The Irish press has been taken over by an endless stream of fearmongering about the ‘imminent threat from Russia’. Be it ‘hybrid warfare’, ‘the shadow fleet’, or ‘disinformation campaigns’, there seems to be no end to this media offensive.
You do not need to be a friend of Putin to recognise this propaganda for what it is when The Irish Times runs hysterical headlines like “What would happen if Russians landed at Shannon and took over the airport?”
Instead of serious considerations about how to protect Irish people – who are infinitely more likely to die on a hospital waiting list than from Russian drones – this deluge of propaganda is only aimed at undermining the opposition of workers and youth to militarism.
Who’s the threat to neutrality?
In November, The Irish Times published the headline “Does anyone believe Russia would respect Irish neutrality in a major war in Europe?” But before accusing Russia we should ask how our ‘allies’ respect our so-called ‘neutrality’.
On 5 and 6 January, as part of the US’s criminal campaign against Venezuela, three US air force planes flew through Irish airspace in pursuit of an oil tanker without requesting permission. This is a brazen violation of Ireland’s military neutrality. And yet the Irish government, with an apology in their mouths, granted the Americans permission after the fact.
Just as is the case with Shannon airport – which has been taken over by Yankee imperialism, not Russians – Irish elites are allowing the imperialists to ride roughshod over ‘neutrality’.
While the Americans are the most flagrant, the Europeans treat Irish ‘neutrality’ with the same contempt – and the government is as slavishly subservient to them. Brussels demands the Irish ruling class to stop playing with their verbal neutrality, and ‘get serious about militarisation’.
But why has Irish neutrality and its military come to the spotlight so suddenly?
A dangerous world
Irish defence did not matter to the imperialists when all of Europe relied on the umbrella of US ‘protection’, and did not have imperialist rivals to challenge it around the world. Now however, as a widely publicised pro-EU whitepaper “Secure Together” put it:
“Marked by escalating hybrid threats, geopolitical instability, and emerging risks to critical infrastructure, economic prosperity, and societal cohesion, Ireland will have to adapt to the risks of a now dangerous world.”
With the US increasingly looking to withdraw from its military commitment in Europe, the European imperialists have been sent into a panic. Without US backing, how are they to ‘defend’ their imperialist spheres of influence abroad? These fears are heightened with Russia emerging strengthened from the war in Ukraine.
As such they are engaged in a mad dash to re-arm while scrambling to disrupt the negotiations in Ukraine, keeping America bogged down in Europe for as long as possible. With these policies it is actually the Europeans who are fanning the flames of war in Europe. In typical Orwellian fashion, the press spins reality into its opposite.
Hence, the ‘threat of war from Russia’ is raised by the imperialists as pretext to justify further slashing of social services and spending hundreds of billions on militarisation. The intense pressure they are putting on the Irish ruling class to follow suit is part of this.
The Irish ruling class are trying to do as they are told. But it is easier said than done,
as they are sandwiched between the pressure of the imperialists and a working class that doesn’t want to be a cog in the imperialist war machine. That is why they copy European propaganda about the Russian threat – all in hopes of shoring up support for the European imperialist agenda.
‘Irish’ interests
‘Security’ for these militarists is not about protecting Irish people, but protecting imperialist interests, and creating a secure business environment. Indeed the main focus in Ireland has been on cybersecurity, radar, naval and air capabilities in particular. This is what is needed to protect “our critical infrastructure” – they say – above all transatlantic cables and data centres.
One small detail of course is that this infrastructure in not “ours” but belongs to and generates enormous profits for US, UK and EU multinationals. So Ireland is expected to pick up the bill to pay for – as it turns out – not “our” interests, but the interests of the imperialists!
This is what our press propagandists and politicians want: to whip up anxiety around a potential war with Russia in the name of defending Ireland’s ‘prosperity’ which has come from these multinationals using Ireland to avoid tax. All for the purpose of shoring up a hole in Europe’s imperialist ‘bloc’.
But any Irish worker can tell you, Ireland’s ‘prosperity’ has not been ‘ours’ but theirs! All of this money being wasted on ‘security’ for the investments of the rich means insecurity for the lives of the rest of us.
Instead of investing in radars and helicopters to defend companies on behalf of European imperialists and multinationals, that money should be spent on housing, healthcare, and education. Only once the Irish working class wrests power from the imperialists and their Irish stooges will we be free to pursue what is in the actual interests of workers in Ireland.
