Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has often proclaimed that terrorists must be deprived of the "oxygen of publicity." Last week she tried to cut off the air supply of the Irish Republican Army by banning radio and television interviews with members of the outlawed guerrilla group and its political arm, Sinn Fein (including Gerry Adams, the party's sole representative in Parliament). The action, which also applied to some Protestant extremist groups, marked the most sweeping British censorship decision since World War II. The Republic of Ireland has maintained a similar ban since 1976.
The next day the government announced that it would...
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