Gerry Adams

I noticed today several reports concerning snubs in Washington for Gerry Adams. The Independent reported that:

Alleged IRA links to the murder of Robert McCartney in Belfast and the £26m Northern Bank raid have displeased the American Republican party and Mr Adams is expected to face a barrage of tough questions in the US.

I always thought that the American regime believed that Sinn Fein and the IRA were two separate things. That while America was one of Britain's greatest allies, it respected (as do I, incidentally) the Irish people's right to vote for a radical republican party divorced from violence that sought a united, independent Ireland.

If they genuinely believe that Sinn Fein is not associated with the IRA, while should they now start to snub Mr. Adams because of the IRA-linked murder of Mr McCartney? What does Mr Adams have to do with it with the murder, given that Sinn Fein is not linked with the IRA? Have they suddenly recognised an IRA/Sinn Fein link? Or are they indirectly now admitting that they knew there was a link? I don't know if Sinn Fein are connected with the IRA, but the Americans' snubs now seem to suggest that they think they are. This means our greatest ally has, every year, welcomed a man they believed to be associated with bomb attacks and assassinations against British citizens. Had the British welcomed Colonel Qaddafi, who also claims to have nothing to do with terrorism, every year, would we now have the "special relationship" that Britain and America have "enjoyed" for so long?

Kalhnyxta se olous, nos da i chi gyd and goodnight each.