Thursday 6 November 2014

The Men Behind The Wire

 
The Men Behind The Wire - The Wolfe Tones, 1973

WHEN JOHN KEY reassured us that any New Zealand soldiers sent to train Iraqis would be safe "behind the wire" of Iraq's army bases, it dislodged a little stone from the wall of my memory. "The men behind the wire?" Why did that phrase have such a familiar ring? And then I remembered the back bar of the Cook, in Dunedin, and men with thick Belfast accents, and learning the words to a new song born of "The Troubles".

Watch this video and struggle, as I did, with images of young men wearing balaclavas, carrying sub-machine guns and firing rockets - not from the dusty streets of Gaza or Mosul but from the terrace houses and narrow alleyways of Londonderry and Belfast. Understand that those children hurling stones at the retreating squaddies aren't stateless Palestinians from the West Bank but British subjects from the Falls Road. Absorb the fact that those gun-toting terrorists belong not to IS, but to the Provisional IRA. There are no Muslims in this footage - just good Catholic lads and lasses!

The song itself, written by Paddy McGuigan of the Barleycorn folk group, protests the British Government's decision in 1971 to "intern" (i.e. imprison) IRA suspects without charge and without trial in special camps (hence "the wire"). Recorded by Release Records in Dublin The Men Behind The Wire topped the Irish charts for three weeks in January-February 1972.

Our soldiers will not be "behind the wire" in quite the same way as the martyred Irish nationalist, Bobby Sands, and yet the phrase is curiously fitting. For the struggle in Northern Ireland, like the struggle we are about to join in Iraq/Syria, was also born out of religious schism and imperial arrogance. And so, as we watch the video, let us all recall that repression breeds resistance; that guns and bombs solve nothing; and that it is only when people finally agree to sit down and talk to one another that peace and justice become possible.

Video courtesy of YouTube
 
 
This posting is exclusive to the Bowalley Road blogsite.

15 comments:

Jamie said...

What the hell is John up to sending the SAS to the Middle-East when they got work to do back home...

{Furious}



I am not feeling very safe in my community anymore, a feeling shared by many who I talk to...

I am armed 24/7 and refuse to be captured and put on video on the internet. I will go down fighting...

I will not draw first blood...

I demand our leaders get on top of this situation,
90 plus ISIS fighters...

FFS!!!!!!!!

F-ing Assholes!!!

How long am I suppose to live with the possible threat of decapitation???

Huh???

One Pissed-Off Young Returned Serviceman

Anonymous said...

Guns and bombs do historically solve things.

Davo Stevens said...

@ Anon 9.14

"Guns and bombs do historically solve things."

And create more problems!

Jamie said...

We got ISIS in NZ Davo...

This is a serious problem...

What's your solution hot-shot???

Sing kum-baya to em???
Convert to Islam???

Huh???

Enlighten me please brotha...

Guerilla Surgeon said...

We have all sorts of people in New Zealand Jamie. We may well have Isis, because young people are stupid. We also have Nazis, Ku Klux Klanners, Trotskyite's and various brands of Christian nutters. And we don't do anything about them until they break the law. I'm sure somebody keeps an eye on them, you can't shoot people simply because of their beliefs. Not if you want to live in a democratic society.

Jamie said...

Kum-baya my dear,
Kum-baya...

I stand by my words and await a serious answer addressing my concerns...

Guerilla Surgeon said...

You can stand by your words all you want. You're entitled to your opinion. But it doesn't altar the facts. We don't know how many Isis members there are in New Zealand, but I suspect not very many. Probably fewer than there are fascists. What's your solution to them, considering they've been active in New Zealand a lot longer than Isis, and have done a fair bit more damage.
And if you start putting people in prison for their opinions, believe me – you'll be one of the first to go :-).

Jamie said...

Still waiting...

The soldiers and their families deserve better than this...

Guerilla Surgeon said...

Jamie, either answer the fucking question – i.e. what you want to do with all the fascists? Or be labelled a troll and ignored. Actually if you told me you were a troll first up I would have ignored you from the beginning.

Guerilla Surgeon said...

And if you read my other post you would realise I gave you an answer to your question. "We don't do anything 'about' them until they break the law." It's the rule of law that separates is from the dictators.

jamie said...

Quit bustin my balls bud,
I did answer but Trotter didn't like the answer I gave...

He thought it wasn't very nice...

So go ask him what I said...

Guerilla Surgeon said...

Wow – if "Trotter" didn't let you say it, it must've been pretty bad. I suggest you meander on over to the whale oil blog. They're quite happy with mad / racist statements over there. It's only when you supply logic that they block you :-).

Jamie said...

See...

There you go makin your assumptions and makin an ASS outta Both U and ME...

I do hope you are enjoying prancing round on your moral high horse Doc...

You're boring...

Guerilla Surgeon said...

Troll. Goodbye, no food from me ever again.

Jamie said...

I'll hold you to that...