Many Democrat "fixes"are strictly for public consumption rather than real world effect. Look at all of Obama's policies.
#42 seemed to never see a terrorist attack despite flight 800, the Murrah Building in OKC, two American Embassy bombings and the attack on the USS Cole. Any time our forces had Osama in their sights they had to get permission to take him out directly from #42. Somehow, they could never find him.
He sought to avoid tough political decisions, especially those affecting the Left or the Muslim terrorists. The IRA problem is the same one Slick avoided while in office, Communists and their efforts to disrupt and destroy Western Society.