The popular and peace-oriented group U2 has recently been revisited several million times due to the following recent event. (See various ways to revisit the award winning song, lyrics and performance end of this post)Is this a moment of grace in history and/or will this apology open old wounds? How might this event best be addressed: art, poetry, news, letters from public to Northern Ireland?
Do you agree that...
Bloody Sunday soldiers 'should not be prosecuted' ?
(AFP) – posted June 15-16 2010
LONDON — Britain's press on Wednesday welcomed an official apology over the fatal shooting of civilians in Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday, but warned against prosecuting soldiers involved in the killings.
Prime Minister David Cameron apologised on Tuesday for the killing of 13 people by British troops at a civil rights march in Londonderry in 1972, after a long-awaited report on the shootings.
He called the killings "unjustified and unjustifiable," and the Guardian newspaper praised him for his "powerful, moving and fully justified words."
The inquiry concluded that none of the victims at the march were armed, soldiers gave no warnings before opening fire and that the shootings were a "catastrophe" for Northern Ireland, which led to increased violence.
But some commentators suggested prosecuting soldiers involved in the shootings would be a step too far, and would not be in the spirit of the troubled province's peace process.
Many republicans who fought against British rule were released from prison as part of agreements that have helped Northern Ireland achieve a fragile peace over the past decade.
The rightwing Sun newspaper said it was "a day of disgrace for the army."
But it added: "Nothing will be achieved, though, by dragging soldiers into court 38 years on.
"We emptied the prisons of IRA (Irish Republican Army) murderers as the price of reconciliation after the Good Friday Agreement," the 1998 peace deal that largely ended Northern Ireland's Troubles.
"How could we jail (soldiers) after freeing IRA killers?"
And the Times echoed this view: "The Good Friday agreement of 1998 came at a high moral price, which included the release of prisoners found guilty of terrible crimes.
"All parties made moral compromises with the past in the interests of a better future...
"In the same spirit, the authorities should now refrain from prosecutions."
The Bloody Sunday killings were among the most controversial in Northern Ireland's history and there had been fears the 5,000-page report could re-open old wounds.
More than 3,500 people died during The Troubles, which pitched Catholics against Protestants and were largely ended by the 1998 peace deal, but emotions still run high in Northern Ireland over its violent history.
Copyright © 2010 AFP.
Various sites for U2's song Bloody Sunday:
Play song from iLike.com
U218 Singles - 2006 - 4:38
Listen on: iLike - Rhapsody - Pandora
Sunday Bloody Sunday is the opening track from U2's 1983 album, War. The song was released as the album's third single on 11 March 1983 in Germany
Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 song meaning, lyric interpretation, video and chart position. here
U2 - Bloody Sunday
1 day ago
here
U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday – Video, listening & stats at Last.fm
Watch the video & listen to U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday for free. Sunday Bloody Sunday appears on the album The Best of 1980-1990. here
U2 - Bloody Sunday Video
On January 30, 1972, British troops opened fire on unarmed and peaceful civilians in Derry, Ireland during a civil rights march.
here
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