Ireland chose to take a position against colonialism, after having experienced the warm embrace of the British Empire, ethnic cleansing and oppression for centuries.
By refusing to fight the Nazis? What?
Are you implying that the Allies were the colonizers in WW2? (The Allied countries were also colonizers obviously, but within WW2 it's pretty obvious which countries were doing more of that, and more aggressively)
How would they maintain peace in another country without the help of others
So really it's a simple hypocrisy, a one-way street. You help us, but we don't help you. We're too principled to help others, you see.
Not possible for them to stop China, so why bother? Just lie back and think of Ireland.
Btw, do you also happen to think that Ireland should arm itself against a possible invasion from the US?
You would certainly have been the type of person whining about how Ukraine was doomed to fall in a matter of hours under the incredible size and capability of the Russian military. Like, these guys are just not that competent. You can make the job nearly impossible for them by just giving a single solitary fuck.
To say nothing of the fact that "full invasion" isn't even really the target. They just need to be able to defend their own airspace and sea lanes against errant Russian planes and ships.
The Russians are making incursions into Irish waters and airspace, it's just a brute fact. So either they play the game, or Britain plays it for them. They don't get to sit aloof above it all, that's not how reality works.
They are a protectorate in all but name, it's disgraceful.
It's hypocritical mooching, plain and simple.
jmclnx•54m ago
IIRC, doesn't Ireland pay the UK for some type of defense ?
_dain_•44m ago
>IIRC, doesn't Ireland pay the UK for some type of defense ?
No, we do it for free.
TulliusCicero•43m ago
The article addresses this unfortunate attitude: the whole premise of your question is, "well they'd have to go through these other countries first, so not our problem".
It's a bit like if Kansas refused to pay anything towards the defense budget because any hostile powers would have to go through all those other states first.
But, as the article also notes, air and sea power are things. If a hostile power decides to fuck with one of the many undersea Internet cables that make their way to and through Ireland, what's Ireland going to do about it?
Animats•20m ago
That's Spain's current position in NATO.
TulliusCicero•18m ago
Spooky23•19m ago
In general, states like Kansas are dependent on Federal money anyway, so they they don’t really contribute much. 10 states basically support the Federal government from a tax perspective.
jltsiren•10m ago
Defense spending is not virtue signaling. It's money countries may have to waste if they feel threatened. But if there are no credible threats, it's better to lower the taxes or to spend the money on something that actually benefits the citizens.
Ekaros•24m ago
Animats•19m ago
See Irish history vs. the UK.
dontlaugh•14m ago