Policeman shot dead in NI

[Sionnach Glic]

Republican Group Own Up To NI Shooting
Breaking News

11:52am UK, Tuesday March 10, 2009
A dissident republican group called the Continuity IRA have said they were behind the the murder of police constable Stephen Carroll in Northern Ireland.

Armed police officers at the scene in Craigavon, Northern Ireland

The scene of the latest shooting in Northern Ireland

In a coded message, they said the shooting in Craigavon was carried out by their north Armagh battalion.

The message said: "As long as there is British involvement in Ireland, these attacks will continue."

Mr Carroll, 48, was shot dead as he and a colleague went to the aid of a woman in the predominantly Catholic Lismore Manor area.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward condemned the murder as the work of "evil criminals" intent on destroying the peace.

He told Sky News: "These very wicked people may have the power to kill but they do not have the power to wreck the peace process."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who visited Ireland on Monday, insisted: "There will be no return to the old days."

IRA expert Kevin Toolis

Mr Carroll, from Banbridge, County Down, was an experienced officer with more than 20 years service.

He was reportedly sitting in his car providing cover when he was shot in the head at close range.

It was the first police killing in Northern Ireland for 11 years and followed the murder of British soldiers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, on Saturday.

Another dissident Republican group the Real IRA have claimed responsibility for that attack, at the Massereene Barracks in Antrim.

There is a sense that they are in a race against time. The assumption is that having begun to kill again - the splinter groups intend to keep killing.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Sir Hugh Orde has described the killers as "criminal psychopaths".

He vowed: "We will do our best in every way to bring these people to justice."

Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson said: "I unreservedly condemn this evil deed and offer my sincere sympathy to the officer's family circle."

Sinn Fein Assembly Member for the Craigavon area John O'Dowd declared: "This is an attack on the peace process."

Sappers Cengiz Azimkar and Mark Quinsey

Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey

The PSNI have been warning of a heightened threat from dissident gunmen for some time.

Meanwhile, it is hoped a getaway car used by the Real IRA killers of the two soldiers on Saturday could provide vital clues.

The green Vauxhall Cavalier was found seven miles from the Massereene Barracks. Attempts to set it alight had failed.

Detectives are also combing CCTV footage of the shooting in which four other people were wounded, one seriously.

The attackers opened fire as the soldiers went to collect delivery pizzas outside the front gate of the army base.

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Sky

Fuck! It's bad enough that one IRA faction has started the damn thing up again, now it seems as if the others want to get in on the action as well.

[stitch626]

That's terrable. And wrong. Now they're attacking noncombatents.

[Tsukiyumi]

Okay, I don't want to start another argument, but this is fucked up. He's a cop. More than likely an Irish cop. These people have their priorities on backward.

[Sionnach Glic]

You think they care that they're Irish? As far as they're concerned, they're traitors that are collaborating with Britain, and thus have no right to live. The original IRA had no problem with blowing up barracks filled with Irish troops and police back in the 20's, nor even with dragging elderly acountants off of trams and shooting them in the street. And things have only gotten more brutal since then.

That they're targetting the police isn't a surprise. Hell, it's not even worrying, we all knew that this would happen if they really did try to start this shit up again. The real worrying bit is that now a second faction has begun acting against the British again.

[Tsukiyumi]

Well, that's just plain screwed. They aren't patriots; they're rabid animals who should be treated accordingly.

[stitch626]

Wow, you change gears faster than my dad's van.

[Tsukiyumi]

Wow, you change gears faster than my dad's van.

Hardly.

My point in the other thread was that attacking civilians is abhorrent. Attacking valid military targets through stealth and subterfuge is guerrilla warfare.

This guy was a civvie, and one of their own people, so was in no way, shape, or form a valid target.

[stitch626]

Missunderstanding on my part.

[Tsukiyumi]

Missunderstanding on my part.

No problem. People seem to be misunderstanding me a lot lately. Maybe I should work on my communication skills.

Like Rochey said, these people don't differentiate between the perceived enemy, and their own people. Civilian or military alike, they're all targets if they don't back the agenda of the IRA. Which is bullshit. While there are no rules in warfare (or in a real fight), people who attack innocents are the scum of the earth.

Guerrilla warfare is different: you sneak up behind your enemy, and stab them in the back. You don't kill people who aren't involved in the conflict.

[Sionnach Glic]

Well, that's just plain screwed. They aren't patriots; they're rabid animals who should be treated accordingly.

Correct. But they see their actions as justified, because it's not much worse than what we did back in the War of Independance. Back then, we murdered anyone who supported the British, be they soldiers, police, civil servants or civilians. If they supported the Brits, they were the enemy. These new IRA factions are still using that mindset of "if they're helping the Brits, they're the enemy, they're traitors, and they deserve to die for betraying their country".

Hell, Michael Collins, the guy who effectively won Ireland's independance from the British and who's treated pretty much as a national hero over here, had his own personal death squad which he used to kill anyone who he felt was a threat to his operations, regardless of what their profession was.
One of the most infamous incidents was when he had an old acountant dragged off of a tram and shot in the middle of a street. Why? Because he had been working for the British police.

As far as the IRA sees it, their actions are justified because it's no worse than what we did in the south already.