Hogwash! to IRA’s Apology for Violence
Re “IRA Offers a Sweeping Apology,” July 17: The Irish Republican Army’s “sweeping apology offer” is hypocritical, ludicrous and incongruous to say the least. It states that the IRA apologizes for killing and injuring civilians during its long campaign of violence against British rule in Northern Ireland. Hogwash!
I lived in London from 1971 to 1976, during which time the IRA indiscriminately placed bombs in purely civilian locations (restaurants, hotels) in London, and I myself, an American, narrowly missed (by 10 minutes) being killed or injured. It got so bad that whenever we spotted a package in an alley, etc., we were advised to avoid the location by a wide margin.
It is interesting that the State Department never branded the IRA a terrorist group but Hamas and other groups are rightfully so designated. It is sadly obvious that the difference is influence and support in Washington.
Fred Newman
Marina del Rey
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