Part 1.

Irish Independent, Sept. 18, 2001 -

“COUNTER terrorism intelligence has revealed the presence of 15 Irish republicans in South America, according to Colombia’s army chief. …”

“Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, who denied that the organisation had a Havana presence, is scheduled for a visit to Cuba later this month. …

“Meanwhile, last night Sinn Fein was confident of continuing its fund-raising in the US despite the upsurge in anti-terrorist feeling and unionist efforts to have its IRA armed wing relisted as a terrorist organisation.”

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=511403&issue_id=5258

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Irish Independent, Sept. 19, 2001 -

“Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has denied claims by the Cuban authorities that Connolly was the party’s representative in Havana which Mr Adams is due to visit later this month.”

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=512010&issue_id=5262

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Irish Independent, Oct. 23, 2001

SINN Fein president Gerry Adams yesterday admitted that Niall Connolly, one of three republican suspects held in Colombia, was the party’s representative in Cuba at the time of his arrest.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=594707&issue_id=5983

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ABC News, Dec. 18, 2004 -

“Colombia Can’t Find Three IRA-Linked Men After Convicting Them on Terrorism-Related Charges ….

“Caitriona Ruane, an official of the IRA-linked Catholic party Sinn Fein who leads the Bring Them Home pressure group, insisted she did not know where the three are, but said the reports they have fled Colombia should be treated with suspicion.”

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=341768&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

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The Observer, Dec. 19, 2004

“Fugitive IRA man ‘aided Colombia escape’ -

“An IRA fugitive [Cork-born Paul Damery] on the run for the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe helped three Irish republicans escape from Colombia, it was suggested last night. …

“The three men left Colombia via Venezuela from a safe house they were living in several weeks before the judge overturned an earlier decision that they were not guilty of training narco-terrorist group Farc.

“Damery, whose wife is Venezuelan, is thought to have helped plan the three republicans’ escape and they are now believed to be in Cuba. …

“If the three turn up in Ireland it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to hand them over to the Colombians. The Republic does not have an extradition treaty with Colombia and according to legal experts the men could challenge any attempt to deport them.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/colombia/story/0,11502,1376961,00.html?gusrc=rss

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Part 2.

And last, but not the least of stories:

Press Association, Dec. 23, 2004 -

“The IRA denied any involvement in the ¬£22 million Northern Bank raid.

“A senior republican source claimed: “We are dismissing any suggestion or allegation that we were involved.” ….

“The Provisionals were linked to a ¬£1 million hold-up at a big Belfast superstore earlier this year, where robbers struck with ruthless efficiency. Staff were tied up by the gang who made off with alcohol, cigarettes and top of the range electrical equipment.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041223/344/f94ec.html

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The Age, Dec. 24, 2004

“IRA linked to bank robbery -

“Communication intercepts during the 24 hours leading up to the robbery at the Northern Bank in Belfast have led detectives to suspect the IRA’s head of intelligence and one of his chief cohorts.

Mobile phone conversations are said to have pointed directly at IRA involvement and at least one IRA man’s name has been connected to the robbery team, which numbered up to 30. …

“Bill Lowry, the former head of Special Branch in Belfast, agreed all the signs pointed to the IRA.”

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/IRA-linked-to-bank-robbery/2004/12/23/1103391893289.html?oneclick=true

I thought I’d take a moment to look in (I don’t watch the Al Jazeera Headline News very often) to see if something had changed. The audio, graphics and crawl are all in what I assume to be Arabic. There were a few moments in English from President Bush this morning, but then the translator started speaking. I make no claims as to whether or not this is what residents of the Middle East are seeing. I don’t know.

It “used” to burn your butt “when Irish-American politicians like Peter King would wine, dine and laud Gerry Adams”? Well, you “haven’t seen much of old Gerry since 9-11″ because your MSM (not to mention your average blogger, eh-hem) aren’t looking out on your behalf. Did you think that either adversary in “the Troubles” didn’t find a way to capitalize on 9/11?

In August, 2001 three IRA-men were apprehended as they exited the Colombian FARC territory, a news item that was soon eclipsed. That story culminated only this week with their sentencing in Colombia. Now tell me where you saw any mention or analysis of this? It must be “old Gerry” is still laying low, eh?

Within weeks following 9/11/01 Sinn Fein unveiled a brilliant new tack: by capitalizing on an atmosphere of intense anti-Americanism in the Republic (also unreported by the MSM) and by re-tooling their rhetoric to suit the tastes of Dublin’s radical chic, Sinn Fein began building a new power-base in the Republic. The success of that shift can be measured in their subsequent and steady gains of seats in the Irish parliament.

You can see a good summary of Sinn Fein’s late-2001 metamorphosis here:

http://www.geocities.com/irelandvus911/Ndptbl21.htm

But did you think that 9/11 and the ensuing, widespread debates in Ireland about the legality of the war in Afghanistan (and later in Iraq) put an end to more than a century of American donations there?

Each year American taxpayers donate millions to the INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR IRELAND – $439 million since 1986. This year’s omnibus bill is no exception. I refer you to “H.R.4818, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005″ (in the section “Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate”, under “Division D – Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2005″.)

From the text: “For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, $18,500,000, which shall be available for the United States contribution to the International Fund for Ireland and shall be made available in accordance with the provisions of the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-415): Provided, That such amount shall be expended at the minimum rate necessary to make timely payment for projects and activities: Provided further, That funds made available under this heading shall remain available until September 30, 2006.”

I believe we can credit Bush with reductions in this fund which came to $25 million annually under Clinton (who says he’d choose to live in Ireland over any other country after the US). For a review of some of these “projects” in question I refer you to any edition of the Citizens Against Government Waste’s “Pig Books”.

Now, is $18.5 too little an amount for Americans to care about? Or even several hundred million? More to your point, is it too little an amount to find out where it’s really being spent? (I can tell you from personal experience that it’s very difficult to follow this particular money trail.)

On January 28 the 10th Annual Michael Flannery Testimonial Awards dinner will be held at New York’s Astoria World Manor, a fund raiser organized by supporters of the anti-peace process Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), the political arm of the Continuity IRA.

At a $750/table dinner, donors will celebrate Sinn Fein’s centennial, and plan to honor a convicted gun-runner.

http://www.irishfreedom.net/

Frankly Kyda, I can’t find anyone who gives a damn about any of this.

The al Jezeera you are watching is the re-jigged English version. It reputedly bears almost no resemblance to the Arabic original. Hence the recommendation to watch the Arabic channel; the images are apparently enough to get the message across.

The above is 2nd-hand info, though. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Thank you so much for the heads up. I appreciate it.

Kenneth Greenlee

There is a new game in town: The actual murderer is called “the military wing”, the one who pays him, equips him and sends him is now called “the political wing” and the head of the operation is called the “spiritual leader”. There are numerous other examples of such Orwellian nomenclature, used every day not only by terror chiefs but also by Western media. These words are much more dangerous than many people realize. They provide an emotional infrastructure for atrocities. It was Joseph Goebels who said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He is now being outperformed by his successors.

Amen, brother. It used to burn my butt royally when Irish-American politicians like Peter King would wine, dine and laud Gerry Adams, who was received even in the White House, and then send him home with a suitcase full of money. If your organization employs terrorist methods, it’s a terrorist organization and I don’t care what “wing” you happen to represent. Haven’t seen much of old Gerry since 9-11, have we.

I just love it when theoretical physicists get untheoretical.

Theoretical scientists and mathematicians can be, and often are, quite good at this kind of analysis. Perhaps we should turn to them more and political pundits less.

Thank you, Roger, Sheryl and Charlie for this.

We get Al Jazeera Headline News on International Channel Networks (INTL) at 6:00 a.m. on Weekdays. INTL is part of our basic cable package.

There is also the DVD of Control Room. It includes the original documentary, a lot of deleted footage, and three commentaries.