TTN, I understand your point and I agree... although after what has been happening over the last 18 months, I am very suspicious of anybody who targets those who have ties with the military.
While I wasn't around during the worst of The Troubles, I do have an interest in military history and the attacks that have happened are quite similar in nature to those made by the IRA. Whether or not they were more or less brutal is open for debate, although I don't think said debate is appropriate on this thread so I will leave it there.
Any country who has been involved in Afghan and Iraq would be stupid to let their guard down on their streets, IMHO.