IRA Renounces Violence
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LONDON, July 28 -- The Irish Republican Army, which waged a three-decade-long paramilitary struggle against British rule in Northern Ireland, formally ordered an end to its armed campaign Thursday and pledged to pursue its political aims through "exclusively peaceful means."

The outlawed organization, in a long-awaited statement, said it would participate in the democratic process and no longer engage in violent activities.

The IRA was blamed for around 1,800 of the more than 3,000 deaths during the period known as "The Troubles," an era of conflict beginning around 1970 and lasting until the mid-1990s.

"All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms," the organization said in a statement. "All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever."

The IRA said the order would take effect at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. EDT). It said that "two independent witnesses" from the Protestant and Catholic churches have been invited to verify the scrapping of IRA weapons. Over the years, the IRA has amassed tons of arms and explosives, and much of the arsenal is believed to hidden in bunkers in Ireland.
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This is a huge step in the right direction, and a historic moment for the decades old conflict in northern Ireland. Let's hope that the IRA is serious about this, and that it follows through on its commitment to decomission all of it's weapons and explosives. The presence of independent monitors and the absence of any contradictory signals by related groups or sub-groups lends real credibility to this. This also comes at a significant moment - so soon after the London bombings. I think the IRA realizes that it's terrorist tactics now put it in the same group as Al-Qaeda, and there's no way that is in any way good for their goals. It's a smart move.

Note that the IRA has not renounced any of its goals, and has not renounced criminal activity or other illegal operations. It simply mentions an "alternative method" of acheiving its goals, which does not include violence. Still, this is great. Anything that reduces the level of terrorism in the world is a positive thing, and the IRA is one of the oldest ones around.