Britons oppose wars for US interests

“Public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly opposed to anymore involvement in America’s wars in the Middle East,” Livingstone said in a Saturday interview.

“Usually what our troops have been doing is not fighting for Britain’s interests, but broadly doing what America wants and thousands and thousands of our young men killed fighting for America’s economic interests,” he pointed out.

His comments come against the backdrop of a recent poll which revealed that 68 percent of Britons believe the UK military presence in Afghanistan was futile.

Over 600 British soldiers were killed in the US-led wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Ever since basically the end of the First World War, Britain and America have intervened all over the Middle East to control the flow of oil. It has been central to their economy. They put out regimes that were completely corrupt. They overthrew the democratically-elected ones,” Livingstone said.

“We have just had a 100 years of Western intervention and the tragedy is when you look at the loss of lives and what it has cost us. We would have been better off just paying an honest price for the oil and letting the Arab countries sell it themselves,” he added.

The former London mayor said mainstream British politicians, such as Prime Minister David Cameron and Tony Blair, the former premier, who serve the US interests are rewarded when they retire with lucrative positions at US corporations.

“When they retire… they’ll get very nice and substantial incomes,” Livingston stated.

“If you challenge America’s interests, you might be subject to a smear campaign, possibly even a nasty accident.”

Source: PressTV