THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120017
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By HAP BARKO
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
``IRA's Adams must walk line between leadership, respect'' (Perspectives, March 11) asked us to accept Gerry Adams and Yasser Arafat as credible leaders who are emerging as peacemakers of international stature. I submit that Adams and Arafat have forfeited any right to play a role in the peace process. I also submit that both ``leaders'' require a closer look before either can be taken as credible and worthy of our respect.
Gerry Adams, alleged to be the IRA's chief of staff (But he's denied that, don't you know? Wouldn't you?), is now being portrayed as a victim, between a rock and a hard place, because the IRA's motto is ``Once in, never out.'' After all, what's a terrorist to do? It would be too much to suggest that Adams publicly condemn the cowardice of IRA terrorism and potentially risk his life for the principles of peace and a representative governance. Other leaders in Ireland who are willing to risk their lives for such noble ideals are forced to live in a virtual fortresslike environment due to the 25-year reign of terror waged by Adams' IRA associates. But these leaders, who have the courage to publicly repudiate all such acts of terrorism, are branded as ``unionist exporter(s) of hate and bigotry.'' Whose leadership demands our respect?
Mr. Clinton's attempt to legitimize the activities of these two ``reformed terrorists'' is ludicrous. He stands before us with big puppy-dog eyes and pleads, ``Can't we all get along? Just give peace a chance.'' The twisted path that brings men like Adams and Arafat to the White House is typical of the cronyism that dogs this administration. The character of Adams and Arafat and their unsavory ties with violence and bloodshed demand some evidence of good faith if we are to accept them as leaders in search of peace. But let's look at the facts:
Arafat promised to remove from the PLO charter the call for Israel's destruction; to date, he has not. The same day, Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles (peace accord) more than two years ago, he assured the Palestinians via Jordanian TV that he was simply implementing the 10-step 1974 PLO Plan of Phases for Israel's destruction. The first step (now successfully accomplished) calls for gaining territory within Israel as an operations base for Israel's final holocaust. On Jordanian TV last fall, just before the Washington summit, Arafat reconfirmed that the PLO Plan of Phases is on track. And there is no shortage of volunteers (young Palestinians) who wish to become martyrs in the jihad against Israel by carrying a suicide bomb.
Similarly, at the 1983 Ard Fheis of Sinn Fein, Adams stated in his speech upon election as president, ``I would like to elaborate on Sinn Fein's attitude toward armed struggle. Armed struggle is a necessary and morally correct form of resistance. . . . There are those who tell us that the British government will not be moved by armed struggle . . . they (British government) will not be moved by anything else. I am glad therefore of the opportunity to pay tribute to the freedom fighters the men and women of the IRA.''
But that was 1983, right? On March 6, Adams told America's Irish Voice newspaper that the IRA was ``ready for another 25 years of war,'' and that decommissioning of arms was out of the question. Furthermore, while he (through Sinn Fein) acts as spokesman for the IRA, he refused to condemn their acts of terrorism. When Prime Minister John Major recently made the decommissioning of arms a prerequisite to negotiating in good faith, the IRA responded with another bomb blast. We are told that the real responsibility for the bombing lies with Major because ``the IRA was getting inpatient with Britain's lethargic approach to the peace process.'' No, this is a sell-out to armed terrorists who, when asked to put down their weapons and talk, respond by throwing bodies out the door and then use twisted logic to blame the other party for the victims' death.
This is leadership that we are to respect? I think not. I respect rattlesnakes, but I'm not ready to cozy up to them until they've had their fangs and venom removed. MEMO: Hap Barko is a Virginia Beach resident of Irish descent. He is a
personal friend of Northern Ireland leader Ian Paisley and recently
discussed the peace process in Ireland on a British Broadcasting Corp.
documentary. by CNB