Why aren't we in NATO?

better call saul · 14-09-2014 12:19PM #1

It's a con on the part of the government that we are 'neutral' with the US flying through Shannon, it's about time we joined NATO and fought off Russia and the rest of the world's terrorists, put our army to use as well instead of dossing around

Drakares · 14-09-2014 12:26PM

Not sure if trolling or just stupid

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 12:30PM

Yeah, the missing piece in NATO's arsenal is Irelands fighters and aircraft carriers........

c_man · 14-09-2014 12:32PM

Cos we're not cnuts.

on the river · 14-09-2014 12:33PM

better call saul wrote: »

It's a con on the part of the government that we are 'neutral' with the US flying through Shannon, it's about time we joined NATO and fought off Russia and the rest of the world's terrorists, put our army to use as well instead of dossing around

Then one bomb from Russia were wiped out.
No thanks.
It's better been neutral.

Lapin · 14-09-2014 12:34PM

better call saul wrote: »

It's a con on the part of the government that we are 'neutral' with the US flying through Shannon, it's about time we joined NATO and fought off Russia and the rest of the world's terrorists, put our army to use as well instead of dossing around

I agree with everything said here apart from the last two words.

Neutrality is a cowardly pretence.

BMJD · 14-09-2014 12:35PM

better call saul wrote: »

It's a con on the part of the government that we are 'neutral' with the US flying through Shannon

Russia are welcome to use Shannon too so long as they buy a few Toblerones to keep the place open.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 14-09-2014 12:37PM

There is almost no tangible benefit to the Irish people for joining NATO outside of those who serve in the defence forces. You also have to remember that those who are now in the defence forces signed up in the context that they would be joining an army that serves as a peace keeping force and not an army actively engaged in war, which is a major consideration that is overlooked.

The argument of whether we are truly neutral or not can be debated I think, but to blanketly state we are absolutely not neutral is incorrect. None of our soldiers are involved in active combat against anyone, we have not declared war on anyone and the soldiers we do have currently on peace missions are not seen as blatantly biased to either side by either side.

What threat from an attack perspective does Ireland face today? Seriously? I can think of three main ones and currently none of them seem realistic to be honest.
1. Dissident Unionists in the North
2. Britain (not really possible now but had the potential to happen in the 1970's)
3. Islamic extremists

Since the Good Friday Agreement 1 and absolutely 2 do not look like happening in any conceivable way.
So that leaves 3 as the only real plausible threat to our country. Will joining NATO increase or decrease the chances of an attack posed here? There's only one logical answer to that.

Any other threat posed to Ireland would be an EU wide problem and we would end up getting involved either way, but considering these threats are to the east, Russia/China/India, and the fact we are as far west as you can get in Europe, we are at the end of the line, so being in or out of NATO in one of these situations will mean absolutely nothing.

Our sovereignty is at a very low risk all things considered. We don't need to mess around with that in anyway in my opinion.

bb1234567 · 14-09-2014 12:44PM

Russia have never done anything to us theres no reason for us to join an army to fight against them

Son Of A Vidic · 14-09-2014 12:47PM

Drakares wrote: »

Not sure if trolling or and just stupid

Fixed the typo there.

CrazyRabbit · 14-09-2014 12:52PM

Why would we want to join up with a bunch of warmonger's?

MRnotlob606 · 14-09-2014 12:52PM

What a Stupid Idea to join a an irrelevant cold war club. We have never needed Nato and we won't need them in the near future either. They don't need us and we don't need them. I am Proud to live in a country that promotes peace, rather than bombing the **** out of some middle eastern nation on premise that they are securing "Freedom".

P_1 · 14-09-2014 12:56PM

1 - We don't have the military hardware
2 - Money that could be spent on said hardware would be much better spent elsewhere

suicide_circus · 14-09-2014 12:56PM

Freedom isnt free.

Firefox11 · 14-09-2014 12:56PM

on the river wrote: »

Then one bomb from Russia were wiped out.
No thanks.
It's better been neutral.

I think in a nuclear shooting war neutrality will mean squat. We are all f*****.

BMJD · 14-09-2014 12:59PM

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Why would we want to join up with a bunch of warmonger's?

To join the fight against apostrophe abuse!

Fratton Fred · 14-09-2014 12:59PM

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

What a Stupid Idea to join a an irrelevant cold war club. We have never needed Nato and we won't need them in the near future either. They don't need us and we don't need them. I am Proud to live in a country that promotes peace, rather than bombing the **** out of some middle eastern nation on premise that they are securing "Freedom".

Which middle eastern country did NATO bomb the **** out of?

Amirani · 14-09-2014 01:00PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

Russia have never done anything to us theres no reason for us to join an army to fight against them

They vetoed our UN membership. Bastards.

endacl · 14-09-2014 01:03PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

Freedom isnt free.

Better suited to a t shirt print than a discussion on the merits of joining an outdated military alliance.

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 01:03PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

Russia have never done anything to us theres no reason for us to join an army to fight against them

As long as they only kill those smelly Ukrankians its ok yeah?

Just as well we stayed out of WW2, those lovely lads in the Hugo Boss suits never did anything to us, sure we'd have been bessies once we were next door neighbours.

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 01:05PM

Diego Simeone wrote: »

They vetoed our UN membership. Bastards.

See we have them running scared, now is the time for Ireland to rise and take over Russia.

P_1 wrote: »

1 - We don't have the military hardware
2 - Money that could be spent on said hardware would be much better spent elsewhere

Like sending it to to some African nations whos military hardware need updating.

BMJD · 14-09-2014 01:06PM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

See we have them running scared, now is the time for Ireland to rise and take over Russia.

Can we leave it till next week? The weather's too nice to be fighting.

ted1 · 14-09-2014 01:07PM

better call saul wrote: »

It's a con on the part of the government that we are 'neutral' with the US flying through Shannon, it's about time we joined NATO and fought off Russia and the rest of the world's terrorists, put our army to use as well instead of dossing around

What terrorists are there?

flazio · 14-09-2014 01:07PM

Because our troops don't have death wishes.

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 01:08PM

BMJD wrote: »

Can we leave it till next week? The weather's too nice to be fighting.

I hear the winter is a good time for an invasion.......

BMJD · 14-09-2014 01:09PM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I hear the winter is a good time for an invasion.......

Grand so.

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 01:09PM

BMJD wrote: »

Grand so.

Wait till Aldi have the fur lined wellies though, the normal ones get fierce cold.

The_Valeyard · 14-09-2014 01:13PM

We can barely run our schools and hospitals. Nevermind the mass armament needed for NATO.

Our neutrality is not cowardly. We do peace-keeping humanitarian work. Not trying to play world policeman.

Leave that for the big boys club. We're small, cute and cuddly. Let's stay that way

Augmerson · 14-09-2014 01:23PM

We are in the Partnership for Peace.

Guy:Incognito · 14-09-2014 01:23PM

The_Valeyard wrote: »

. Not trying to play world policeman.

No, we play world Garda Siochana.

Augmerson wrote: »

We are in the Partnership for Peace.

That sounds like a hippy camp.

pablomakaveli · 14-09-2014 01:28PM

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

What threat from an attack perspective does Ireland face today? Seriously? I can think of three main ones and currently none of them seem realistic to be honest.
1. Dissident Unionists in the North
2. Britain (not really possible now but had the potential to happen in the 1970's)
3. Islamic extremists

You've left out the threat from dissident republicans which is a realistic threat and probably more of a threat to the state than those you've listed.

Republican gunmen have proven there willing to shoot the Gardai and members of the DF in the past so no reason why that wont happen again.

Why aren't we in NATO?

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