Sunday, November 18, 2007

Bono's calls for talks with Al Qaeda misguided

In an interview with Rolling Stone Bono calls for negotiations with Al Qaeda.

Bono should steer clear of international politics. His views are simplistic and naive.

There are major differences between the IRA and Al Qaeda. The IRA is indigenous to Ireland. It had a tight command structure. Channels of communication between Irish and British politicians were opened with Sinn Fein the political representatives of the IRA. They clearly represented the IRA point of view. British and Irish politicians knew this.

The IRA campaign had political goals and was not generally driven by religious fanaticism. By the 1990s IRA leaders realised that they could not win a united Ireland by violence. Constitutional Northern Irish politicians such as John Hume of the SDLP convinced people such as Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein) to try and move along the constitutional road. Also they realised that the Catholic element of the population in Northern Ireland is growing rapidly. It is now approx 44% of the population. This demographic change moves the prospects of Irish unification forward.

In marked contrast Al Qaeda is a massive international conspiracy which aims to destroy the west-especially the US and Britain- in the name of Islam. It is driven by a frightening political and religious fanaticism. The IRA and Loyalists used bombs and committed terrible atrocities but Al Qaeda uses suicide bombs an even more extreme form of terrorism.

Also Al Qaeda is not a homogeneous unit. It is an umbrella for numerous Islamic terror groups. Who exactly would Bono negotiate with?

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