FFS Norg! Chernobyl happened because of outdated and totally unsuitable safety practices, ie about none. Then they tried to cover it up rather than admit they had ****ing almost poisoned the entire country. Read your history you loo-la! :rolleyes: Or just watch the series on it if you're too lazy to look it up.

And of course Ukraine only pushed for independence from the USSR because they had nothing better to do, not because they were being oppressed by a brutal totalitarian regime. Perish the thought. Talk to Jadis, learn something maybe.

I imagine a Ukrainian could look out the window and not be shot at by a US-backed separatist.

If you're a Ukranian, you probably would see a subtle difference.

Then again, in the grand scheme of things, Norg does make a good point.

I don't support either state and both are imperialist but in this instance American imperialist calculations are probably mostly concerned with checking Russia whereas Russian imperialist calculations are probably much more extractive. Russia rolling troops into Ukraine has been going on for generations so clearly they want something more than just a buffer state against NATO.

Just came here to say that I don't know enough about this subject to say anything about it but I know enough to know everybody's take on it is bad.

Some good news for us at least:

https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0130/1276744-russia/

Last night Russia said it would relocate planned military drills so they take place outside Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone.

Ambassador Yury Filatov said in a statement: "In response to the requests from the Irish government as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producer's Organisation, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu has made a decision, as a gesture of goodwill, to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy, planned for February 3-8, outside the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas."

When asked if the Government should have pushed for the drills to be cancelled as opposed to them simply being moved outside of the Irish economic zone, Mr Coveney told RTÉ's This Week: "Of course, that's the preference but we don't control all of the levers here. In fact, we don't control very many of them at all. This is international waters that we're talking about."

why would russia attack Ireland ..???

Why did they take so long is my question? If you look at the advance of the Red Army in WW2 through Eastern Europe and into Germany they were pointed directly at Ireland, and yet they stopped and allowed their shenanigans to continue. Irish to the gulags I say.

HaHa! But sorry, Batlord, i say :nono:

The Irish have humiliated an aggressive world superpower. Good for them! Like those 100 Spartans who held back the Syrian army, Trollheart and his fisherman friends have faced down the entire Russian Navy and won. I'm gonna buy myself the T-shirt when it comes out: TH on the prow of a fishing boat, halting a Russian destroyer in its tracks, Tiananmon Square style.
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I'm always impressed by Fareed Zakaria's analysis, and his ideas about the present Ukraine stand-off are interesting too:-