Quote Originally Posted by Herbette Chapman - aged 15 View Post
British troops left NI 10 years ago so I would say the Brits are out. The leading figures of the enemy were then invited to the table and afforded positions of power in the democratic apparatus which hardly equates to military defeat. Be rather like offering Heydrich a seat in the The Cabinet.
You're conflating 'Brits Out' with 'Troops Out'. The troops were only there because of IRA violence. Once that stopped, there was no need for them. They left because they'd won, not because they IRA had beaten them.
They were offered seats at the table in a power-sharing government as a devolved part of the United Kingdom in return for abandoning the armed struggle, handing over their weapons and operating purely by democratic means. That was a million miles from their stated war aims of fighting the British until they gave up and left Northern Ireland to unite with the Republic and, as I said, was basically the same deal that had been on the table in 1974.

Let me ask you something: in a war, which side usually has to hand over their arms? Is it the winners?