Well, can I say, OT, what a pleasant surprise it was to read people who were prepared to acknolwedge that some terrorists are brave people with genuine convictions - be they ever so misguided, arrogant, selfish, murderous, and evil.

But it doesn't surprise me to find this in a folk forum, where people share an interest in the music and song of the oppressed, and perhaps have a clearer historical perspective than the average person.

I don't for one moment condone the actions of any terrorist. However, I do get annoyed by the automatic knee-jerk reaction of politicians who refer to all terrorist attacks as "cowardly". To do those things takes a certain type of courage. What a pity that courage couldn't be put to more constructive use.

For someone to go to all that trouble (whether it be the IRA, the PLO, the 9/11 bombers, or whoever) they must hate us a hell of a lot. And if we put half as much effort into trying to understand and deal with the causes of that hatred as we put into a military response, perhaps the world would be a better place. As someone said, firing million dollar missiles at 5 dollar tents will only make them hate us more.

We are all incredibly fortunate to live in a tiny window in history when we have freedom of speech (it probably won't last long) so people who express these controversial views in this forum shouldn't be subject to hostility. Arguments should win people,not the other way round.

Back to Bobby Sands and the Irish situation: the mess in Ireland has generated many wonderful songs over the decades. And in Glasgow (yes, I know that's Scotland!), a few years ago, a Celtic fan was killed by a Rangers fan for singing "Fields of Athenry" at him. (Could have been the other way round - I don't follow football.)