I apologize, I clearly responded emotionally to a perceived minimization of the acts of the IRA.
Having re-read your original comment I can see clearly that's not something you said or were in anyway implying, so again I apologize unreservedly.
Thank you for your response. In my response to you I had to edit it to remove some incorrect statements. I had to do that because I read into what you wrote some implications that you clearly did not intend. It’s so easy to do that.
As an aside, I am always happy to see this type of discourse, HN is such a rare place. A discussion about a topic with lots of division and when people disagree, they are friendly and reasonable about it. Kudos to both of you.
I did not pretend the IRA were not terrorists. I said nothing in this regard.
People fight using the means available to them. The IRA had no tanks, bombers, frigates, etc. They fought back the only way they could. To them it was justified. To you it wasn’t. But this is true in all wars. The Americans were considered uncivilized during the American Revolutionary War since we frequently targeted officers during battles. This was contrary to how European armies fought.
EDIT: Deleted incorrect statements.