British Army admits it could not beat IRA

In a new revealing document the British Army admits it could not and did not defeat the Irish Republican movement, namely the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). The British Ministry of Defence document concedes for the first time ever that it did not win the battle against the IRA.
The admission is contained in a 100 page document that analyses the British army's role in the north of Ireland over some 37 years.
The admission is in internal documents that have been obtained by the Pat Finucane Centre from the British Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act.
In the same release the British Army admits mistakes over Bloody Sunday, but remarkably only in how it deployed its vehicles during the arrest operation. It also focuses on specific operations as well as providing an overview of its performance.
The revealing document was obtained by the Pat Finucane Centre, points to a number of mistakes, including internment and highlights what lessons have been learnt.
The British Army document describes the PIRA as "a professional, dedicated, highly skilled and resilient force", while British loyalist paramilitaries and other republican groups are described as "little more than a collection of gangsters".
In a statement, the Pat Finucane Centre said the document "betrays a profoundly colonial mindset towards the conflict here and those involved in it. Loyalist violence and the links between loyalist paramilitaries and the state has been airbrushed out of this military history,"
The Pat Finucane Centre is a group dedicated to human rights and social change. Founded in the memory of Pat Finucane the Irish solicitor assassinated by British loyalist terrorists, who were acting in collusion with members of the British secret services (according to post conflict enquires, including two set up by the British Government themselves, the Stevens and Stalker investigations.).

The centre released a statement today
06 July 2007
"While carrying out research the PFC recently discovered a document outlining the British military view of its own role, function, successes and failures from 1969 to 2006. The document, Operation Banner - An Analysis of Military Operations in the north of Ireland, offers an unprecedented and deeply worrying insight into the thinking of senior military officers and civil servants at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. Above all the document betrays a profoundly colonial mindset towards the conflict here and those involved in it. From the perspective of Whitehall the rolling hills of Tyrone and Armagh might as well have been the Hindu Kush a century ago.

Significant dates are wrong while significant historical events have been omitted or misinterpreted. Loyalist violence and the links between loyalist paramilitaries and the state has been airbrushed out of this military history, prepared 'under the Direction of the Chief of the General Staff'. In 2006, when the document was written, the CGS was General Mike Jackson who drew up the notorious 'shot list' in the hours after Bloody Sunday.

The British Government has long sought to portray its role here as that of the neutral broker, the referee between two warring factions. This document, which was not intended to be made public, makes no such pretence. According to the MoD there was only one war and one enemy - the IRA. Loyalist paramilitaries on the other hand were 'respectable'.

This deeply flawed document is powerful evidence of why we need to deal with the past honestly and openly. We have written to Defence Secretary Des Browne demanding that the MoD withdraw this document and that he write to specific families in Derry and South Armagh to apologise for comments contained in the text. It is clear that the document was not intended to be put in the public domain. We are making it temporarily available on our website in case the MoD attempts to restrict access. pdf document 7.2mb

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British Army admits it could not beat IRA