The Wisdom And The Cost of Peace

NPH spent some time in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1998/99, and so perks up when news items from that country come across the wires. Today comes one about a man appearing in court today after his arrest on on November 24th for storming Northern Ireland's government building (Storemont) with a backpack full of homemade bombs. It's not just any guy, though. It's Michael Stone, the man behind one of the most nototious acts of violence of the "troubles" in 1988(see video.) He was released from jail in 2000 under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, which made provision for the early release of [political] prisoners. Those provisions were some of the trickiest in the agreement, as citizens were forced to watch the people who murdered their friends and families go free as "political" prisoners.
Well now here's one doing exactly what opponents of the peace agreement said released prisoners would do--return to violence. The truth is that the majority of released prisoners have not done that. But this will give critics ammunition (no pun intended) for a long while.