Broth of a boy - President Clinton recognizes Sinn Fein

National Review, Oct 24, 1994

AGAINST the advice of the State Department, President Clinton has decided to recognize Sinn Fein, the "political wing" of the terrorist IRA, and to authorize U.S. officials to hold talks with it. Vice President Gore informed Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams of this in a telephone call to him at the home of Ethel Kennedy, where he was staying in the course of his American trip.

Exactly what has Mr. Adams done to deserve such regard. He has promised that the IRA will stop murdering people for the time being. This promise implies that he has some power in these matters. If so, he is presumably responsible for at least some of the murders and maimings over the last 25 years. And there is evidence to that effect. Ten years ago, the respected British investigative television program World in Action alleged that Mr. Adams had been responsible for a string of terrorist crimes as an active member of the Provisional IRA. For instance, in 1978, when he was the IRA's chief of staff, it bombed the La Mon restaurant just outside Belfast, burning 12 people to death.

British libel law is far more strict than our own. If these charges had been false, Mr. Adams could have sued and won huge damages. He did not do so. He now has a second opportunity, since The Spectator has just rehashed them. For instance: "A 22-year-old Catholic, John McEnnis,... was attacked when his father refused to hand over some guns Mr. Adams believed he was hiding. Two unidentified men held John McEnnis down while a third shot him in the neck. The next day Mr. Adams was seen outside John McEnnis's front door, brandishing a gun and warning his distraught family not to talk to the police." Unless Mr. Adams now takes legal action against The Spectator, we must conclude that this is an accurate description of Mrs. Kennedy's guest.

Of course, Mr. Adams claims that he is not a member of the IRA and has had no part in murder (apart from giving it general moral support). If that claim were true, however, he could claim no credit for ending the murder campaign. He claims such credit all the same. Indeed, he threatens that the IRA may resume the killing if its demands are not met.

These threats are given greater force by the fact that in the Catholic districts of Northern Ireland, the IRA is enforcing law and order with, according to the London Independent, "baseball bats, iron bars, pick-axe handles, and, in one case, a cudgel studded with nails." Such displays have two effects on the law-abiding. They produce gratitude that someone is tackling local hoods who break into houses and steal car radios. And they remind them, none too subtly, just who is boss - in case the IRA should decide to resume operations down the line.

The likelihood of renewed terrorism is increased when a U.S. Administration encourages the terrorists to hold out for their maximum demands by giving them diplomatic respectability. Why? Presumably ably to win Irish-American votes in November. But Irish-America has outgrown the romantic historical myths that today conceal a squalid mixture of terrorism and thuggery. Gerry Adams can deliver even fewer votes in Boston than in Belfast. And the price of those few votes is shaking hands with murder.