JULY-DECEMBER 1921 : Revenge Attacks on Republicans During The 'Truce' .......
....... the British had , as they done in every country they 'kept the peace' in , set-up killer gangs to do their bidding on a "nothing-to-do-with-us" basis . In Ireland , there Loyalist killer gangs were active during the 'Truce' .......
A 21-years young Irishman , Murtagh McAstocker , was to the fore with other members of IRA 'B' Company , Belfast , in pushing the Loyalist killer gangs back out of Nationalist/Republican areas ; on 24th September 1921 , as Murtagh McAstocker was walking on Clonallon Street , going towards the Newtownards Road , he was shot dead by a Loyalist gang . He was buried on 27th September in Milltown Cemetery , Belfast , with full IRA honours .
Then (ie 1921) as now , following the 1994 (P)IRA 'Truce' and the signing of the Stormont Treaty ('GFA') in 1998 , the Brits are not standing still ; in 1921 they claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland - in 1998 (and now) they claim jurisdiction over our six north-eastern counties . 'Truces' , Treaties , Agreements etc will never work until they include a definite date for a British military and political withdrawal from Ireland .
Otherwise , the paper-work only gives the Brits time to re-group , and to put a new coat of varnish on 'the Irish Question' .
[END of - 'JULY-DECEMBER 1921 : Revenge Attacks on Republicans During The 'Truce'...].
(*Tomorrow - 'Working within British 'law' ; from Daniel O'Connell to the Provos').
WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :
war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.
By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.
BURNINGS.......
".......the 'Great House'where the 'Landlords' lived were usually located within walking distance of the local RIC barracks , for security reasons ......."
" ...soon the driveway ends at an arched gateway , beyond which is the yard and rear entrance to the 'Great House' . In front of it and to the left a gravelled walk leads up to the front door . To the right of it , and actually attached to it , a square tower with crenellated parapet looms up . The windows are protected by vertical iron rods , one inch in diameter , set in heavy iron frames , while iron shutters , half-an-inch thick and loopholed for musketry , open outwards on heavy hinges . The basement is a dungeon with small barred windows and stone stairway inside . An outside stone stairs leads up to the next floor which is also of stone , arched and flagged .
That floor is the 'courthouse' , where 'justice' (generally in small quantities) is periodically dispensed to the people of the district . The other floors overhead are the quarters for a British garrison in times of emergency , and were so used during the Fenian period of 1867 . Truly an ensemble reminiscent of Torquilstone and the gentle 'Front-De-Boeuf' .
It was the spring of 1920 ; that year had opened with a general attack on RIC barracks throughout the country - some had been captured and destroyed , some made untenable . The attacks continued and soon the British 'authorities' decided to withdraw the garrisons from certain small barracks remote from centres of relief . Some hundreds of RIC barracks were evacuated and , on the night of 2nd April 1920 , all burned simultaneously ......."
(MORE LATER).
THE CIA : REAGAN'S SECRET ARMY .
Since 1947 , the CIA has been a powerful force in covertly executing American internal and foreign policy . A major book detailing the workings , methods and sometimes incompetence of the secret service - 'The Agency ; The Rise and Decline of The CIA ' , by John Ranelagh , has recently been published .
Gene Kerrigan examines the books findings and assesses the importance of 'The Agency' and the role it has played over the last 39 years .
First published in 'The Sunday Tribune' newspaper , Dublin , 24th August 1986 , page 11.
Re-produced here in 21 parts .
(1 of 21).
Two months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour (which occured on 7th December 1941) , a Mr. Adams of the town of Irwin , Pennsylvania , wrote to the President of the United States . The President should know , he wrote, that the Japanese were simply terrified of bats : on 9th February 1942 , Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed the letter on to William Donovan with a covering note saying - " This man is NOT a nut ..."
No one checked out the 'bat theory' : it was untrue . William Donovan was 'Mr. U S Intelligence ' ; he headed the 'Office of Strategic Services' (OSS) , forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). For the next several years he organised the dropping of bats on Japan ; sometimes the bats were just slung out of bombers , other times they were dropped by parachute !
When you throw bats out of a plane at high altitude they freeze to death . There is no record of what the Japanese thought of this carry-on.......
(MORE LATER).
(* NOTE - our 'JUNIOR' has deserted his post here at '1169.... Central' , for a 'mini-holiday' (...just can't get good staff these days ...) ; affairs of the heart , dontcha know ... he has assured us (by text !) that the above-mentioned article (*) is under lock and key in his room : when meself and SHARON climbed (!) in there , we could'nt be sure that 'JUNIOR' himself was'nt in the room , never mind find the 'almost finished' copy , such was the state of the gaff !! So bear with us , folks , if we're a bit late with the next post.......and that includes YOU , 'Saer' ! ).
