Hypocritical reactions - Terror rules in Gaza and in Ukraine

When, almost 100 years ago — May 7, 1915 — the blue riband liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine 18km off Cork, the atrocity contributed to a train of events that cost scores of millions of lives and, to this day, defines our world.

The tragedy, in which 1,201 passengers lost their lives — many of whom are buried in Cobh — was the immediate pretext for America joining the allies to defeat Germany after five years of industrial-scale carnage in World War I. That defeat, and the society-breaking reparations demanded of Germany, led to World War II and eventually the establishment of the European Union.

It might be a less-than-perfect use of history to suggest a parallel between the unprovoked sinking of the Lusitania and the destruction of the Malaysian plane MH17 over Ukraine by pro-Russian terrorists last Thursday, with the loss of 298 lives, but it would be poor politics and very poor, neglectful diplomacy to ignore the similarities.