Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Eighteen years ago, the British Government was critical in supporting the US Government in telling a pack of lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Those lies were used to justify a murderous war in that country, albeit against the nasty regime of Saddam Hussein. However, the premise of the war a pack of lies that had been recycled by the British Government and the US Government. That war had disastrous consequences for the people of Iraq and the entire region. Given the events of the last few weeks around Ukraine, does that history give the Taoiseach any pause for thought about the claims of NATO and the United States that an invasion of Ukraine is imminent? Do not get me wrong; Putin is a nasty, authoritarian piece of work and I do not trust him. However, the Russian ambassador has stated that it would be insane for them to invade Ukraine. The Russians have started to move some of their military forces away from the border and, indeed, out of Crimea. Yet, NATO and the US are still saying that war is likely. This happens to coincide with NATO and the European Union looking for massive increases in military expenditure, including from this country. Does the Taoiseach not think that to some extent the role of a neutral country is to ask questions about the drums that are beating for war?

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