Importance of Even-Handedness : Will Clinton hold a ‘balancing’ meeting after Sinn Fein leader’s visit?

President Clinton’s decision to meet with Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the Northern Irish political party whose partner is the infamous Irish Republican Army, is a regrettable mistake. The scheduled Adams-Clinton meeting has harmed the prospects of a bold and risky step toward peace, the “Framework Document” issued jointly by Britain and Ireland. Nothing is more important to preserving and extending the fragile peace that now reigns in Northern Ireland than the acceptance of this document by all the affected parties as a foundation for future discussion.

Unfortunately, no party feels more threatened by it than the Unionist party, representing the mostly Protestant majority of Northern Ireland that wishes continued political union with Britain. Just at this moment, then, Sinn Fein and the IRA did not require whatever reassurance a meeting with Clinton may provide. On the contrary, if there is a U.S. role at all, it must consist of reassurance to the other side. The Unionists must be reassured that the Joint Framework Document does not signal unconditional rehabilitation of a group whose terrorist record makes their blood (and ours) run cold, much less an official license for it to raise gun money in the United States.

Adams need not be barred from this country and probably cannot legally be prohibited from opening a political office in Washington. But a visit with the President? This was a gratuitous and counterproductive move--one that reflects a lamentable misreading of the political needs of the moment. Clinton ought now to extend a balancing invitation to James Molyneaux, the head of the relatively moderate Ulster Unionist Party.

Presidential meetings have inevitable political meaning. We regretted Clinton’s failure to meet with Russian reformer Gregory A. Yavlinsky when he visited Washington recently. We fear that he may refuse to meet with Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui when Lee visits the United States in June. What is called for, finally, is nothing more than closer attention to where American national interests really lie.