The newly not-elected leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), Jon Burrows, has been attempting to sell Northern Irish voters on continued membership of the ‘United Kingdom’ by suggesting it’s a great opportunity to get into a war with Russia and/or China.
Quoting an article in theIrish Timesthat practically salivates over the prospect of entering a planet-terminating conflagration with behemoths to the east, Burrows suggests Northern Ireland can receive greater protection with Britain than through leaving the union to form a united Ireland.
The more sensible view is that by remaining part of Britain, and therefore its military-industrial apparatus, Northern Ireland simply makes itself more of a target than if it were part of an ostensibly neutral United Ireland. This was certainly the case during World War 2 – the Luftwaffe bombed Belfast significantly more heavily than Dublin, despite the latter being a larger city.
Unelected UUP MLA lauds self-immolating NATO clown car
Burrows was co-opted into his Assembly seat after predecessor Colin Crawford resigned in June last year. Under the single transferable vote (STV) system, parties replace an outgoing MLA with another from their ranks if a seat is vacated. This is to maintain the balance of seats reflected in the original vote. No by-election is held.
The North Antrim UUP politician went on to laud NATO, saying:
The UK is also a founding member of NATO – a defensive alliance where an attack on one member is an attack on all. There is a clear commitment to protect every inch of NATO territory.
This looks rather comical as a proposition given NATO is actively engaged in *attacking itself.*Unhinged would-be tyrant and perpetual warmonger Donald Trump is seeking to steal Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark. Other NATO members have now sent troops to the Arctic territory.
At the same time, Britain continues to menace Russia, as its senior military officials go giddy at the prospect of sending British youth off to die in Eastern Ukraine. So Burrows argument for continued attachment with Britain appears to be the following: we can get in a war with Russia, then hope that the so-called military alliance we’re part of can cease its civil war long enough to fight back before being vaporised. Sounds like a wonderful idea.
The piece Burrows references in his Facebook post talks in openly colonial terms about Britain’s relationship with Ireland. In it, “former senior NATO commander and naval expert” Rear Admiral Chris Parry raves enthusiastically about the prospect of essentially invading Ireland. The modern-day Dr Strangelove insists:
The UK needs to calibrate the threat to itself of a supine Republic of Ireland. My view is that the best way to help Ireland now is to increase Nato and Allied activity in Ireland’s economic zone waters.
We’ve got to start fishing in Irish waters for our potential opponents. Whether the Irish government likes it or not, it’s the high seas so we should do it.
The “high seas” typically refers to waters that do not fall under any national jurisdiction. Quite how the area Parry wants to invade can be both “Irish waters” and the “high seas” simultaneously is anyone’s guess, but when you’re talking seriously about the prospect of terminal war with nuclear armed states then logic has long since left the building.
Never mind about Gaza, let’s focus on starting WW3
Parry’s main concern is policing “North Sea waters on approach routes to Scotland”. For this it is essential in his view that “the UK maintains Northern Ireland”. Hearing a warmongering admiral talk about a region of Ireland as if it’s simply a colonial plaything of Britain is probably enough to put some unionists off maintaining the union, never mind those who are already set on the idea of a united Ireland.
The UUP’s Burrows prefaced his comments by groaning about “local politicians” who:
…spend more time debating international affairs than delivering basic services here at home.
Talking endlessly about Gaza while failing to ensure there’s salt in the grit box at the end of your own development on the day it’s needed…
Burrows uses this as a means of foregrounding his remarks on NATO etc, by way of saying “let’s not have all this nonsense about a holocaust we’re participating in, instead focus on real foreign affairs like getting into World War 3.”
The reality is that Gaza is of course a local issue. Local arms factories make parts for so-called ‘Israel’s’ warplanes. Local shops sell Zionist shit that fills the coffers of the illegal entity’s coffers. Local airports are used by US aircraft on their way to West Asia. Local politicians are bought off by Zionist money, wined and dined in the Zone of Interest beside an extermination camp.
Perhaps we could focus on ending our role in that scar on the human race, rather than racing to the front of the queue among those looking to bait Putin and Xi Jinping into turning us all into little puddles of pink paste.
Featured image via the Canary
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