Why I supported the IRA: Republican forced to defend backing for terror group... as he chairs hearing into Islamic radicals By MATT BLAKE
Last updated at 2:58 PM on 9th March 2011
A Republican congressman has defended his support for the IRA during the height of the Troubles that blighted Northern Ireland and England in the 1980s and 1990s. In an astonishing defence of one of the most bloodthirsty terror groups in recent memory, Peter King, 66, said his issue wasn't with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) because it 'never attacked America'. He said the IRA were different from al-Qaida because it was a narrowly focused homegrown movement while the Islamic terror group has attacked the U.S. and other countries. Mr King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, made the controversial remarks before he chairs a series of hearings on Thursday into Islamic radicalism in the U.S.
He said: 'I understand why people who are misinformed might see a parallel. The fact is, the IRA never attacked the United States. And my loyalty is to the United States.'
He made the controversial statement days after admitting he has ramped up his security in the wake of 'hostile phone calls' and threats from overseas as he prepares to chair a hearing on Islamic radicalisation in the U.S.
He has come under fire for his long-term support of the IRA, whose cells have been behind some of the worst terrorist atrocities ever carried out on British and Irish soil.
The group was responsible for between 1,826 and 3,528 deaths during the Northern Irish conflict between 1969 and 2001, the historian Malcolm Sutton told the New York Times. One of their worst massacres was the infamous Omagh bombing, in 1998, which tore through a busy shopping street in the Northern Irish town, killing 29 people and injured 220. King made regular visits to Northern Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s developing close ties with members of Sinn Fein, the organisation's political wing, including leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
In 1982, King told a pro-IRA rally in Nassau County, New York: 'We must pledge ourselves to support those brave men and women who this very moment are carrying forth the struggle against British imperialism in the streets of Belfast and Derry.' Three years later he declared, 'If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the IRA for it.' Today he said he was right to advocate that the IRA be brought into peace negotiations to stop the violence.
King will preside over Thursday's congressional hearing. He says he believes the Muslim community should do more to renounce al-Qaida and work with law enforcement.
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