Will the loyalists prevent an escalation?

In today’s Independent, David McKittrick highlights one of the most important questions surrounding the recent killings in Northern Ireland: Will loyalists seek bloody revenge?  It’s encouraging that the leader of the largest loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association, answers in the negative in the Times.  Here’s what Jackie McDonald tells the paper, in of the most resonant quotes of the past few days:

“There is no danger of retaliation. I have to send my deepest sympathies to the families of the soldiers and the policeman. People came to me saying, ‘Please don’t go back to this, don’t let us go back’.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean we should be unconcerned about the safety of our soldiers and of Nothern Irish policemen – especially given the inadequacy of some of the intelligence