Could the US arm a civil war in UK? they armed the IRA

hatespekmonitor

Just sayin..

Reply 1

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by hatespekmonitor

Just sayin..

There won't be a civil war in the UK, (despite Musk's ramblings), but we'll consider it a hypothethical question.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that "the USA supplied arms to the IRA". There was funding from individuals and various smuggling and gun running, but nothing you could really attribute to "the USA".

"Assisted by extensive funding from some Irish Americans, the IRA procured weapons from international arms dealers and foreign countries, including Libya." - Britannica

"The two main sources of weaponry for the IRA have been the USA and Libya. The main gun-running network in the USA was controlled by a veteran Irish Republican called George Harrison. He supplied arms not only for the 'Border Campaign' (aka 'Fifties Campaign') of the IRA, which was conducted for a number of years up to 1962, but also for the campaign that started in 1969. His network was finally broken up in the early 1980s by the FBI but it is believed that weapons supplied by him are still in use.

Other gun-running attempts were made in the USA, but many ended in failure. As the table shows, the US federal agencies, especially the FBI, have become increasingly proficient at disrupting IRA arms procurement activities in the USA. (The FBI formed a special unit to concentrate on Irish paramilitaries.)" - PBS Frontline (a really good resource this, has a nice table showing various weapons sources).