A Farewell To Arms

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CATHAL MCNAUGHTON / AP

The I.R.A. says it's willing to give peace a chance

As the four men suspected of trying to bomb London's transport system on July 21 were apprehended last week, another group of terrorists said it was laying down its weapons. In a DVD video, I.R.A. veteran Seanna Walsh — who spent 21 years in prison for munitions offenses — stood before an Irish flag to read a statement formally ending the organization's 36-year armed campaign to force Britain out of Northern Ireland. By ordering its members to "dump arms" and adopt "exclusively peaceful means," the I.R.A. leadership signaled that their decades-long quest for Irish unity now rests in the hands of...