Newly Released Papers Reveal British General's Criticism of Bloody Sunday Inquiry

General Sir Rupert Smith called the 1998 Saville Inquiry a 'cynical political move' while acknowledging Bloody Sunday as a 'uniquely appalling event.'

• General Sir Rupert Smith, former commander of British troops in Northern Ireland, opposed the 1998 Bloody Sunday Inquiry, calling it a 'cynical political move' to scapegoat soldiers.
• The Saville Inquiry was launched by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair after decades of campaigning by families of the 13 victims killed in the 1972 Londonderry shootings.
• Smith argued that the original Widgery Report, which largely exonerated soldiers, 'got it about right' and criticized efforts to assign absolute guilt in the complex situation.
• Newly released Irish State Papers document Smith's belief that the inquiry shifted blame from politicians to soldiers, though he acknowledged Bloody Sunday as a 'uniquely appalling event.'
• The 2010 Saville Inquiry concluded there was no justification for the shootings, that victims posed no threat, and that some soldiers gave knowingly false accounts.

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