To: 
From: "Vern Humphrey" 
Reply-To: r_catholic-l{at}yahoogroups.com

To: seanmbrook{at}aol.com [mailto:seanmbrook{at}aol.com]
> >
> > VH> That's correct -- this is an act of altruism, not of
> self-enrichment.
> > >
>  Sure hope so!  But, at least temporarily, we will
>  have to govern Iraq.  AND restore order.  The reports
>  I've seen about unchecked looting in Baghdad are
>  very disturbing.  To say nothing of how we did nothing
>  to prevent the priceless treasures in the National
>  Museum from being looted or damaged.  That was a
>  violation of the Geneva/Hague Convention requiring
>  the Occupying Power to protect historical sites.

Had the transition been peaceful, there would have been continuous security
in place.  And it would have been peaceful had the international community
backed us, and the anti-war movement (fueled by Iraqi money) not convinced
Saddam he didn't HAVE to step down.

To say that our security isn't perfect is one thing.  To say that we
"did nothing" is wrong.  Our resources were stretched pretty thin
-- we were fighting, protecting people, bringing in supplies, and faced
with snipers and considerable small-scale resistance.  All at the same
time.  Something was bound to fall through the cracks.
> > >
>  First and most urgently, we need to set up a
>  temporary Military Gov't and RESTORE order.
>  And get things like water mains and power
>  lines working again.  I'm not yet satisfied we
>  are doing as well as the British in Basra.

Being done as we speak.  The British have the advantage of a smaller area,
and one that has been under their control longer than Baghdad has been
under our control.
> >
> > But that shows why Ireland had to be independent -- you can't
> be ruled by
> > people who make that sort of broad-brush judgement, and proceed
> to act on
> >
>  Too sadly likely.  And it's esp. sad because it
>  so much sense for all the British Isles to form
>  some kind of association or union.

Such a union would require respect by all parties for all the other parties.
>
>  E.g., until recently at least, Ireland was a mostly
>  agricultural island.  What's the most logical market
>  for her produce?  England, because of her far
>  greater pop. meant England/Wales could no longer
>  feed more than about half of the people.

Which is why so many people starved during the Potato Famine.  Cattle and
grain, enough to feed the population of Ireland, were not for the Irish.
They were shipped to England, and four million Irishmen and women starved
or immigrated.
> >
> > VH> It should NOT have been a military matter -- they could have been
> > talked out
> > of the GPO, albeit with considerable political concessions.
> >
>  Would have been worth trying, anway. Jaw jaw is
>  better than war war!  I assume one of those con-
>  cessions would have been a pardon for those rebels
>  who peacefully surrendered.

In the end, after an orgy of executions, most of the Nationalists who
surrendered were released within three years.
>
> > VH> As it was, those same political concessions were made about
> five years
> > later -- after a lot of blood had been spilled.
> >
>  Meaning the Treaty of 1921 setting up the Free State
>  as a Dominion.  Had something like that been peacefully
>  agreed to in 1916-17, Ireland might still have been a
>  contented part of the British Commonwealth.  A far
>  better result for all parties!
>
Yes.  How easy is it to see in hindsight how so much bloodshed and
bitterness could have been avoided.


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