The IRA-Iraq Connection

In one of the most bizzare stories of terrorism and counterterrorism I've ever seen, the UK Independent newspaper reports that eight UK soldiers killed in Iraq were killed by IRA bomb technology, that the IRA got the technology from UK agents, and finally, that the Iraq terrorists got the technology via tech-sharing between terrorist groups.

That last part is perhaps even more bizarre than the bit about the UK's "shadowy army undercover outfit, the Force Research Unit, and officers from MI5" giving the infrared trigger technology to the IRA. Says the Independent:

The former agent added: "The ... technology came from the security forces, but the IRA always shared its equipment and expertise with Farc guerrillas in Colombia, the Basque separatists, ETA and Palestinian groups. There is no doubt in my mind that the technology used to kill our troops in Basra is the same British technology from a decade ago."

Where and how, exactly, do terrorists get together to share the latest on ways to pack bombs with rat poison and nails, or methods for duping lost young kids into carrying out their bloody work?

That the IRA wants to help Farc kill Saturday shoppers in Columbia, and Farc is all for exploding school buses in Israel reveals something I didn't think was possible: That these groups are even more reprehensible and disgusting than I thought.