US calls for IRA to disband

A statement last night in which the IRA offered to kill the murderers of Robert McCartney (blogged about here), has spurred the Bush administration to call for the IRA to disband.

"It's time for the IRA to go out of business," said U.S. special envoy Mitchell Reiss on Wednesday. ... "You can't sign up for the rule of law a la carte."

More: "Few people in Belfast were surprised to hear that the IRA's answer to recent problems was to reach for its guns," says BBC correspondent Mark Simpson. "The big surprise was that the IRA made this position public."

Also at the NYT.

Plus, check out the comments on the peace process at RTE, the Irish Public Service Broadcasting network.