Obama Names Indiana’s Hamilton as First Judicial Pick

Judge David Hamilton was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana in 1994. Judge Hamilton previously was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg, a private law firm in Indianapolis. He served as Counsel to the Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1991. Judge Hamilton served as law clerk to Judge Richard D. Cudahy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and is a founding member of the Sagamore Inn of Court in the American Inns of Court. He served as a member of the Indiana State Recount Commission from 1986 to 1987 and as chairman of the Indiana State Ethics Commission from 1991 to 1994.

10 soldiers killed in Afghanistan - Where are the bombing runs?

The Taliban are counting on the West leaving. We can't without a clear victory over these people. It is time to get it over with, someone needs to address the UN General Assembly.


1. Benazir Bhutto had addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh Park
2. As her convoy was leaving the park via the rear gate onto Murree road, she was shot twice in the neck and chest
3. The gunman then blew himself up killing at least 16 people
4. Ms Bhutto was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1816 local time.

Rawalpindi is where al Qaeda assassinated Benazir Bhutto. It is near the violence ridden area of Kashmir.

Enough is enough !

The violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is out of control due to nearly seven years of neglect by the USA when the war was diverted into Iraq. The Taliban and al Qaeda not only continued their war by attacking Europe, but, they were allowed to organize and increase in numbers.

There are no 'draw backs' to a major military action in Taliban strongholds. There just isn't. I'm not going to apologize, civilization is compromised by hideous authority and it cannot survive a long and protracted war in this region.

It is time the West's soldiers stopped dying. It should ended long ago !

Pakistan suicide bomber kills 14: police (click here)
18 hours ago
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a restaurant in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi, killing 14 people and wounding 18 others, police said on Tuesday.
Officials said the bomber had probably been targeting a mass protest which was scheduled for Monday in Rawalpindi and the capital Islamabad but was then called off after the government vowed to reinstate the country's top judge.
"Fifteen people have been killed and 18 injured," said Rawalpindi regional police commander Nasir Durrani, including the bomber in the death toll.
"We have collected evidence from the site and talked to witnesses, and now come to the conclusion that the bomber was on foot," Durrani said.
"There is possibility that the suicide bomber may have disembarked from a vehicle before exploding himself," he told AFP.
The attack in Rawalpindi, the city in which Pakistan's powerful military is headquartered, occurred late Monday near a taxi stand in a working-class area of the city, destroying several nearby cars....

So much for peaceful coexistance with Sharia Law Swat Valley !

How did I guess it wouldn't work?

NATO is slapping the wrist of the Taliban. They aren't going to become passivists, ever ! Never ! There is no dealing with them and they are causing instability in a marginally secure nuclear country. What is NATO waiting for? Re-inforcements?

There is only ONE WAY. Not two, not three, but, one way to stop the Taliban and that is to kill them. The USA, under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld took their eye off the ball and the result is a completely destabilized Afghan-Pakistan region. India has not been at all helpful. There is only one way 'to get on top of this mess' and that is to bomb the region.

If NATO wants to be nice? They can drop pamphlets 24 hours before bombing begins and then don't postpone or hesitate the initiation of attacks. There is no other way.


As Pakistan Restores Judges, Taliban in Swat Sends Some Home (click here)
By James Rupert
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Taliban guerillas in Pakistan’s Swat Valley replaced judges appointed by the government with Islamic religious courts, undermining the judiciary hours after the nation’s chief justice won back his job.
The Tehrik-e-Nifaaz Shariat Muhammadi, a militant group, ordered government judges not to show up for work “because we are establishing a true Islamic justice system,” said Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman. The group is introducing Sharia law in the region as part of a government truce with Taliban fighters....

Obama May Widen Drone War Over Pakistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 9:16:00 PM
...Some American officials say the [drone] strikes in the tribal areas have forced some leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flee south toward Quetta, making them more vulnerable. In separate reports, groups led by both Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in the region, and Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a top White House official on Afghanistan, have recommended expanding American operations outside the tribal areas if Pakistan cannot root out the strengthening insurgency....


In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday (click here), 42% of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. That's the highest mark since the poll first asked the question in November 2001 when the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government that sheltered al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks....

March 15, 2009
KABUL: Four American soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan in a roadside explosion, the U.S. military said Sunday, in the worst of several attacks by insurgents around the country.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, said a spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid.
The Taliban have been threatening to increase attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan to counter the increase in U.S. troops arriving in the coming months. Military officials have been predicting an increase in violence this year.
In Kapisa Province, also in the east, a French soldier and five Afghan troops were killed in a clash with militants, Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for the French Defense Ministry, said Sunday.
The operation Saturday involved air support from Predator drones and other allied aircraft and dozens of militants "were hit hard," Commander Prazuck said. He did not provide estimates of enemy casualties. France has 3,300 troops in Afghanistan....


How much muscle does a soldier need? Get the feeling enough is never enough ?

A Canadian soldier from the NATO-led coalition trains in the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan March 16, 2009.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini


9th Australian soldier dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 16, 2009
CANBERRA, Australia: A ninth Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the defense chief said Tuesday, as international pressure mounts on Australia to increase its military force in the Central Asian country.
The soldier was shot dead during a "very intense fire fight" with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province Monday morning, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told reporters Tuesday.
The soldier's name has not been released. He was part of a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol.
Australia has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan. Australia's contribution is the largest outside NATO, but some NATO countries want Australia to do more in the faltering fight against Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents....

Canada pledges $132 million in aid for Afghanistan (click here)
3/17/2009 2:18 PM ET
(RTTNews) - Canada pledged an aid of $21 million (U.S.$16.5 million) for improving law and order in Afghanistan.The amount is earmarked for payment of salaries of Afghan national police and prison guards, the visiting Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon said at a news conference in Kabul on Tuesday.The disbursal of the money is entrusted with the UN through a trust fund, according to Afghan officials....

Afghanistan wants larger role in terror fight (click here)
9 hours ago
KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan called on Tuesday for more international help to develop its fledgling and embattled security forces so that it can take on a larger role in "the fight against terrorism"....
...Cannon announced the new financial contribution during a visit to the southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold where most of Canada's 2,830 soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed.
Canada is one of the main contributors to international forces in Afghanistan -- there are about 75,000 foreign troops in total, including 38,000 from the US.
Nineteen million dollars will go towards paying police salaries for three years, the minister said.
The remainder was for prison officer salaries and supporting a human rights unit within the justice ministry, the Canadian embassy said.
"We continue to believe that the way to go forward is to provide security... because security will bring stability," Cannon told reporters.
The post-Taliban Afghan army has grown to more than 80,000 men, with most of its training and equipment from the United States.
There are an equal number of police.


Trudy Rubin: Quick deal with Taliban in Afghanistan unlikely (click here)
...The prospects for any deal with the Taliban are much exaggerated. And while we can usefully study the similarities with Iraq, the differences between the two conflicts are even more key.
Indeed, Obama recognized that the Afghan situation is "more complex" than Iraq, involving "a less governed region," and fiercely independent tribes that may operate "at cross purposes." Too true. The Afghan tribes are far more fragmented than Iraqi Sunnis, and lack the tribal alliances and leaders that emerged to ally with U.S. troops....
...In Afghanistan, the Taliban are definitely not losing. Obama answered a flat "No" when asked if he thought that the United States was winning, echoing his military commanders.
We are looking at a slow, step-by-step process, working largely with local leaders. Thus, talk of talks with the Taliban means less, in the short term, than many assume.

Three Illinois National Guardsmen Killed in Afghanistan (click here)
By WEEK Producer
Story Published: Mar 17, 2009 at 5:04 PM CDT
Story Updated: Mar 17, 2009 at 8:12 PM CDT
As the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq approaches, three Illinois families are mourning the loss of their soldier sons.
The casualties were all members of the same Illinois Army National Guard unit based in Woodstock.
Twenty–three–year–old Sergeant Christopher Abeyta, 24–year–old Specialist Robert Weinger, and 22–year–old Specialist Norman Cain III, all assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry were killed in action on Sunday.
The three Soldiers were killed when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.


Lejeune Marine dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 - 11:48 AM
A Camp Lejeune Marine died Saturday in Afghanistan, according to a II Marine Expeditionary Force press release. The incident is under investigation.
Staff Sgt. Archie A. Taylor, 37, of Tomball, Texas, died in Kabul province as a result of a non-hostile incident, according to the press release. He was a counter-intelligence specialist with 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II MEF Headquarters Group.
Taylor joined the Marine Corps on Dec. 9, 1989. He deployed twice to Iraq, from February to October 2004, and from March to October 2007.
His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon.


Another attack on NATO logistic terminal (click here)
* 60 attackers torch 16 trucks, 14 trolleysBy Manzoor Ali ShahPESHAWAR: At least 16 trucks and 14 trolleys carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan were torched on Monday in second such attack on a goods terminal in two days.Police said around 60 Taliban broke into Al-Faisal Terminal on Peshawar’s Ring Road in Pishtakhara area at around 2am, doused the vehicles parked in the compound with petrol and set them on fire. There were no casualties, police official Ihsanullah said.Three cranes and two Humvees were also destroyed....

Unstable Afghanistan A Threat To All (click here)
16 March 2009
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "We must all hang together, gentlemen ... else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." He meant that they must band together to fight a common threat, because no individual could handle it alone, and each would suffer the consequences.On March 10th, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said something similar to the North Atlantic Council, the governing body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. During a meeting to consult with NATO Allies with regard to the ongoing US strategic policy review towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to discuss the main challenges ahead in Afghanistan, Mr. Biden said that all countries must work together to resolve the security problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan because all are in danger:"The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat, from our perspective, not just to the United States, but to every single nation around this table. It was from that remote area of the world that al Qaeda plotted 9/11. It was from that very same area that extremists planned virtually every major terrorist attack in Europe since 9/11, including the attacks on London and Madrid."...

Investigation Finds Burris Son' Got Job Fairly

Roland Burris II is seen in an inset to this file photo of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich with the senior Roland Burris.

Bernie Tafoya Reporting

WBBM Newsradio 780
CHICAGO (WBBM) - Newsradio 780 has learned the governor’s office has completed its investigation into the way the son of Senator Roland Burris was hired as a lawyer for the state in the weeks before the senior Burris was appointed to the Senate.
The governor’s office finds Roland Burris II got his $75,000 a year job fair-and-square. The governor’s office of general counsel has found no indication of improper conduct or, in other words, wheeling and dealing....

Hiring of Sen. Roland Burris' son: Review by Gov. Patrick Quinn's office finds no misconduct (click here)
By Monique Garcia Tribune reporter
March 17, 2009
A review conducted by Gov. Pat Quinn's office has found "no indication of improper conduct" in the hiring of Sen Roland Burris' son by a state agency six months ago.

The circumstances surrounding the hiring were questioned late last month after the elder Burris admitted he attempted to raise funds for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and had more contact than previously admitted with Blagojevich's closest allies as he lobbied for the Senate appointment. Blagojevich's selection created a political uproar because he had just been hit by corruption charges, including allegations that he sought to sell the appointment to the seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Roland Burris II was hired in September as senior counsel for the Illinois Housing Development Authority. His salary is $75,000.

In a statement released Monday, Quinn's office said the younger Burris was hired "in an appropriate manner" after responding to an online job posting, completing an application and interviewing with agency officials....

Durbin said some of the blame lies here in the United States.

Army soldiers guard a police station in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Monday, March 16, 2009. As retired and active-duty soldiers largely took over security in the violence-wracked city of 1.3 million, a retired Army officer took over as head of police Monday, whose last law enforcement chief resigned after receiving threats.
STR / AP Photo

Retired general takes over Ciudad Juarez security (click here)

By MARINA MONTEMAYOR
Associated Press Writer
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- A retired Mexican army general took over as head of public safety in the violence-plagued border city of Ciudad Juarez on Monday and a retired colonel was sworn in as police chief, as part of a militarization that includes 7,000 soldiers dispatched to keep the peace in the city of 1.3 million.
Gen. Julian Rivera Breton was sworn in as city public safety secretary to replace a man who resigned after criminals threatened to kill a policeman every other day until he left. Two such signs appeared on the bodies of a dead officer and a jail guard....

Texas, El Paso health workers kept out of Mexico (click here)
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL

Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas — State and local health officials have barred their workers from business travel in Mexico, citing the ongoing drug cartel war that has killed thousands of people since last year.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission employees were officially told Feb. 25 to stay out of Mexico.
Stephanie Goodman, a commission spokeswoman, said this week the decision was made based primarily on a lengthy U.S. State Department travel alert that warned of widespread violence in Mexico, including confrontations between the military and police and violent drug cartels that resemble "small-unit combat."...
March 17, 2009, 3:42PM

I can't let this go by either. One more observation regarding the self justified Dick Cheney & G. W. Bush.

As 6th anniversary of war in Iraq nears, civilian toll is elusive (click title to entry - thank you)
By Kim Gamel
Associated Press /
BAGHDAD - In the evenings, women in black gather at Umm Fatin's house to remember the dead.
Each family in the four neighboring houses in Tahrir, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold in Baqubah, has lost loved ones to bombings or shootings. Yet these deaths and countless others have fallen under the radar of the Iraq war. Nobody keeps an accurate tally of Iraqis killed because nobody knows.
As the Iraq conflict approaches its sixth anniversary, the number of American troop deaths - more than 4,250 - has been meticulously logged by the US military. Yet analysts are no closer to knowing how many Iraqi civilians have been killed, and they acknowledge a credible death toll will probably never be recorded....

The 'justification' for the war into Iraq was never within the grasp of the President or Vice President. There was no actual threat to the USA by Iraq. It was disarmed and we were flying missions over that country to maintain that status of a leader with UN Resolutions to remove him to trial.

The problem with the former Veep's statement in his interview is that me makes no accounting of the hardship to the people of Iraq. There are estimates of over a million dead by reputable insitutions. There are known refugees of more than two million. Well over a third of the county was in poverty as recently as last year. The services to the people of Iraq are diminished and never achieved Pre-War status. There is every estimation the central authority of Iraq is not recognized by the people as a long term solution for their country and PM Maliki is attempting to use our military as his own private militia.

The reasons the USA have for the war and the continued occupation have nothing to do with the country's national security and we are "W"rong regardless of the fear of the current central authority to its end after we are withdrawn from Iraq. We had no reason to invade and we have no reason to stay, regardless of how Commanders 'on the ground' seem to be enjoying a preceived victory after a 'surge' that killed more Iraqis. I don't believe the justification for any military action is based in 'feel good feelings' for the military post Vietnam. There is STILL today no threat to the USA by Iraq. Our soliders are not the military to the Iraqi Central Government, its a sovereignty issue when soldiers are deployed for purposes other than national security.

...(Cheney) What happened in Iraq is we've eliminated that possibility. We got rid of one of the worst dictators in the 20th century. We got rid of his government. There is no prospect that Iraq is going to become a place where once again they produce weapons of mass destruction or support terrorists, as they...

KING: No prospect or a less likely prospect?

CHENEY: Well, I think as long as it's a democratically governed country, as long as they have got the security forces they do now and a relationship with the United States, I think there is no prospect that you're going to see the kind of behavior out of this new government in Iraq that we saw out of the old one over a period of 20 or 30 years.

So I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, and I think when history reviews this period, 10 or 20 years hence, that what will be significant was that we did, in fact, accomplish what we set out to do, and that the other things are interesting and important, but, you know, they are secondary to the basic -- basic result....

A life is not a dollar bill. Maybe Republicans feel they know how to 'reach' irresponsibile bankers, but, it is a dangerous statement.

No one feels as though bonuses to AIG Executives are appropriate.

Bonuses to any company failing to support their product and employees while turning a positive bottom line for company longevity are undeserving. I find it unnecessary and more than crass to align such anger with a reasonable resolve.

The one positive aspect to Senator Grassley's statement is that he is actually blaming the people most responsible for extremely poor decision making and not the new administration that has actually inherited this mess.

The fiscal outcome of eight years of irresponsible spending in DC does not give permission, through act of hubris and preceived priviledge, to crashing a global economy. The problem is that poor examples existed at the top of government all those years and a lot of premission was given to a financial sector seeing no end in site to escalating budgets and raised debt ceilings. Nor did the financial sector know exactly where such increase in liquid capital would stop and with an Executive Branch in the White House continually screaming war was a necessity, nor did they feel it was reasonable to stop creating more financial capital regardless of how poorly many decisions were supported.

There is plenty of blame to go around and some of us OUT HERE actually saw all this 'disaster' coming, including the huge build up of 'Taliban War Fuel' now in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So, to say anyone directly responsible for fiscal irresponsibility either in government or business is innocent or actually has an excuse, needs to reconsider their position.

I will say this, however, the same executives that are CONSENTING and fall back on contractural reasons for accepting 'unearned' bonuses are more guilty of continued irresponsible decisions than they ever were before.

And to Senator Grassley, one of the hallmarks of civilization is to rise above 'primal screams' and work through methods that will attempt to correct a "W"rong path chosen by even you a long time ago. I doubt seriously that Senator Grassley actually meant any of those words except perhaps apology and resignation. He would regret anyone taking any other of his words seriously, I am confident he would regret any harm coming to anyone for any reason, self inflicted or otherwise. That does not mean we should look the other way entirely as we know full well there are members of our society that have died for reasons of financial ruin alone at their own hand and in acts imposed on them by others. For those deaths, there needs to be accountability as well. That would be justice as well as justified.

Let's get problems solved, shall we?

Was Tony Blair close enough to a solution?

Because it is looking and sounding just like the good ole days, when conflict was a way of life and oppression meant every suspected IRA leader was imprisoned.

When fiscal disasters hit delicate populations of recently settled, century long battles for freedom, it sparks the insecurities these parties had to invest in to in order to stop the conflict they inherited as a matter of identity in order to survive.

One of the reasons why violence is easy to come by in regions of the world where hatred ruled the day, is the identity of strength. With the Irish of Northern Ireland generations of sacrifice didn't need an economy to close English prisons and anchor religious freedom and acceptance. If a global financial crisis sparks old fears this easily, the diplomats that find the solutions need to also secure and guarantee an economy to stop the war forever.

This out burst of anger, which did not come unescorted by fiscal disregard due to an American administration eight years engaging in illegal war and homeland oppression and poverty, has to be viewed as aggravated and not based just in history. This incident in Ireland is a warning of the potential a global fiscal crisis, even the new USA administration identifies as a greater threat than any terrorist network, can spark. The authorities overseeing the violence in Ireland must find a way to engage economic oppression and turn it into opportunity, otherwise peace may continue to be illusive for a long time again.

Ex-IRA prisoner held over murders (click here)
Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
Saturday 14 March 2009 19.39 GMT
Colin Duffy, a prominent republican and former IRA prisoner, is one of three men being questioned over the murder of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland.
Police arrested Duffy, 41, today at his home on a private housing estate in Lurgan, Co Armagh. During the arrest-and-search operation, police cars and jeeps were attacked by youths hurling bricks, bottles and stones. The other two men were arrested in the Bellaghy area of south Derry this morning, a PSNI spokeswoman confirmed.
Three other men, including a 17-year-old and a former Sinn Féin councillor, are in custody in connection with the murder of constable Stephen Carroll.
Security remains tight throughout Northern Ireland and particularly around Greater Belfast this weekend, as the PSNI seeks to foil a feared Real IRA bomb plot. Last week security sources warned that the Real IRA had smuggled an explosive device into Northern Ireland from the Republic. Mobile checkpoints manned by armed police officers have been set up on several major arterial routes into the city....

PSNI officers search 3 homes in the Bellaghy area after the arrests of three men over the murder of two soldiers at Massereene Army barracks in Antrim last weekend


Masked rioters block the railway lines in Lurgan tonight after the arrest of Colin Duffy.


A masked youth prepares to throw a petrol bomb at police officers close to where a leading Irish Republican was arrested in connection with the recent murders of two British soldiers

Speaking at the National Press Club, Gerry Adams said his dream of a unified Ireland is more relevant now than ever. (Hyungwon Kang/ Reuters)

Sinn Fein leader calls for dialogue on Ireland's future (Click here)
Adams invites US Irish to join in conversation

By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 17, 2009

WASHINGTON - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams called yesterday for an international dialogue on the future of Ireland in the wake of attacks by republican dissidents in Northern Ireland this month that killed two British soldiers and a policeman.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Adams called on Irish Americans to participate in the conversation about Ireland's future through conferences organized by Sinn Fein to be held on June 13 in New York and on June 27 in San Francisco. A key goal of the conferences, he said, was to seek the Irish diaspora's advice about the best strategy to try to reunify the country through peaceful means.
"Our intention is to engage with the Irish diaspora and to marshal its political strength in support of a united Ireland,' " he said....

Top o' the mornin' to you

St Patrick's Day in White House is not mere shamrock diplomacy (click here)
THE ANNUAL shamrock ceremony at the White House has become such a familiar fixture in the political calendar that it’s easy to overlook the extraordinary and unlikely nature of today’s events in Washington.
Starting with a bilateral meeting in the morning and ending with a lavish reception this evening, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth will devote much of his working day to one of the smallest countries in Europe – one that is not even a military ally of the United States.
When Brian Cowen meets President Barack Obama in the Oval Office for almost an hour this morning, they will be joined by vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and national security adviser Jim Jones. After the shamrock ceremony, the Taoiseach and the president will join House speaker Nancy Pelosi for lunch on Capitol Hill, with dozens of congressmen and senators, including chairmen of some of the most powerful committees.
In the evening, the president will host almost 400 people at the most elaborate party the White House has seen since he took office. During the day, Clinton will meet the North’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister and Obama will find time to drop in on a meeting between the Northern leaders and Jones....

The Ireland that Saint Patrick knew (click here)
Andersonstown News Thursday
By Fr Des
We’re celebrating St Patrick again. Maybe this time we should also celebrate not just Patrick but the kind of Ireland he came to.
The Ireland Patrick came to was a highly organised, highly developed people, culturally and otherwise. The Druids were the intellectual elite. Trade was constant with countries to the northeast and in the Mediterranean. Ships of the period were capable of carrying hundreds of people and substantial cargos. Baltinglass in the Wicklow Hills was one of the most important settled trading communities. Highly organised agriculture was going on in what we now call the Ceide Fields in the West. Trading and organised farming had been going on for hundreds of years before Patrick arrived.
When Patrick was captured it must have been by people in ships of a size capable of carrying slaves, equipment, armed warriors. When he eventually escaped from bondage he managed to reach an Irish seaport where a cargo ship was anchored, ready to sail, probably toward France.
Hundreds of years before Patrick, around about 65 BC, there was a massive sea battle involving hundreds of ships, Celtic and Roman, somewhere by the northwest coast of France. The Roman ships were more easily manoeuvred than the heavier ocean-going Celtic vessels and the Celts were defeated by a change in the direction of the wind. That happened a few times in Irish history. Julius Caesar, in his ruthless extension of the Roman Empire, also had to destroy Celtic sea power to enable Romans to invade Britain. Roman forces eventually got up to what we think of as a line dividing England and Scotland and there is reason to suppose they could not progress further by sea because Rathlin Island, standing between Irish-controlled territories in Ireland and Scotland, barred the way.
Interesting stuff and far removed from the simple version of Patrick coming to civilise a rude and unlettered race. Roman citizens, like imperial warriors the world over, always thought they were civilising other peoples.
The people of Ireland before Patrick used their own Ogham writing, and Roman and Greek letters as well. They must have been highly literate otherwise they could not have been a trading nation, which they were.
Main roads before Patrick seem to have been well developed and so did the technical skills to build vast monuments like those at Newgrange and district. The Irish had these building skills before the Egyptians built their pyramids. Travelling through Ireland was a matter of using the main skillfully-laid roads and paying one’s way – a kind of toll charge – through territory where local rulers made a bob or two charging for safe passage.
The laws by which Irish people governed themselves before Patrick’s time were more humane and enlightened than Chinese law systems – we have interesting records of these – or the laws laid down in the Jewish Christian Old Testament which largely mirrored the law system of Hamurabi, a Babylonian lawyer.
Here is an interesting thought. We read in the Old Testament that Abraham was the founder of the Jewish race. He was born about 1500 BC. By that time the Ceide Fields had been organised, the Newgrange Monuments built. When the people of Ireland had already organised agriculture, trade, laws and customs, Abraham had not even been born.
The important question is not whether Patrick came and civilized us, the important question is what effect he had on a people culturally, economically and politically developed already.
And why it happened the way it did.