Northern Ireland (merged thread)

[William F. Owen]

Operation Banner: An Analysis of Military Operations in Northern Ireland

The author of this report is a very good friend of mine, and it's about the best COIN study ever done by the UK.

However, there are simply too few, if any, similarities between NI and Iraq. The UK fired more rounds in 1 year in Basra than they fired in 30 years in Northern Ireland.

The real benefit of NI to other COIN environments was that the UK has developed a highly effective and professional approach to COIN that most other armies, (exception being the IDF) have lacked. When, at the height of the violence, PJHQ asked UK troops if they thought the ROE were too restrictive, the answer was generally no. Everyone understood what was professional, and what was not. - That is about the best lesson anyone can take away from the UK NI experience.

...and yes, I think we won. We convinced the IRA that whatever they did, the British Army would never leave.

[Uboat509]

...and yes, I think we won. We convinced the IRA that whatever they did, the British Army would never leave.

Do you think that is what did it or do you think that once the Catholics felt included in the political process that the support for the Provos dried up?

SFC W

[William F. Owen]

Do you think that is what did it or do you think that once the Catholics felt included in the political process that the support for the Provos dried up?

SFC W

Definitely a factor, as concerns the moderate Catholic community, but the Republicans, in the shape of Sinn Fein, never gave up there support for the (P)IRA

[Jedburgh]

JSOU, Oct 08: What Really Happened in Northern Ireland’s Counterinsurgency: Revision and Revelation

.....The lavishly praised techniques of the British Army in Northern Ireland were deemed applicable to the blast-furnace streets of Iraq. The acclaimed British military historian John Keegan opined: “As the entry into Basra was to prove, the British army’s mastery of the methods of urban warfare is transferable. What had worked in Belfast could be made to work also in Basra, against another set of urban terrorists, with a different motivation from the Irish Republicans though equally nasty.” Until recently this represents the prevailing consensus about Britain’s counterinsurgency prowess in Northern Ireland and elsewhere....

.....Rather than dealing with Iraq or Afghanistan, this essay seeks to strip away some of the overly varnished veneer from the Northern Ireland example or at a minimum present a deeper understanding of Britain’s much proclaimed counterinsurgency effectiveness in attaining peace and stability. Let us look beneath the plaudits for the British Army’s small-unit patrolling and keen intelligence capability to examine what changes took place within the society itself to bring about tranquility and peace to that troubled corner of Ireland.....

[davidbfpo]

This latest commentary will take time to print and read. First glance the language is rather odd, especially for an author from that conservative think tank viewpoint.

Another time.

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Op Banner was the British Army's name for their operation in Northern Ireland and one of the army's authors of a report on the conflict recently spoke:
http://www.militaryhistorysociety.co...etingNotes.doc

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Earlier in 2009 at the University of Oxford, as part of a series by a specialist department on war, there was a seminar on 'Detainees in Northern Ireland' by a historian from the UK Staff College and just found a short report. The seminar is a rather bland title for internment and hard interrogation in 1971: http://ccw.politics.ox.ac.uk/events/...09_bennett.asp

This is from the conclusion:

Enacting deep interrogation in Northern Ireland, despite warnings about the consequences from military advisers, proved a hugely symbolic moment in alienating an entire community. Once allowed the notorious five techniques by their political masters, military commanders were reluctant to give them up, devising elaborate schemes for retaining them in the face of widespread political outrage in Britain and abroad.

davidbfpo