Joe Nation wrote:
The IRA should have dis-armed unilaterally forty years, maybe eighty years ago, leaving the British government without a moral leg to stand on. The PLO should have dis-armed unilaterally leaving the Israeli government without a moral leg to stand on. And all the rest, yes, all of them, Shining Path and Army of God, United Klans of America and Red Brigades, everyone who thinks peace can be achieved through force. Don't ask me, ask Ghandi.
Joe(full of something)Nation
Nice sentiments, and well-expressed. However not always realistic.
Force does ususlly engender lasting resistence. However there are some situations that require it for change to occur. (You should review the history of a century of attempts by the Irish in the 19th century to achieve independence through cooperative political means. It got them nothing at all, except perhaps indifference to their fate during the famines - while the country exported grain and cattle to England for cash, to the absentee landlords.)
Finally you should consider the historical judgement on Ghandi. He was very successful in dealing with the British, but their Raj days were already numbered. In his principal goal of achieving unity in India and peace between Moslems and Hindis he, and his methods, failed quite badly.
Nice sentiments, but the facts are not particularly supportive of them.
