This is a longer version of a letter sent to the
Irish Independent...where two writers said that the
actions of anti-war protesters against blair shamed
Ireland.
Anti-War Protests
My first protest was a small anti-war protest in Boston in 1967.
It was small, as it was before the Tet Offensive on 31 January 1968.
I was pro-war.
At one point, I ran into the crowd as did others, and punched a few
protesters. A cop grabbed me and put me in the back seat of a police
car. It was from there that I watched the police let dogs loose on
the anti-war protesters, not people like me...belligerents.
Two police got in the car and drove off. I was imagining the beating
my father would give me for skipping school, and being arrested.
(also, it would break my record of not being caught skipping school:-)
As we turned one corner one cop patted my knee and said ‘that was great.’
Both roared with laughter, and let me out a few blocks away. They just
said not to “go back there”. I learned that most police aren’t neutral.
They didn't arrest me for assault and battery! Some protesters were
arrested.
I went to Vietnam twice, (less than five months total), and came back
a changed person. At a 1974 anti-war protest in Washington D.C. by
Vietnam Veterans Against the War VVAW) the police attacked a group
of us in a Billy club frenzy. I wasn’t hit. I disarmed a cop rushing
at me. He learned what it feels like. He got off very easy. I still
have a photo of one officer with his club raised at me after the incident.
He wanted a go at me to make up for his friend, and I waved him to me
saying he was armed I wasn't(by then). I was a little crazy.
Both protests were peaceful. There was an attempt to club dissent, and
resistance into the ground.
In Vietnam I was a Marine Corps rifleman(a 'grunt')> I went to kill and
be a hero. But, within hours I met my first Vietnamese; she was ‘The Girl
I Met on Christmas Day 1968-Da Nang’. She was part of 20-30 children begging
for money for, food. They were victims of our war; some had no arms,
legs, eyes, or had scars from napalm. A horrible weapon.
So, while Sinead Andrews (letters 8 Sept) settles into a ‘comy’ chair
to watch TV millions of children in Iraq , Afghanistan et al, live in ways
she and Kevin Cullen are oblivious to! Others like me have seen them face-
to-face. It's not pretty. I couldn't understand why they were begging; I
thought that we-the US- were there to help them.
The so-called War on terror is nothing but a cover for illegal wars of
aggression to control resources and dominate the planet. War is built on
a pile of lies miles high.
Uranium from Niger ? A lie.
WMD’s. A lie.
Mobile weapons labs? A lie.
Bringing democracy to Iraq . A big lie; it’s an occupation for oil.
Saddam gassed his own people. Yes, he did with US helicopters.
The US sold Saddam Anthrax, VX nerve gas, West Nile fever germs,
botulism and more. West German, French, Italian, Austrian, and Swiss
companies gave him other toxins. Hey, he was our friend, and it was...
well you know...business.
As long as these wars of aggression continue war criminals like Bush,
Cheney or Blair must not have peace, or be ‘comy’. A jail cell is what
they deserve.
I believe what Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman said: “So, don’t
be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors
to the nation, to the world and to humanity”.
Paul Meuse MA, LLB
7 Belgrave Place
Wellington road
Cork
Friday, September 10, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
My thoughts on seeing Blair's book in Eason's-Cork
When I saw Tony Blair's book 'A Journey' on sale in Eason's my
first thought was to spit on it,, or as we used to say growing up
'hurl a lungar' at it. Spit on it, but I felt that would be unfair to
those who would touch it, or staff who would have to clean it up.
And, believe me, in a split second i'd checked out the cameras and
people and knew...i could do it, but didn't.
However, I encourage everyone to put the book in the crime section,
or in 'fiction'. Do not damage or harm it. Just place it in the appropriate
section as above.
As for me, the thought that raced through my mind, and i laughed...is
thaat i won't buy this book because i prefer to see what he writes in
prison. He may actually learn something from a good stretch...25-life.
first thought was to spit on it,, or as we used to say growing up
'hurl a lungar' at it. Spit on it, but I felt that would be unfair to
those who would touch it, or staff who would have to clean it up.
And, believe me, in a split second i'd checked out the cameras and
people and knew...i could do it, but didn't.
However, I encourage everyone to put the book in the crime section,
or in 'fiction'. Do not damage or harm it. Just place it in the appropriate
section as above.
As for me, the thought that raced through my mind, and i laughed...is
thaat i won't buy this book because i prefer to see what he writes in
prison. He may actually learn something from a good stretch...25-life.
Tony Cancels London book signing!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/06/tony-blair-cancels-london-book-signing
Tony Blair scrapped London book signing to avoid protest 'hassle'
Former prime minister worried BNP might have caused trouble, and says he wanted to prevent 'extra strain on police resources'
Tony Blair gave as his reason for cancelling his London Book signing:
"I don't want the public to be inconvenienced by the inevitable hassle caused by protesters. I know the Metropolitan police would, as ever, have done a superb job in managing any disruption but I do not wish to impose an extra strain on police resources, simply for a book signing."
-------------------------------
Tony that's Bullsh--. You are worried about the possibility of a citizen's
arrest...and facing the anger of people...especially the possibility
of parent's of dead soldiers confronting you...and of the protests
numbers growing. You avoided it because it is uncomfortable for you,
and you are a lightening rod for people's anger, and justifiably so.
The Torture PM. You deserve no better than the criminal dock in the
international criminal court (ICC).
It is good that you feel the need to hide from the public, or
only venture out when and where you judge it to be safe. and those
places and times will dwindle.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/05/tony-blair-memoirs-facebook-group
Looking for Tony Blair's memoir? Try the crime section
Facebook protest group takes time to 'reclassify' the former prime minister's memoirs in British book shops
Tony Blair scrapped London book signing to avoid protest 'hassle'
Former prime minister worried BNP might have caused trouble, and says he wanted to prevent 'extra strain on police resources'
Tony Blair gave as his reason for cancelling his London Book signing:
"I don't want the public to be inconvenienced by the inevitable hassle caused by protesters. I know the Metropolitan police would, as ever, have done a superb job in managing any disruption but I do not wish to impose an extra strain on police resources, simply for a book signing."
-------------------------------
Tony that's Bullsh--. You are worried about the possibility of a citizen's
arrest...and facing the anger of people...especially the possibility
of parent's of dead soldiers confronting you...and of the protests
numbers growing. You avoided it because it is uncomfortable for you,
and you are a lightening rod for people's anger, and justifiably so.
The Torture PM. You deserve no better than the criminal dock in the
international criminal court (ICC).
It is good that you feel the need to hide from the public, or
only venture out when and where you judge it to be safe. and those
places and times will dwindle.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/05/tony-blair-memoirs-facebook-group
Looking for Tony Blair's memoir? Try the crime section
Facebook protest group takes time to 'reclassify' the former prime minister's memoirs in British book shops
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Wikileaks does not endanger the troops: the blood is on tha hands of the Generals, Admirals, the CIA and the Secret government
In war there are two facts, and I learned them in Vietnam.
Fact one: The rich (usually older white men) make the wars.
Fact two: the young and the poor fight and die in them.
Or, as Jimmy Pettiford, an African-American Marine friend from VVAW, whom I
met after Vietnam, said: ‘Rich Man’s War; Poor Man’s Fight’.
A little known fact is that the Vietnam War ended because the
resistance to the war within the military was such that the Pentagon
was facing the total breakdown of the armed forces. See:
'The Collapse of the Armed Forces'
By Col. Robert D. Heinl, Jr., Armed Forces Journal, 7 June 1971.
This was a secret study commissioned by the Pentagon to assess
true situation among the troops in and out of Vietnam. This is the opening:
“The morale, discipline and battleworthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are,
with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at any time in this century
and possibly in the history of the United States.
By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non-commissioned officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near mutinous”.
I went from a ‘Gung Ho’ Marine to a boy who knew that the only thing that
mattered was to survive.
What Wikileaks did was to ‘out’ war crimes, and the cover-up of those crimes.
It is a service to the USA, humanity (because war, or national security can never
serve as an excuse for such criminal conduct.
But, also because it will be another brick to come tumbling on a wall of lies.
And, remember soldiers, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam die for lies!
And, the civilians bear the heaviest cost.
Wikileaks exposed a bit of the truth. And I wish we had that in Vietnam.
To me it is those who plan and execute (the brass) illegal wars that
endanger the troops. When I was with Golf Co. (‘Goofy Golf’) they
sent four of us out on night ambushes. That’s suicide.
Another time two squads were left in an abandoned fire base and told
to watch out for a battalion (800+) of North Vietnamese Army troops.
Oh sure! 24-30 men against 800+ really meant that we were nothing more than
The bait! We kept quiet.
Those who conduct war and get troops killed for an oil Co., always raise
the spectre of not undermining the troops. Be patriotic…blah, blah. Blah.
When we were going to the A Shau valley-the ‘Valley of Death’ to Marines,
(I was at FSB Cunningham) they didn’t say, nor prepare us for what was coming.
I was a radio operator-a snipers favourite target- we were told to ‘saddle up’ we
were going to Da Nang for two days…relaxing.
The truth was that our commanders afraid to tell us where they intended to
drop us out of fear that there would be resistance from those short-timers
we were put into a hell on earth…and replacing a company whose
moral was breaking down…and they were panicking…nightly sapper
attacks.
To me, not telling us the truth put our lives in greater danger than if
we were prepared.
When I calculated what I was paid in Vietnam it was $0.50 per hour.
Not quite a millionaire:-)
These wars must be stopped, and the criminals brought to court.
Major-General Smedley D. Butler (a two-time recipient of
the highest medal- The Congressional Medal of Honor. He returned the
first one saying that he didn’t deserve it. The brass ordered him to keep
it and wear it) said:
“War is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense
of the very many.
I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested."
The costs of the war, just like the fighting is borne by the masses of people, or
As General butler put it:
“This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations….
Does that sound familiar?
Fact one: The rich (usually older white men) make the wars.
Fact two: the young and the poor fight and die in them.
Or, as Jimmy Pettiford, an African-American Marine friend from VVAW, whom I
met after Vietnam, said: ‘Rich Man’s War; Poor Man’s Fight’.
A little known fact is that the Vietnam War ended because the
resistance to the war within the military was such that the Pentagon
was facing the total breakdown of the armed forces. See:
'The Collapse of the Armed Forces'
By Col. Robert D. Heinl, Jr., Armed Forces Journal, 7 June 1971.
This was a secret study commissioned by the Pentagon to assess
true situation among the troops in and out of Vietnam. This is the opening:
“The morale, discipline and battleworthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces are,
with a few salient exceptions, lower and worse than at any time in this century
and possibly in the history of the United States.
By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non-commissioned officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near mutinous”.
I went from a ‘Gung Ho’ Marine to a boy who knew that the only thing that
mattered was to survive.
What Wikileaks did was to ‘out’ war crimes, and the cover-up of those crimes.
It is a service to the USA, humanity (because war, or national security can never
serve as an excuse for such criminal conduct.
But, also because it will be another brick to come tumbling on a wall of lies.
And, remember soldiers, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam die for lies!
And, the civilians bear the heaviest cost.
Wikileaks exposed a bit of the truth. And I wish we had that in Vietnam.
To me it is those who plan and execute (the brass) illegal wars that
endanger the troops. When I was with Golf Co. (‘Goofy Golf’) they
sent four of us out on night ambushes. That’s suicide.
Another time two squads were left in an abandoned fire base and told
to watch out for a battalion (800+) of North Vietnamese Army troops.
Oh sure! 24-30 men against 800+ really meant that we were nothing more than
The bait! We kept quiet.
Those who conduct war and get troops killed for an oil Co., always raise
the spectre of not undermining the troops. Be patriotic…blah, blah. Blah.
When we were going to the A Shau valley-the ‘Valley of Death’ to Marines,
(I was at FSB Cunningham) they didn’t say, nor prepare us for what was coming.
I was a radio operator-a snipers favourite target- we were told to ‘saddle up’ we
were going to Da Nang for two days…relaxing.
The truth was that our commanders afraid to tell us where they intended to
drop us out of fear that there would be resistance from those short-timers
we were put into a hell on earth…and replacing a company whose
moral was breaking down…and they were panicking…nightly sapper
attacks.
To me, not telling us the truth put our lives in greater danger than if
we were prepared.
When I calculated what I was paid in Vietnam it was $0.50 per hour.
Not quite a millionaire:-)
These wars must be stopped, and the criminals brought to court.
Major-General Smedley D. Butler (a two-time recipient of
the highest medal- The Congressional Medal of Honor. He returned the
first one saying that he didn’t deserve it. The brass ordered him to keep
it and wear it) said:
“War is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense
of the very many.
I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested."
The costs of the war, just like the fighting is borne by the masses of people, or
As General butler put it:
“This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations….
Does that sound familiar?
Friday, September 3, 2010
A blog to follow
I came across Layla Anwar's blog through (ICH) http//www.informationclearinghouse.com
ICH is a place i check daily and has good and great articles.
Layla Anwar has articles that i've read before (and Layla-i apologize for not recommending you the first time).
What struck me was her raw emotions and incisive insight.
I felt somewhat the same after returning from Vietnam,
though not able to write coherently (at that time) as she does.
And, though I went to Vietnam 'gung ho' because I truely believed
the propaganda that was fed to me whilst growing up...I soon got
the feeling that "We aren't the 'good guys'"
That was a very strange feeling...and took awhile to
process. By 1973 I was and have been since a member of Vietnam
Veteran Against the War. I was in the June 1976 takeover of the
Statue of Liberty. Twas a wonderful way to see it. No tourists:-)
At a checkpoint that I manned for a short time...just a place in the
road...(Highway 1?) between Cam Lo village and the Marine Corps Fire Support
Base(FSB) Charlie Three. The same road went up to Charlie Two
(our main FSB), and further up was Con Thien. I was not there.
(Before there was ever a Khe Sahn... there was Con Thien! One one day up to 3,000 artillary shells,
rockets and mortars landed on the base, which was, i think, three
small hills...and probably not much bigger than a football field).
I could sense that the women who passed by felt, or seemed intimidated.
I was just an 18 year old boy with a rifle,(M-16)and hand grenades(I
prefer the term 'Frags' as it has another meaning:-) So before women could
get close. I put my rifle M-16 to my left and slightly behind me.
I remembered that at the beginning of the Iraq War when I read about
the constant killings of Iraqi families by US troops. I couldn't imagine
doing that.
When I went to Vietnam two things were uppermost in my mind.
One, was not to ever shoot a civilian by accident.
Two, not to ever shoot one of our own by mistake.
War as I heard in Vietnam is 'Rich Man's War; Poor Man's Fight'.
http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2010/09/vomiting-perfidy.html
Check it out if you want to know what we have and are doing to
Iraq and the Middle East
ICH is a place i check daily and has good and great articles.
Layla Anwar has articles that i've read before (and Layla-i apologize for not recommending you the first time).
What struck me was her raw emotions and incisive insight.
I felt somewhat the same after returning from Vietnam,
though not able to write coherently (at that time) as she does.
And, though I went to Vietnam 'gung ho' because I truely believed
the propaganda that was fed to me whilst growing up...I soon got
the feeling that "We aren't the 'good guys'"
That was a very strange feeling...and took awhile to
process. By 1973 I was and have been since a member of Vietnam
Veteran Against the War. I was in the June 1976 takeover of the
Statue of Liberty. Twas a wonderful way to see it. No tourists:-)
At a checkpoint that I manned for a short time...just a place in the
road...(Highway 1?) between Cam Lo village and the Marine Corps Fire Support
Base(FSB) Charlie Three. The same road went up to Charlie Two
(our main FSB), and further up was Con Thien. I was not there.
(Before there was ever a Khe Sahn... there was Con Thien! One one day up to 3,000 artillary shells,
rockets and mortars landed on the base, which was, i think, three
small hills...and probably not much bigger than a football field).
I could sense that the women who passed by felt, or seemed intimidated.
I was just an 18 year old boy with a rifle,(M-16)and hand grenades(I
prefer the term 'Frags' as it has another meaning:-) So before women could
get close. I put my rifle M-16 to my left and slightly behind me.
I remembered that at the beginning of the Iraq War when I read about
the constant killings of Iraqi families by US troops. I couldn't imagine
doing that.
When I went to Vietnam two things were uppermost in my mind.
One, was not to ever shoot a civilian by accident.
Two, not to ever shoot one of our own by mistake.
War as I heard in Vietnam is 'Rich Man's War; Poor Man's Fight'.
http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2010/09/vomiting-perfidy.html
Check it out if you want to know what we have and are doing to
Iraq and the Middle East
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Letter sent to the IrishTimes 1 Sept. Re: Blair's visit
Michael Lillis is wrong (letters 30 August). We do not owe Tony Blair ‘the courtesy
of assuming that his’ dragging Britain into an illegal war of aggression in Iraq ‘even
if an unfortunate mistake-was sincere in its intent.’
Tony Blair, like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld (who wanted to invade Iraq on September 12, 2001),
their lawyers who justified the invasion, their ideologues, like William Kristol “the No. 1 cheerleader for the” war, John Bolton, Richard Pearl, et al. who promoted the invasion since the 1990s; the military commanders who planned and executed the war, CIA and MI5 officials who engaged in or covered-up torture…they are all war criminals-at-large.
In the 1933 Major-General Smedley D. Butler USMC said “See that no American
boy dies for an oil well in Iraq.” He also said “War is a racket. A racket is best
described…as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only
a small group knows what it is about”. War “is conducted for the benefit of the very few
at the expense of the masses.”
As a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War I saw first-hand what war is. War, for me,
meant wiping up the remains of young Marines ‘blown to bits’ during a sapper attack.
War means carrying the dead for miles, or searching for a left foot to put into a body bag,
so there’s two feet, or seeing your friend’s hand blown up. I saw over 240 bodies bags stacked
up like cordwood on a runway awaiting their final journey home.
War is not noble like Bush and Blair pretended it to be. Their children were not sent to
war? Bush, Cheney, and their ideologues avoided the Vietnam War. They send others
to die for their wars.
War is seeing children, women, the elderly beg for food.
War is having an 8-12 year old boy offering to sell his mother or sister for sex
so that they might eat!
War is murder, brutalization, torture, rape, savagery, butchery…the ultimate in
human degradation to combatants and civilians alike.
War is 18 US war veterans killing themselves each and every day. That is what
war does.
To me, the only reception Tony Blair deserves is thousands upon thousands,
if not millions chasing him to make a citizen’s arrest, and holding him for the
International criminal court, or a duly constituted people’s court if the ICC takes
no action!
The Nuremberg tribunal laid down a principle “that to initiate a war of aggression…is
not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime”.
The blood of the dead Iraqi’s, British, American and others call out for justice. War
is a criminal enterprise. And war criminals like Bush and Blair should not have nice
receptions, but war veterans like me, and masses of people waiting to execute a citizen’s
arrest.
Paul Meuse
7 Belgrave Place
Wellington Road
Cork
085-1137110
of assuming that his’ dragging Britain into an illegal war of aggression in Iraq ‘even
if an unfortunate mistake-was sincere in its intent.’
Tony Blair, like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld (who wanted to invade Iraq on September 12, 2001),
their lawyers who justified the invasion, their ideologues, like William Kristol “the No. 1 cheerleader for the” war, John Bolton, Richard Pearl, et al. who promoted the invasion since the 1990s; the military commanders who planned and executed the war, CIA and MI5 officials who engaged in or covered-up torture…they are all war criminals-at-large.
In the 1933 Major-General Smedley D. Butler USMC said “See that no American
boy dies for an oil well in Iraq.” He also said “War is a racket. A racket is best
described…as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only
a small group knows what it is about”. War “is conducted for the benefit of the very few
at the expense of the masses.”
As a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War I saw first-hand what war is. War, for me,
meant wiping up the remains of young Marines ‘blown to bits’ during a sapper attack.
War means carrying the dead for miles, or searching for a left foot to put into a body bag,
so there’s two feet, or seeing your friend’s hand blown up. I saw over 240 bodies bags stacked
up like cordwood on a runway awaiting their final journey home.
War is not noble like Bush and Blair pretended it to be. Their children were not sent to
war? Bush, Cheney, and their ideologues avoided the Vietnam War. They send others
to die for their wars.
War is seeing children, women, the elderly beg for food.
War is having an 8-12 year old boy offering to sell his mother or sister for sex
so that they might eat!
War is murder, brutalization, torture, rape, savagery, butchery…the ultimate in
human degradation to combatants and civilians alike.
War is 18 US war veterans killing themselves each and every day. That is what
war does.
To me, the only reception Tony Blair deserves is thousands upon thousands,
if not millions chasing him to make a citizen’s arrest, and holding him for the
International criminal court, or a duly constituted people’s court if the ICC takes
no action!
The Nuremberg tribunal laid down a principle “that to initiate a war of aggression…is
not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime”.
The blood of the dead Iraqi’s, British, American and others call out for justice. War
is a criminal enterprise. And war criminals like Bush and Blair should not have nice
receptions, but war veterans like me, and masses of people waiting to execute a citizen’s
arrest.
Paul Meuse
7 Belgrave Place
Wellington Road
Cork
085-1137110
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Letter sent to the Irish Examiner 31 August 2010
Questions for Cardinal Brady
Cardinal Brady denies that Catholic Church leaders
colluded with British government authorities to cover-up
Father Chesney's role in the bombing of Claudy.
We know this:
On Monday, July 31st, 1972 between 10:15 and 10:30 a.m.
three car bombs exploded in Claudy, County Londonderry.
Nine people were killed, thirty wounded. The town and its people were devastated.
The RUC suspected Father Chesney was involved. Chesney was sent to the Republic ''after secret talks between the then, Secretary of state, William Whitelaw and Cardinal Conway, head of the Catholic Church in Ireland,” who
described Chesney as a 'bad man.'
Chesney is believed to have been 'involved in IRA activities until his death in 1980.’
The bombing was a not just a murder; it was massacre of innocent people.
Cardinal Brady, what do you consider collusion to be?
How do you define it in this case?
A detective friend once said that there are three basic
questions in any criminal investigation.
What happened?
Who did it?, and
Why?
The second and third questions were never answered because
Father Chesney was secretly moved away from the scene of the crime. He was never questioned. This remains an unsolved crime.
The Church handled it like a sexual abuse case. Get the suspect away from the scene of the crime. Fast.
The families had their lives torn apart. Catholic, and Protestant. Forever. Cardinal Brady, how could the church comfort the victims whilst hiding the alleged perpetrator? Do you not see any ethical dilemma with that?
Church officials, British and Irish Republic government authorities had a duty to act, and still do! The criminal investigation was shut down. They obstructed justice.
It was a criminal conspiracy of silence.
The actions of the conspirators, on both sides of the border spit in their ‘Obligation to Respect Human Rights’ (article 1 of the Convention).
The victim’s families were denied justice, and the right to an ‘effective remedy’ as guaranteed under article 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Cardinal Brady said “If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else.” True. But, this is coming from a man who, in 1975 had children sign an affidavit of silence after they reported being sexually assaulted by one Brendan Smyth.
It was over 20 years from the ‘affidavit of silence’ till
he was brought to justice. The Catholic Church hierarchy hides its criminals from the long arm of justice,
and the hierarchy operates like a joint criminal enterprise.
The Church washed its hands of the matter like Pontius Pilate. There actions were criminal.
Cardinal Brady denies that Catholic Church leaders
colluded with British government authorities to cover-up
Father Chesney's role in the bombing of Claudy.
We know this:
On Monday, July 31st, 1972 between 10:15 and 10:30 a.m.
three car bombs exploded in Claudy, County Londonderry.
Nine people were killed, thirty wounded. The town and its people were devastated.
The RUC suspected Father Chesney was involved. Chesney was sent to the Republic ''after secret talks between the then, Secretary of state, William Whitelaw and Cardinal Conway, head of the Catholic Church in Ireland,” who
described Chesney as a 'bad man.'
Chesney is believed to have been 'involved in IRA activities until his death in 1980.’
The bombing was a not just a murder; it was massacre of innocent people.
Cardinal Brady, what do you consider collusion to be?
How do you define it in this case?
A detective friend once said that there are three basic
questions in any criminal investigation.
What happened?
Who did it?, and
Why?
The second and third questions were never answered because
Father Chesney was secretly moved away from the scene of the crime. He was never questioned. This remains an unsolved crime.
The Church handled it like a sexual abuse case. Get the suspect away from the scene of the crime. Fast.
The families had their lives torn apart. Catholic, and Protestant. Forever. Cardinal Brady, how could the church comfort the victims whilst hiding the alleged perpetrator? Do you not see any ethical dilemma with that?
Church officials, British and Irish Republic government authorities had a duty to act, and still do! The criminal investigation was shut down. They obstructed justice.
It was a criminal conspiracy of silence.
The actions of the conspirators, on both sides of the border spit in their ‘Obligation to Respect Human Rights’ (article 1 of the Convention).
The victim’s families were denied justice, and the right to an ‘effective remedy’ as guaranteed under article 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
Cardinal Brady said “If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else.” True. But, this is coming from a man who, in 1975 had children sign an affidavit of silence after they reported being sexually assaulted by one Brendan Smyth.
It was over 20 years from the ‘affidavit of silence’ till
he was brought to justice. The Catholic Church hierarchy hides its criminals from the long arm of justice,
and the hierarchy operates like a joint criminal enterprise.
The Church washed its hands of the matter like Pontius Pilate. There actions were criminal.
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