20 year to finally get the IRA rank and file to realise they could never win by armed struggle

Sad thing is the deal agreed in the GFA wasnt to far from the one agreed in the early 70's. It took both sides another 25 year and many thousands of lives lost to relaise that it was the only way it was ever going to work.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top