Should Blair have negotiated with Bigley's killers?

[Brighton Breezy]

I have the upmost sympathy with the family of Ken Bigley. It must be an awful awful time for them.

I also have sympathy for Tony Blair. When it came down to it the media pretty much put the responsibility for Bigley's release at the door of Number 10.

My own personal oppinion is that Blair could not be seen to negotiate. If he did this then every single British citizen in Iraq would have been under even more of a threat then they already are. They would all have been a nice target for anyone wanting people freed or demands met. They would all have thought, "I know, lets kidnap a Brit and threaten to kill them.

As I said, it must have been terrible for Bigley and his family. I cannot imagine what they must be going through and hope to God I never experience it.

Whatever your views on the Iraq War, the British Government cannot be seen to negotiate with terrorists.

Lets not forget the real villain in this is the people who beheaded him, not Blair.

 

[itszamora]

No. There was nothing to negotiate over as we had no women prisoners in Iraq anyway. Those kidnappers got the publicity they wanted and then had their fun by killing him - quite possibly to make people want negotiations next time around

 

[Beach Hut]

Whatever your views on the Iraq War, the British Government cannot be seen to negotiate with terrorists.

So what is the difference between an Irish and an Iraqi terrorist ?

A terrorist is a terrorist no matter what.

There is only one answer as Blair has already negotiated with terrorists in Ireland.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Blair does not negotiate with the Real IRA or the UVF and negotiating with terrorists over how to end things through peace talks is one thing. It is not the same as negotiating with them when they are holding you to ransom over the life of an innocent engineer.

If Bigley's killer want to enter peace talks Im sure Blair would listen.

 

[Beach Hut]

All the Irish Terrorists are aligned to political parties so by talking to the relevant party it's the same thing.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

The Real IRA is an extremist splinter group who left the IRA because the IRA sat down to talk peace with the unionists.

The Real IRA and the IRA are not alligned and actually do not have much time for each other at all.

 

[Beach Hut]

The IRA were responsible for many atrocities and have a political wing which have been part of the peace process.

There's no smoke without fire.

 

[Terrace Dandy]

Whatever your views on the Iraq War, the British Government cannot be seen to negotiate with terrorists

But Mr Blair couldn't do enough to sit down at the table with the IRA and work out a peace deal that will never happen. How many innocent people have lost their lives due to the I.R.A.?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Yes the IRA have a history of terrorism.

Now they have agreed to sit down and talk peace.

The people who held Bigley killed an innocent man in an attempt to get their demands met. They are not talking peace.

Once they do, Blair should listen. Not before. If we give in to their demands because of these acts, they will never move toward peaceful conclusions.

 

[Beach Hut]

So we just erase from our memories all the IRA atrocities and forget they ever happened ?

Not me I am afraid once you act in a certain lawless way you cannot then expect all to be forgotten.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

So you say negotiate with the killers of Bigley but never again with the IRA?

 

[Terrace Dandy]

Yes the IRA have a history of terrorism.

Now they have agreed to sit down and talk peace.

The people who held Bigley killed an innocent man in an attempt to get their demands met. They are not talking peace

So the I.R.A never killed innocent people then, Try telling that to the family's who lost babies, daughters, sons, etc., think they'll have a few words to say about that.

It's not the I.R.A who has agreed to sit down and talk peace, It's tony Blair, he waved the white flag.

 

[CHAPPERS]

No he should not have done. The Irish situation is different, just as f***ed up but different.

 

[Beach Hut]

No he should not have done. The Irish situation is different, just as f***ed up but different.

Only different because there was no way out for terrorists and it had to stop so conveniently it happened - it had reached a stand-off.

Pointless killing people, pointless the cost of preventing terrorism.

The IRA basically got a get out clause.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

The Ireland situation, where the Government is trying to set out a long term peace through talks and compromise is far different to giving a terrorist whatever they want because they are threatening to kill someone.

 

[Lush]

Leaving Ireland aside, if you negotiate with terrorists, you encourage hostage taking.

God knows what Italy were playing at.

 

[London Irish]

Only different because there was no way out for terrorists and it had to stop so conveniently it happened - it had reached a stand-off.

Pointless killing people, pointless the cost of preventing terrorism.

The IRA basically got a get out clause.

So that was a good thing, yes?

Or would you still prefer the war between the IRA and the British Army to be raging and the killing still to be a daily occurance? The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland voted for the peace agreements despite Paisley and the far right wing of Unionism.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Exactly London Irish.

Its a good thing that Blair is sitting down to map out peace in Ireland and not letting the religious bigotry of people like Paisley to stop the normal people of Ireland from living the life they deserve, free of fear and sectarianism.

 

[Beach Hut]

So that was a good thing, yes?

Or would you still prefer the war between the IRA and the British Army to be raging and the killing still to be a daily occurance? The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland voted for the peace agreements despite Paisley and the far right wing of Unionism.

I would never actively say that this was a "good thing".

The point is it had reached a stalemate and I suppose the problem then is who backs down first.

The IRA were running out of sympathy and the finances to keep going so needed a way out.

I am all for the peace process but basically the Government is negotiating with terrorist albeit ones that are inactive.

 

[London Irish]

Leaving Ireland aside, if you negotiate with terrorists, you encourage hostage taking.

God knows what Italy were playing at.

Would you really have the courage to say that to the faces of the parents of the two Italian girls who were freed? Or come to that, to the Bigleys who saw their father killed?

It may have been impossible to save Bigley, we'll never know because Blair didn't try, the Irish government in issuing him a passport did more than his own government. But there is a very simple way to stop British people being killed in Iraq - do as the Spanish did, and withdraw from an illegal invasion and hand Bush's mess over to a legitimate body like the UN. The UN might have some chance of isolating Bigley's killers from the broad anti-occupation insurgency that most Iraqis support.