IRA and Farc the Irish

IRA and FARC

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) has splintered off into several smaller groups in Ireland, including the Real IRA, which is carrying the torch for violence against the presence of the British in Northern Ireland. Although there has been a peace pact in Ireland and the old IRA has been disbanded, there are still tensions and the RIRA carries out violent actions to keep tensions high. In Colombia, FARC is a far more potent terrorist organization than the RIRA and makes demands that the Colombian government has no choice but to take seriously. These two groups are not as well-known to Americans as al Queda or the Taliban, but they are persistent, violent, and ruthless and should be known and understood by all individuals who have a desire for peace and understanding in the world.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) and F.A.R.C.

When the average American citizen is asked to name two or three known terrorist organizations, he or she will most likely name al Qaeda. But what other terrorist organizations are household names to Americans? Probably Hezbollah or the Taliban come to mind -- and perhaps Americans are still familiar with the Irish Republican Army. But it is a pretty safe guess that many Americans aren't familiar with the F.A.R.C. terrorists in Columbia and yet F.A.R.C. is a violent and powerful force in South America. This paper will focus on the history and present day situations for the I.R.A. (now referred to as RIRA) and F.A.R.C. And make comparisons between the two organizations as well.

The History of the I.R.A.

Council on Foreign Relations journalist Kathryn Gregory explains that what people refer to today as the "I.R.A." is actually an "outgrowth" of a much older group that "successfully challenged British rule in the whole of Ireland" back in the early 20th Century. Between the years 1916 and 1921 the original I.R.A. violently attacked British troops that were occupying Ireland and in fact that aggression forced England to give up part of Ireland to the nationalist I.R.A. However, in return for giving Ireland its independence, the IRA's leaders "agreed to allow Ireland's six northern counties to remain under British rule" (Gregory, 2008). England then "reconstituted" the provinces that the I.R.A. conceded as "Ulster" (better known as Northern Ireland).

After that deal was done, however, there were factions within the I.R.A. that were very unhappy with the compromise and remained hostile to England. And while the angry faction of the old I.R.A. kept up the pressure on England, by the 1960s, Gregory writes, its actions had "dwindled significantly."

And then in the late 1960s there were many reports of discrimination against Roman Catholics in the British-governed sections of Northern Ireland. When civil rights marchers "engaged in civil disobedience" against the British police forces (dominated by Protestants) tensions went sky high and violence erupted. The English government sent troops into the streets of Northern Ireland; that aggression alienated many Catholics and helped radicalize the I.R.A. In fact, those in the I.R.A. who turned to violence (becoming snipers, assassins, bombers) split off into the "Provisional IRA" (PIRA). The old (original) I.R.A. advocated peaceful tactics and faded into obscurity.

Then in January 1972, at a Catholic rally, British forces opened fire and killed 14 people who had not been armed. This event ("Bloody Friday") caused the PIRA membership to soar and over the next nearly 20 years violence flared. Joining the PIRA actions against the British government were some militant Catholics in the north (a minority compared with Protestants). In general Catholics were discriminated against in matters of housing, jobs, and "treatment before the law" (Gregory).

In the years of bloodshed that followed the "Bloody Friday" killings, some 3,600 people would die due to being caught in the crossfire between the I.R.A. And the British troops. In the late 1990s a peace accord was signed between the PIRA and the British government. Today, the political wing of the I.R.A. (Sinn Fein) actually holds several elected positions in the provincial Northern Irish government and most British groups have gone back to England.

In 2000 the U.S. State Department removed the I.R.A. from its official list of terrorist organizations, but there are two splinter groups that formed out of the I.R.A. ("Real IRA" and "Continuity IRA") -- and they are indeed still on the State Department's terrorist group list. In fact the Real IRA is listed just above the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (F.A.R.C.).

The Real IRA (RIRA)

According to Global Security (www.globalsecurity.org) the RIRA is made up of former members of the Provisional IRA who did not take part in the weapons decommissioning in September 2005 that other factions of the PIRA were involved with. The RIRA continues its armed resistance to "British partition." The Global Security report claims that the RIRA has carried out "…more than 80 terrorist attacks" since 1999. The founder of RIRA, Michael McKevitt was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2003, but the group continues to exist has been accused of firebombings in the recent past. The RIRA also claimed responsibility for killing two British soldiers at an army base in March, 2009. There are estimated to be "several hundred" active members of the RIRA, and they raise "much of their money by smuggling diesel and cigarettes across the border," Global Security reports. And unlike the anti-drug position of the Provisional IRA, the RIRA "are known to engage in drug smuggling/dealing activities" (www.globalsecurity.org).

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC)

This group is very different from the RIRA for reasons that will be reviewed a bit later in this paper. But first a review of the history of FARC will be presented. FARC was established in 1964 as the "military wing" of the Communist Party in Colombia according to the National Counterterrorism Center (www.nctc.gov) (NCTC). FARC is the "oldest, largest, most capable, and best-equipped insurgency of Marxist origin" in Latin America, NCTC explains, and the tactics FARC uses include "bombings, murder, mortar attacks, kidnapping, extortion and hijacking." Those tactics are used against the military, political and economic targets in Colombia -- and any American seen in Colombia is also fair game for FARC attacks because of the "U.S. support for the Colombian Government" (NCTC).

What does FARC want? What are their goals and objectives? The CDI Web site asserts that FARC has a goal of replacing the democratic-elected government of Colombia with a "Marxist regime" and that it has 9,000 to 12,000 "armed combatants and an unknown number of supporters, mostly in rural areas" (www.cdi.org) (CDI). The Global Security site explains that during the forty-six-year-old battle between FARC and the Colombian government many attempts at negotiations have been made. The latest attempts at a negotiated peace between FARC and the government includes the fact that President Pastrana gave FARC a "safe zone" as a condition that peace talks would go forward. Indeed President Pastrana even gave FARC "political status" on the condition that FARC would stop recruiting children to be in their army (CDI).

In 2002 the FARC brazenly fired a massive mortar attack against the Presidential Palace while the inauguration of President Alvaro Uribe was underway. A delegation from the United States was present and although no government officials were injured, 21 residents of a poor neighborhood near the palace were killed when mortar rounds went astray (CDI).

How does FARC raise funds? The Global Security site says FARC extorts money from cocaine growers and traffickers (through "taxation" that resembles mafia-style tactics in the U.S.); also, some money is raised by FARC because members provide security for drug labs in the jungle. Other sources of revenue and materials comes to FARC from Cuba, according to Global security. FARC also has been known to kidnap important people, politicians, or foreigners who have come to Colombia, and get millions of dollars when a ransom situation is arranged. Some of FARC's activities have spilled over into neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador which has caused greater tensions between Colombia and those countries when Colombia conducts raids into Venezuela and Ecuador to arrest the FARC insurgents.