Secretary of State Hillary Clinton needs to step in and dissuade the British Government from pursuing the Boston College tapes any further.
The attempt to bring the case to the Supreme Court by Boston College and others will almost certainly fail, as the relevant U.S./British treaty that the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals judges accepted when releasing the tape ensures the ability of countries to seek materials related to terrorism from another country.
The relevance of the treaties for, say, obtaining Al Qaeda information from another country is clearly highly prized, and the treaty is written so that there is very limited discretion for overturning it.
The British are seeking the tapes to see what dissident IRA supporters stated about Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and his alleged role in what happened long ago in Northern Ireland.
What purpose that serves other than to disrupt and potentially cause major problems for the peace process is hard to see.
The history of Northern Ireland during The Troubles is replete with violence done by all sides to each other. One of the most amazing aspects of the peace process has been the ability of all parties to move past those grim times and give peace and politics a chance.
Now comes an opportunity for Clinton to add yet another plus beside her major contributions to the peace process.
There is precedent here. Several extradition cases involving IRA members in America were dropped by the British government following the Good Friday Agreement after quiet diplomacy by the U.S. government which saw the greater good in having those cases not pursued. That is clearly the case here.
The Boston College interviews were deeply flawed efforts to undermine the peace process, conducted by those, including journalist Ed Moloney and academic Anthony McIntyre, who are deeply hostile to Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams, with opponents of Adams who were only too keen to try and finger him.
How and why Boston College agreed to the interviews under those conditions, given the political leanings of those who took part, is still astounding. Now they are belatedly trying to push a legal case that experts believe has very little chance of winning.
However, the political path seems far more promising. A quiet word from Clinton that the Americans believe this is potentially harmful to the peace process and merely gives succor to those who oppose the process is the best way forward.
Given her outstanding work on behalf of the process in the past, there seems little doubt that Clinton could step up to the plate again.
Let us hope so.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.curtisjohnson | Sep 30, 2012, 08:58 PM EDT
lol.
seanomelb | Sep 29, 2012, 07:23 PM EDT
Sorry Curtisjohnson it must have been a Freudian slip I was referring to woundedbrain
Gordan Duggan | Sep 28, 2012, 07:31 PM EDT
Seanomelb, what pork pies would they be?
leahkinsella | Sep 28, 2012, 07:14 PM EDT
Real IRA members were this week caught spying on Garda Headquarters with cameras in a hotel across the street. Unfortunately, they went outside for a smoke and and two members of the Special Branch recognised them from the records and survelliance - and they were arrested. Read up on it.
seanomelb | Sep 28, 2012, 02:03 AM EDT
Tell someone who cares Gordon!! You got it Curtisjohnson he's an embarrassment to himself and he also tells pork pies.
curtisjohnson | Sep 27, 2012, 09:50 PM EDT
"Remember folks Fallsrnat was a serving member of the British army terrorising others on behalf of HM. He's just another Brit mouthpiece" Yeah - one of those brave souls boldly confronting and harrassing unarmed women and children now turned brit troll.
Gordan Duggan | Sep 27, 2012, 07:52 PM EDT
CanadianIrish: Yes the ROI security forces have been watching Adams for years and they do know he was in the IRA. I remember him "resigning from the IRA Army Council" some years ago. So do the CIA and FBI!
seanomelb | Sep 27, 2012, 07:41 PM EDT
Remember folks Fallsrnat was a serving member of the British army terrorising others on behalf of HM. He's just another Brit mouthpiece.
SeamusMartin | Sep 27, 2012, 07:00 PM EDT
Whom ever can help to keep sleeping dogs lie is welcomed. Otherwise, it'll be back to the old tit-for-tat, Hatfield-McCoy Bull Sh!t thats gone on for centuries. No more shed blood! Blessed be the peacemakers.
FallsRNat | Sep 27, 2012, 12:46 PM EDT
i'm sorry, but why do Irish republicans have special privilages when it comes to the exemption of their activities under terrorist offences, 90% of the irish community in both North & South totally abhor them, we are trying to live peacefully & co-exist with our Loyalist neighbours, the terrorists on both sides have done very well from the peace process, as democrats, it is not our fault that these people put pen to paper & they certainly shouldn't be rewarded for their actions.
FallsRNat | Sep 27, 2012, 11:34 AM EDT
keep that cow out of my hometown.
curtisjohnson | Sep 26, 2012, 10:30 PM EDT
"Correct me if I've got this wrong, but does the US Constitution not hold that the judiciary is independent of the executive?" Ratified treaties are a gray area.
curtisjohnson | Sep 26, 2012, 10:28 PM EDT
The whole thing shows what a fraud the GFA was - the same level of british fidelity as was shown by their imposition of the penal laws after the Treaty of Limerick. The british terror state should release their own classified files revealing their massive projects of state sponsored terrorism agains civilian non-combatants all over the world.
Springfield9 | Sep 26, 2012, 07:23 PM EDT
Whomever wrote this editorial - please send me a case of what you're drinking! The words Hillary and Ireland should never be seen together. we have (roughly) 100 days of that porcine beauty - let us silence ourselves with regard to her.
seanomelb | Sep 26, 2012, 06:36 PM EDT
canadianirish he most likely was a member as was most of the old guard in Sinn Fein. The GFA supposedly put all that behind us but the mean spirited British and their orange minions in Belfast aided by Maloney (a west Brit) and Fein Gael who have a spiteful hate of Sinn Fein since 1921. If the British had integrity in this matter the would charge their own murdering terrorist for crimes committed in the north of Ireland.
canadianirish | Sep 26, 2012, 05:05 PM EDT
Does anyone know with 100% certainty whether Gerry Adams was actually a member of the IRA? This question keeps popping up over here.
aloistmartin | Sep 26, 2012, 04:37 PM EDT
They need her more in Madrid and Athens: Capitalism must Work !
RedBranch | Sep 26, 2012, 03:15 PM EDT
Nice try Niall, but you forgot some items: 1. Anthony McIntyre is a IRA / Civil Rights Activist Hero who did 19 years in the 'Kesh'. Gerry Adams hardly did 19 weeks. 2.The interview given by IRA / Civil Rights Activist Marion Price (and the basis for the PSNI investigation/request)was duplicated by her this weekend and reported on this site. So the issues of the tapes is mute, we have Brendan Hughes' disposition already (he was another IRA / Civil Rights activist / Hero) and they all point to the same thing Gerry Adams was (is?) an IRA / Civil Rights / Peace Campaigner /Hero. What's the Problem?
DanOLoingsigh | Sep 26, 2012, 02:34 PM EDT
Correct me if I've got this wrong, but does the US Constitution not hold that the judiciary is independent of the executive?
Nicomax | Sep 26, 2012, 12:28 PM EDT
Is PhultiPhan suggesting during the "Troubles" that Northern Ireland was the essence of capitalism, while the Republic was the bastion of Marxism, and Gerry Adams still wants to keep it that way? If so, what were all those bankers, real estate moguls and other swells doing in the Republic when they gambled and brought down the entire Irish economy?
Gordan Duggan | Sep 26, 2012, 12:24 PM EDT
The last two posters are right about Adams. He is a radical Socialist and has paid too many visits to Cuba for my liking. The goal of Sinn Fein/IRA is to unite Ireland by any means possible, whether by the ballot box and if necessary by force. The smiling faces are false and Adams and McGuinness have questions to answer, but they avoid answering and get annoyed when they are asked.
dickmac | Sep 26, 2012, 11:14 AM EDT
There is a Treaty that is effect with our country and Ireland. How can she over rule that document
PhlutiePhan | Sep 26, 2012, 10:24 AM EDT
Gerry Adams is a radical socialist read "Communist". It is his purpose to destroy whatever remnants there are for the land of St. Patrick. I served in the Med in 1975 on board a U.S. cruiser. Two Brit officers came on for anti-sub warfare training. One lost two brothers to "the troubles". The other told me that the Brits wanted to pull out of Ireland. However, they could not due to socialists like Gerry Adams who want to make Ireland into another Cuba. That is the goal of Gerry Adams. The Brits are trying to get the real story out to block the socialist ambitions of Sinn Fein. Unfortunately, Hillary and the bois believe the same of "religion as the opiate of the people".
Seanmor | Sep 26, 2012, 10:09 AM EDT
The 3rd paragraph of the above article mentions Al Qaeda as though the Sinn Féin party were in the same league as this notoriously terrorist gang. Sinn Féin have elected membedrs in the parliaments of both parts of Ireland, also in the E.U. parlament. How many elected positions are held by Al Qaeda?
RichardP | Sep 26, 2012, 09:30 AM EDT
I was aware that President Bill Clinton did great work on the peace process but what is "...her outstanding work on behalf of the process..." that you talk about? Whatever it may have been there is another political issue which is far more pressing for her and for her boss, so I wouldn't count on any interference with the judiciary until after that has concluded.