Essay: Just a few questions

As the press coverage on the IRA's announcement last week played out, we saw repeatedly one notiong, "Bad IRA! You and you alone have brought tragedy on a people." We saw no efforts to explain the roots of the conflict, such as a desire for self-rule or the partioning off of the country or the long term patterns of discrimination.

What we saw was that the problems, if the press is to be believed -- and would they lie to you? -- were all the fault of the IRA. Occassionally, in passing, you might discover that the 1994 peace process was derailed by someone, someone who's not of the IRA but there were no real efforts made to address that or to explore it.


Today we get David Mckittrick's "US presses IRA over foreign operations" (The Independent) commenting on the White House's position:

Confirming this, the White House said: "Consistent with the IRA's commitment, we understand that the IRA and its members will no longer have any contact with any foreign paramilitary and terrorist organisation." The Bush administration is strongly supportive of the conduct of the peace process by London and Dublin, but IRA contacts abroad are seen by the US as potentially an American national security issue.

Let's turn now to "Man shot over 'paramilitary feud'" (BreakingNews.ie):

A man was shot today at a house in north Belfast, in an incident which locals claimed was connected to a loyalist paramilitary feud.
There were unconfirmed reports that the victim was dead. The man, the third victim of a loyalist paramilitary feud, was gunned down at a house in Wheatfield Crescent.
Locals identified him as Stephen Paul.
The Ulster Volunteer Force was being blamed for the attack.
There have been tensions between the Ulster Volunteer Force and the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force which have resulted in two people being killed already this month.

Let's Gomer Pyle it: Weeeelllll goooollllyyyyy.
The UVF? Excuse the heck of out of us, New York Times, but you didn't inform us about the UVF this week, did you? Who are they?

They are the Protestant paramilitary group that's committed more killings "than any other Protestant paramilitary" group (according to Wikipedia).

Well golly gosh darn, wasn't the IRA the only paramilitary group? Wasn't that the tag from our press for weeks and months . . . You mean to tell us that while a dope named Paisley is quoted at length in The New York Times about how he doubts that the paramilitary IRA will disarm, there are armed paramilitary groups that are Protestant?

Geez, how did that detail get missed? And weren't they offered up in the paper. It's all so confusing to those of us who think we're getting complexities and realities from The New York Timid. But we trust The Timid because outside of a few "printing errors," they always get the facts right. Right?

But as C.I. noted Saturday morning, the letters section of Saturday's paper contained more information and context than anything making it into The Timid during the week:

Unionist party members have said they will believe the statement when there is evidence that the I.R.A. has destroyed its stores of arms. But nothing has been said about disarmament of loyalist (Protestant) paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland: the Ulster Defense Association, the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Freedom Fighters and others.At various times since 1968, members of those groups were killing more people than the I.R.A. was.

and:

But I am disappointed that Prime Minister Tony Blair's comments and the White House statement, as reported, make no mention of the need for loyalist paramilitary groups to follow suit.

Did you know paramilitary groups other than the IRA were armed in Ireland? Times readers did, if they read the letter page. If they counted on "reporting" to tell them about it, they missed out on that very important angle.

But hey, it's not like petrol bombs were hurled at a Catholic Church in Ireland and The Timid forgot to tell anyone about that, right? Oh wait, it is exactly like that. Three of them. Hey Timid, what does it take for your editorial staff to use the term "bully" because it seems like you're more than eager to trot it out for Catholics. You just seem reluctant when Protestants are the ones acting like bullies.

But hey, it's not like the UVF and LVF were in the news last weekend, right? Oops, wrong again. They were in the news, if not in The Timid. MLA Naomi Long said:

If they are openly and brazenly stating that that they are no longer engaged in moving away from paramilitarism and criminality and instead are intent on escalating their killing spree with the LVF, Peter Hain (Northern Ireland Secretary of State) is now under a moral obligation to declare their ceasefire to be at an end. If he fails to do so he jeopardises the basis of the entire political process.

Woah! That sounds like something The Timid might say about the IRA. That Naomi Long has to be off her rocker, right? Because if something like that was happening in Ireland, we'd hear about it in The Timid. They wouldn't leave us hanging because they're very interested in telling us about bullies and terrorists in Ireland and covering threats to the ceasefire, right?

When you start thinking about it, actually no. Actually it looks like The Timid has spent a great deal of time sweeping the activities of Unionists under the rug while decrying the IRA as the only "bullies" in Ireland.

Now why do you suppose that is?

Not The Timid will care about this because the source is Catholic World News, but we'll note it anyway, July 27's "Wave of attacks on Catholics in Northern Ireland:"

Police on Tuesday called a recent spate of attacks on Catholics in and around Ballymena, a mostly Protestant town northwest of Belfast a wave of intimidation attacks.
The Associated Press reported that loyalist extremists planted a homemade grenade outside a Catholic family's home in Ballymena. The bomb detonated, causing minor damage. Arsonists badly damaged one Catholic-run pub in the village of Martinstown, and caused minor fire damage to the outside of another pub in nearby Rasharkin with two gasoline-filled bottles. In addition, two Catholic churches in Ballymena were vandalized with paint-filled balloons and painted-on anti-Catholic slogans. No injuries were reported.

Here's The Globe and Mail's July 27 Associated Press article "Protestant extremists strike in N. Ireland:"

Protestant extremists attacked two Roman Catholic-owned pubs and a Catholic family's home Tuesday in Northern Ireland while defacing two Catholic churches, police said.
No injuries were reported in what police called a wave of intimidation attacks in and around Ballymena, a mostly Protestant town northwest of Belfast. Catholic leaders appealed to the area's Protestant politicians to do more to challenge the extremists, who frequently threaten Catholic homes, businesses and churches in the area.
A homemade grenade detonated outside a Catholic family's home, causing minor damage and forcing police to empty about a dozen nearby houses in Ballymena, police said. Arsonists badly damaged one Catholic-run pub in the village of Martinstown, while two gasoline-filled bottles caused minor fire damage to the outside of another pub in nearby Rasharkin.
Two Catholic churches in Ballymena were struck by paint-filled balloons and daubed with anti-Catholic slogans, the police said.

But that didn't make The Timid this week. Why is that? These are questions people have been asking about the paper for months. At some point The New York Timid might want to consider addressing them.