'If World War III breaks out neutrality won't save us - here's why'

Irish Daily Mirror

4 hours ago

I grew up during the cold war as it was known between the United States and Russia and there was always a fear that World War 3 could break out at any time.
But do you know what, we didn't lie in bed worrying about it because it was something none of us could control and if there was to be a nuclear war, we naively hoped Ireland as a neutral country would be spared from total annihilation and destruction.
As a people we had a view that if we mind our own business, no one will interfere in our business. if there were things wrong in the world we kept our mouths shut and stayed out of it rather than upsetting any of the two superpowers.
Things then all changed with the fall of the Berlin Wall and this in turn led to the breakup of the old Soviet Union as we knew it. New democracies from the old communist east emerged, Poland, Hungry, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and of course old east Germany was reunited with the west of the country.
The new look Europe looked a far more peaceful place and our good friends in Moscow had their own troubles trying to keep a bankrupt Russia together.
We all breathed a sigh of relief that the threat of a nuclear holocaust had passed for now.
But fast forward to this year and thanks to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, along with his buddy in the White House, Donald Trump, the world is now a far more dangerous place.
The Moscow dictator wants to reunite the old Soviet Bloc which is why he started the war in Ukraine in the first place. He also has his eyes set on the Baltic states and could try to invade them in the next couple of years with devastating consequences for Europe.
Trump in turn hates Europe and more specifically the EU - he sees Europe united as a big trading block as a threat to the prosperity of America. He would prefer if countries did a Brexit like Britain, leave the EU, and just do their own thing.
Trump's decision to bomb Iran over the weekend was no big surprise. The last thing the west and specifically the US, Israel and Europe want is for the Mad Mullahs of Iran to have their own nuclear weapon.
This is not a normal regime. It is a country run by religious extremists who will use their 1 million strong army against their own people to stay in power. They had no problem executing almost 1,000 of them last year.
Any critics of the regime and severely punished and their secret police have eyes and ears in every little corner of the country.
They are threatening all sorts of revenge against the US and Israel but the harsh truth is they haven't got the firepower to do it.
The Iranians have lost control of their own skies so every military base and every piece of military equipment they have is now a sitting duck. They can be picked up piece by piece.
Their threat to stop oil tankers using the straits of Hormuz wouldn't last too long if the Americans sent a naval battle group to the area, to protect international shipping.
I hate war and prefer diplomacy all day every day. I have seen far too many young people die in conflict zones over the years.
I am no fan of Trump but he had little or no choice but to bomb the Iranians. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.
The world has no idea what evidence there was that Iran had a nuke so but tell you what I wouldn't trust the Tehran regime with their finger on the nuke button and I'd say Trump felt the same.
I am an eternal optimist and genuinely don't believe this incident will cause world war 3.
Russia says it will give Iran a nuclear weapon to defend itself, but don't believe a word of it.
The last thing Putin will do is upset Trump because the President has basically given him free reign to grab as much territory in Ukraine before serious peace talks eventually get under way.
Putin is also running out of cash to finance his military machine and the Russian economy is now under serious pressure.
Remember it was the Americans who claimed Iraq had chemical weapons after 9/11 and it later turned out to be nonsense.
They financed a war with Iraq which led to the removal of Saddam and his execution. Trump won't seek regime change in Iran because it would drag America into a long protracted and costly war that he and the Republicans don't want. He wants his legacy to be as a peacemaker not a warmonger.
Sending young men into battle on foreign shores would go against the grain for him and there would be no support in the US for it.
What does all this mean for Ireland? The Government rightly kept its head down and didn't condemn the Americans for the Iran bombing .They know where their bread is buttered.
It called for dialogue between all sides to resolve their dispute.
Most of our EU partners don't care much for our neutrality. They will want to see us paying big pots of money into a European defence fund in the years ahead so the EU can defend us.
At the moment we haven't the military numbers or weaponry to defend ourselves and are the laughing stock of the world. We are literally a sitting duck waiting to be invaded.
If World War 3 ever does break out trust me neutrality won't save us. The Russians have already said they see us as part of Britain.