Face the truth about disarmament of IRA

Re “Hope in Ireland,” editorial, July 29

For years, if not centuries, the British attempted to impose “Pax Britannic” on Ireland. The result was the type of resistance we label “terrorism.”

Military occupation only served to heighten resentment and led to violent and often self-defeating actions perpetrated by those who felt helpless.

The Irish have long prayed for peace and freedom from oppression, but it has only been since the British came to recognize the futility of a military solution that productive negotiations marginalized the radicals and headway was made toward peace.

Now, what about Iraq?

Richard Fox

Dana Point

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To believe Niall O’Dowd’s article (“The men who tamed the IRA,” Opinion, July 29), then one also must believe in leprechauns and the so-called magical powers of the Blarney Stone.

Trust an Irish American to concoct a romantic and sanitized version of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and their role in the IRA leadership.

Please, let us cast aside the fantasies and dreams, and face the facts: Adams and McGuinness, both members of the IRA’s military council, were, for more than three decades, the architects and driving force behind the IRA’s murderous terror campaign -- they were the nightmare. I so look forward to reading O’Dowd’s next article, concerning, no doubt, the heroics of Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi.

Michael H. Barton

Los Angeles