The key point is being able to defend us ,
It doesn't matter if it's rouge state's or other adversaries we need to have the basic ability to defend our border , skies and waters , it don't actually take much over a ten + year period the defence forces has only asked for modest increases in spending, the countries we send foreign financial aid to have better defence forces and capabilities we don't have,
Back in the day neutrality was probably a good way to go but in this day and age it is starting to look naive. There's too much energy in the modern world.
Great video showing British Storm shadows flying over Russian air defences on Crimea as the Russians laugh while the missiles head to there intended targets at Belbek airfield
Here are two articles mentioning the links between conti and the Russian government.
It's state funded or state abetted.
Russian hackers hacked our HSE and they are given free reign by the Russian dictatorship so yes. If you want to discuss Nigeria open another thread otherwise here that is merely whataboutery always a sure sign that someone knows they haven't a leg to stand on in regard to an issue.
Ukraine is our quarrel and that of every country that believes in and wants to continue living in free open and democratic societies rather then the oppressive, authoritarian dictatorships that Russian is a prime example of. The war is indeed a horrific loss of life and the Russian dictatorships campaign of genocide in their Ukrainian invasion is wholly responsible for that loss of life and they could bring it all to a halt tomorrow if they withdrew back to Russia.
In terms of Irelands security services we do not have a fit for purpose security service at present and are acting as spongers basically in that regard and as a direct result we are a soft underbelly of the west and the authoritarian dictatorship in Moscow has and does use that to run an extensive spying operation from their vastly inflated size wise embassy.
I think the problem if they lose adviika is like bakmut they have to take it back again and as everyone can see if an enemy wants to hold a city it will take considerable time, effort and loss of life to take it back which sadly Ukraine is seeing in bakmut and Russia in adviika, so Ukraine could do without Russia taking control there and Ukraine down the line if they can try and take it from Russia if they lose it.
I believe that it's the military Leadership who doesn't want to fight to the death for every inch of land where th e civilian leadership want to the army to fight to the bitter end for every inch of territory, which I believe is wrong and they shouldn't be risking tens of thousands of men and women for territory they will eventually lose yes the Russians are taking heavy losses but so too are the Ukrainians
You'd hope they'd withdraw to better prepared positions. Some very experienced soldiers in that pocket who would be a big loss if captured or killed.
The Ukrainians have for the most part fought like lions, but as always the commanders have made some mistakes. The big offensive in the south didn't work, and they've been too keen to waste lives with little gain, mimicking the Russians in this.
I think Zelensky is a very good war leader and understands this war isn't going to end any time soon, so pointless wasting soldiers lives. He's had to reign in some of the gung ho military leaders who think they can beat Russia with one big offensive. Adviika is of minimal strategic value so there will come a point when it has to be abandoned.
Not good if the Americans don't supply funding. That would be just what the Russians wanted and give them the breathing space to preserve their army. Trump is such a Putin fan its not even funny. Him returning to the presidency would set the world back decades. He was useless the first time around, and will be even worse the second time, abandoning allies left, right and centre.
Never mind those new accounts ... the one with nearly 40000 posts doing the same thing are the worst
It's a problem for sure, but for Ukrainian's there's little choice.....they have to face Putin on the current front lines or face him nearer home.
Didn't know that. Got a link? Rotation is usually moving back away from the front and into other roles. It's not usually heading home for a jolly and maybe few days on the beach, bit of maintenance round the house, catch up with friends, etc. Especially in a war situation. If you aren't at the front, you're working in the back.
New account looking for a little bit of attention to pretty much standard operating procedures,
More problems at adviika,I hope someone is thinking about the and women and start planning a withdrawal
There was Ukrainian families protesting in Kiev not so long ago because husbands ,sons and fathers have been in trenches on the front for over 18 months,some units move back from the front lines by a few km but most of the time they are essentially still at the front lines,
What countries, in the name of God, do you think we would have a realistic chance of defending ourselves if we were attacked. I can name 50 + that we would have no chance and most of these countries are not too far away. Posters here think that we should be buying more planes, vessels , armoury, army vehicles, etc. and even if we did we would still not be at the races.
there is a much more efficient and cheaper way of defending ourselves with a higher possibility of success. . Ie.
(1) invest in surveillance technology
(2) have reduced the Russian embassy staff to the numbers that are required. The Irish Gov should enquire what is each one doing naming names of who they are communication with to carry out their tasks
(3) invest in much, much cheaper technology for surveillance and attack purposes such as drones .
(4) set up a facility to manufacture drones for ‘ home use and exports
(5)Do no 1 and no 2 above - but especially no 1- in cooperation with countries friendly with Ireland
All strong points but being part of the EU it is impossible to be truly isolationist. And with Ukraine in the EU we'll have better food and energy security, so it's only fair we do our bit.
Buffet's son has donated half a billion of his own money to Ukraine so far:
"Howard Buffett, the son of billionaire Warren Buffett, gave Ukraine 150 million of his personal money in 2022.
In 2023, he bought a total of 360 million $ for Ukraine. At his own expense, he built kitchen factories in Bucha and Lozovaya, police stations in Borodyanka and Izyum, and a dog training center in Bucha.
Buffett brings combine harvesters, tractors and seeds to Ukraine and gives them to farmers for free. Buys and brings mine clearance vehicles to Ukraine: in some areas, mine clearance is the main type of agricultural work...
Buffett supports the Ukrainian police, brought dozens of DNA detection machines, bought service dogs of the highest level of training in the Netherlands and brought them to Ukraine. Buffett helps search for war criminals, created a separate organization in Ukraine.
He financed the creation and operation of The Superhumans Center, an open prosthetics center near Lviv. I bought and brought 2,400 high-power generators...
In September 2023, Buffett and Ukrzaliznytsia created the world's first kitchen train that can operate offline for 5-7 days during blackouts and produce 70 thousand servings of food during the week.
How much money does Howard Buffett have? It's hard to say, because he spends them all the time, he has already spent half a billion on Ukraine. He fell in love with Ukraine, visited ten times during the war, and it feels like he spends more time in Ukraine than at home in the United States...
He's the middle child of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. It was named after Howard Buffett, his grandfather, and Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's favorite professor.
As CEO and chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation (HGBF), Buffett has traveled to more than 130 countries to document the challenges of preserving biodiversity and providing sufficient resources to meet people's needs.
HGBF was one of five philanthropic groups that received вор 2.9 billion in Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares from Warren Buffett in July 2020.
P.S. According to Forbes magazine, as of April 2023, Warren Buffett was ranked 5th in the ranking of the richest billionaires in the world with personal assets of 106 billion. $.
In addition, Warren Buffett plans to donate most of his assets to charity."
Churchill was no friend of Ireland and Irish independence. But it is proven beyond doubt that the mess in Turkey was not because of Churchill. And in fact I'd his orders had been followed through they would have taken the city easily
Historically military powers have only ever engaged in token efforts in Ireland to distract English operations on the continent. Why would the 21st century be any different? Besides, England is no longer the empire it once was, like Putin their politicians who support the war are living off past glories. There is no danger of invasion from Russia, the most they will do is try to cut off the internet.
Not getting directly involved in WWII was very good strategy on the part of the Irish government of the day. In WWI, The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) was an enthusiastic supporter of sending men to support the empire (35,000 died, injuries unknown), thousands of Irishmen died in the trenches, not to mention the disaster at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, presided over by Churchill, the war mongering idiot. The IPP got wiped out by Sinn Fein in a subsequent election, in no small part due to the outcome of WWI. There is nothing for the people in Ireland to gain by joining directly in combat operations of the great powers.
This war is already costing Irish taxpayers dearly, it's north of €1 billion per year to support Ukrainian refugees on very generous terms. For the chicken hawks on this thread, you really want to send Irish men to their deaths fighting wars on behalf of military industrial complex profits? All the while "international protection applicants" continue to arrive to be supported by Irish peoples labour. Sending Irishmen to die across the world (It's not just Ukraine anymore) while other men from the rest of the world arrive here claiming asylum is political dynamite.
Looks like King Trump has vetoed the Ukraine bill. Funding is not coming from the US anytime soon. Such a dysfunctional country. I think russia might have success in meddling in the US election, even if they are caught red handed the right will just proclaim it to be fake news.
That's good news, but he more or less said in same interview they might lose some as very fluid situation. But it's good news all the same.
It's funny how this post comes immediately after a (perfectly civilised) discussion on reports of Russian fatalities, where no proof/ evidence was posted/ linked to support the claim of 1m Russian casualties other than a link to an official Ukrainian daily update. Which is about as far from evidence you can get.
A prediction here: Russia collapses into civil strife under the weight of the lunacy of the “SMO” effort and consequent sanctions, and russian army leaves the whole of Ukraine, a host of republics seek and gain independance, the fuehrer is ousted and ends his life’s journey in the Hague or somewhere worse. All this, or at worst a close variation thereof, to happen by the end of 2026 at the latest.
The source of this prediction is only pretty much a divination from a divination technique piece I have read on the interwebz; but I’ll take it, and see if it comes to any good. Can’t do much worse than a lot of other predictions so far.
ETA: oh and the orange man doesn’t get to go into the big white house again. Someone with an outsider profile most probably does that (non-white or a woman or both), but in case Brandon does, Brandon doesn’t get to see the end of the term out.
Let me think you have tens of thousands of men on the front lines over 18 + months without relief,many have suffered traumas and injuries
How do you know that bit? I thought Ukraine had a good setup going for troop rotation
No , not it's not normal the military needs and wants 500,000 extra troops the politicians have blocked that saying they didn't get good enough reasons for such a measure,
Let me think you have tens of thousands of men on the front lines over 18 + months without relief,many have suffered traumas and injuries as a result of near round the clock artillery and drone strike,they also have a ticking time bomb with the current conscription mobilisation which will see men and women having to be released so they can return to civilian life,the Russians are still inching forward despite apparent heavy losses, it's not as if they cannot afford to equip men and women but there is many serving in trenches with basic equipment despite billions in foreign aid and a defence budget of 44 billion euro for 2024 alone ,the US are funding the Ukrainian public service,
If they can't equip the men and women now or future mobilisations questions need to be asked,
They're lacking on the anti-HIMARS capability
Of course there would be disagreements between the military and the government. Military may want XXX thousand people to be drafted and equipped. The government may think that this will be impossible to finance. Military accuses the government of not giving them enough resources. Government asks why the given resources weren't enough in the last offensive. etc. etc. This is just normal process.
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