WHEN THE THIEVES FALL OUT
When the thieves fall out
Were we living in a normal society, with credible and accountable policing and security networks, the whole of the North would be up in arms at the scandal of the Castlereagh 'robbery'.
However, we are so used to dirty tricks, underhandedness, political intervention and paramilitaristic behaviour on the part of the state security agencies, that this latest scandal is likely to run off us like water off a duck's back.
We should not accept such things as normal. For, despite the lack of the accountability or credibility of the security forces in the past, those institutions are paid through the taxes of people here and in the UK.
More important, they are passed off as fully functioning components of democracy and the government has endowed the police and army here with extraordinary powers to intervene in the lives of all of the citizens of the North.
Had observers listened closely enough this week when the Chief Constable was announcing an investigation into the affair, they might have detected a simultaneous laugh throughout Northern Ireland at what seems to many a huge charade. John Reid described the incident as a 'breach of national security', which probably means that a veil of secrecy will be drawn over it in the coming days. That is the norm here; the truth will never 'out'.
So, are we to interpret this as a falling out among thieves, or has the government ordered in yet another clandestine organisation to clean up the mess made by Special Branch? Or, is it case of the government-having taken so much flak about the Special Branch role the Omagh bomb investigation - resorting to extreme means of acquiring documents to see for itself? Who knows?
What there is almost total agreement on is that this was an inside job. Who, after all, can walk into a high security complex without being challenged? After the fact, the authorities did not release a statement for a full 14 hours.
The security services can function as they would in a corrupt ultra-right wing Third World country. Robert Mugabe is an amateur compared with security forces.
Were we living in a normal society, with credible and accountable policing and security networks, the whole of the North would be up in arms at the scandal of the Castlereagh 'robbery'.
However, we are so used to dirty tricks, underhandedness, political intervention and paramilitaristic behaviour on the part of the state security agencies, that this latest scandal is likely to run off us like water off a duck's back.
We should not accept such things as normal. For, despite the lack of the accountability or credibility of the security forces in the past, those institutions are paid through the taxes of people here and in the UK.
More important, they are passed off as fully functioning components of democracy and the government has endowed the police and army here with extraordinary powers to intervene in the lives of all of the citizens of the North.
Had observers listened closely enough this week when the Chief Constable was announcing an investigation into the affair, they might have detected a simultaneous laugh throughout Northern Ireland at what seems to many a huge charade. John Reid described the incident as a 'breach of national security', which probably means that a veil of secrecy will be drawn over it in the coming days. That is the norm here; the truth will never 'out'.
So, are we to interpret this as a falling out among thieves, or has the government ordered in yet another clandestine organisation to clean up the mess made by Special Branch? Or, is it case of the government-having taken so much flak about the Special Branch role the Omagh bomb investigation - resorting to extreme means of acquiring documents to see for itself? Who knows?
What there is almost total agreement on is that this was an inside job. Who, after all, can walk into a high security complex without being challenged? After the fact, the authorities did not release a statement for a full 14 hours.
The security services can function as they would in a corrupt ultra-right wing Third World country. Robert Mugabe is an amateur compared with security forces.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0988
Published Date: 21-Mar-02
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.