Conor Cruise O’Brien, writing in the Sunday Independent (a Dublin newspaper) on the Washington-London-Bogota-Dublin circuit of the War on terror (There’s a free sign-on thingy to go through.) The Cruiser argues that Colin Powell’s recent visit to Bogota was in part to ask the Colombian govt. to go slow on the prosecution of the three IRA men being held their on charges of training Colombian anti-govt terrorists. Tony Blair is wooing the IRA (a.k.a. “Sinn Fein”) and making further concessions to them, so that bombs won’t go off in London–the main point of Blair’s Irish policy. A conviction in Bogota would embarrass him. The Bush-Blair alliance does not need that embarrassment right now. When Iraq is settled (says the Cruiser), Bush will pressure the British govt, & also the irish, to deal decisively with the IRA. Neither is particularly willing to do this.