North of Ireland Politics

I think this is the key point. Paramilitaries, by definition, operate outside of the law. They're illegal organisations for the most part.  National armies should always be held to a much higher standard. It doesn't matter what country they're from. (E.g. Israeli army at the moment, commiting horrible atrocities, but that's for another thread).

I think what we're finally seeing in the North is, all bar the unionist hardliners in the DUP and the Seamus Byrson cosplay extremist types, are coming to realise that. Think there has been some significant comments by Arlene Foster (surprise suprise now she's free of the cult ) and Doug Beattie (ex BA and probably the man who should soon be leader of the UUP). They are to be welcomed.

What's significant though is this hasn't raised so much as much blip in the UK media across water. The denial they stil have about their colonial history, even as recent as 50 years ago, is breath taking. If anything, as they've gone more right wing over the past decade, they've dug their heads further into the sand. 

For most in the UK, the only significant folk memory they have of their army is the 'good war' they fought from 1939-1945. (And to a lessor extent The Great War). That has shaped their opinion of every engagement their army has every fought in. Their knowledge beyond that i have found is almost non existent. In fact, my experience is that Irish people tend to be more aware of historical BA involvements in campaigns like the Nopoleotoc Wars, The Boer Wars, service in India etc through family historys (in the 18th and 19th centuries when we we proportionally over subscribed in the British Army)