Sorry, Pompey, the issue was not terrorism, it was – and it ALWAYS will be – about control and power. It doesn't matter where it is: Sri Lanka or Peru, Belfast or Betlehem.
Essentially, the Provos were communist – it always amazed me that the U.S. Govt. backed the (extreme right) Contras and the people of Boston and N.Y. backed the (Marksist) Provos at the same time.
The thing is that right now, it appears that the U.S. Gov't and popular policy is to support Israel. I am not saying that there are exact parallels to be drawn ( and I think that 'semusemcoi's' post is relevant), but the scenarios are, I think similar enough to regard the current U.S. Gov't policy and the "pole result" as hypocritical.
zonan – No, nothing profound – not even anything new. Just that the IRA vs PLO terrorism has being going for about a century compared to 50 years. And if you think that it is okay for that the "Israeli Lobby" should be able to exert such influence on the U.S. – then I guess I have have little to add apart from, shalom!