Future of warfare (How should Ireland build their millitary)

We have access to multiple sources of information from different perspectives these days but most Irish still in Ireland rely on RTE.

We would never be invaded. No need to as we have nothing Russia wants. Our waters and unprotected areas are what Russia can exploit.

But hey! We've got fishermen!

I'm afraid the powers that be know exactly what is going on and have made forced choices on the PDF to shift it from 14,500 to 9,500 personnel following the Report on the Commission on Remuneration and Conditions in the Defence Forces July 1990. With the latest Census we are at 5.1m population and should aspire to a PDF, inclusive of reserves, of 25,000 or 0.5% of Population.

If budget remains static and pay increases then numbers , conditions, and capital acquisitions are moved downwards.

As regards media, most news is orchestrated and often seasonal and topical. it can be led by lobbyists, financial interests, political parties etc. Large parts of media are used to eulogize entities and those making money out of the Irish environment. We are the dearest country in Europe, we are leaders in Medical, Chemical and technical output. we HQ some of the world's biggest tech Corporations and yet we minimise Defence and Social protection so much so you would think strange non-national Gurus are in charge.

Safe to say current UK govt is so compromised by Russian assets it may as well be the Russian Govt itself. The damage the current Russian leader and his minions have done internationally are difficult to nail down, but wherever there has been an election or referendum, in the last decade or so there has been evidence of Russian interference. The fact that many of the cyber attacks on vital systems emanate from within Russia is no coincidence either, even if the attacks themselves cannot be traced directly to the Kremlin.

But anyone who has ever been to Russia or knows anyone who lived there knows, everything you do online, the Kremlin is aware of.

Turkey is also a NATO member, and is facilitating the smuggling of stolen Ukrainian grain through the Bosporus.

To be honest, I'm not sure who's running things these days as some recent Supreme Court decisions in the US have been questionable to say the least. Who is buying those dudes?

The war games by Russia off the coast of Cork were a metaphorical fishing exercise rather than a literal one lol.

Barbados a nice place I have been there a few times but does not compare to the unique position of the island of Ireland. We are located on the sea lanes North and South of the Approaches to Europe , larger ships from the North of Europe are routed down our west Coast, and most Atlantic air corridors pass over Ireland. In addition our Western EEZ is submarine playground and deterrent pool. We just need to know what's there and intervene as necessary to show our awareness during peacetime. As regards lethal intervention we must enforce our rights and emulate Finland of old and Ukraine of today.

Our retarding problem is the cause of our alleged neutrality and that is the northern occupation. it is weakened somewhat by the GFA and may allow us to join an alliance as a contributing partner. I think depending on others to do it is weak and one can admire the decision of two little Baltic States joining together to purchase a co-ordinated Air Defence System.

If you ever fancy taking me to Barbados - I'm free! ;)

If I was Putin and wanted to set up a base to nuke Europe, England and the US, I would pick Ireland!

For now I think his sole mission is to regain the former Soviet Union states. He seems to be getting ever more brutal. Last I read, he bombed a shopping centre in the Ukraine while 1000 people were inside it. He's a lunatic no matter what way you look at it and entirely unpredictable. The Ukraine was begging NATO and the EU for years about the build up of troops on their borders etc. Poland, in the EU and NATO I think? were saying the same thing! Nobody listened.

Putin has already said that he'll nuke London.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1617151/putin-superweapon-uk-kinzhal-nuclear-war-ukraine-russia

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/06/21/vladimir-putin-threatens-unleash-satan-ii-nuclear-missile-year/

Not being a member of NATO is partly the reason why the Ukraine is fucked and under attack. Russia knows very well that Ireland isn't part of NATO. The NATO alliance essentially protects those within it, but not anyone outside of it. Russia knows that attacking a NATO nation is not a good idea, but Ukraine and Ireland are not in NATO and he KNOWS.

This is an interesting read by the way. It has various ways of measuring the relative intelligence of different countries.

Ireland features in one measurement. Russia doesn't feature in any measurement but Belarus does ;)

The relevance of me posting that is that we can outsmart the Russians. We outwitted the Brits!

Why do you think Finland has joined NATO all of a sudden?

You should quote whoever you are replying to, instead of having a long train of unrelated posts. Difficult to follow your train of thought.