JACKBOOT JUMPS AT KNEEJERK REACTION
Jackboot jumps at kneejerk reaction
KNEECAPPING'S too good for them. It's a thought which, if we're being honest, has occurred to most of us at some time.
In the normal run of events, you feel nothing but disgust for the idea of summary justice administered by customised baseball bat up a back alleyway.
But then some toe-rag steals your car and leaves it dumped and damaged 20 miles away.
Or some other lowlife effects entry to the house of an elderly neighbour and makes off with jewellery which is worth a few quid in a second hand shop but in sentimental terms is priceless to the rightful owner.
And you think . . Kneecapping's too good for them.
And when you read about the brutal sex attack on a 91-year-old woman, kneecapping doesn't even feature in your preferred list of options.
But thinking and doing are very different creatures.
And what we think, and sometimes even say, in the heat of anger, is not what we would rationally want to see carried out.
It is our instant and understandable outrage, however, which the so-called 'punishment' perverts use to justify savagery.
They claim they do what they, do because people want them to do it.
In their self-serving thinking, one perceived wrong gives them the right to commit another even greater wrong in the name of "justice."
It also, conveniently, allows them to brutalise those who don't think as they do, those who don't do what they say and those who have previously given cheek or spoken out of turn to their thug bosses.
Overall it helps them keep the local community under the jackboot.
The fact that innocent people are routinely targeted and have their Byes, limbs and reputations shattered, does not trouble the conscience of thugs.
Justice just doesn't come into it.
For evil to succeed, it's necessary only for good people to do nothing.
For injustice to flourish, it helps when good people join the clamour for instant action.
But real justice is a slower, surer animal than the brute with the baseball bat.
Real justice allows for the accused to put his or her case. It weighs up the evidence. It insists the evidence be produced.
This week MP Andrew Hunter announced he would use Parliamentary privilege to "name and shame" the Omagh bombers.
Secretary of State Mo Mowlam accused him of being motivated by a desire to grab headlines, which is rich coming, from any politician.
But she does have a point.
Even if Mr Hunter could indeed supply Parliament with the names of all those involved in the bombing, what exactly would he achieve by the exercise? Apart from headlines?
For, let's be real here, "naming" is one thing but "shaming" - how exactly does he propose to do that?
We are talking about mass murderers who knowingly planted a bomb which was guaranteed to kill dozens of innocent people.
We are not talking about the type of wrongdoer who will blush to the roots if you tell the neighbours he got a parking ticket last week.
What it all comes down to then is a naming game. And if Mr Hunter does name names he could prejudice future legal action.
So why risk it?
Possibly because Mr Hunter feels the need to respond to that clamour for instant action.
But a calmer appraisal of the facts might help matters here.
For a start, we already know that security forces on both sides of the border already know the names of those they believe carried out the atrocity.
What they need is the evidence, real evidence to convict.
The RUC team spearheading the investigaton is led by a brilliant detective with an outstanding track record and a total commitment to see that justice is done.
A breakthrough might not happen overnight. But it will happen because at some point, evidence will be uncovered.
More likely it will happen because someone who was involved in a minor way or who knows someone who was involved, will come forward.
And they will come forward because, quite simply, they will no longer be able to live with the knowledge that they are shielding unspeakable evil.
They will be shamed not by an MP at Westminster, but by their own decency and humanity.
The Omagh bombing was the worst atrocity of the Troubles.
The greatest wrong we could deliver to those whose lives were ripped apart that day, would be to endanger the process that will slowly and surely bring the guilty to justice.
Naming and shaming's too good for them.
In this case justice must not only seem to be done.
It must be done.
KNEECAPPING'S too good for them. It's a thought which, if we're being honest, has occurred to most of us at some time.
In the normal run of events, you feel nothing but disgust for the idea of summary justice administered by customised baseball bat up a back alleyway.
But then some toe-rag steals your car and leaves it dumped and damaged 20 miles away.
Or some other lowlife effects entry to the house of an elderly neighbour and makes off with jewellery which is worth a few quid in a second hand shop but in sentimental terms is priceless to the rightful owner.
And you think . . Kneecapping's too good for them.
And when you read about the brutal sex attack on a 91-year-old woman, kneecapping doesn't even feature in your preferred list of options.
But thinking and doing are very different creatures.
And what we think, and sometimes even say, in the heat of anger, is not what we would rationally want to see carried out.
It is our instant and understandable outrage, however, which the so-called 'punishment' perverts use to justify savagery.
They claim they do what they, do because people want them to do it.
In their self-serving thinking, one perceived wrong gives them the right to commit another even greater wrong in the name of "justice."
It also, conveniently, allows them to brutalise those who don't think as they do, those who don't do what they say and those who have previously given cheek or spoken out of turn to their thug bosses.
Overall it helps them keep the local community under the jackboot.
The fact that innocent people are routinely targeted and have their Byes, limbs and reputations shattered, does not trouble the conscience of thugs.
Justice just doesn't come into it.
For evil to succeed, it's necessary only for good people to do nothing.
For injustice to flourish, it helps when good people join the clamour for instant action.
But real justice is a slower, surer animal than the brute with the baseball bat.
Real justice allows for the accused to put his or her case. It weighs up the evidence. It insists the evidence be produced.
This week MP Andrew Hunter announced he would use Parliamentary privilege to "name and shame" the Omagh bombers.
Secretary of State Mo Mowlam accused him of being motivated by a desire to grab headlines, which is rich coming, from any politician.
But she does have a point.
Even if Mr Hunter could indeed supply Parliament with the names of all those involved in the bombing, what exactly would he achieve by the exercise? Apart from headlines?
For, let's be real here, "naming" is one thing but "shaming" - how exactly does he propose to do that?
We are talking about mass murderers who knowingly planted a bomb which was guaranteed to kill dozens of innocent people.
We are not talking about the type of wrongdoer who will blush to the roots if you tell the neighbours he got a parking ticket last week.
What it all comes down to then is a naming game. And if Mr Hunter does name names he could prejudice future legal action.
So why risk it?
Possibly because Mr Hunter feels the need to respond to that clamour for instant action.
But a calmer appraisal of the facts might help matters here.
For a start, we already know that security forces on both sides of the border already know the names of those they believe carried out the atrocity.
What they need is the evidence, real evidence to convict.
The RUC team spearheading the investigaton is led by a brilliant detective with an outstanding track record and a total commitment to see that justice is done.
A breakthrough might not happen overnight. But it will happen because at some point, evidence will be uncovered.
More likely it will happen because someone who was involved in a minor way or who knows someone who was involved, will come forward.
And they will come forward because, quite simply, they will no longer be able to live with the knowledge that they are shielding unspeakable evil.
They will be shamed not by an MP at Westminster, but by their own decency and humanity.
The Omagh bombing was the worst atrocity of the Troubles.
The greatest wrong we could deliver to those whose lives were ripped apart that day, would be to endanger the process that will slowly and surely bring the guilty to justice.
Naming and shaming's too good for them.
In this case justice must not only seem to be done.
It must be done.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0556
Published Date: 22-Jan-99
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