Gen Robert Ford, a key figure in the Bloody Sunday operation, closely aligned himself with the Stormont regime's demand for tougher security measures and favoured shooting rioters, it was claimed yesterday.
Mr Arthur Harvey QC told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that three days before the banned Civil Rights march in Derry on January 30th, 1972, Stormont ministers had anticipated that the military operation to contain it could end up in a "shooting war".
Mr Harvey drew attention to the minutes of a meeting of the joint security committee at Stormont on January 27th, presided over by Mr John Taylor as the Minister for Home Affairs in Northern Ireland.
He noted the document included the comment that the operation in Derry "might well develop into rioting and even a shooting war", but he said it was truncated there and no discussion of this contingency was recorded.
Mr Harvey commented: ". . . it is inconceivable that any political body or security committee responsible for the safety and wellbeing of its citizens could receive with equanimity the expression that the march . . . could end up in a shooting war and no comment be made."
Counsel argued that in the run-up to Bloody Sunday the Stormont government, with the late Mr Brian Faulkner as its prime minister, had pressed strongly for tougher security measures, particularly in Derry where the nationalist community had established "no go" areas.
It was apparent, he said, Stormont had little grasp or understanding of the international implications of extreme repressive measures being taken, and little, if any, understanding of the domestic legality of some of the proposals they sought to pursue.
Mr Harvey said Gen Harry Tuzo, the GOC Northern Ireland, had demonstrated a consciousness that the army should not be drawn into the political arena and that security measures should leave room for political change and development. He tried to maintain a very significant balancing act.
But Gen Ford, who was Commander of Land Forces in Northern Ireland, took "the very simplistic soldierly view that if there is disorder, then order should be restored; if there are breaches of the law, then the law should be enforced", counsel said.
Gen Ford, it appeared, failed to understand the significance of the position in Derry and aligned himself closely with the Stormont regime's view. Mr Harvey added: "Regrettably, as a soldier he had been elevated to a position where he could genuinely alter the course of history, because to a large extent he started to make political decisions under the guise of the reinforcement of law and order."
Mr Harvey said the documents and memoranda of the time, discovered by the inquiry, indicated that by mid-January 1972 Gen Ford had come to the conclusion that the only solution was to shoot people who were involved in rioting.
Counsel suggested the interpretation to be placed on the copious documentation concerning the military and political discussions and meetings at the time was that Bloody Sunday was not unforeseen.