> I don't deny that it ended up that way.

> But it's important to consider how external forces drove its development in that direction.

> I do think that it could have turned out very differently.

So imagine this was written in response to saying "Nazi Germany was angry and suspicious because it was a brutal fascist regime that relied on purging dissidents and killing millions to stay in power."

I think most people would have a bit of a bone to pick ... so ... I dont know - food for thought. I don't think we need to equivocate every time we condemn what the USSR was.