Talk Is Cheap

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 4/8/3

[WaveThatFlag]

When does a "peace process" become more about process and less about peace?

That question comes to mind in light of yesterday's Belfast summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Iraq was certainly at the top of the agenda for the 25-hour meeting. But two other festering trouble spots found their way into the discussions as well -- Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

[Cicero]

Well, I would put a different spin on the Irish "peace" process. The IRA has faithfully kept the cease fire for many years now. (Small acts of violence have been perpetrated by splinter factions, not by the IRA itself.) The Orangemen have proved completely unwilling to work with the Irish in a coalition government. What give there has been has all been on the side of the IRA. An extended truce is better than violence, perhaps but the basic problem has remained unchanged.

[WaveThatFlag]

I make no apologies for the IRA, but I don't think that most people in this country are aware of the fact that most of the (limited) violence in Northern Ireland in recent years has been on the part of Loyalist Protestants. Nevertheless, what violence there has been has been statistically insignificant. Public perception that things in Belfast are just as bad as in Gaza is politically correct self-flagellating nonsense on the part of white liberals who desperately want to demonstrate that "we're no better than you."