Saigon All Over Again

shannon airport has always been within their strike range (preemptive strike icbm slbm=nukes or even conventional ship/sub launched cruise missiles) deny to your enemy ,or on the other hand capture it and use as anti shipping/anti submarine base against allied forces
 
wolfetone said "Oil, gas and minerals." in reply to purple
i am also hearing rare earth minerals worth $1 trillion like cobalt cant remember the others as well as copper, iron, gold but also worlds largest deposit of lithium ,everything needed for our electric cars which is why china is getting very friendly
 
shannon airport has always been within their strike range (preemptive strike icbm slbm=nukes or even conventional ship/sub launched cruise missiles)

True, but nuking Ireland because of Shannon is not a very good strategic tactic from a military point of view, given the nuclear capability of Western powers.

Taking out the arrivals and departure runways would be highly effective without triggering nuclear war.

Although if the early morning bar were to taken out.... ye never know!
 
True, but nuking Ireland because of Shannon is not a very good strategic tactic from a military point of view, given the nuclear capability of Western powers.
But sure the Americans use bases throughout Europe in Britain and Germany, Shannon is not critical to them although they like it because of its relative remoteness.
Also the Russians probably only knocking around because of our neutrality, they messing with that because if the British engage them they can say Im not in your waters but in Irelands. The British would be reluctant to engage them (not militarily obviously) because then they be accused of ignoring irish neutrality and would have Mick Wallace and Sinn Fein making a big issue out of it. Thats probably what the Russians are at they are teasing NATO
 
Seriously, does anyone think if ww3 broke out tomorrow that Shannon Airport would be a first strike target for the Russians !!, Just because a handful of troop flights land their annually. ? Although I could argue it might actually improve Shannon but that's a story for another day

Secondly, does anyone really think Ireland is truly neutral. We were one of the most anti-communist anti socialist countries anywhere in the world in the decades after the WW2. We've never had a true left wing Govt, (ok, we've had shades of it but not hardcore), the Reds were condemmed on the alter and it was JFK on the mantlepiece, not Khrushcev.

We're a backwater with a Micky Mouse navy and airforce, no more
 
Seriously, does anyone think if ww3 broke out tomorrow that Shannon Airport would be a first strike target for the Russians !!, Just because a handful of troop flights land their annually. ?

No. But I don't think it was ever suggested here that it would be a first strike target?
The Russian deployment of military aircraft on the West Coast of Ireland is most probably a response to NATO military aircraft imposing themselves into Russian territory near to their military airbases.



We are not neutral. Militarily or otherwise. We are certainly not politically neutral
 
wolfetone
"Taking out the arrivals and departure runways would be highly effective without triggering nuclear war"
yea conventional strike ,cruise missiles against runways infrastructure make a mess
peanuts20
i was thinking more the russians using it to provide air support for their northern fleet moving south from giuk .also as strike base for antishipping /anti sub operations against allied resupply lines from u.s.
 
looks like Joe Biden is not extending the deadline for leaving Kabul airport after 31 august despite calls from european allies for more time to get everyone out. Methinks he is now more concerned with getting the chaotic scenes from Afghanistan off the tv screens and thats the real reason why he won't extend.
What a terrible start to his presidency, this mistake his too big for him to recover from and he will not be able to detract from it using domestic issues or climate change publicity
 
looks like Joe Biden is not extending the deadline for leaving Kabul airport after 31 august despite calls from european allies for more time to get everyone out.

He is just continuing Trumps 'America First' policy.
 
He is just continuing Trumps 'America First' policy.
But this is a much bigger blunder than anything trump did , Biden was elected because he was establishment and would continue the status quo but now he has upended American foreign policy in the biggest change since Vietnam. Repercussions will follow from this and he has created a domino effect where he will be dealing with security and foreign policy issues for the rest of his term but from a very weak base. The one thing trump had going for him was that his adversaries were afraid of him and could not predict how he would react therefore they dare not risk it. Nobody is afraid of Biden now
 
interesting how the polls have Biden's approval rating down but the vast majority of Americans support the policy of pulling out, just think he's made a hash of it.

so for Americans, right policy but bad execution of it. And in the long term, policy always beats the process.
 
he has upended American foreign policy in the biggest change since Vietnam.

He hasn't upended anything. He is simply following through on the deal that the Trump administration negotiated with the Taliban, slapping the Afghan government in the face.
 
very hard for a negotiating team to negotiate terms with the taliban (we do this if you do that) when trump already showed his hand and told /tweeted he was gone by a certain date whatever happened
talk about the art of the deal ?
biden, hope he can persuade putin that his commitment to nato will stay strong
problem is china forced expansion in south china sea with a possible invasion of Taiwan now more likely than ever before
 
I suppose the resurgence of ISIS in some form or other was inevitable.

Afghanistan will once again degenerate into bloody tribal warfare.
 
I suppose the resurgence of ISIS in some form or other was inevitable.

Afghanistan will once again degenerate into bloody tribal warfare.
Sure the place hasn't been right since .
The place has been invaded more time than most of us have had hot dinners.
 
It shows the futility of negotiations with any faction in Afghanistan for any country.
Or putting corrupt stooges in charge of a puppet government and expecting people to support it after the bugger off with your army and money.
 
Massive bomb(s) going off in Kabul, or near Kabul with scores killed including 12 US Marines.
Sky news headline says ISIS claim responsibility. Although, it seems extremely quick to make that claim. Also, when your enemy is on the retreat after 20yrs occupation, why attack them? Why invite them to stay and continue the fight?
 
A chance to attack the infidel while still in reach...
And make them think twice about staying beyond the deadline?
 
A chance to attack the infidel while still in reach...
And make them think twice about staying beyond the deadline?

Could be, but the retreat seems certain and in full flow.
This attack only invites the US to stay longer, if only for a period to extract revenge, imo.