jmm@bonnie.UUCP (Joe Mcghee) (10/09/84)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dave Peak, in his article "Re: Death of A Terrorist?", attempts to pass off his submission as a reply to my article "Death of A Terrorist?". In fact, Dave does not deal with any of the facts presented in my article, but attempts to divert attention away from it by commenting on a newspaper article on an entirely different subject. The reason for this is that there is no way for him or anyone to justify the murders of children by the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). At the same time he attempts to discredit me personally be implying that only supporters of the IRA and Noraid oppose British Rule in Northern Ireland. In fact there are literally hundreds of organizations (and un-numbered multitudes of unaffiliated individuals) in the United States, Britain and other countries that oppose British Rule in Northern Ireland. My own local congressman, Frank Guarini (D-NJ), just sent a letter of protest to the British Ambassador concerning the unprovoked murder of Sean Downes who was killed by a plastic bullet fired at close range. I didn't request this protest from my congressman and I don't know of anybody who did. Another congressman from New Jersey named Torricelli has recently become very concerned about this and other matters relating to Northern Ireland and has called for a full congressional investigation of the RUC. There is presently a bill in congress to ban the manufacture, sale or use of plastic bullets and calling on the British government to do the same. The bill is called House Concurrent Resolution 21 or simply HCR-21. In New York the District Attorney of Nassau County, Dennis Dillon, and the Comptroller of Nassau County, Peter King, both participated in an international inquiry into the use of plastic bullets which met in Northern Ireland and heard testimony from anyone who was willing to participate. Unfortunately, the British government refused to participate. The conclusion of the inquiry was that plastic bullets are used in a completely indiscriminate manner. The European Parliament has already passed a ban on the use of plastic bullets in Common Market Nations, but the British government is defying the wishes of the European Parliament. The European Parliament may soon pass another ban, but with more legal force behind it. Meanwhile, European Parliament Member Christine Crawley from England will soon introduce another bill calling for the complete withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. Labor unions in both the U.S. and England have been very active in calling for a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. The Irish-American Labor Coalition of New York has been very active in this area, but the group is really comprised of labor leaders and members of all ethnic backgrounds. In England the Chairman of the Greater London Council, Ken Livingstone, has been most vehement in his demands for a British withdrawal. Just a few weeks ago there was a march thru London which backed up traffic on many main streets in the center of London. The marchers were from the Troops Out Movement, labor unions and women's groups. Another English group called Information on Ireland has published a booklet on the children killed by British plastic bullets called "They Shoot Children" which was written by Liz Curtis, Adrian Yeeles and Jonathan Rosenhead. Another booklet, "State Terrorism - The British Use of Plastic Bullets in Northern Ireland" was written by Professor-of-Law David R. Lowry who was born in Liverpool, England, educated at Queens University, Belfast, served on the Law Faculty at Queens University, Belfast and is currently working and teaching in the United States. bonnie!jmm J. M. McGhee "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson