Blair has already declared "war on terrorism" and the SAS are going to be assisting the Americans to get bin Laden (in the Telegraph today).
Regards, Ivan
LET US GO FORWARD TOGETHER
Posted on 09/16/2001 11:19:36 PM PDT by MadIvan
AN attack on US foreign policy by the house newspaper of Sinn Fein, the Provisional IRA's political wing, has signalled the opening of a breach with Washington, until now a champion of Irish republicanism's "peace strategy".
In an editorial entitled "A massive human tragedy", An Phoblacht declared: "We know only too well how in the Middle East and in Central America the pursuit of a militaristic and aggressive policy by US governments, and by those governments it sponsored, led to the deaths of many thousands of innocent people.
"It will compound the tragedy of 11 September, 2001, if that is repeated." It added that the Middle East was a "political disaster area" for which the West and its client governments bore much responsibility.
"Lashing out in that direction at targets vaguely defined under the label `international terrorism' will fulfil only the desire for revenge and ultimately inflame the region yet further."
This editorial line, commonplace before the "peace process", was a de facto recognition by Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, that, he is short of friends in Washington.
Unionist politicians are not alone in noting that his opportunities to visit the White House will have been greatly reduced. President Bush's declaration of war on terrorism, and Tony Blair's support, have pointed to a sea change in their dealings with Sinn Fein, according to a cross-section of political sources in London, Dublin and Belfast.
The skids were already under Sinn Fein when three alleged IRA men were arrested in Colombia last month. They are accused of training the Marxist terrorist group FARC, a sworn enemy of the United States, in bomb-making and of entering Colombia on false passports.
The US is so concerned by FARC's potential to destabilise the region and its control of the cocaine trade, that it has committed millions of dollars and military expertise to fighting the insurgents.
Mr Adams's first response to that crisis was to go into hiding for three weeks, saying he was on holiday. He re-emerged amid the scenes of loyalist and republican adults clashing outside a Roman Catholic primary school in Belfast, but his usual media performances are curiously muted since exposure of the Colombia affair.
He had insisted that he still intends to visit Fidel Castro's Cuba, but the trip appears to have been postponed indefinitely, no doubt fearing the negative Washington reaction. Then came the suicide plane attacks of last week and appeasement of terrorism suddenly went out of fashion.
Political sources on both sides of the Irish border admitted that the attacks have changed "the dynamic of the peace process". It is inconceivable that the Provisionals could continue to be indulged over their refusal to disarm at a time when Western leaders are declaring war on terrorism.
How bad it gets for the Provos depends on the review President Bush is conducting into the IRA's Colombian links and his reaction to it.
There is still time for the Provos to pull a rabbit out of a hat by making some minimalist gesture on decommissioning. But the likelihood is that they will batten down the hatches and wait for the wind to turn in their favour again.
Five Sinn Fein members were briefly detained in Istanbul yesterday, hours after arriving to visit a group of Left-wing hunger strikers, Turkish officials said. The delegation led by Alex Maskey, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, was intending to visit a "resistance house" where hunger strikers were protesting over jail conditions but police had raided it the previous day.
No offense, MadIvan, but I was actually rather hoping we could use Sinn Fein in this conflict.
They get most of their funding from Irish-Americans and most of their political cover from Irish-American politicians.
I had hoped they might become a 5th column in the terrorist camp; we'll see.
cicero's_son
ps: don't get me wrong on this; I personally despise the IRA
Ivan - Which Irish whiskey would I have to buy to make sure not a damn cent of it would end up going to these terrorists?
Thank goodness we have a president again who has his brain and his dick in the right places. And has a heart to boot.
Probably that letter/editorial was a bad idea.
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