Two countries that have far more influence on American foreign and military policy than they should are Great Britain and Israel. You have to wonder why. The explanations are undoubtedly long, complicated, and probably sordid. From Jonathan Cook at declassifieduk.org:
From lobbying for fighter jets to supplying depleted uranium, the UK is making sure escalation is the only way forward.
Rishi Sunak and Volodymyr Zelensky on 8 February 2023 (Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street)
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made an unexpected trip to Britain last week on a whistle-stop tour of European capitals, pleading for more powerful and longer-range weapons to use in his war against Russia.
What was hard to ignore once again was the extent to which the UK is playing an outsize role in Ukraine.
Last year, shortly after the start of the war, the then-prime minister, Boris Johnson, hurried to Kyiv – presumably on Washington’s instructions – apparently to warn Zelensky off fledgling peace talks with Moscow.
At around the same time, the Biden administration made clear it favoured an escalation in fighting, not an end to it, as an opportunity to “weaken” Russia, a geo-strategic rival along with China.
Since then, the UK has been at the forefront of European efforts to entrench the conflict, helping to lobby for the supply of weapons, training and military intelligence to Ukrainian forces.
British tanks and thousands of tank shells – including, controversially, some made from depleted uranium – are being shipped out. Last week, the UK added hundreds of long-range attack drones to the inventory.
STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC 