Let’s learn something from what happened in Northern Ireland

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NEED TO KNOW:

It sort of feels like the United States is fighting a never-ending battle against terrorism. The battle has taken the US military all over the world, most notably to Afghanistan and Iraq, and now Syria and Iraq again. There are really few places on this Earth that this war has not touched. Some of the biggest threats are at home.

Will it ever end? And if it does end, what happens then? What will happen to all those terrorists — whether they are in northern Syria and call themselves Muslims or they are in the Midwest and call themselves white supremacists — that fought for the other side? It's a post-war scenario that is these days hard to imagine.

But in Northern Ireland, that's exactly what did happen. The war ended. Who the British called terrorists were eventually released from prison. They now live normal, if scarred, lives. As GlobalPost Senior Correspondent Corinne Purtill writes, “Northern Ireland is a reminder that all wars end eventually. Even terrorists get older.”

The sectarian conflict between Catholic nationalists opposing British rule and Protestants loyal to Britain lasted four decades. British prime ministers used to talk about the Irish Republican Army like the current prime minister talks about the Islamic State.

The conflict ended almost 20 years ago. And now the former “militants” are in their 60s. “Men who once outran cop cars are hobbled with arthritis and bum knees. Those who once made themselves available any time of day or night for operations now cancel plans with former comrades if they’ve got their grandkids for the weekend,” Purtill writes.

In a detailed report published today on GlobalPost, Purtill talks to the men who once fought in Northern Ireland. These men, labeled terrorists by their more powerful enemy, once believe that they had two options: die or go to prison. But it turned out there is a third option: they could outlive the war, and their anger.

This is a hopeful story. It's also an instructive one, mistakes were made then that some say are being repeated now in a new conflict.

WANT TO KNOW:

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is bad for the environment. Whether you believe in the scientific fact that humans are hastening the end of the world by artificially warming the planet or not, you might at least agree that we should attempt to maintain some kind of healthy environment.

Abbott, on the other hand, appears compelled to be as destructive as he can before he is likely voted out in the next election.

For instance, Abbott said coal is “good for humanity” when he attended the opening of a coal mine last year. It's unclear why he felt he needed to attend the opening of this coal mine. But he did say that we shouldn't “demonize” coal. So maybe he was just trying to give coal some of the moral support it so desperately needs. Poor coal.

He has also supported coal by cutting renewable energy targets, banning government investment in other kinds of energy, like wind and solar, and approving a gigantic coal mine in Australia's richest farming region. Coal must be so relieved. Imagine if Abbott felt the kind of compassion for desperate asylum seekers as he does for coal.

Abbott doesn't stop there. He has also threatened the Great Barrier Reef. And he has threatened Australia's protected forests. Abbott himself is a threat to Australia's environment. And unless one of his colleagues can successfully challenge his power, he will continue being a threat for at least another year.

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

Radio in the UK is a lot like radio in the US. There's a mix of pop, classic rock, oldies, indie, hip hop. There's that one classical station. There's talk radio. There are lots of obnoxious ads that can be dangerous for drivers on the road.

There are a couple differences. They talk about soccer a lot more than they talk about baseball on the sports stations, for instance. And they have ads begging British mothers not to let their children join the Islamic State in Syria.

Ya, that's the world in which we now live. As Purtill reports: “It first aired in March, shortly after three teenage girls from the middle-class London neighborhood of Bethnal Green slipped out of their families’ homes and boarded a flight to Turkey. They’ve since been spotted in Syria. Since then, about 20 more British women have left for the war zone.”