Yes: guess where that Stateside support for the IRA came from? "Blue State" (Democratic Party) areas: Boston, NYC, Chicago (home of "The One"). And which side of the political spectrum do you think those American journalists overwhelmingly hail from who rarely mentioned IRA crimes? Who kept the bust of Churchill in the Oval Office, and who sent it back? ====
Brits seem to conveniently overlook a lot of the ideology of the U.S. Democratic Party because it's presumably closer to the British average on the left/right continuum; but the Democratic Party is more than just a platform of economic policies. Among other aspects of the American "culture war," the Democratic Party is absorbed in identity politics ("victim"=good; "power"=bad), so you can guess how the IRA story was automatically filed. I never saw such aspects of the American Left reported in the BBC.
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Having lived in the U.K., I was surprised at how people there seemed to want to have it both ways: enjoy many aspects of American culture (which was then largely "unmarked" as being American) while also sneering at uncultured, cowboy, sergeant stereotypes (which were then explicitly marked as being American). When correspondingly unfair and simplistic stereotypes of Brits (pompous, smug twits, etc.) are seen/heard in the U.S., they aren't taken =nearly= as seriously as such stereotypes of Americans are taken in the U.K. Americans seem to take such stereotypes of Brits as historical throwbacks, not as serious critiques. Yet in the U.K., so many people seemed to wear their insecurity on their sleeve by dissing the U.S. in some of the least intellectual or substantiated adjectives I ever heard from them. ====
I believe that the U.S. and U.K. are relatively close in cultural values, and that they can both be their best when they both "speak the truth in love": show genuine concern for each other while also being constructively frank. When one side indulges in cheap shots, the other side will find it that much more difficult to "hear" legitimate critique. Many leaders (political and otherwise) on both sides have succeeded in striking this tough love balance, and the world has been better for it.

Thank you, TearsOfTheSon, for your note. I got it now. I was confused by, "Good for keeping American in the US," which I guess you didn't really mean. I think we're both on the same page :-)

I used to live 20 km from the German Wall, so this strikes rather close to home. The problem with "good for keeping Americans in the US and Mexicans in Mexico" is that it overlooks the direction(s) being blocked. The German and Berlin Walls ONLY kept people from going west, so the East German govt had built a wall to keep its own people from leaving, to keep them INside. Any fence/wall along the U.S.-Mexican border is built by the U.S., to keep foreigners from entering, to keep them OUTside; Americans have absolutely no problem leaving for Mexico if they want. Any "parallel" is rather superficial.