OK, you asked for it. :grin: The British army went home because the IRA in 2005 declared an end to its independence campaign and has since decommissioned its arsenal in accordance with the Belfast Agreement of 1998. The government of the United Kingdom has not gone anywhere. I am current, you are imagining the future and trying to make it sound like fact. In fact, Northern Ireland remains is a constituent country of the United Kingdom and has had its own form of devolved government in a similar manner to Scotland and Wales. Loyalists remain in the majority and people from Northern Ireland are British citizens on the same basis as people from any other part of the United Kingdom. The national assembly includes representatives from all factions. No one, including you, knows what the future might bring, but Britain has surrendered nothing, the majority of the population remain Unionist, and the current peace and compromise is based on preserving the status quo. To quote Wikipedia: "Bombings in Great Britain tended to have had more publicity, since attacks there were comparatively rare (in the context of the troubles); indeed 93% of killings happened in Northern Ireland. Republican paramilitaries have contributed to nearly 60% (2056) of these. Loyalists have killed nearly 28% (1020) while the security forces have killed just over 11% (362), with 9% of the total (296) attributed to the British Army." Ahh, an opportunity to get back on topic! :thumb: Can you not see the direct parallel between Northern Ireland and Palestine here? By your own logic, that conflict is not about religion either, it's about the unlawful and undemocratic occupation of Palestine. The Palestinians are not fighting because they want Jews to convert. They are fighting the people who occupy their homeland. Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom and there is nothing to suggest that things will be changing. Britain will leave Northern Ireland when the people from Northern Ireland no longer wish to be British. That has certainly not happened, nor is it likely anytime soon.
back to carter and hamas i support what he's doing. it is not so different from what always happens---US and Hamas communicate indirectly. Carter is not a US official. something needs to happen. the US has made no progress with hamas.
I think you are right in your comments about something needs to happen, however, supporting Carter isnt the solution, evident of his failed attempt. So the first real solution is the breakdown within Palestine itself between Hamas and Abbas. You have two different figure heads their in constant bicker about how to negiotate with Israel.
Exactly, when I first read it I thought it said the opposite and was about to blow a gasket. Good thing I re-read it before I went high and to the right. :grin: This is what I believe to be the biggest of the obstacles there. Of course they still lie, have no sense of time what so ever, and I don't care how much money one of them might have, they still crap in a hole cut in the floor. (sans toilet for all you smart a$$es that were going to say we all do that)
given the current state of things, i didnt think it would hurt. except the pride of the lame-duck US admin.
Yeah, I feel you. Meeting with terrorist organizations will never accomplish anything. Terrorists are a bunch of monkeys, incapable of reason. They are impossible to communicate with. Same thing with Black people. Black people aren't even human, they are our property. They should be enslaved. Yes, the US Constitution and the US Supreme Court (Dred Scott case) supported this view before damn Abe Lincoln came along and ruined it for everybody. Good thing we assassinated his azz.
Why do you believe that a meeting with the leader of a terrorist organization will never accomplish anything? I assume it is because you believe that terrorist organizations are not in fact made up of human beings, that they actually don't have human minds, that they are 100% incapable of reason, and that they are like monkeys impossible to communicate with. And yes, I agree with you that Carter just visited with Hamas to get his name in the papers. He must have a book coming out soon. Seems like a logical belief to me.
Either JohnLSU really is a nutjob (which I've thought for a bit) or he doesn't understand the use of emoticons to indicate sarcasm. Either way, this is going to be fun to watch! Tiga, pass over some of that popcorn! I got the beers.
