Paul knew what a dangerous bunch these Irish were, and opted to go into business with them/ ie make friends then enter a war
And luckily for Paul, Coonan was a mob fanboy who saw the Italians as his ticket for enhancing his criminal ladder. Whereas the rest of the Irish guys in his crew weren't so keen
But had Coonan snubbed the meeting at Tomaso restaurant... Anyone think the Gambino's would have dared hit them... Roy was still alive then and he was the go between at time so most likely he would have been given the hit
Forgive me if I am wrong, but I don't think there were even that many Westies. Of course Paul would have whacked them. They were not some vast army.