Obama to Meet Sinn Fein Leaders

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To mark the occasion tomorrow, Obama will meet with Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. In recent days McGuinness has come under fire for his reaction to attacks by fringe Irish republican groups that have killed two British soldiers and a police officer. (He said only that the attacks “betrayed the political desires” of the Irish people.) The Irish leaders are expected to reassure the White House that Sinn Fein is united in its approach to the violence, while the White House will ask whether there are lessons to be learned from Northern Ireland that could be applied to another region of seemingly intractable conflict, the Middle East.