Silence is a weapon too - Reply

Submitted by Slim (United Kingdom), Sep 4, 2005 at 09:12

in reply to James.R.Edwards,

'The current collapse of the IRA's campaign of terror is in the main the result of the almost total silence maintained against their activities'

You need to get your facts straight. An end to the violence was not the result of silence. In fact quite the opposite. For years Gerry Adams was censored from British television, but did this stop the atrocities? No. It was an effort at political engagement, from both sides, that brought about the ceasefire. Giving the IRA the chance to air their greivances in a political forum rather than through violence was the key.

Ignoring a problem is no way to deal with it. When someone is ignored over and over, it becomes more likely they will resort to more extreme measures to get themselves heard.

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