Sir, - "Fellow citizens," said Abraham Lincoln, "we cannot escape history". Yet, according to John Waters (Opinion, February 8th), the refusal of the republican movement to decommission weapons is an effort to do just that. It shows a movement that is defensive, and even paranoid, about the judgement of history.
But, contrary to Mr Waters's assertion, there is no moral judgement contained in the Good Friday Agreement. Indeed, it could be argued that the IRA was let off the hook rather lightly. Read the statistics of death cited by Fintan O'Toole, Jim Cusack and Dermot Meleady over the last two weeks based on David McKittrick's book Lost Lives.
There is no "war guilt" clause in the Good Friday accord, such as Germany had to accept in the Versailles Treaty (1919). No apology, compensation or even expression of regret was sought. There is no truth commission, on the South African model, which might expose republicans to moral censure sometime in the future.
Republican prisoners have been released without having to admit blame or stain. There has been no triumphalism visible among republicanism's opponents. Indeed, Sinn Fein scored a major success in coming this far without having to face the decommissioning issue. Quotations, even from nationalist politicians early in the peace process, show that decommissioning was once expected to have started before talks began.
It seems there is a sinister gunfetishism operating - the boys won't be parted from their toys. Therefore the IRA's wish to retain its weapons is a sign of moral weakness, not moral strength. Irish republicanism has flourished electorally, its leaders grown in moral stature, and their message more persuasive, as its armed wing has eschewed violence. It is extraordinary, in my view, that republicans themselves cannot take this trend to its logical conclusion.
For there is a moral reason for the IRA to decommission. The majority who approved the Good Friday Agreement are entitled to have the decommissioning they voted for. Can there be any possible dishonour for true republicans in falling in with the wishes of the Irish people? - Yours, etc.,
Toby Joyce, Balreask Manor, Navan, Co Meath.