Internment works

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Author: Patrick Crozier
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Well, that's the short version. It should probably read: in the case of terrorist insurgencies then under certain circumstances internment ie detention without trial is an essential factor in eventual victory.

"...certain circumstances..."?

  • Yes, where you have an unassimilated population in which the terrorists can find refuge

Doesn't sound very libertarian

  • Well, it isn't. However, given the option between it and terrorist victory it is usually the least worst option available

"...essential factor in eventual victory"?

  • Internment is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. It has to be allied with good intelligence and strong border controls

Why do you favour it?

  • Because it has worked in the past

When?

But what about Ulster in the 1970s?

  • True, it didn't work. It didn't work because:
    • it was not resolutely carried out. It was progressively watered down until it was abandoned altogether in 1975
    • the initial 1971 sweep was carried out with faulty intelligence
    • it was not applied on the other side of the border as it had been in the 1940s and during the Border Campaign
    • there is some suggestion that it was working. Former IRA terrorist Sean O'Callaghan has said so in a newspaper article. Unfortunately I can't find the reference but it was in about 1998. There are also the statistics. Although IRA killings initially increased (1972 was the bloodiest year of the Troubles) they declined in 1973
  • it is significant that internment was not used after 1975 and the IRA were not defeated

If internment is so good how come IRA violence increased in 1972?

  • Any terrorist organisation worth its salt must react to effective anti-terrorist measures. That is precisely what the IRA did. One should also not forget that the initial sweep was not very good.

Why was the intelligence faulty?

  • Because the security forces had allowed the creation of "No-Go" areas - areas which they did not enter and from which, therefore, they could not gain intelligence

Why wasn't internment applied in the Republic of Ireland?

  • I am not quite sure. On previous occasions the British government had been able to bully the Irish government into compliance. Whether it didn't try on this occasion or whether it would not have been possible (because the Republic felt that it would still be able to trade) I am not quite sure. Incidentally, I am pretty sure it is one of the basic requirements of international law that states do not allow their territory to be used as bases for terrorist operations in other countries - so Britain was only asking the Republic to honour its commitments

What's there to prevent internment becoming the thin edge of the wedge leading to a police state?

  • Not much. You could certainly argue that Malaya and Kenya by virtue of being British colonies were already police states. You really have to trust that your rulers will only use it for certain, specific ends and that it will be abandoned the moment that those ends are achieved

What do you mean by "unassimilated"?

  • Dunno. It's one of these things where you know it when you see it. It may be a refusal to accept the state's legitimacy. It may be a feeling of not being part of the nation the state represents. Usually, these two things go together.

Can't the "unassimilated" be assimilated?

  • Good question. Obviously, all sorts of people have assimilated themselves into the American Melting Pot over the years. But they wanted to be assimilated. In Ulster, since the 1970s the UK government has bent over backwards to accommodate the demands of the Ulster Irish. But the Ulster Irish are still Irish.

Ulster Irish?

Ulster?

  • To distinguish it from Ireland - otherwise people might get the impression there's an occupation or something. And, no, I am not going to get into whole 6-county v 9-county Ulster argument

Is there really no alternative?

  • I have given some thought to an alternative but I am not aware of anything else that has ever been tried and worked
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