Posted February 16, 2002

Counties

Christopher Montgomery [in his reply to Doug Barrett's letter of February 9] has overlooked the original cause of the trouble in the North of Ireland. Whether he did it accidentally or purposefully, I am not about to judge. The original division was not called Northern Ireland, but Ulster. However, David Lloyd George, realizing that in any plebiscite in that area would turn the whole of the Island over to what was then called Eire, took six and a half counties of Ulster for what now exists, and he allocated two and one half counties to the Irish Free State. While I cannot say how much this division is the cause of the problem now, it certainly was for a great many years after it happened.

~ J. Philip Schediwy (certainly not Irish), California

Christopher Montgomery replies:

More conventional takes on history would tell you that the Unionists held out for the whole of the province of Ulster (9 counties), with a view to preventing all of Ireland (4 provinces) from seceding from the Union. Lloyd George didn't want to offer them anything, but was obliged, not least because his parliamentary majority after 1918 was comprised of the Unionist party, to offer them six of Ulster's nine counties. However, regardless of whatever distinctive books Mr Schediwy has been reading in California, the idea that partition caused the problem is to reverse causality. Partition was caused by the decision of today's Republic of Ireland to leave the United Kingdom. Ulster's Unionists decided to secede from that secession. Quite, on what principle, nationalists can object to that, I don't know. If self-determination is a congenial doctrine as applied by Irish nationalists to the United Kingdom they were once part of, it's equally so for Ulster Unionists who have no wish to be part of their Irish republic.

Bizarro Prize

Where can I get a copy of that comic?

I see Milosevic is being paraded as a monster at the war crimes trial. Interestingly Bush was rumoured to be tipped for the Nobel peace prize. I almost feel sorry for Milosevic -- perhaps his English is not so good. All he needed were the right words to describe his war against terrorism and the prize could have been his. Words like: "some collateral damage is inevitable," "poor intelligence," "a mistake." It seems that in Bizarro World, only the enemy is responsible for their actions.

Jim G., United Kingdom

Learn from the Movies

In the search for perfect security in the air, sometimes we can learn from the movies. Hey, it's a bizarro world now.

And the movie I have in mind is Con Air starring Nicholas Cage. For those of you who remember this flick, prisoners were being transported from California to Georgia. Forget all of the action parts, in real life these guys were going nowhere: They were shackled and handcuffed, or even encaged. There was no latrine service. No good-looking air hostesses or whatever the PC designation is these days. No meals. No coffee. No water. Hey, they weren't allowed to take a whiz so why give them any liquids? There were a few inept guards. But I am sure that can be improved upon. The airlines could make a bundle with this business plan. Benches instead seats. They could increase seating by 50%. No expense for meals or drinks. No servants or waiters required. One latrine only for the crew. Please feel free to pass this on American Airlines, United, and the rest. No thanks needed, I am just doing my patriotic duty.

~ Greg W., Costa Rica

Confederate Decals

[Regarding Scott McConnell's column of February 12, "Have the Yanks Gone Mad?"]

Good column.

Besides our European allies, many Americans see current US policies as dangerous and "simplistic." Even those of us who have Confederate flag decals on our pick-ups. Those flags, in some instances at least, refer to what we consider as having been an unjust and illegal war against our own.

~ Dave V.

Guns or Butter

[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of February 11, "National Review's Military Socialism":]

That defense spending should divert investible resources from alternative uses (including research and development) follows from the principle of scarcity. In other words, you have a given "fund" of productive resources (think of land, labor and capital). These factors can either produce guns or butter, but not both. If you want more guns, the people are going to have to live with less butter. And, yes, when highly skilled workers are among the factors being diverted toward military production, you're probably going to have to forego some commercially useful innovations, too.

~ Steven P., Massachusetts

The Best

...This is the best. . . website on the Internet. Thank you very much for your hard work.

I tell everyone about Antiwar.com.

~ Branko R., Oregon