Are Mick Wallace and Clare Daly Irelands greatest shame?

@antiskeptic: you say: "A Nato move for Ukraine, he said, represented a red line for Russia. This after constant encroachment towards Russia by Nato following the breaking of a US promise to Gorbachov not to move so much as an inch eastwards.

White man still speak with forked tongue.

Russia gave no one reason to fear for their lives in the East. Sure, they swatted Georgia when Nato threatened entry via that channel bit hey, let's remember Cuba, huh?".

Was there a promise to Gorbachev not to expand NATO? No, but there was a promise not to deploy non-German NATO forces in the former GDR - a totally different matter. This and related points can easily be confirmed: for example see: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/

I remember Cuba allright it was a bit like NATO installing nuclear-armed ballistic missiles in Finland, only about 100 miles from Petersburg.

Yes the US has lots of bases everywhere but they react appallingly when the same happens to them, eg the Cuban missile crisis.

The west is in a proxy war with our Russian friends so they are fighting Russia.

How do you expect the US to react when the USSR installed nuclear-capable ballistic missiles 100 miles from Florida? Just roll over and accept a huge increase in threat levels and vulnerability? As I said above, the analogy might be with Finland allowing IRBMs within 100 miles of Leningrad. How would you expect the USSR to react?

This is exactly how Daly and Wallace think. Distilling countries down into "personalities" that are good or bad. Rishi Sunak, who's been UK PM for 18 minutes, is a hypocrite because Britain used to colonise nations. Biden can't criticise Russia because two decades prior someone from another party took a bad foreign policy decision. Germany can't stand against invasion because "Germany" invaded half of Europe.

It's the equivalent of someone who "hates" a football team and supports anyone who plays against it. It's that level of tribal stupidity.

Russia signed the NATO Russia Founding Act which allows sovereign European nations to decide their own security arrangements.

Russia also signed the Budapest Agreement with Ukraine as a sovereign nation.

Therefore Russia has recognised the right therefore of Poland Ukraine etc to join NATO.

So if you want to talk about broken promises - those signed treaties they trump and dwarf that.

But that was probably hypocritical faux concern about promises.

What Russia has done in Ukraine is imperial war mongering. It is a war of conquest and land grab. Textbook undeniable imperial war mongering.

If they are your friends... then you are on the side of warmongers and empire.

Anyone who is in favour of Russia is morally and intellectually bankrupt. Blinded by hatred of the US into siding with a country threatening nuclear war on Europe.

There is many similar articles which shows what your saying is lies.

Precedence...

Russia had invaded countries of Europe including Ukraine how far back into history...

And Russia via the USSR occupied how many of them even more recently than Cuba.

So that means any country Russia has ever invaded or harmed or occupied has the perpetual right to do likewise.

I think we can quite easily see your understanding of law to be fundamentally wrong. Slavery was once viewed as natural and right. So by your argument it must ever be thus.

What a ridiculous argument, you contradict your own faux concerns in the same post.

A justification for 'Perma War' if ever there was one.

Who invaded Russia???

What gives Russia the right to invade another country?

Considering your claim that the united states' apparently promised Gorbachev that it would refuse entry into NATO of the terrified and traumatized countries in proximity to Russia desperate for protection, it is surprising that Gorbachev himself can't recall it. No doubt you know better.

Gorbachev:

“The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. … Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement was made in that context… Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled.”

Gorbachev continued that “The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been obeyed all these years.” 

Big fan of the virtuous raping and torture?