I saw the point made that Putin is using the language of the ‘woke’ saying they are going after Nazis. His stated mission is to de-nazify Ukraine etc.. is of course a load of hogwash. This is the kind of thing that people buy into hook line and sinker without doing much research of their own. Any dissent against this propaganda can then easily be labelled as offering support for nazis when of course it’s nothing of the sort.
Is Maith an t-anlann é an t-ocras….
People born post-2000 will have very little say
According to news reports this morning
The Russian military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Mariupol, at 10am Moscow time (7am UK) today, according to reports.
The corridors, which will also be opened from the cities of Kharkiv and Sumy, are being set up at the personal request of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's defence ministry as saying.
The ministry added that those who leave Kyiv will then be airlifted to Russia and that drones will be used to monitor the evacuation.
Going by past performance the Russians certainly cannot be trusted to hold to promises regarding ceasefire and evacuation. But perhaps even more worryingly, the Russians are claiming that those fleeing will be airlifted to Russia.
It seems that those born in Ireland after 2000 are the primary group of poor folk already complaining about how the sanctions will affect us and thus will result in less support for the war.
Grow a bloody spine. Those of us that have lived in this country through the 70's and 80''s, never mind the decades earlier, will tell you that any affect that supporting Ukraine has is nothing compared to living in Ireland in the decades mentioned. Even during the Emergency, people just shut up and got on with it, or joined the fighting in Europe.
The Woke Generation will suddenly realise that, when the harsh reality of life hits, LGBQRST +1, Cancel Culture and Vegan 1/2 Caff decaff, don't really matter anymore.
I don't think there are too many vegetarians wondering around Southern Ukraine wondering where they can get their Oat Milk from, lol,
(* my pseudo vegetarian teenage daughter has my head wrecked today, so I need to rant. I hope to Christ they bomb the Oat Milk factory. Oat Milk? FFS....)
Reality is though technically as it stands right now a rogue nation with nuclear weapons could bomb the shite out of us right now and NATO countries could only stand and watch. That is the Russian doctrine. And supplying weapons to us through a back door would be even more difficult by sea. And after the events of the last week and the comments of the Russian ambassador etc we are very much considered an enemy of Russia as much as any other European country. He actually said we are at the forefront of vociferous opposition to this invasion.
I remember in my school days whenever I got in a schoolyard scrap with another student one of the first things you quickly realize is that you are on your own.
Reminds me of Gerry Adams with condolences.
We owe so much to social media and the creation of the woke generation.
..
The world is waiting for the Russians to run out of missiles, and hoping Ukraine is still standing. That president zelensky can have a Independence Day type of victory. Life is not the movies though, but hopefully he can inspire his people to a good fight like the movies
They’re about to reinstate the JCPOA in Vienna, possibly in the next few days.
Putin couldn’t have chosen a ‘better’ time,
and due to the fact that Russia are signatories on the deal, they tried to torpedo it coming up with last second remarks as if they found a loophole in the agreement to avoid sanctions.
blackmail
Because of that, the US seem to be willing to concede even more, leaving the russians out and Iran getting the deal of their dreams and the Israelis surely won’t be happy (pretty sure that what Bennet’s visit to Moscow was all about and perhaps talk about Ukraine if they had time left)
If what "me or you think" doesn't matter why did you log in this evening? Why do you post about anything? And why are you reading my reply and doubtless will have something to say of it?
Before you plant the Russian flag in the middle of Maidan Nezalezhnosti, I'd wait for this week to play out if I were you. Ukrainians aren't putting on a Christmas play in the community centre for your entertainment, they're in a war for national survival, and they are in it with the financial & materiel backing of every powerful country in the world (with the exception of those charming folks in Beijing), with the security architecture of Europe at stake as well.
If every time Russia invades a country to wipe it off the map do you and the likes of you throw up your hands and say "Ah shur that's it now, these lads may as well roll over as well." Because to disabuse you of your illusions here, Putin won't stop if life is made easy for him invading countries. This is a man with an appetite and you give him comfort.
Russian oil isn't banned, it's just tainted.
And Iran are still under sanctions, the West can agree to buy more from them, but the other sanctions still remain, it's not like Iran can then go and buy western tech as they are still under sanctions.
An EU army sounds like the red tape to go to war would take years to get through
the tables have turned though, germans being defenders now and russians being invaders
This is a romanticised view.
Without direct foreign intervention or a peace deal, Ukraine will eventually fall. A few old donated Russian airplanes and Stinger missiles isn't going to be enough to hold back the Russians forever. Russia is a ruthless opponent who can take an enormous toll in terms of causalities and materiel lost. Also, this is a matter of survival for Putin, and no price is too small to pay to achieve victory, he will not care. At some point someone in Ukraine is going to look at the scale of the life that's been lost and the damage that's inflicted and sue for peace. They will undoubtedly get the **** end of the stick, but who exactly is going to step in to ensure Ukraine get a fair deal?
energy secure perhaps because they’re sitting on untapped reserves
they do import 8m barrels a day
Besides the implications aren’t just on the US we’re talking global here.
In short, Russian oil, exports, make up 8% of the global supply. So removing them from the market by banning Russia from exporting it's oil will result in driving up the price globally which will lead to increased oil profits for Iran and Venezuela.
You're not being a smartarse at all. I had the same line of thought, but if I had suggested Ireland look to join NATO, I'm afraid people would be in uproar on here and in Ireland. removing our neutrality for an EU army could be an easier sell to the public. EU = Good etc...
I've thought about it, especially with what's happening in Ukraine. You'll have people saying we can't afford a squadron of F16's and all the maintenance etc...
Easy, just have a NATO airbase in Ireland and we have a few planes and the bulk would be the rest of NATO, the servicing and maintenance would be handled by NATO. We just house them while our pilots train with them.
Likewise the navy needs a good investment for the water they patrol, NATO naval base off the west coast would be ideal.
We can't kid ourselves anymore, the world is changing and unless we arm ourselves to the teeth like Israel, we can't stay neutral for ever.
I'm not being a smartarse in asking this, but what's the practical difference for Ireland between an EU army and NATO? Both mean our military neutrality is over - so (and this is an open question btw), why not choose by far the more secure of the two with the Americans and British as treaty partners?
The chatter for an EU Army actually is a product of Brexit and Macron, who was concerned that with the UK leaving the EU and Afghanistan, the Anglo axis' (US & UK) commitment to NATO was under question.
France was left with being the only major military spender and standing army in the EU and the worry was described in a podcast as this: "Wars would be decided in Brussels, paid for by Berlin, and fought with young French men."
I think after Ukraine, the Anglo axis of NATO have awoken from their stupor, along with every other member and even neutral states. NATO is back in a big way, and it's all down to Putin.
And in English... what's that mean? the US is pretty energy secure, so why would they face crippling energy prices?
No way could the response of this invasion by NATO be compared with what the response would be if Ireland was attacked.
I think that no matter how hard we try to bolster our defense we are too small for it to make a difference. We aren’t Ukraine and never will be. We are deeply part of the West, English speaking , UK is a stones throw away. It would never even be let get to a point of a troop build up around us. Not a chance.
That said, I was naive before and since this I am less naive and for that reason I would now agree with an increased budget towards an EU army.
Its a pity though, I sort of live and hope that the likes of Putin is the last of his breed in this chapter of humanity. In fact I genuinely didn’t think he was capable of this.
Ah here, I couldn't agree with that. We should leave him there.
Meanwhile..
At the end of the day it doesn't matter what me or you think. From the way things are looking it's going to end up as a puppet state or being cut in half by Russia. At least surrendering or compromising would spare thousands of lives and unnecessary suffering by civilians.
I welcome the refugees that Europe is taking in from Ukraine but I want them to be able to return home eventually and preferably have their husbands and sons still alive.
A "neutral" Ukraine is shorthand for the Belarussianisation of Ukraine, not the Finlandisation of Ukraine - condemned to a future of poisonings, kidnappings, gerrymandering, the suppression of media, the end of their democracy, and the murder of political dissidents at the behest of the Kremlin. The EU taken off the table naturally. Neutrality in this situation is the Orwellian word for capitulation and national death for Ukraine.
You also may as well gift wrap Moldova and Georgia for Putin with this formula also. Care to take this message to Tbilisi and Chisinau?
I don't believe so. I think it will cause the west and non NATO countries to reconsider their options.
What Russia has shown, is they can invade a non NATO country and the only response from the west is sanctions (I'm not downplaying the sanctions)
There was a belief in Ireland that if we were invaded, the UK or USA would come to our rescue, that's now show to be false.
If Russia decided to bomb or invade Ireland tomorrow, there's very little more sanctions they would face, but they would have a nice foothold in between 2 major NATO areas on the map (US/Europe)
Covid caused us to consider out health spending, this war will cause us to consider our defense spending.
As someone who was 100% against any kind of EU army, I would certainly reconsider it in light of what's happening in Ukraine.
I wonder if the likes of this is an unofficial effort to funnel troops into Ukraine without 'putting NATO boots on the ground'.
Biden is supposed to have shutdown such a recommendation in January.
The mig 29 is a very capable ground attack aircraft ,it's all down to the munitions it's loaded with ,the SU25 primary role is ground attack, but the mig29 has a multirole capability,
The Russians beat that army in WW2, I hope they are better equipped this time
I suspect that people's attitude will change once the cost of the sanctions on us start to really bite with increases in fuel costs and more importantly the price of food. There's also the question of what are we going to do if the lack of supply of grain from Ukraine to places like Egypt and other countries creates another huge wave of refugees in the south of Europe. I can't see the populations of Italy and Spain being too happy once they are being flooded with refugees from Africa. Or will we ignore the plight of these refugees because they are not white?
I feel terrible for the people of Ukraine, but at the moment the only logical solution is for them too surrender or at least compromise by creating a neutral state in between Europe and Russia.
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