IRA attacks in London 1990-1998. Why?

 The attacks in London were directed, firstly,at No. 10 Downing Street "when they were sitting down to debate their next war".

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My briefing to Jim Wray (alias "Johnny White") was as follows as regards the mortar attack,

..."Whitehall isn't so high and Downing Street isn't so low..."(7 August 1988,Raymond Smith's house in Ballyboden, Rathfarnham, Dublin).

I directed that we park the Ford Transit at a 15°-30° angle in a named side street to Whitehall by the kerb. As was my wont I provided a sketch of the location.

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And the targets of the 'superbombs'?

 Thatcher's financial sponsors. Firstly, in order of political spending, the National Westminster Bank and,secondly Commercial Union's building and,thirdly, Prudential Assurance...

The order of actual attacks varied thus. The Commercial Union building was attacked first because it had a steel chain barring access to the forecourt which I recommended be cut with bolt-cutters. I predicted that the British would be on high-alert after the first attack. We attacked in reverse order of the main culprits for Thatcher's fiscal and financial  'games with people's lives' to facilitate two attacks,a double whammy.

The vehicles which the IRA used in London at Whitehall and at the Commercial Union?

I identified the vehicles which had a legitimate reason to be in the chosen locations for future IRA attacks in London during the period when I was active in England from November 1987 to April 1988.

We replicated these vans and a lorry all of which I had concluded had an legitimate connection to the locations of the bombs I intended to plant.

I ordered that we use white Ford Transit vans after the debacle at Loughgall where the IRA members had no opportunity to dismount from the blue Hi-Ace Toyota van due to insufficient leg-room and room to manoeuvre. Very patriotic using a van from a firm with an assembly outlet and paintworks in Dublin but not much use in terms of escaping a fusillade of rifle-fire. What would you expect from Raymond Smith or Sean O Callaghan?

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Turning over in my mind the scale and size of attacking Thatcher's financial sponsors,I decided on a body blow (ein Korperschlag) rather than trying to uproot the very edifices of corporate finance (ein Kernschlag) with a nuclear bomb.

Sic transit gloria mundi,to quote my hackneyed old phrase from the 'world plan' of the summer  of 1988.