Why we should withdraw from the world cup

[Green Matt]

In agreement with Sy.

Sadly I feel that with all the hype enough people could be duped into support for armed conflict.

 

[andyr1963]

Boycott the World Cup? A boycott would really only work with backing from other countries. If all the EU would join the boycott, (an attack in one country is an attack on all etc). There are many who would immediately join our boycott, obviously Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and I believe we could count on both Italy and the Netherlands :greensmile: Spain? not so sure, even if we did offer Gibraltar in return. Germany and France mmmmmmmmmm nah it is not going to happen is it.

 

[esmer]

A boycott would have to be an EU thing and will never happen. We've expelled a few of their diplomats and they will expell a few of ours in retaliation and continue denying it and it will blow over in a couple of weeks. That's the realpolitik.

 

[MickyD]

Here's something I hadn't previously thought of, from today's Guardian:

Intelligence-led cooperation about possible clashes between Russian and English football hooligans must now be in question.

Even aside from a probable lack of cooperation from now on, when you consider that violence-prone individuals use any excuse to be violent regardless of circumstances, this bad blood could lead to the spillage of an awful lot of the real stuff.

Even before this incident I couldn't see Russian authorities lifting more than a cursory finger to protect the great many peaceful England fans who will surely be victims of violence; now I can imagine it getting far, far worse.

As for the England fans who plan to go there actually looking to pick fights: that's their own stupid look-out, and I think they're going to get very heavily battered. Look at France 2016: the Russians were lean and fit and carried out their attacks on the flabby English beer boys like military operations. There were a few hundred Russian "hooligans" in France; there'll be tens of thousands in their home country, and I think the authorities' efforts to stop them will be little more than perfunctory. We can ony hope that the world's cameras and smart phones will maintain some semblance of order.

 

[Brussels Bureaucrat]

Putin and his accomplices have stolen billions of dollars from the Russian people, and laundered much of it through the City of London. If only one thing comes out of this miserable episode, hopefully that'll be made much harder for gangsters like them. Not holding my breath, though.

 

[Keepitgreen]

It'll be interesting when the British journalists and TV crews apply for their visas.

 

[mervyn]

Here's something I hadn't previously thought of, from today's Guardian:

Intelligence-led cooperation about possible clashes between Russian and English football hooligans must now be in question.

Even aside from a probable lack of cooperation from now on, when you consider that violence-prone individuals use any excuse to be violent regardless of circumstances, this bad blood could lead to the spillage of an awful lot of the real stuff.

Even before this incident I couldn't see Russian authorities lifting more than a cursory finger to protect the great many peaceful England fans who will surely be victims of violence; now I can imagine it getting far, far worse.

As for the England fans who plan to go there actually looking to pick fights: that's their own stupid look-out, and I think they're going to get very heavily battered. Look at France 2016: the Russians were lean and fit and carried out their attacks on the flabby English beer boys like military operations. There were a few hundred Russian "hooligans" in France; there'll be tens of thousands in their home country, and I think the authorities' efforts to stop them will be little more than perfunctory. We can ony hope that the world's cameras and smart phones will maintain some semblance of order.

I think the outcome could be even uglier. A month ago their equivalent of our Home Secretary declared ‘our thugs are tougher than your thugs’, a literal translation. He went on to advocate state organised meeting places for punch ups to prove his point. Scary. No wonder the BBC’s Alan Green has refused to go as a commentator.

 

[Belfast Green]

No wonder the BBC’s Alan Green has refused to go as a commentator.

Oh good.

 

[Green Matt]

Remember how we were supposed to believe that Polish and Ukrainian nazi mobs would be running riot throughout Euro 2012?

 

[Martyn]

No wonder the BBC’s Alan Green has refused to go as a commentator.

Oh good.

That’s one good thing about the World Cup,

 

[Balham Green]

Well I'm not boycotting the World Cup and I don't see why football is being used as a political tool by the idiots at Parliament.

Do not feel sorry for Mr Skripal at all, he was a Russian spy who pood on his country from a great height. Who I do feel sorry for are his daughter, mop's and the emergency services who were effected. Sounds like Wiltshire Police haven't treated this a full scale CBRN incident straight away...why was the police officer who fell ill also allowed to go to Skripal's home afterwards?!

So you don’t feel sorry for a guy that realised that his country was a menace and tried to help another country that he felt could do better for the world? Bizarre - if i felt my country was being run by a regime that would never give up power democratically I would be the first to turn on it.

He was traded as a political prisoner by the Russian government; not to feel sorry for him is bordering on psychotic as far as I’m concerned.

Some of the comments on this site really do make me laugh. So, in your view "Russia is a menace". So, was it Russia whose bombs have killed over a million Iraqi's and Afghani's over the last 20 years ?. Is it Russia who have placed ABM shields and troops on the United States border or is it the other way around ?. Is it Russia who saw the overthrowing of democratically elected leaders in Libya, Iraq, Ukraine and have supported terrorists to try and do the same in Syria ?. The attitude of some people in the West truly does astound me. Sadly all it does is show how blindly and willingly some people in the West tend to base their view of the world on what they hear on BBC news, it's no wonder our countries foreign policy is a joke when they have the support of people like you.

The even funnier thing is that people like you that Russia would order a hut on a spy, in Britain, using a nerve agent which could be traced back to the Russian military. Might just be me but I think that Russia's military and Putin have a bit more intelligence than that, but hey what do I know. I would also wonder how many British agents who turned rogue have been killed in a similar manner by MI5 etc.

I am not for one minute condoning what has happened, I hope that those responsible pay a very, very heavy price, but it seems to me that people willingly swallow what you hear on mainstream news without any semblance of critical thinking whatsoever.

So do you think Russia are a force for good in world politics? Propping up the murderous Syrian regime for example.

 

[Emu]

Well I'm not boycotting the World Cup and I don't see why football is being used as a political tool by the idiots at Parliament.

Do not feel sorry for Mr Skripal at all, he was a Russian spy who pood on his country from a great height. Who I do feel sorry for are his daughter, mop's and the emergency services who were effected. Sounds like Wiltshire Police haven't treated this a full scale CBRN incident straight away...why was the police officer who fell ill also allowed to go to Skripal's home afterwards?!

So you don’t feel sorry for a guy that realised that his country was a menace and tried to help another country that he felt could do better for the world? Bizarre - if i felt my country was being run by a regime that would never give up power democratically I would be the first to turn on it.

He was traded as a political prisoner by the Russian government; not to feel sorry for him is bordering on psychotic as far as I’m concerned.

Some of the comments on this site really do make me laugh. So, in your view "Russia is a menace". So, was it Russia whose bombs have killed over a million Iraqi's and Afghani's over the last 20 years ?. Is it Russia who have placed ABM shields and troops on the United States border or is it the other way around ?. Is it Russia who saw the overthrowing of democratically elected leaders in Libya, Iraq, Ukraine and have supported terrorists to try and do the same in Syria ?. The attitude of some people in the West truly does astound me. Sadly all it does is show how blindly and willingly some people in the West tend to base their view of the world on what they hear on BBC news, it's no wonder our countries foreign policy is a joke when they have the support of people like you.

The even funnier thing is that people like you that Russia would order a hut on a spy, in Britain, using a nerve agent which could be traced back to the Russian military. Might just be me but I think that Russia's military and Putin have a bit more intelligence than that, but hey what do I know. I would also wonder how many British agents who turned rogue have been killed in a similar manner by MI5 etc.

I am not for one minute condoning what has happened, I hope that those responsible pay a very, very heavy price, but it seems to me that people willingly swallow what you hear on mainstream news without any semblance of critical thinking whatsoever.

So do you think Russia are a force for good in world politics? Propping up the murderous Syrian regime for example.

What's being said is that the truth lies somewhere between the middle of both arguments.

For what it's worth (as I get older), I am often cynical of the western media, including the BBC. It's often interesting to watch Russia Today. It makes you think!

 

[Balham Green]

Well I'm not boycotting the World Cup and I don't see why football is being used as a political tool by the idiots at Parliament.

Do not feel sorry for Mr Skripal at all, he was a Russian spy who pood on his country from a great height. Who I do feel sorry for are his daughter, mop's and the emergency services who were effected. Sounds like Wiltshire Police haven't treated this a full scale CBRN incident straight away...why was the police officer who fell ill also allowed to go to Skripal's home afterwards?!

So you don’t feel sorry for a guy that realised that his country was a menace and tried to help another country that he felt could do better for the world? Bizarre - if i felt my country was being run by a regime that would never give up power democratically I would be the first to turn on it.

He was traded as a political prisoner by the Russian government; not to feel sorry for him is bordering on psychotic as far as I’m concerned.

Some of the comments on this site really do make me laugh. So, in your view "Russia is a menace". So, was it Russia whose bombs have killed over a million Iraqi's and Afghani's over the last 20 years ?. Is it Russia who have placed ABM shields and troops on the United States border or is it the other way around ?. Is it Russia who saw the overthrowing of democratically elected leaders in Libya, Iraq, Ukraine and have supported terrorists to try and do the same in Syria ?. The attitude of some people in the West truly does astound me. Sadly all it does is show how blindly and willingly some people in the West tend to base their view of the world on what they hear on BBC news, it's no wonder our countries foreign policy is a joke when they have the support of people like you.

The even funnier thing is that people like you that Russia would order a hut on a spy, in Britain, using a nerve agent which could be traced back to the Russian military. Might just be me but I think that Russia's military and Putin have a bit more intelligence than that, but hey what do I know. I would also wonder how many British agents who turned rogue have been killed in a similar manner by MI5 etc.

I am not for one minute condoning what has happened, I hope that those responsible pay a very, very heavy price, but it seems to me that people willingly swallow what you hear on mainstream news without any semblance of critical thinking whatsoever.

So do you think Russia are a force for good in world politics? Propping up the murderous Syrian regime for example.

What's being said is that the truth lies somewhere between the middle of both arguments.

For what it's worth (as I get older), I am often cynical of the western media, including the BBC. It's often interesting to watch Russia Today. It makes you think!

He DIDN'T say that though did he? He also suggested Assad was a democratically elected leader! !

 

[Green Matt]

There's nothing cuddly about the Russian government but crikey, get some perspective.