IRA Has Disarmed

and, as a result, is about defeated.

The IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use, the head of the arms decommissioning body has said. General John de Chastelain made the announcement at a news conference accompanied by the two churchmen who witnessed the process.

"We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal."

There is a lesson to be learned here. The British tried a military approach to the IRA for decades, and the fight continued without end in sight. Only when the situation of the society that they lived in change did a non violent path become viable.

The support waned, and their acceptance declined, and a settlement resulted.

Lets hope someone was taking notes.