Ebook: Britain's Military Strategy in Ireland: The Kitson Experiment

Britain's Military Strategy in Ireland is a detailed survey of Britain's military confrontation with the I.R.A. Drawing on intelligence sources, personal knowledge and experience of Ireland, as well as contacts with the political forces involved, the author assesses the strategy of the British Army and secret services. The implementation of General Frank Kitson's theory of low intensity operations, he argues, combined with the deployment of the SAS, MI6's dirty tricks department, and tough measures against political prisoners, have set a dangerous precedent. Northern Ireland has become a laboratory to experiment with new methods of controlling civilian populations; these methods include the widespread use of Computers and mass surveillance techniques, new strategies of riot control, and also psychological operations. The implications both in Ireland and elsewhere are disturbing.