THE HISTORy
Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 the war between the Unionist and Nationalist/Republican communities came to an end.
The absence of any agreement regarding the actions of the security forces left scope for Nationalists (Sinn Fein/IRA) to mount a legal assault on soldiers who had been involved in shootings as far back as fifty years.
Article 2 of the Human Rights Act was used retrospectively to mount new investigations of retired soldiers who had been previously cleared of wrongdoing.
Millions have been spent by the UK government in legal aid and compensations in weak attempts to make the problem go away. This appeasement has only led to the enrichment of former terrorists and their political agendas.
Sinn Fein is the ‘legal’ political front for the IRA, a listed terrorist group and organised crime syndicate. Their main stated objective is to end British Rule in Northern Ireland and unite the north with the Republic of Ireland.
The persecution of former soldiers is a propaganda exercise to discredit the British Government by rewriting the history of Operation Banner and to further the Nationalist cause.
299 (8.5%)
Attributed to the British Army (4 deemed illegal by courts)
2048 (58%)
Attributable to Republican Paramilitaries
1024 (29%)
Attributable to Loyalist Paramilitaries
4.5%
Unknown
and more than 50,000 injured by paramilitary actions.
The constant everyday shootings, bombings and ambushes, the endless hours of patrolling, the threat to families at home and the vindictive malice of the republican population after 1971 is hard for modern politicians to comprehend.
Anyone who decides whether evidence is new or compelling must have a measure of independence and a deep understanding of the history and the context soldiers experienced.
The Government has stated that there should only be new prosecutions if there is ‘new and compelling’ evidence. There is no new or compelling evidence in our view, only old evidence raked over with new ‘witness’ claims from up to fifty years ago.
Of the 300,000 soldiers who served only 4 were convicted of murder.
There were three sides in the troubles; Republican, Unionist and the Security Forces. Only one party was acting for the people and only one is currently subject to repeated investigations.
It is time to leave the soldiers alone to die in peace. Several under investigation have already died and many are in the last period of their existence.