Letters: If it’s OK to kill bin Laden, why not Putin?

On a national and international level, governments are pledging huge amounts of aid in terms of munitions, money and humanitarian supplies. On a personal level, many of us are pledging money to the DEC or offering accommodation in our homes.

Every day we think the levels of depravity can get no lower – residential apartment blocks, schools, nurseries, people in a bread queue, convoys of fleeing cars and now a theatre sheltering 1,200 innocent civilians.

I am no expert on war crimes, but the Russians under Vladimir Putin must be committing them on a daily basis.

There is no sign that sanctions are working. Are we to simply stand by while a nation of 40 million people is razed to the ground? We say we cannot impose a no-fly zone because that will risk World War Three and ultimately Armageddon. I get that and I understand the reluctance due to Ukraine not being in Nato or the EU.

Personally, I do not think we should let this bully get away with it and surely there is little difference between imposing a no-fly zone and supplying hundreds of millions of pounds worth of military hardware including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. Indeed, it could be argued that a no-fly zone is more passive than putting guns in their hands.

Putin is banking on the free world not intervening and this gives him free rein to commit numerous murderous war crimes. If we are to just idly stand back while millions die or are displaced then I think that is wrong. What was a proud sovereign nation of 40 million people will soon become a barren landscape laid to waste by a pointless war.

Are there no undercover dirty tricks we could deploy such as engineering a military coup in Russia or assassinating Putin? Some say that would be stooping to their level, but is it any different to killing Bin Laden?

It is imperative that we explore every single avenue or we too will have the blood of countless innocent civilians on our hands.

Stewart Falconer, Alyth.

* TO try to counter some of the scary talk about the war in Ukraine coming from some western sources, could I offer a short quote from the late Desmond Tutu?

"If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. You talk to those you least like."

William Campbell, Lenzie.

MISSING CASH A CAUSE FOR CONCERN

WORKING in an area where we are financially audited, I know the importance of a paper trail and being able to evidence where money has come from and gone to. For Audit Scotland to not be able to inspect the Scottish Government’s financial records to its satisfaction should be embarrassing at best, with heads rolling at worst ("‘Data gap’ leaves auditors unsure where £5bn Covid emergency money went", The Herald, March 17). Yes, there was a requirement to get money out the door to those that needed it soonest but that does not mean that good practice should go out the window.

£4.8bn is no small sum and as the Auditor-General said, “knowing where the money went matters”. It does matter as first, it may have got into the wrong hands, as fraud would have been rife with many hoping to benefit from the chaos that ensued. Secondly, it is taxpayers who will be paying this money back for many decades to come. Finally, if you don’t know what went where, how do you know you spent it all? If we can’t trust the SNP Government to maintain transparent financial records, how can we trust it with anything else?

Jane Lax, Aberlour.

OUR FUTURE IS DOWN TO US

BRIAN Chrystal (Letters, March 17) wonders why we should trust the SNP with our futures. He either misses or ignores the point that with independence we will be trusting ourselves with our future rather than have our UK partner in effect do that for us.

He goes on to bemoan the lack of "governmental and managerial competence", of which the current UK Government is obviously a shining example.

John Boyle, Ardrossan.

* IN response to Brian Chrystal, we live in a democracy where we have the opportunity to vote freely at elections; and over the last decade and a half the people of Scotland have made their democratic decision based on first-hand experience of the SNP in government. Mr Chrystal and other correspondents need to respect the decision of the voters in Scotland.

In 2021 voters had clear evidence of a Government managing a global pandemic, one that was reaching out to the vulnerable and needy through devolved welfare powers and taking on many other initiatives. Action speaks louder than words and there is plenty of evidence going forward; we only have to look at the current crisis in Ukraine where the Scottish Government is reaching out and welcoming refugees. Unfortunately we do not have devolved powers in this area. Sadly, Scotland is being tainted by the closed-door policies of the UK Government on this matter.

Catriona C Clark, Falkirk.

RENEWABLES MUST BE THE FUTURE

“RENEWABLES are the quickest and cheapest route to energy independence. They are invulnerable to Putin’s manipulations. He may have his hand on the taps for oil and gas. But there is nothing he can do to stop North Sea wind.”

Not my words, but those of Boris Johnson, writing in the Daily Telegraph earlier this week. The Prime Minister is not my usual go-to when looking for a supportive quote, but on this point, he is spot on.

Scotland is uniquely placed to lead Europe in its renewables transition. We have 25 per cent of Europe’s offshore renewable potential, enough to provide all the power we’ll ever need, and export to our friends and neighbours across the Continent. The co-operation agreement that brought us into government commits to doubling onshore wind power too.

For too long, authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin have been able to use fossil fuels to build a power base. Now, with a fast transition to renewable energy we can take action that will rip the rug from under his feet.

With this in mind I was astonished to read Iain Macwhirter’s inaccurate and hyperbolic opinion piece this week ("SNP should call Harvie’s bluff and scrap the Green coalition", The Herald, March 16).

In it he makes false accusations about the position of my party in relation to Putin, Saudi Arabia, and Nato.

No one in the Scottish Green Party has suggested turning off oil and gas tomorrow, but what is clear is that if we want a liveable planet, energy security and plentiful job opportunities in the industries of the future then we need to accelerate the just transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Mr Macwhirter can make all the facile comments he likes, but he cannot change the facts. A continued reliance on oil and gas empowers the Kremlin.

It’s time to end Europe’s reliance on the likes of Russia and Saudi Arabia, and lead the Continent into the renewables future.

Gillian Mackay, Scottish Greens MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.

USE OUR OWN OIL AND GAS

WHY was Boris Johnson out in the Middle East trying to persuade one autocratic leader in Saudi Arabia to sell us oil and gas to save having to buy it from another autocratic leader in Russia?

Why, when we have both Cambo and Jackdaw fields off our Scottish coast ready to fill the gap, until such time as wind power actually become a reliable energy source?

The answer to these questions is simple. The SNP has welded itself to the Green Party to bolster its majority. This regardless of the economic ruin this unholy coalition will inflict on the people of Scotland and indeed the entire UK. We should be encouraging the UK Government to take advantage of the energy source we have off our own shores. Then we need not be beholden to murderous foreign powers.

Celia Judge, Ayr.

* STEVEN Camley’s cartoon, captioned “If only we knew a peaceful nation with oil” with the puzzled Boris Johnson and contemplative Nicola Sturgeon (The Herald, March 17) highlights the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”, attributed to US advertising executive Fred R Barnard in the 1920s.

Well done.

R Russell Smith, Largs.