The traditional view of Americans participation in the "Peace Process" here is generally seen as "cynical playing to the green Irish vote" by taking the side of nationalists and/or republicans. This was particularly true under the Clinton years.

With the new presidency race I think the best some of us were hoping for was that any new administration would have more important things to worry about than the rather tedious affairs of Northern Ireland, yet still its hard to shake the feeling that the votes of 36 million "Irish Americans" may prove too tempting to ignore.

That's why I was so surprised to read today that President Bush's special envoy to Ireland, Mitchell Reiss, has criticised Tony Blair for giving too much to Sinn Fein/the IRA, who he said became used to the government "doling out benefits" whenever it came time for Sinn Fein/the IRA to do what any democrat should do, i.e. end criminality, endorse the police, decommission illegally held weapons - that sort of thing

Reiss had placed a ban on the provisionals fundraising in the US after he became frustrated at the lack of movement from Sinn Fein on these issues. Later when Gerry Adams wanted to do some fundraising in New York, he contacted Reiss to have request the ban be overturned. Reiss refused to Gerry went to his best mate Tony at Number 10 to get the British government to go over Reiss's head to get the ban lifted by the White House.

Relations with No. 10 got a bit "open and nasty" when Reiss insisted the fundraising ban should stay. The Americans thought the British government was about to fudge the issue of policing (surely not!). Reiss kept the ban in place knowing that, for Paisley and the DUP, support for policing was a pre-condition for power sharing.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez recently called for governments to recognise Colombian terrorists (and friends of the IRA) FARC to be recognised as "an army". Sound familiar?

Today Colombians will take to the streets to march in protest against FARC following a call to action which began on Facebook.

No Mas Secuestros / No More Kidnapping
No Mas Mentiras / No More Lies
No Mas Muerte / No More Death
No Mas FARC / No More FARC

I can only wish them well.

Is it time crusty students got over the Che Guevara obsession?

Well it's the time of year again when fresh-faced first-year students arrive for their first taste of freedom and a diet of fast food. One feature present each and every year amongst the great unwashed masses that constitute the student population (besides hordes upon hordes of culchies) is an enormous number of armchair socialists clad in T-shirts featuring that iconic image of Che Guevara and this year seems to be no exception.

Really now, this has got to stop; mainly because most of those clad in the T-shirts are idiots who probably know less about Che Guevara than I do.

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