Blown Cover

Two completely separate incidents converge rather nicely today and blow some government cover.

Let's go to the videotape!

In incident one, a panel investigating murders in Northern Ireland has come to the conclusion that collusion existed between security forces, the RUC (Protestant dominated police force), British government, and Protestant paramilitaries like the UDA, UVF, etc. In simplest of terms, intelligence about suspected IRA members, their families and associates was given to these paras so they could go and kill them, which they did, gleefully so. Collusion has been very hard to show in terms of a causal link, but it seems it may finally have reached the evidentiary level - we shall see. A wider reading of the situation leaves no other possible conclusion.

British intelligence services and special operations groups from the army sent operatives into Northern Ireland with the express mission to disrupt the IRA and Irish Nationalist politics of any stripe by whatever means they saw fit. To that extent, those groups commissioned to this work were left to their own devices, allowing their masters in London a high degree of "plausible deniability" in the event things went awry. Intelligence gained by the army and the RUC was given to paramilitaries who then proceeded to use this information to carry on their street war, killing Catholics who were often civilians, not members of the IRA or other armed organizations. See, the British intelligence was abysmal, based on the practice of rounding up young catholic men and keeping files on them, assuming anyone of a certain age to be a member, however minor, of the IRA. Thus, many unwarranted killings.

The current scrap is about two murders specifically, and in my view, far too narrow. Much is known about how the IRA managed to arm itself and remain so for thirty years, but little investigating has been done to determine how the UDA and its splinters gained access to modern weapons that happened to mirror those in use by the British army. The UDA and other paras of that stripe were also the primary source of illegal drugs and prostitution in Northern Ireland, a fact known to the local police, who looked the other way so long as the "lads" kept on shooting catholics.

If peace is the goal, these inquiries cannot be blocked any longer. Former members of the IRA have been amazingly forthcoming about their activities in those days, in an effort to clear the air and inject a measure of truth into the agonizingly slow peace process. The same most certainly cannot be said for protestant paramilitaries, and especially not the British government or army, which have steadfastly refused to open their files and aid in putting the horror to bed.

Incident two features the current Secretary of State, Colin Powell, issuing an apology of sorts for US involvement in Chile in the 1970's, when the democratically elected leader of the country was overthrown in a violent coup aided by the US, and a disgusting, murderous right wing dictator put in his place. Gee, didn't we just fight a war...never mind. Suffice to say, Henry Kissinger was deeply involved in events prior to the coup, which involved the assassination of a key Chilean general who refused to use the military to block the elected president frombeing sworn in. Money and arms were sent via the diplomatic pouch, funnelled through the American Embassy, and eventually, the general was killed.

Bang!

Families have filed suit against Kissinger and other defendants, which automatically makes the US government the defendant in the case, as the assumption is the individuals acted on behalf of the state. Now, Powell has shot his mouth off, saying it was a regretful period in US history, etc. The implication is that Powell has specific knowledge, and his public statements can be considered testimony. Good luck to Mr. Kissinger when they finally manage to haul his ass into court.