The
IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, the head of the arms decommissioning body has said. General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.
"We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal."
Welcoming the move, Prime Minister Tony Blair said IRA decommissioning had been "finally accomplished".
The general said: "We have observed and verified events to put beyond use very large quantities of arms which we believe include all the arms in the IRA's possession.
So, here is something I have been harping on since 9/11. The first reaction of every elected official, dem and Rethug, at every level, was 'how do we get back at them - how do best we
fight terrorism?
Not one of them actualy asked the question: why did Al Qaida attack us - what did we do that makes them want to attack us?
Our questionable history in the middle East - from ousting a democratically elected leader in Iran 50 years ago, to supporting Saddam Hussein against Iran in their war in the 80's, supporting the Mujahadin in Afganistan, occupying Saudia Arabia during the Gulf War to our ever present and rarely questioned unflappable support for Israel, no matter how militant their actions against a repressed and occupied nation, and now this disatrous current war in Iraq, have all added fuel to the fire.
Am I nuts to think that maybe we should question the entire direction of our foreign policy in the Middle East, and to the Islamic world in general, to see if there is a way to get us out of this spiral of violence, and find a way to live cooperatively with our Islamic neighbors?
People said it could never happen in Ireland.