The Impeachment Clock

I just read a piece by local columnist Mark Hare in last Sunday’s Democrat and Chronicle entitled Irish Children's Program is all about making peace. He says, in part, that

Since the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the violence in Northern Ireland has eased considerably. But still there is a wall of suspicion and mistrust between the Catholic and Protestant communities. Summer in Rochester is a way to ease that tension, a few children at a time.

It struck me as an anachronism, coming as it does almost ten years after peace broke out in Northern Ireland. In retrospect, I guess the declaration of peace was as premature as that "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq banner displayed behind Bush on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln way back in May, 2003.

Aileen and my other good friends over at A Tangled Web who live in Northern Ireland day in and day out all seem to have problems of one kind or another with the "Peace Process" just like I have problems with America’s ongoing military presence in Iraq. I said the other day in reply to a comment ("Anyone who wants to stop the instability should support the Coalition efforts") by Charles in Texas.

Yes, Charles, let's see if we can tie all this back into Northern Ireland. The coalition has an army in the field trying to suppress inter-tribal violence that is killing civilians as well as military personnel. Some of the death squads are in league with the local government. Some of the death squads consider the coalition to be an army of occupation that they must drive from their land. Foreign countries (or citizens thereof) are sending guns and money to both sides.

Reminds me of an old joke about Richard Nixon: At least he kept our boys out of Northern Ireland.