Secret Service's 'regret' over Adams' White House barring

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Secret Service's 'regret' over Adams' White House barring

By Philip Ryan
Published
17/03/2016

Mr Adams reacted angrily after he was forced to undergo a security check before attending the prestigious Shamrock Ceremony and accused the US Government of treating Sinn Fein "differently" to other political parties.

In a scathing attack on the White House, Mr Adams said Sinn Fein will "not sit at the back of the bus for anyone", in reference to civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

Last night the US Secret Service released a statement saying the delay in processing Mr Adams was due to the an "administrative input error".

"The Secret Service would like to express our regret that the issue involving Mr Gerry Adams' entry into the St Patrick's Day reception could not be resolved in a more timely manner.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/secret-services-regret-over-adams-white-house-barring-34547103.html

[Journeyman]

1. Thus it ever is with we Irish, suspect citizens even at a party in our honor . . .

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. No

In this case, Gerry Adams has a special history compared to the average Irish citizen.

Which does not deny the historical discrimination against Irish in the USA.

[MisterP]

3. oh, the other Irish were let in fine (gael?)

[H2O Man]

41. True, that.

[Nihil]

4. Gosh, a past terrorist being given a security check? What a surprise ...

... not.



> accused the US Government of treating Sinn Fein "differently" to other political parties.

No, I'm sure Sinn Fein will be treated exactly the same way as Hamas, Hezbollah, the
Kosovo Liberation Army, ...

[riderinthestorm]

6. Not a terrorist. They were fighting for Irish independence from centuries of brutality

You're misinformed if you don't know Irish history thereby misplacing the role Sinn Fein and the IRA played in the process of gaining independence.

Not terrorists, not to this Irish woman.

[Nihil]

7. Bullshit. "Terrorist" = "Freedom Fighter" = "Insurgent" = "Hero" = "Murderer" = ...

It all depends on your viewpoint (and your honesty).

I know Irish history - my grandmother was Irish - and I also know British history.

The early IRA were freedom fighters and heroes in the fight for independence.

The shitholes of the Adams/McGuiness era were (and still are) cowardly crooks,
extortioners and terrorists (e.g., IRA bombing campaigns on the mainland, the
"protection" rackets, the smuggling).

They were - and will always be - a stain on the honour of the Republic and it's
only fitting that they are treated in the same way as other allegedly "reformed"
terrorists.

[riderinthestorm]

10. I am Irish. Don't you dare school me nt

[Angel Martin]

17. Just watch me

IRA: from Stalin's spies in England AND America; to streetwalkers for the KGB, Gaddafi, FARC and the PLO

“Though Stalin expressed reservations about the IRA’s determination and competence, soon afterwards both parties made a secret agreement: the IRA would spy for the Soviets in Britain and America, as well as support their strategic goals, ...”
http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-secret-ira-soviet-agreement-1925/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kgb-approved-1m-pounds-aid-request-by-party-with-ira-link-peter-pringle-in-moscow-finds-evidence-in-1559647.html

The 38-year connection between Irish republicans and Gaddafi
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12539372

http://www.dw.com/en/us-report-links-ira-to-colombia-terrorists/a-506131

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/IRA-PLO-cooperation-A-lo

[riderinthestorm]

18. Lol, desperation...

Fighting for one's independence makes strange bedfellows. Even the US embrace of French and Spanish assistance in their own revolution was considered criminal by the Brits in its day. Do you think there's a single American today who feels ashamed they took assistance from regimes considered criminal at the time?

You can't shame us you know. Attempted genocide combined with centuries of grotesque oppression means we don't give a fuck about what you think.

[Angel Martin]

19. "You can't shame us"

keep digging...

[Nihil]

39. I am English and apparently paid more attention to history than to histrionics. (n/t)

[leveymg]

35. Guess what. Adams won. That makes him a statesman and Maggie

a rotting memory of troubled times. Glad that Mitchell found something more meaningful than major league baseball.

[Nihil]

40. The two are not exclusive.

Maggie is a rotting memory of troubled times (for all manner of reasons).

Adams is a "reformed" politician who has blood on his hands and an "ex-"terrorist.

End of the day, he was still admitted to the party after a completely justifiable
security check and he even got an apology from the SS out of it to boost
his bragging rights.

Most people would have just shrugged and got on with life.
Adams saw it as another PR "battle" to be declared as "righteous victory".

[leveymg]

43. You take your victories where you can find them.

No, Rumsfeld didn't say that, exactly.

[H2O Man]

42. Respectfully disagree.

The British had no right to be in Ireland. The violence in Ireland was the result of the brutal colonization of the inhabitants of the Old Sod. Unless one holds that the British had a divine right to be in control of foreign lands, then the blood is absolutely on their hands.

[Nye Bevan]

44. If Native Americans here started blowing things up and murdering people,

on the grounds that the Europeans had no right to take over their country, would you defend them similarly, and refuse to call them terrorists?

[H2O Man]

47. A lot of my

good friends belonged to AIM. None were "terrorists."

The British, on the other hand, have a long history of terrorism.

[Nye Bevan]

48. Your friends weren't terrorists because they didn't murder people and blow things up.

The IRA, on the other hand, were indeed terrorists. Arguably their grievances were similar but the IRA decided to murder people to make their point.

[H2O Man]

50. Per Ireland:

One of my grandfather's cousins, J.J. McElligott, was an associate of Mick Collins. He became the second secretary of finance for the Irish Free State (many of my cousins still have the paper money, signed by JJ, than my grandfather & his siblings proudly handed out).

He was described as a "nationalist of impeccable credentials," who possessed "the wisdom of a serpent and the mildness of a dove."

Generations before, Richard Pierce McElligott, a noted Irish scholar and university professor, had joined the United Irishmen in the Uprising of 1798. Caught, and sentenced to hang, he wrote a moving poem from the dungeon cell, describing the terrorist behaviors of the Brits. I have a copy of that poem, handed down generation to generation in my family.

While not as famous as his cousin, John Philpot Curran, or other associates -- such as Edward Fitzgerald, Oliver Bond, or Wolfe Tone -- Richard played an important role in Irish history. Some of his works are still found in the Royal Irish Academy.

It has been a centuries-long struggle. Most Irish families have histories similar to mine, with members who were in the resistance. While I am an advocate of non-violence, I do not judge any of those from the past harshly. They were not "terrorists."

I'd also point out that the British terrorism created vicious cycles of violence. When inspired leaders are jailed and/or executed, relatives and friends often seek "revenge." Too often, this includes the most violence-prone taking a leadership role. That unfortunately happened in more recent times. Thus, while I did not approve of their tactics, I know the foreign occupation force was to blame .....or, rather, those who sent those stupid kids in uniforms to Ireland. The British soldiers were victims, too.

I'm glad the gross violence is over. I remember when my sons were little, a distant cousin playing with them. He used to travel back and forth to the Old Sod, delivering packages to friends there. He knew Bobby Sands well, and he gave my little boys music from the Irish resistance. That music isn't pro-violence; it is a haunting cry for peace.

[geek tragedy]

9. Ireland was independent when the IRA went on its rampage of terrorist bombings.

Sorry, people who go out of their way to blow up children are terrorists.

[riderinthestorm]

11. Oh I'm sorry are you forgetting the attempted genocide?

The centuries of oppression which killed generations?

Get the fuck out of Ireland. All of it I say

[geek tragedy]

12. past atrocities do not justify present ones nt

[riderinthestorm]

13. There's no "present atrocities" going on. Adams was deliberately slighted by the WH

[geek tragedy]

14. either that, or he hit a bureaucratic snag. nt

[riderinthestorm]

15. Lol in a bitter way. Ok nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. Even though they fought brutality, terrorists fighting brutality w terrorism are still terrorists.

The IRA killed children and terrorized civilians and non-politicians.

The 9/11 terrorists saw the brutality of the USA in the Middle East. That does not excuse their terrorism and it doesn't mean they were not terrorists.

The Oklahoma City bombers considered federal actions at Waco and Ruby Ridge to be very brutal. That does not excuse their terrorism and it does not mean they were not terrorists.

Likewise with the IRA bombers.

[riderinthestorm]

21. Nope, they were fighting for Irish independence

I know it's convenient to label the oppressed as terrorists when they fight back especially after centuries of attempted genocide and near total destruction of Irish culture and language.

But you're wrong.

Do you label Native Americans "terrorists" for fighting back against the American near genocide of NAs, and the almost total eradication of their language and culture? Were they "terrorists" for fighting for their land and trying to stop forced removals? Were they "terrorists" when some American children were killed, and some fraction of American citizens and non-politicians were scared?

Because that's the closest analogy to what happened in Ireland.

So if you're willing to label Native Americans fighting for their lives, culture and language as "terrorists" than fair enough.

I don't. And won't. Because I know better.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Irish independence does not excuse killing children

American Indian and US settler terrorism does not excuse IRA terrorism.

[riderinthestorm]

23. Well clearly you're not Irish and haven't ever lived under oppression,

discrimination, and near genocide.

Those fighting for their lives, their independence, their heritage rarely get the opportunity to be purists. It was only through their actions that the Brits ever came to the table.

Or are you advocating the peace accords were bullshit and the Brits should never have sat at the table with those "terrorists"? I mean, British children were killed (oh let's ignore the hundreds of thousands of Irish children who were starved, raped, maimed, tortured and killed), and British citizens were frightened (oh let's ignore the hundreds of thousands of Irish starved, maimed, terrorized, raped, tortured, displaced, and killed). It's all so MUCH the same...



You hear that? It was only through their actions that the British tyranny stopped.

Stopped forever, after centuries of it.

Sorry, not sorry.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. So, your moral system says children should be killed because children were killed. Ref your post #23

British children were killed (oh let's ignore the hundreds of thousands of Irish children who were starved, raped, maimed, tortured and killed)

So a few British children should die because of "hundreds of thousands of Irish children"?

What role did those British children play in killing the Irish children?

At what point would it be wrong to kill the British children? If only tens of thousands of Irish children were killed? If only thousands? Hundreds? Tens? A child for a child?

[riderinthestorm]

26. My moral system says no children should die

However, who started killing the children first in this conflict Bernard? And how many Irish children v British children?

I'll wait while you look. (Psst, it's kinda like a half a million to one but please do the research yourself)

I see you've conveniently overlooked the part that it brought the Brits to the table and stopped all of the bloodshed on either side.

So no credit for actually you know, stopping the fucking civil war right? Only the few British children who died matter eh? You'd have the civil war continuing?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. Killing children is terrorism

What role did those British children play in killing the Irish children?

[riderinthestorm]

32. Yes, I know only British lives matter to you.

Irish children (by the hundreds of thousands)? Not so much.

You sicken me.

I only see you would have conflict continue rather than peace. Feel free to have the last word. Your utter contempt for the Irish is obvious.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

33. Wrong. Irish lives matter. Stop the character assassination.

The Donegall Street bombing took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 20 March 1972 when the Provisional IRA detonated a massive car bomb in Lower Donegall Street in the city centre just before noon when the street was crowded with shoppers, office workers, and many schoolchildren.

Seven people were killed in the explosion ... which also injured 148 people

When you have nothing with which to argue, nothing to stand on, out you trot the character assassination.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

34. Ireland 1970

1970

26 June: three Provisional IRA volunteers and two young girls (the daughters of one of the volunteers) were killed when an IRA bomb prematurely exploded in a house in Creggan, Derry.[1]

[Nye Bevan]

45. "Sickening" is defending the murder of children as bringing the other side "to the table" (nt)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. London

10 September 1973: Two 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) bombs at mainline stations injured 13 people and brought chaos to central London. The first explosion at King's Cross station - which injured five people - occurred without any warning at 1224 BST, seconds after a witness saw a youth throw a bag into a booking hall. Fifty minutes later a second blast rocked a snack bar at Euston station, injuring a further eight people.[14]

24 December 1973: The Provisional IRA left two packages which exploded almost simultaneously in the late evening on Christmas Eve. One was in the doorway of the North Star public house, at the junction of College Crescent and Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, which exploded injuring six people, and the other exploded on the upstairs verandah of the nearby Swiss Cottage Tavern where an unspecified number of people were injured.[15][16]

17 June 1974: A bomb exploded at the Houses of Parliament in London, causing extensive damage and injuring 11 people.[19]

17 July 1974: An explosion in the Tower of London left one person dead and 41 injured.

22 October 1974: A 5-pound (2.3 kg) bomb exploded in the Brooks Club, London, injuring three members of staff.[21]

7 November 1974: An off-duty soldier and a civilian were killed when a bomb was thrown through the window of the Kings Arms pub in Woolwich, and 28 people were injured.[22]

28 August 1975: Seven people were injured when a bomb exploded in Oxford Street, London, outside the south-east corner of Selfridges store. A telephone warning was issued to The Sun newspaper five minutes before the explosion.[24]

5 September 1975: Two people were killed and 63 injured when an IRA bomb exploded in the lobby of the Hilton hotel in London.[25]

9 October 1975: A bomb detonated at a bus stop outside Green Park tube station, killing 23-year-old Graham Ronald Tuck and injuring at least 20 people - two of them children.[26]

3 November 1975: Several people injured by a car bomb in Connaught Square, London W2.[27]

27 November 1975: Ross McWhirter was shot at his home Village Road, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, Middlesex by two IRA volunteers, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty, and died soon after in hospital.[28][29]

6-12 December 1975: Balcombe Street Siege: Four IRA members held two people hostage at 22b Balcombe Street.[30]

4 March 1976: A 10-pound (4.5 kg) bomb exploded in an empty train near Cannon Street station, injuring eight people in a passing train.[33]

15 March 1976: An IRA bomb exploded on a Metropolitan line train at West Ham station, on the Hammersmith & City section of the line. The bomber, Vincent Donnelly, possibly took the wrong train and attempted to return to his destination. However, the bomb detonated prior to reaching the City of London. Donnelly shot Peter Chalk, a Post Office engineer, and shot and killed the train's driver Julius Stephen, who had attempted to catch the perpetrator.

27 March 1976: A bomb placed by the Provisional IRA exploded in a litter bin at the top of an escalator in a crowded exhibition hall, Earl's Court. 20,000 people were attending the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition at the time. 70 were injured, 4 people lost limbs.[35]

[riderinthestorm]

29. Put that up against 500 years of rape, torture, and genocide

against millions of Irish.

Feel free to continue your lists. Until you recognize the genocide and attempt at extermination, plus the centuries of tyranny, I'm happy to let you flail. In fact, I see an oppressed population doing its best to bring Britain to the negotiating table. And it worked.

Americans understand the horror they've inflicted on the Native Americans.

It's exactly analogous to what happened in Ireland as a similar holocaust.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

37. So, by your logic, your children in US should be killed for 500 year of rape & genocide vs Native Am

So, by your logic, your children in US should be killed for 500 years of rape, torture, and genocide against Native Americans? That's the logic you are using. In your logic:

Group A commits 500 years of r, t & g against Group B. Then Group B is justified to kill civilians and children of Group A.

It doesn't matter if A = settler whites in N. America / B = native Americans or if A = Irish / B = British or if A = British / B = Irish. It's just plain wrong.

How many years is the deciding point? 500? For 200 years rt&g they should revenge kill A civilians, but not for 100 years? For 50 years, but not 25 years? For 4 years but not 2 years? Revenge killing (terrorism) is morally bankrupt.

Sure the Irish suffered and suffered badly. But that does not mean that British civilians and children needed to die.

Terrorism is a bankrupt ideology. Abandon it.

[Nihil]

38. "Logic"? She ain't got it.

Same applies to morals and understanding of history.

Thank you for your factual updates.

My brother was in London for the series of attacks in the 70s.
I was there from the 80s onwards and knew some of the victims
not just from London but also from Warrington - one of their most
despicable & totally unjustifiable atrocities.

If *any* of those hundreds of attacks had happened in the US,
none of the "Supporting de Great Struggle" shitholes over there
would have dared show their face with a collecting box.

[Nye Bevan]

46. Yep, if the Native Americans had perpetrated the same atrocities in NYC that the IRA did in London,

on the grounds that they had been mistreated and colonized by the Europeans, I don't think they would be getting the same empathy here that the IRA is from some.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

30. More London

2 December 1980: A device exploded at Princess Louise Regiment Territorial Army Centre, Hammersmith Road, London W6, injuring five people.[38]

10 October 1981: A bomb blast on Ebury Bridge Road next to Chelsea Barracks killed two people and injured 39.[38]

17 October 1981: An explosion in London SE21 injured one person.[38]

26 October 1981: A bomb planted by the IRA in a Wimpy Bar on Oxford Street killed Kenneth Howorth, the Metropolitan Police explosives officer who was attempting to defuse it.[38]

23 November 1981: A device exploded at Royal Artillery HQ, Government House, Woolwich New Road, London SE18 injuring two people.[38]

17 December 1983: Harrods bombing: Harrods West London department store was bombed by the IRA during Christmas shopping. Six people were killed (including three police officers) and 90 injured.[38]

25 December 1983: A device exploded at Orchard Street, London W1 injuring two people.[38]

25 June 1990: A bomb exploded at Carlton Club, St. James, London SW1 injuring 20 people.[38]

18 February 1991: A bomb exploded in Paddington Station, damaging the building's roof but causing no casualties. Three hours later another bomb exploded at Victoria Station. One man was killed and 38 people injured.[38]

28 February 1992: A bomb exploded at London Bridge station injuring 29 people.[38]

29 February 1992: Device exploded at the Crown Prosecution Service, London EC4 injuring two people.[38]

10 April 1992: Baltic Exchange bombing: A large bomb exploded outside 30 St Mary Axe in the City of London. The bomb was contained in a large white truck and consisted of a fertiliser device wrapped with a detonation cord made from Semtex. It killed three people: Paul Butt, aged 29; Thomas Casey, aged 49, a Baltic Exchange employee; and 15-year-old Danielle Carter. Several other people were critically or severely injured.

12 October 1992: A device exploded in the gentlemen's toilet of the Sussex Arms public house in Covent Garden, killing one person (who died the following day as a result of injuries) and injuring four others.[38]

10 December 1992: Two devices exploded in litter bins outside shops at Wood Green Shopping Centre, London N22. Eleven people were slightly injured.[38]

27 February 1993: A bomb exploded in a litter bin outside a McDonalds restaurant in Camden Town, injuring 18 people, two seriously.[38][46]

24 April 1993: Bishopsgate bombing: The IRA detonated a huge truck bomb in the City of London at Bishopsgate. It killed journalist Ed Henty, injured over 40 people,

[Bernardo de La Paz]

36. Wrong. IRA terrorism failed

Tomasz Wegrzanowski • January 26, 2012 11:31 AM

NobodySpecial: There's no way in hell Northern Ireland is any terrorist success.

It's still part of UK and barely got some limited government, headed by an Unionist no less, and with barely any more power than Government of Ireland Act 1914 already established.

Meanwhile Scotland is getting its independence referendum in two years without ever blowing a single bomb.

IRA has been a total failure by any reasonable standard.

[greymouse]

5. I'm kind of surprised everyone going to the White House isn't subject to a security check

exempt friendly heads of state and their spouses, maybe.


"No, I'm sure Sinn Fein will be treated exactly the same way as Hamas, Hezbollah, the
Kosovo Liberation Army, ... "

You forgot the IDF.

[yellowcanine]

8. "administrative input error" huh?

No biggie. I am sure that happens all of the time I am sure with the "no fly list." In other words, some low level flunkie who shall go unnamed did it.

[erpowers]

16. F You Mr. Adams

The Secret Service should have responded to Gerry Adams by saying F you Mr. Adams. For Gerry Adams to make a reference to Rosa Parks just because he had to under go a security check is ridiculous. Going through a security check to get into the residence of the President of the United States of America is not the same as being required to sit at the back of a bus because you are an African-American.

[noretreatnosurrender]

31. Strange

Strange how some people on DU celebrate St. Patty's day by lecturing the Irish people about how they should think about their own history.

[Reter]

49. He's not Timothy McVeigh or Osama, but he's still evil

Last edited Sat Mar 19, 2016, 01:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Fuck his terrorist ass.