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which, if any, of the following organizations do you have sympathy for?

Do you have sympathy for any of the following organizations?

  • The ETA, the Basque Homeland and Freedom, northern Spain sepratists

    Votes: 1 33.3%

  • The IRA, Irish Republican Army, Northern Ireland sepratists

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • The KLA, Kosovar Liberation Army, Kosovar sepratists

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • The FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia

    Votes: 3 100.0%

  • The PLA, the Palestinian Liberation Army (now the Palestinian Liberation Organization)

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • Total voters
    3
All of those groups were born out of ethnicities being violently oppressed by other groups.

I sympathize with them all, if not their tactics.
 
I would have had sympathy for the ETA back when they were fighting the Franco regime...but now?

Spain is a pleasant and inoffensive socialist country. The Basques need to accept the reality of their preferment position within the Spanish nation-state.

They practice a degree of autonomy that allows them to maintain their culture and language, which have always been their stated goals.

What can they possibly gain now from continued their armed struggle?
 
where is the none of the above choice?
 
I'm sympathetic toward any body of people in search of freedom, but I can't condone terrorism. In any situation, I try to put myself in the shoes of those on each side. Personally, if my country were being occupied by a foreign army, I'd target that army and that foreign country's ability to make war. I wouldn't target its civilians.
 
I can't speak for the rest of them, but the Irish in Northern Ireland have total freedom.
 
I'd support FARC because they're battling against that douchebag Chavez. That mofo needs to eat a bullet.

But noooooooooooo. Damn EO 12333.
 
where is support ideals, but not actions

there is a difference

one can support the goals of Al Qaida but not its methods
not me, but someone
 
What do you mean by "sympathy"?

Hell, I've got sympathy for all of them. Also have sympathy for the governments-- "legitimate" and otherwise-- that they are or were at war with. They're all just people fighting for their lands and cultures; there's nothing wrong with that, even though most people seem to think they need to pick sides based on "right" and "wrong".
 
None of them. I have no sympathy whatsoever for any armed organization that targets civilians and each and every one of them has been responsible for the unnecessary death of innocent people. I can understand them going after members of the government they're fighting against, the state police or the armed forces, but I do not condone the murder of innocent civilians.
 
new coup for you said:
I would have had sympathy for the ETA back when they were fighting the Franco regime...but now?

Spain is a pleasant and inoffensive socialist country. The Basques need to accept the reality of their preferment position within the Spanish nation-state.

They practice a degree of autonomy that allows them to maintain their culture and language, which have always been their stated goals.

What can they possibly gain now from continued their armed struggle?
Click to expand...

I didn't say that I believe any of the groups should continue the armed struggle, just that I can understand, and sympathize, with the reasons they were created.

Sorry if there was any confusion there, and I agree with you. The ETA's latest bombings of the socialist party hq will only hurt their cause.
 
Arcana XV said:
None of them. I have no sympathy whatsoever for any armed organization that targets civilians and each and every one of them has been responsible for the unnecessary death of innocent people. I can understand them going after members of the government they're fighting against, the state police or the armed forces, but I do not condone the murder of innocent civilians.
Click to expand...

So the US Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy would also have no sympathy from you?
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
What do you mean by "sympathy"?

Hell, I've got sympathy for all of them. Also have sympathy for the governments-- "legitimate" and otherwise-- that they are or were at war with. They're all just people fighting for their lands and cultures; there's nothing wrong with that, even though most people seem to think they need to pick sides based on "right" and "wrong".
Click to expand...

I agree that the duality shown by many concerning these issues is a little overdone. Especially when the Realpolitik of the moment decides who's "right" at the present moment.

Also, the fact that our government finds it necesary to pick a side on every issue is ridiculous. For example, who care's about Cyprus? Why do we need to have an opinion? Is remaining neutral a sign of weakness?

At the same time, do you think our government should step in when one people decides to try and eliminate another?
 
Cyrpus mattered because we needed Turkey to let us build missile bases, but we couldn't abandon the Greeks because we installed their military junta.
 
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DeeJayH said:
where is support ideals, but not actions

there is a difference

one can support the goals of Al Qaida but not its methods
not me, but someone
Click to expand...

This is what I was going to say. I can sympathize/support these groups ideals. I cannot support any of their actions to achieve their ideals.
 
Why can't you support the KLA? They're generally accepted as acting in legitimate self defense of their people in the face of genocidal intent on the part of the Serbians.
 
new coup for you said:
Why can't you support the KLA? They're generally accepted as acting in legitimate self defense of their people in the face of genocidal intent on the part of the Serbians.
Click to expand...

Members of the KLA have been convicted of war crimes, including the kidnap and murder of civilians. I do not have a problem with their ideals and aims. I have a problem with some of their methods.
 
If we placed any revolutionary movement under the same standards as modern movements someone would be convicted of war crimes.

****, in 1776 not lining up your guys in volleys was a war crime.
 
new coup for you said:
If we placed any revolutionary movement under the same standards as modern movements someone would be convicted of war crimes.

****, in 1776 not lining up your guys in volleys was a war crime.
Click to expand...

I don't agree. There is a difference between standard warfare, isolate incidences if war crimes, and organizationally sponsored war crimes. It would be naive to consider than any side in a war is completely innocent, but one must consider how the controllers direct things.
 
new coup for you said:
I personally think they just charged some KLA with war crimes to placate the perpetually butthurt Serbians.
Click to expand...

I think I read somewhere that the war crimes accusations were overestimated by the Serbs, probably for the reasons you stated, but even the lesser numbers were significant.
 
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