Gallowglass

The proof of the pudding

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade - the images of Hussein’s statue being yanked down, and of celebrating Iraqis are genuinely heartening. But does this mean that Iraqis will welcome the US and British armies in the long term? The history of Northern Ireland provides some reason for pessimism. People forget that British troops originally arrived in Northern Ireland to protect the Catholic population from rampaging Loyalist mobs - and were welcomed by Catholics as saviors. Hence this picture, of a Catholic woman giving a British soldier a welcoming cuppa.

As everyone knows, Catholic mothers weren’t providing tea for the boyos of the British army for too long. Let’s wait and see what happens in Iraq.