The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 09, 1994, Image 12

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Page 12 • The BATTALION
Get A Mug!
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:> AGGIELAND AGGIEIAND AGGIEIANI)
t’s that time again, Ags! So hurry
on out and get your picture in the
1995 Aggieland! For only $1.00,
you can beat the rush and be a part of
the nation’s largest yearbook. From
September 5-16, students from EVERY
CLASS will be able to get their picture
taken at AR Photography, Monday-
Friday, 9 to 5. If you didn’t pay during
registration, bring $1.00 to 230 Reed
McDonald. Don’t miss out on your
chance to be like these glamorous
Aggies. Come on down and get a mug
for the 1995 Aggieland!
OPINION
Friday • September 9,
Fiji clay • Sc
Mail
(^AT I
Americans, media
misunderstand
Anglo-Irish affairs
The cease fire declared by the
Provisional Irish Republican
Army last Wednesday has once
again caused a great deal of in
terest in Irish affairs.
Indeed, even a Battalion
columnist thought himself en
lightened enough to write an ar
ticle referring to the IRA. Un
fortunately, he shares in the
general ignorance and miscon
ceptions we have been fed by the
British government. Now we
are being exposed to a whole
slough of new names and
nomenclature. However, behind
these thinly veiled definitions
are facts that have been tangled
by British-censored press.
Take for instance Sinn Fein,
which in Gaelic means “We
Ourselves”. Though often
tagged as the “political wing” of
the IRA, Sinn Fein is actually
much older than the Provision
al IRA. Though the British
government officially recog
nizes Sinn Fein as a political
party, it refuses to negotiate
with the party or allow its pres
ident, Gerry Adams, to travel to
mainland Britain.
The British government even
bans the voice of any Sinn Fein
party members from being
broadcast over British air
waves, effectively limiting the
political debate to one side.
Following coverage of the
events in Northern Ireland, one
discovers a certain dichotomy
in nomenclature.
On one side there is the IRA,
which is a ruthless army of
Catholic “terrorists,” and on the
other side we have “Protestant
extremists.”
Think about this for a sec
ond. Which sounds more despi
cable: terrorist or extremist?
The fact is that there are sever
al loyalist terrorist groups in
Northern Ireland, including the
Ulster Volunteer Force (the
front group of the Ulster De
fense Association, which was
only recently declared an illegal
paramilitary organization) and
the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
In the last five years, these
“extremists” have killed twice
as many people as the IRA, and
in almost every case, these
have been Catholic civilians,
victims of reprisals for IRA at
tacks on police or military tar
gets. A recently leaked Protes
tant “Doomsday Plan,” calling
for the elimination of all
Catholics in four of the six
counties of Northern Ireland
should unification be achieved,
shows how far these loyalist
groups are willing to go.
What the press also fails to
tell you is that not only has it
been proven that the British mil
itary provides loyalist groups
with weapons, but that these
death squads are actually legally
functioning organizations on the
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British mainland. They can
openly and vigorously solicit
funds, hold meetings and recruit
members. In the last week these
groups have injured or killed
three innocent Catholics and
bombed the Sinn Fein’s Belfast
office in an attempt to derail the
cease fire.
From the Stocker Affair to
British “shoot-to-kill” death
squads that have committed ex
traterritorial assassinations,
the British government has
consistently pursued a hard
line against Irish nationalism.
Indeed, the IRA has good
reason not to trust the British
After the cease fire of 1975
failed in the face of British
stinacy, crown forces swept
through Catholic neighbor
hoods picking up suspects tar
geted by British intelligence
While the IRA was obeying the
cease fire, the British securitj
forces were busily preparing for
an end to the cease fire.
British persecution is not
limited to military affairs. Asa
suspected Irish terrorist, you
can be held for up to 7 days
without seeing a lawyer, during
which time you are stripped,
beaten and humiliated in order
to extract a confession.
By exercising the right to si'
lence, you are presumed guilty.
Further, you do not have the
right to a trial by jury and must
face a legal system overwhelm
ingly staffed by Protestants.
The fact that the IRA is will
ing to call a cease fire does
bring hope. Who deserves cred
it for convincing Irish republi
cans that there is a future in
peace? First and foremost the
Irish-American community,
which has been ever vigilant in
its watch over Northern Irish
affairs.
Indeed, just after a delega
tion of five Irish-American po
litical and business leaders,
headed by former Congressman
Bruce Morrison, returned from
negotiations with Sinn Fein
and Uie IRA, the cease fire was
announced.
The overwhelming amount
of credit for this particular
cease fire goes to our president.
During his election campaign,
he promised to take action by
appointing a special envoy to
investigate the situation.
Recently, in the face of fiera
British opposition, Bill Cl into
allowed Sinn Fein, President
Gerry Adams and several other
Irish nationalists into the
country. And now Clinton has
committed himself to taking an
active role in this peace
process, a role that America
must take if there is to be a so
lution. We can unequivocally
say that President Clinton has
made successful headway
where Presidents Reagan and
Bush utterly and completely
failed.
If our two past Republican
presidents could have stood up
to the British like Clinton has,
who knows where this peace
process would be right now.
Belinda
Mark
Jay F
jenny Ma
MAf
N
the
Volun
to sch
teach
A!
Sean O’Donnell
Class of’%
Society should pay
attention to real
world problems
What a sorry state our coun
try is in! Instead of working to
help the people and improve
the nation our leaders are too
busy bickering and worrying
about re-election.
O.J. Simpson dominates
headlines while the massacres
in Rwanda and the former Yu
goslavia are relegated to sec
ondary status. Violence and
sex are glamorized on TV and
it is not even safe to walk down
the street.
People are starving and
homeless, beaten and battered,
while we turn our backs. What
happened to moral responsibili
ty, values and compassion?
How can people play God
and decide which life is worthy
to be lived and which is not?
What is it with all the apathy?
Children are murdered in the
streets by children.
Scandal and gridlock are the
norm in Washington. What are
we to do?
If this is the best country in
the world, which I believe it is,
then what is happening? Stop
“not caring” and start to do
something.
Voice your opinion, vote,
write your elected representa
tive, get involved in govern
ment and pray for help because
God knows, we need it!
... Class is over - have a
good day.
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