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Thank you for such an excellent clear & concise summary of the roots of these wars. Equally clear is the inhumanity of callously destroying the lives of the people of Ukraine & Gaza as expendable pawns in the killing games of the American, British & European governments.

It is also galling that the U.K. government has found millions of pounds (billions?) for weapons of destruction against countries who have done us no harm, while it cannot find money to adequately fund the NHS or reduce the numbers of people here struggling to live below the poverty line.

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Putin sees himself as the new Tzar. He yearns for the old USSR but this time there's a difference. He's a born again Christian who has resurrected the Romanovs to cult status with a National Day of Commemoration and the Russian Orthodox Church is remodelled to suit.

The Wagner Group invaded Eastern Ukraine in 2014 and the West didn't bother. Indeed Conservative Friends of Russia and The Bruges Group were calling Ukraine a "failed state" at the time.

To suggest that Putin is defending Russia is far from the truth. It can be said with clarity that the rest of Europe is frightened of what he may do next hence the bolstering of NATO with the joining of Sweden and Finland.

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We shall agree to disagree, Bob. Sweden and Finland will regret the day they decided to join NATO. They or any other EU member state was never under any military threat from Russia. NATO should have been wound up when the USSR fell in 1991. But the military industrial complex is far too strong and basically controls US politicians through its campaign donations. That's why most US pols vote for continual war. A nation that chooses to invest in its war machine over its people is bound to fail. And that's precisely what we are seeing with the US and the UK.

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Yes I agree but it's a choice between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

Better the Devil you know than Putin's Devil.

I completely agree with you about the USA and UK but Putin is worse, not quite exactly the same. He has no opposition in Russia as he's killed them off or imprisoned them for many years. At least here in the West we can argue back without fear of that....

His merciless destruction in western Syria testifies to his brutality- on a par farcworse than the Coalition.

I've been in Russia and worked in most of the places mentioned. There is a marked powerlessness in Russia and an acceptance of of massive state corruption. I would say in the UK we are catching up to that level....especially the Tories.

US military industrial complex is indeed a real concern. At the moment I'd say war with Iran highly probable.

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My point is that the Ukraine war was entirely avoidable - the US provoked this war for the benefit of its war machine masters. US foreign policy has for several years been hijacked by the neocons who are financially linked to the arms manufacturers.

US power is declining around the world. No one trusts it or the UK. Sadly, the EU has been just as morally bankrupt and complicit in both the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts. If there is war with Iran, I lay the blame at the feet of the people dictating US policy.

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Disagree on Ukraine but the rest of your comments are correct.

Ukraine nolonger has commonality with Russia especially this past 100years with all the various Soviet pograms and Hitler. Putin handled it all wrong. He more or less used Soviet bully tactics instead of the better "hearts and minds" policy that is really the only way to operate successfully.

Thanks for your work on Scottish independence. It is a hard road we are on but we cannot give in to London rule anymore

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