Letters: Wars being waged in the name of fake ideology are nothing but old-fashioned land grabs

Irish Independent

21-05-2025

Putin's twisted ideology about restoring Ukraine to its Russian roots is a cloak for Russian expansion.
US president Donald Trump's rambling about making Canada the America's 51st state is also an attempt at land-grabbing, coveting Canadian assets. The same is true regarding his intentions towards Greenland.
At least when Trump talks about taking the Panama Canal, he admits the US wants its money back for the cost of its construction, not to mention the thousands of US construction workers who died during its completion.
China's designs on Taiwan also amount to a land grab: employing the same twisted logic as Putin uses to justify his the invasion of Ukraine.
Many of the African wars are also about the control of resources.
The recent flare-up between India and Pakistan regarding Kashmir is mainly about the control of water.
Kashmir is the source of three major rivers and access to these vital resources has been disputed for years. India, in times of conflict with Pakistan, has threatened to cut off all water to its neighbour – rendering it unable to function.
Israel's occupation of Palestine and its illegal settlements are also land grabs, dressed in bogus ideology.
From the history of colonisation back to the Crusades, the root cause of wars has been expansionism.
Adolf Hitler took it to a new level and almost succeeded. He, of course, brainwashed his people into believing that it was to make Germany great again.
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There is no glory in war. Many of the so-called noble aims of despots and dictators have their roots in money, resources and greed.
​ Joseph Kiely, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
UN Security Council is being used by the big five for their own objectives
With regard to Jessica Toal's letter, ('The bloodshed in Gaza clearly shows Security Council has no ­authority', Irish Independent, Letters, May 20), we should remember the United Nations Security Council is made up of 15 members – 10 rotating and five permanent members.
Each permanent member has the power of veto – therefore all five permanent members must approve any motion for it to succeed.
As a retired UN staff member, I can state these five permanent members (USA, UK, Russia, China, France) continue to manipulate the Security Council for their own political objectives.
Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork
Brexiteer buffoons are like Monty Python's Black Knight, yet without a leg to stand on
The Brexit reset deal agreed between the European Union and the UK is to be welcomed.
For Ireland, it may make things easier for businesses to cut the red tape that reduced the value of export and import trade between the two countries by €6bn last year.
The positive picture, however, cannot be gleaned from the scale of the epic meltdown the deal has triggered within sections of the right-wing British media.
The screaming headlines have ­returned again to talk of being stitched up like kippers, the great Brexit betrayal, the EU surrender summit, treacherous Starmer getting Brexit undone and 'being the EU's gimp'.
By now, after years inhabiting the post-Brexit economic wilderness, you would expect they would finally recognise Brexit as a colossal failure, which cost the UK exchequer hundreds of millions of pounds and led to British prime ministers falling like skittles.
The stubbornness is quite bewildering and brings to mind the famous Monty Python sketch about the Black Knight, who despite having his arms and legs chopped off by the sword in battle, insists everything is all right and his mortal wounds are 'but a scratch' while refusing to admit defeat.
Dr Bernard Guinan, Claremorris, Co Mayo
Underpaid and under real pressure, our teachers are right to take career breaks
Sinéad Ryan needs a reality check ('Alarming to see thousands of teachers on career breaks', Irish Independent, May 20).
I am a governor of a successful, oversubscribed school. This year alone, 11 young teachers have applied for career breaks, and I don't blame them.
When I began teaching, jobs were hard to come by, salaries were half-decent and the profession was held in some esteem.
Teachers today work incredibly hard, juggling intense workloads, rising classroom needs and increasing administrative demands – all while striving to support every child's learning and well-being.
Now, if young teachers aren't granted a career break, many simply walk – often into better-paid careers where they feel more valued.
I have total sympathy for young people, especially in cities, trying to get on the housing ladder on a teacher's salary. It's simply not enough.
Something must change if we want young professionals to stay, contribute to their communities and take pride in living where they can afford to own a home.
To conflate pupil absenteeism with teachers taking career breaks is not just unhelpful – it's absurd.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
Eurovision shambles can be summed up by words of the UK's entry in contest
The UK's Eurovision entry What the Hell Just Happened? by girl group Remember Monday succinctly sums up for me the high quality of the musical offerings in the song contest in recent years. Ahem.
Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9
Our use of language has gone a bit 'bockety' with all these 'amazing' adjectives
I am regularly irritated by the lack of imagination in how we use adjectives.
For instance, we are regularly advised that he, she or it (for often pseudo reasons) are 'amazing' or 'awesome'.
As a query to this 'awesome' generation, could I ask how many of you may, for instance, have heard of the word 'bockety'.
When I was small, on being sent out to the cow-house to get a bucket, I was often warned not to bring the 'bockety' one.
And 'amazing' as it might seem, we lived at the butt of 'the bockety' lane.