whole story since then. If not the carrot, then the stick.
The whole sorry history of Britain in Ireland has been one of repeated sweet talking and compromise against a backdrop of brutal and vicious repression. Thus Rees ends internment in order to show that *terrorists' are not really political people at all but criminals who can be dealt with through the courts.
Then, without so much as a pause for breath, and swallowing all his words about the effectiveness of law and order, he sends in the super-killers of the Special Air Services. They have been active in Ireland since 1971, of course, but now they are waved off ceremonially with bouquets from the tame press of Fleet Street as peacekeepMeanwhile, in the absence of any Government solution to the so-called Irish problem which would be acceptable to the Irish people as a whole, the debate about what to do goes on. The Sunday Times has now entered the fray by publishing a four page article by the Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde. In discussing what he saw as the options open to Britain - whether that be direct rule, independence, reunification or destruction - this learned gentleman succeeded in posing more questions than answers.
In many ways the weird and wonderu schemes or tne subscouent contributors to the Sunday Times reflect the dilemma of the Government itself. There is no doubt that British imperialism is in as great a crisis now in relation to Ireland as at any time since 1968. But the recent speculation by both Republicans and Loyalists that a withdrawal of British troops is on the cards is dangerously premature.
The fact that Rees is seriously considering holding a referendum on the issue of power-sharing in the Six Counties shows how deep is the crisis. Now that the Craig olive branch on tactical power-sharing has collapsed, any such referendum would most probably be greeted with cont. are concerned. These elements are now seriously discussion the possibilities of an independent Ulster. In fact, as we reported last week, even industrialist Sir Fred Catherwood presided over a television discussion which concluded that financial considerations would not be a barrier to independence.
So the concessions come thick and fast. Rees does not talk about 'power-sharing now, but participation'. Gone is the insistence on minority seats at Cabinet level -instead the talk is about Convention parties reaching temporary agreement on coalition.
'Exceptional' The one problem in all this remains the resistance of the Catholic population, which despite some of the setbacks of recent months still prevents the swallowing of pills as bitter as 'voluntary' coalition. And if this wasn't enough to secure the failure of the Convention, then the attitude of the United Ulster Unionist Council certainly will. They have made it clear that they will use their majority to block any question of a deal with Republicans (which is how Paisley describes the SDLP).
This is the situation which now faces Rees and the Labour leaders. Wilson has discovered that South Armagh is an exceptional area requiring exceptional measures. These remarks and the presence of the SAS assassins are a warning to the anti-Unionist population of the Six COUTUCS.
The British Government will attempt to serve up more of the same in other 'exceptional areas. Ultimately, as the crisis of British imperialism unfolds, the experience gained by forces such as the SAS will be used against British workers in what will then be called exceptional areas of Britain. That is, unless they are stopped now in Ireland. such feud between the Ulster Volur Ulster Defence Association in Porta
----- pull-quotes -----
"Ireland must be kept, by persuasion if possible, if not by force', said Randolph Churchill in 1886. And that really sums up the