Saville Row

Last week the Saville Inquiry was finally published -- after 12 years and an estimated £400 million.  As expected, it severely criticized the British Army for firing at civilians during a civil protest 40 years ago.  Unfortunately, that's all it said.  It did not go any further into how it should have been handled, or how this kind of tragedy could be prevented in the future, or even acknowledged that conditions in Northern Ireland have not significantly changed since 1972.

One of the unexpected side effects, however, is that it re-opened a lot of old wounds.  While the families of the 13 people involved -- who were branded as 'terrorists' in the original Widgery reported -- claimed justice had finally been done, many more people wanted to know where the justice was for the estimated 3,000 British killed or injured by the IRA during 'the troubles.' I personally find it very troubling that they saw 13 civilians killed as retribution, but more troubling was that I didn't see anyone point that out.  The new government issued some very empty 'mea culpas' and then declared the matter behind them.

Given that the issue of a divided and contentious society is ongoing, and prevalent throughout the world, I don't see the matter as closed.  While governments may be a necessary institution for the administration of law, they are always dictated by the majority, and all too easily corrupted. I obviously don't have the answers, but I don't think we should stop asking the questions.