Free Essays on Different Views, Different Responses

Different Views, Different Responses A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mohandas Gandhi The Dalai Lama feels sadness caused by the things that are brought onto his people. He sees that his people have been neglected, they were being starved to death. â€Å"I was losing control of my own people†¦they were being driven into barbarism†¦growing more determined to resort to violence†¦I opposed the people’s violent instincts† (108). â€Å"I could not help my people anymore; I could not control their wish to resort to violence; all my peaceful efforts so far had been failures† (118). After more and more people leave to fight with the guerillas, the Chinese were angry and complained a lot. â€Å"I was unhappy too at this turn of events† (130). â€Å"I must admit I was very near despair† (133). This was said after he had sent a mission to the guerillas and they never came back, they joined. The majority of the guerillas would not return to their homes. The people of Tibet surrounded the Norbulingka and he knew that the Chinese would fight with artillery and the Tibetans had simple weapons. The Dalai Lama was very upset when he learned that his people threw stones at a minister and an official was stoned to death because they thought he was Chinese. â€Å"This outbreak of violence gave me great distress† (143). â€Å"I felt as if I were standing between two volcanoes, each likely to erupt at any moment† (143). When his people say that they were not leaving the Palace, he knew if was going to be disastrous. â€Å"This development distressed me very much. I felt it was one step more toward disaster† (151). When speaking of his country he said, â€Å"I saw it in a daze of sickness and weariness and unhappiness deeper than I can express† (178). Dalai Lama keeps an optimistic view on everything and tries to maintain hope for his people an... Free Essays on Different Views, Different Responses Free Essays on Different Views, Different Responses Different Views, Different Responses A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mohandas Gandhi The Dalai Lama feels sadness caused by the things that are brought onto his people. He sees that his people have been neglected, they were being starved to death. â€Å"I was losing control of my own people†¦they were being driven into barbarism†¦growing more determined to resort to violence†¦I opposed the people’s violent instincts† (108). â€Å"I could not help my people anymore; I could not control their wish to resort to violence; all my peaceful efforts so far had been failures† (118). After more and more people leave to fight with the guerillas, the Chinese were angry and complained a lot. â€Å"I was unhappy too at this turn of events† (130). â€Å"I must admit I was very near despair† (133). This was said after he had sent a mission to the guerillas and they never came back, they joined. The majority of the guerillas would not return to their homes. The people of Tibet surrounded the Norbulingka and he knew that the Chinese would fight with artillery and the Tibetans had simple weapons. The Dalai Lama was very upset when he learned that his people threw stones at a minister and an official was stoned to death because they thought he was Chinese. â€Å"This outbreak of violence gave me great distress† (143). â€Å"I felt as if I were standing between two volcanoes, each likely to erupt at any moment† (143). When his people say that they were not leaving the Palace, he knew if was going to be disastrous. â€Å"This development distressed me very much. I felt it was one step more toward disaster† (151). When speaking of his country he said, â€Å"I saw it in a daze of sickness and weariness and unhappiness deeper than I can express† (178). Dalai Lama keeps an optimistic view on everything and tries to maintain hope for his people an...

A Guide to the Irish Republican Army (IRA)

A Guide to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) The Irish Republican Army (IRA), which traces its roots to Catholic Irish nationalism in the early 1900s, was considered by many to be a terrorist organization because of certain tactics- such as bombings and assassination- it used to oppose British rule in Ireland. The name IRA has been in use since the organization was founded in 1921. From 1969 through 1997, the IRA splintered into a number of organizations, all called the IRA. They included: The Official IRA (OIRA).The Provisional IRA (PIRA).The Real IRA (RIRA).Continuity IRA (CIRA). The association of the IRA with terrorism comes from the paramilitary activities of the Provisional IRA, which is no longer active. They were originally founded in 1969 when the IRA split into the Official IRA, which renounced violence, and the Provisional IRA. The IRA's Council and Home Base The IRAs home base is in Northern Ireland, with a presence and operations throughout Ireland, Great Britain, and Europe.  The IRA has always had a relatively small membership, estimated at several hundred members, organized in small, clandestine cells. Its daily operations are organized by a 7-person Army Council. Backing and Affiliations From the 1970s-1990s, the IRA received weapons and training from various international sources, most notably American sympathizers, Libya and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Connections have also been posited between the IRA and Marxist-leaning terrorist groups, especially at their most active in the 1970s.   The IRA's Objectives The IRA believed in the  creation of a unified Ireland under Irish, rather than British rule. PIRA used terrorist tactics to protest the Unionist/ Protestant treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland. Political Activities The IRA is a strictly paramilitary organization. Its political wing is Sinn Fà ©in (We Ourselves, in Gaelic), a party that has represented Republican (Catholic) interests since the turn of the 20th century. When the first Irish assembly was declared in 1918 under the leadership of Sinn Fà ©in, the IRA was considered the official army of the state. Sinn Fà ©in has been a significant force in Irish politics since the 1980s. Historical Context The emergence of the Irish Republican Army has its roots in Irelands 20th-century quest for national independence from Great Britain. In 1801, the Anglican (English Protestant) United Kingdom of Great Britain merged with Roman Catholic Ireland. For the next hundred years, Catholic Irish Nationalists opposed Protestant Irish Unionists, so named because they supported the union with Great Britain. The first Irish Republican Army fought the British in the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence. The Anglo-Irish treaty concluding the war divided Ireland into a Catholic Irish Free State and Protestant Northern Ireland, which became the British province, Ulster. Some elements of the IRA opposed the treaty; it was their descendants who became the terrorist PIRA in 1969. The IRA began its terrorist attacks on the British army and police following a summer of violent rioting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. For the next generation, the IRA carried out bombings, assassinations and other terrorist attacks against British and Irish Unionist targets. Official talks between Sinn Fà ©in and the British government began in 1994  and appeared to conclude with the 1998 signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement included the IRAs commitment to disarm. PIRA strategist Brian Keenan, who had spent over a generation promoting the use of violence, was instrumental in bringing about disarmament (Keenan died in 2008). By 2006, the PIRA appeared to have made good on its commitment. However, terrorist activity by the Real IRA and other paramilitary groups continues and, as of the summer of 2006, is on the rise. In 2001, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations released a report detailing connections between the IRA and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) going back to 1998.