…and Hillary had nothing to do with any of this, I found these entries in sequence under JFK in Wikipedia:
Ireland
On the occasion of his visit to the Republic of Ireland in 1963, President Kennedy joined with Irish President Éamon de Valera to form The American Irish Foundation. The mission of this organization was to foster connections between Americans of Irish descent and the country of their ancestry. Kennedy furthered these connections of cultural solidarity by accepting a grant of armorial bearings from the Chief Herald of Ireland. Kennedy had near-legendary status in Ireland, due to his ancestral ties to the country. Irish citizens who were alive in 1963 often have very strong memories of Kennedy’s momentous visit.[41] He also visited the original cottage at Dunganstown, near New Ross, where previous Kennedys had lived before emigrating to America, and said: “This is where it all began …” On December 22, 2006, the Irish Department of Justice released declassified police documents that indicated that Kennedy was the subject of three death threats during this visit. Though these threats were determined to be hoaxes, security was heightened.[42]
Iraq
In 1963, the Kennedy administration backed a coup against the government of Iraq headed by General Abdel Karim Kassem, who five years earlier had deposed the Western-allied Iraqi monarchy. The CIA helped the new Ba’ath Party government led by Abdul Salam Arif in ridding the country of suspected leftists and Communists. In a Baathist bloodbath, the government used lists of suspected Communists and other leftists provided by the CIA, to systematically murder untold numbers of Iraq’s educated elite—killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have participated. The victims included hundreds of doctors, teachers, technicians, lawyers, and other professionals as well as military and political figures.[43][44][45] According to an op-ed in the New York Times, the U.S. sent arms to the new regime, weapons later used against the same Kurdish insurgents the U.S. supported against Kassem and then abandoned him. American and UK oil and other interests, including Mobil, Bechtel, and British Petroleum, were conducting business in Iraq.[43]
So, number one, lets get this out of the way right now, I descend from (among other nationalities) Northern Irish – one side Catholic and one side Protestant. They married, they got along, case closed except for the fact that my dad and his sibs always went to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC and ALWAYS cheered for the signs “England Get Out Of Ireland” (even though we’re about equally English). I always felt that gave me the right to side with the Provos way back. And, no, terrorism is not “right,” but in my grandfather’s Hungary, people acting similarly were called “Freedom Fighters.”
My Hillary is going to my beloved Ireland to try to do some healing. God bless her. We needed an end to the fighting. But my relatives, still there, need their equal rights. We may never be “A Nation Once Again,” but I pray for peace there – for my family and for everyone. (How odd – I left it unedited. I said “we”).
Last note on this, I just had no memory whatsoever that Eamon de Valera was still alive in my lifetime. DUH!
The entry on Iraq is interesting in that most people think that the only “regime” in Iraq from the early 1950s through the coup that routed Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979 was that of the Shah. Apparently not. Note the implication of Saddam Hussein. This was all Cold War stuff to be sure. We were heavily involved all along the path.
I add all of this in response to my Sinhalese readers. You see, my folks are “northerners” too. They would like to be part of the free independent Irish State, but they are not. So if you think I bear a certain sympathy with the Tamil, I do.
That was not really the point of my previous post. And I interject Iraq here only because it came up alphabetically and is yet another example of ethinc or religious differences causing civil division. I post it to demonstrate that I truly am thinking about what you said, David UK.
But I still do not see where you have extended a hand to the Tamil. Everything I have read from you simply condemns them.
I am sure there are crimes on both sides – sure! Certain! It’s always true. But while you ask me “Where’s the beef?” I ask you, if prior to 2006 there were claims, where’s the refutation?
As I have said, Hillary Clinton did not pull the names of countries out of a hat, There was a basis for what she said. If you can see where I am coming from, there is room for talk. If you are going to deal in inattributed absolutes like “Never.” Well then you show me the beef.
And I should NEVER get in the middle of a civil dispute again! Really! But I might.
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