IRA Bombing in London

In attempting to lay the blame for the appalling Feb. 9 bombing in London not only at the door of the IRA, but also of the British government, your Feb. 12 editorial is a very far cry indeed from the response of the Irish government, of President Clinton and of all other responsible leaders. The bombing is a serious setback to the peace process, but the British government remains totally committed to the search for peace. What is urgently needed is a resumption of the cease-fire, and a means of providing the confidence necessary to bring all parties to the negotiating table.

Prime Minister John Major has proposed one way of achieving this, through an elective process which would lead speedily to negotiations between all parties committed to democratic and peaceful methods. This may not be the only route to permanent peace, but the British government continues to believe it is the most promising one which has been advanced to date. Only negotiations are capable of moving the political process forward--not further bombs.

MERRICK S. BAKER-BATES

British Consul General

Los Angeles

* Major says only when IRA leaders commit themselves unequivocally to peace, and reinstate the cease-fire, can they have a voice and stake in Northern Ireland’s future. This is laughable from the man who has continued to drag his feet in the 18 months since the IRA cease-fire. Major’s words show what a hypocrite this man truly is when it comes to peace in Ireland. It was the IRA, after all, that laid down their arms and declared the cease-fire, not the so-called loyalist paramilitary units, which sometimes function openly and with impunity from the British army.

Major has ignored President Clinton’s challenge to forge ahead, by his ludicrous preconditions, which are not being placed on any of the other parties. Yes, the IRA cease-fire will more than likely be renewed. What then will Major’s response be? Must we wait another 18 months for action? We’ve waited 800 years!

JAMES G. McGUIRK

Santa Monica

* Your editorials on Northern Ireland are sending the wrong message. On Jan. 26 you objected rather undemocratically that an election might give the wishes of the majority “the upper hand” [in negotiations]. Your latest one equivocates about whose fault it was that people were killed by bombs in London. The IRA are lawless terrorists; even during the “cease-fire” they have been quietly killing and maiming people who stopped paying them off or offended in other ways.

The only reason that anyone takes any real notice of a terrorist like Gerry Adams is that bombing and shooting might start again if things are not done his way and to his timetable. The reason he does not want an election is that it would expose how few people would vote for him.

Only in articles on foreign countries, be it Ireland, Yugoslavia or Latin America, do you give equal moral weight (and headlines) to violent minority terrorist factions and mainstream political parties supported by most citizens. The message you send is that the Communist dictator was right: Power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

JOHN KENNETT

Claremont