In the late 1980s, three members of the IRA travelled to Gibralter to kill some British servicemen. The SAS intercepted them, and shot to kill. At the funeral of the first two dead, the government decided to try an atypically hands-off approach to policing, which made sense given that the intrusion of the army into the lives of Northern Ireland's Catholic community was a major driver of popular support for the terrorists. This allowed a loyalist terrorist to attack the funeral. At the remaining funeral, two off-duty British soldiers incomprehensibly drove into the crowd. They were hauled out of their vehicle, and lynched.
Everything in war is brutal. Personally, I would not endorse the IRA; but there were reasons why they came into existence, and carried a considerable measure of popular suppor. This documentary, reviewing these events, is horrific at every turn. The protagonists speak calmly, and without obvious hate, but mostly also without remorse for their own actions. Some point to conspriacy theories. These do not seem necessary to explain what happened, although the general sympathy of the army and (especially) the local police for the Protestant side may have had some bearing on events. It's hard to know what lessons to draw, beyond the importance of building a society that treats all equally. Once the social contract fails, what follows is inevitably awful.
Everything in war is brutal. Personally, I would not endorse the IRA; but there were reasons why they came into existence, and carried a considerable measure of popular suppor. This documentary, reviewing these events, is horrific at every turn. The protagonists speak calmly, and without obvious hate, but mostly also without remorse for their own actions. Some point to conspriacy theories. These do not seem necessary to explain what happened, although the general sympathy of the army and (especially) the local police for the Protestant side may have had some bearing on events. It's hard to know what lessons to draw, beyond the importance of building a society that treats all equally. Once the social contract fails, what follows is inevitably awful.
