MLMCD: “I ask the Taoiseach directly if he will condemn the US-Israeli strikes without qualification. Will he state clearly that they are in breach of international law? Irish neutrality demands that the Taoiseach be unequivocal on both these questions.”
General Martin: "Ireland is in favour of a multilateral, rules-based international order and has consistently advocated for same. We believe in immediate de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, and particularly in Iran. We believe these issues ultimately, in terms of a sustainable resolution, has to be via diplomatic channels. Diplomacy, ultimately, is the only route that can sustainably bring about a lasting peace.
It has to be also said that the multilateral order has been dysfunctional for quite some time. The Deputy referenced the UN Security Council. It has been paralysed and powerless for quite some time in the prevention of war and conflict and in holding repressive regimes to account or in any way intervening in terms of those regimes. For a long time now, Iran has been a very malign influence in the world and in the Middle East, and, as the Deputy has acknowledged, in its repression of women and the LGBT community. The regime has executed thousands of Iranians for advocating for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, and for seeking change through democratic channels. The international rules-based order, if we are honest about it, was absolutely powerless and paralysed to intervene there to prevent the execution of thousands of people.
We believe in a multilateral-based order, but we have to see reality too in terms of the full picture in this regard. Let us remember that for decades, Iran has sponsored Hamas. It has sponsored terror all over the Middle East. It sponsored and armed Hezbollah. It supported Assad and was key to keeping him and his brutal regime in power for a long time. It sent drones to the Russian military to kill innocent Ukrainians. These are realities that the Deputy has glossed over. I know Sinn Féin does not support Ukraine."
General Martin’s response refuses to condemn the attack and address the issue and just launches into smears and attacks on his political opponents. He also engages in victim blaming on Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran. If anything he went further than not condemning it, he somewhat justified it.
The exchange here shows what a dangerous and compromised individual General Micheal Martin is.
Has Lambo got friends on this forum? Because there are some fellas shifting very uncomfortably here. A mirror is being held up to a sacred cow and you can feel the rage building…
Lambo could dispel all this stuff if he’d just confirm whether or not Kneecap are silencing women. It would be a very easy thing to confirm and as manager of the band he’d have every incentive to set the record straight.
Imagine he’s the guy you choose to go after and smear rather than the leader of government who has contorted and sold himself off to Trump, the EU and Israel so much so that he has to go around justifying mass murder of children while smearing anyone who calls him out on it.
It’s amazing how anyone with sincere morals can attack someone like a Daniel Lambert or Clare Daly on spurious grounds while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the head of government endorsing mass murder of children for two tyrannical, genocidal regimes.
Right, so you have now moved on to exploiting women and sex assault victims to sling mud against people because you don’t agree with their politics.
Conversely you don’t have any issue with a head of government justifying the mass murder of school children.
You run away from this again and again as you are on a propaganda campaign and everything is about smearing and deflecting. Everyone can see what you are doing. The Israelis call it Hasbara.
The only uncomfortable shifting here is from yourself. You are burning any credibility to the ground you have on here as you are for the leader of this country to run cover for Donald Trump and refuse to condemn the mass murder of school girls. You won’t address that but yet you’re busy smearing people with allegations that are directly conflicted on public record.
More smears, more propaganda, more lies - you are the Eylon Levy of this board.
So effectively we started on this thread with Daniel Lambert being attacked on the basis of:
Equating the Israeli state to the Nazis in Germany or being worse than them. A fairly reasonable position to come to 3 years into a genocide that has been livestreamed in front of our faces where for the duration of it Palestinians have been dehumaised and mocked in the midst of ethnic cleansing by the Israeli establishment. This is not a controversial position and indeed it is something that has also been echoed by many Jewish commentators and Holocaust survivors.
Hard to figure out what the motivation was here? Is it the tactic employed by the Israelis where the Holocaust is used as exceptionalism and is weaponised by them to stop people critiquing and commenting on the genocide they are carrying out in Gaza.
The we moved on to Lambert being framed as a supporter of Russia and Putin. This was clearly false and a smear. Lambert has on numerous occassions condemened both Putin and Russia. The attempt here was to conflate criticism and scrutiny of the West’s role in creating instability in Ukraine and recklessness in creating the circumstances for a Russian invasion with explicit support for Russia. The smears are easily disproven and are there to attack the person rather than play the ball.
The motivation for this is quite clear. The West have serious answers to account for in what’s happening in the Ukraine and there has been an attempt and narrative in the West to censore debate and discussion around the motivations and objectives of the West in Ukraine and how they have shown scant regard for human lives in this area. There is clear evidence Western powers were determined to drive a wedge between Ukraine and Russia and it is fair to look at this and its motivations. This should not be conflated with supporting Russia. This should be allowed to be discussed without smears being cast about to censor it. Like Iraq, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Libya and tonnes more - the West have stood behind false narratives of freedom and democracy to change regimes and create instability at any cost for their own geopolitical interests. If someone is determined to censor commentary on this then they are not engaging in good faith.
Finally we have now moved on to using unfounded rumours of sexual assualt allegations on a band Lambert manages to paint him as a protector of rapists or something similar. Quite a crass and cynical angle to take and certainly showing zero empathy or concern for victims of sexual assault. These rumours have been gathering pace and traction in recent weeks and are certainly very damaging to Kneecap. In my opinion, if they are untrue the best thing the band can do is to confront and address them and deny them in the strongest possible terms. As of now though there is no evidence of any investigation or formal complaints of these allegations, there is no record of any first hand account being disclosed of any of these allegations, all we have is second hand rumours swirling about mainly under anonymous profiles. It’s not the job of their manager to address these rumours, he does not know their veracity, it’s only for the members of Kneecap to do that.
Again it’s hard to work out the motivation of this angle. It’s clear that the motivation is to damage Lambert but for what reason or for what end?
Is it really just to protect Western imperialism and supremacy. People with public profiles these days take a big risk when they speak out against Western governments and challenge the propaganda and one sided narrative they try to spin to the masses.
I find Daniel Lamber to be a very decent and principled man, which is probably why the indecent and unprincipled come so hard for him.
