It's Not a Long Away to Tipperary - 214
Hal Goes Metro
January 3, 2007

If you look at the alphabetical list of nations you'll find Iraq and Ireland side by side. If you look at the histories of those two nations, you'll find they're close in more ways than that.

The late teens and early 1920's witnessed an armed struggle to remove an oppressive tyranny and liberate the people of Ireland . With that Mission: Accomplished, the days, weeks, months and years following simmered to a boil in what is now known as the Irish Civil War, a conflict characterized by sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants, as well as in-fighting between different factions of the same sect who didn't quite see eye-to-eye on the future of the government (namely its potential division along factional lines).

Sound familiar? Well it is. In fact, students of Irish history might even indulge a comparison of Muqtada al-Sadr to Michael Collins and Nouri al-Maliki to Eamon DeValera. So before certain westerners carelessly dismiss the Sunni and Shi'ite situation as Islamic fundamentalism gone wild, we should take look in our own backyard, perhaps even our own family tree (isn't O'Reilly an Irish name, Bill?).

Meanwhile, U.S. Troops are being viewed as Black & Tans, since their seemingly exorbitant tactics do nothing but exacerbate the situation. "Americans Out" graffiti is displayed brazenly in Anbar, mimicking any "Brits Out" mural from West Belfast (a sign you'll see marching down 5th Ave in NYC every St. Patrick's Day.) The troops' withdrawal, however, would potentially allow for immediate sectarian reprisals--at least that's what any Northern Irish Protestant would have you believe. Yet sadly everyday is a Bloody Sunday, and Omagh happens with frightening frequency.

If you look at the situation in Ireland , you'll see it still remains unresolved--over 90 years after the fêted Easter Rebellion. That doesn't bode well for the situation in Iraq, unless you look at what is finally bringing about an end to Ireland's armed struggle. An unprecedented economic boon has seemingly put the Irish in a position to move on after nearly a century of violence, and many feel the same situation needs to take place in Iraq . The answer is not an increase in troop presence but rather a return to stability via a restoration of an economic infrastructure.
Unfortunately, as was the case in Ireland , this won't come overnight. And in the meantime, we'll be seeing Iraqi versions of firebrands like Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley, and lamentably "The Troubles" will continue.

Chris M Halleron owns and retains all proprietary rights to theSite and the content provided by the Site. The Site contains material, including links and compilations of individual data, trademarks, and other proprietary information of chrishalleron.com.  Except for that information which is in the public domain or for which you have been given written permission to use, you may not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display, or sell any such proprietary information.  Any questions or comments, please contact Chris Halleron at chris@chrishalleron.com.