Some would have you believe that if governments talk to terrorists, they will eventually renounce violence and agree to democratic norms. Often Northern Ireland is cited as an example of this. But it’s not so simple, as John Bew, Martyn Frampton and Inigo Gurruchaga make clear in Talking to Terrorists: Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country. The Northern Ireland talks succeeded only after the British security forced infiltrated the IRA organization and it became clear thagt the terrorists could not succeed. Then talking worked. For a good description of the book, see Gary Schmitt’s Weekly Standard review. For a more detailed account up to circa 2005, see Dean Godson’s definitive work on David Trimble and the Northern Ireland troubles, Himself Alone.
In other words, those who say that because talking to terrorists worked in Northern Ireland, it could work with the Palestinians, the Iranian mullhas or the North Korean regime are ignoring an important part of the Northern Ireland story.
