IRA-A modest Proposal for Decommissioning
	for nytire@ursula; Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:22:04 -0500


Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

source - "Dale Wharton" <1@dale.CAM.ORG>
Feb 8 2000


 Topic:  Weapons Decommissioning in Northern Ireland

         Professor of Community Psychology
         University of Tromso, Norway
         frudmin@psyk.uit.no


 The Good Friday Accords are now stalled over the
 issue of decommissioning weapons.  The primary
 failing seems to be that the IRA is not ready or
 able to begin submitting weapons for destruction,
 or even to set a schedule for doing this.

 There are many plausible explanations:
   1) IRA lacks central control of dispersed units.
   2) Republicans do not trust Unionists,
   3) Unionists still aggressively march.
   4) The 1923 decommissioning did not bring peace.
   5) IRA careerists lack self-definition outside
        of armed struggle.

 Suggestion:
   1) Weapons to be purchased at full market value
        from Unionists & IRA.
   2) Money is paid into Swiss accounts under
        control of Unionist and IRA officers.
   3) Weapons bank accounts are matched at some
        fixed ratio (1:2, or 1:4, or 1:20, etc.)
        paid into economic development accounts for
        low interest home mortgages and small
        business loans.  Development funds, though
        managed by the Swiss bankers, are to be
        under policy control of Unionist and IRA
        officers.
   4) Cost of weapons purchase and of matching funds
        to be paid by UK and/or EU and/or USA.

 Advantages of this proposal:
   1) Unionists and IRA can decommission yet still
        have the resources to rearm if need be.
   2) Decisions to rearm by either side will be
        overt and known since the weapons account
        will show withdrawals.
   3) Decisions to withdraw from a weapons account
        causes the economic development account to
        decrease correspondingly, which entails a
        calling in of home mortgages and business
        loans.
   4) Items 2 & 3 above should decrease the
        likelihood of rearmament.
   5) Decommissioning is profitable to those holding
        the weapons.
   6) Career Unionist and IRA partisans will have
        self-directed development funds with which
        to begin new directions in their lives.


 Floyd W. Rudmin, Ph.D.

 Institute of Psychology
 University of Troms=F8
 Troms=F8, Norway, N-9037

 Tel: +47 77 64 59 53
 Email: FRudmin@Psyk.UiT.No
 FAX: +47 77 64 52 91
 
=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems 
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us          
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012             
  http://www.blythe.org                  e-mail: nyt@blythe.org 
=================================================================
 
nytire-02.11.00-23:21:55-13898