I just reread this thread, and one argument leaps out at me. I have no answers, only this question:

If armed struggle/terrorism (depending upon one's point of view) isn't going to achieve the objective of a just and equitable society, and the political process isn't going to achieve the objective of a just and equitable society, then what will?

What happens when the politicians don't allow justice and peace to take hold, despite the will of the majority of the citizenry to see it happen?

Not only is this the most relevant question to be asking today in Northern Ireland, but it is the most relevant question to be asking in Britain and the US as well, in regards to attacking Iraq, and in the Middle East regarding the West Bank and Gaza.

So, to those of you who keep screaming at us that "terrorism is not the answer"...please tell us what IS the answer? If neither the soldiers/terrorists OR the politicians will not bend to the will of the people, what are the people to do to defend themselves against this political tyranny?

After a decade of failures by the politicians to bring about the justice and peace negotiated and renegotiated in the Irish Good Friday Agreement, and the Gaza/Jericho Agreement, the Wye River Accord, the Palestinian-Israeli Interim Agreement On The West Bank & The Gaza Strip, etc. what are reasonable, well intentioned, people who are suffering under an occupying force to do to rid themselves of the tyranny? What are the people to do when their leaders who are peacefully working to rid society of violence and injustice, are assassinated, or removed from power arbitrarily by the occupying force, as we are seeing happen over and over again in Ireland, in the Middle East, in Columbia, etc.

The new strategy of the permanent member states of the Security Council of the UN, is diplomatic and political negotiations. The problem with that strategy is it has failed nearly everywhere it has been used. So what now?