Congrats Craig. I actually made a post a few days back saying I was surprised the Daily Mail were not knocking on your door asking you to write a piece as they have done so on previous occasions. It took some time as you said but you have to have a reasonable level of respect that that this shows elements of the Press can and often do get to the nub of issues.

One of the clearest, and least discussed, issues regarding Fox/Werrity is back door political funding using bogus charities. I can only assume that all of the major parties have similar schemes to Atlantic Bridge etc. or else they would be attacking the Tories mercilessly on this point.
.
More worryingly, the press doesn’t seem to give a toss either.
.
BTW the mounties always get their man – Timberlake better watch his bony ass!

President Ahmadinejad is brilliant, watch some of his interviews he cuts through the zionist mind control with ease. President Ahmadinejad’s appearance at columbia university is also good, he answered all questions. God Bless Iran and keep her safe.

BOLLOX ? UTTER BOLLOX ? OR BOLLOX ON A TRAY ? (*)
.
Independent – “Leading article: The message is, the media works” – The Independent wisely buried this laughable front page headline. But let the ripostes commence, regardless!
.
- http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-the-message-is-the-media-works-2371387.html
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ER, NO! Not in this universe!
.
WAR IN HEAVEN
.
If, now, the media appears to work, it is because there is a ‘War in Heaven’ between competing factions. There is zero chance of an honest British government with the interests of the British people at heart. Not unless there are several million men under arms who are not about to settle for less. As was the case in 1945. Hence the Health Service in 1947. –
.
Tony Benn with Michael Moore – Sicko –
.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37wkX2gklzo
.
Europe – A progressive land of milk and honey, where the crazy right wing is ‘Norwegian conservative guy’ @ 1.20. From Michael Moore’s Sicko. –
.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svSUCbClg8E
.
“The media works?” – Not unless Wikileaks was a figment of our collective imagination. Because Wikileaks proved conclusively that the the Main Stream Media (MSM) has created a fictional reality over decades that bears no relation to the real world. They have lied and lied and lied, to the point that our collective view of reality, and of history, is a fantasy.
.
Peter Dale Scott – JFK, 911 and ‘deep state’ analyst sees groups within the elite in a ferocious battle for control. -
.
- “But, I mean, it leaves intact the whole criminal structure.” “Groups within the elite in a ferocious battle for power.” Who wouldn’t battle over that much corruption?
.
- Peter Dale Scott – ’911, Left Gatekeepers, Zelikow’. – @4.05 –
.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDZR72PPUO0#t=04m05s
.
Russia invaded Afghanistan? As an American plan, by right-wing nutcase ‘Bonkers’ Brezinsky to give them their Vietnam. Iraq invaded Kuwait, says Peter Dale Scott. Iraq was led to invade Kuwait by the US Empire fooling its ambassador April Gillespie into unwittingly lying to Sadam Hussein that any action that Iraq might take against Kuwait was an Iraqi affair.
.
911? 3000 dead was a rounding error in the toll of the Empire’s slaughter of the Third World. 16-20m dead says John Stockwell. 12-16m dead says the revered father of peace studies Johan Galtung.
.
The Madrid Bombings and London 7/7 – a continuation of the US Empire’s ‘Strategy of Tension’ – bombing the crap out of Europe and helping the right to seize power.
.
- Operation Gladio – Allan Francovich – Google Video. The Lockerbie Bombing? A US Empire internal conspiracy. See ‘The Maltese Double Cross.’ –
.
- http://tinyurl.com/3e9dvv5
.
- Peter Dale Scott –
.
- http://www.peterdalescott.net/
.
12M TO 16M US EMPIRE DEAD
.
By the same government that has caused the deaths of 12-16 million in fifty years, says Johan Galtung, or 6-20 million in their Third World War — a war _on_ third-world peasants — John Stockwell. 1.6m Iraq War – 3.6m in twenty years. 3m in Afghanistan – mostly by starvation. 6m in thirty years. Say! That sounds unhealthy! No @#$@#$ $herlock!
.
John Stockwell – ‘America’s Third World War’ – 6 – 20M killed –
.
- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm
.
Johan Galtung – the US empire has murdered 12m or 16m in forty years. “The difference is between overt murders and including covert murders by the US.” In illegal wars and genocides. –
.
- “How would we know that the Empire is dead?” – Johan Galtung –
.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRXmk7piHXY
.
(*) UP the Empire. UK. US. Other. ER, Ann Taintor ; ) –
.
- http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Taintor-Inc-01440-Magnet/dp/B003MZ1P4A/

Brilliant work, Craig.

Fox was pursuing a foreign policy for himself and his group of dodgy connections in Israel and the USA, separate from that of the P.M., Foreign Office and M.o.D.. The realisation of that fact must have been what finally tipped the balance for David Cameron. Adam Werritty was just a trusted manager to keep things at “arm’s length” looking clean, and to look after the books as his appointed Chancellor-cum-Deputy PM.

Iran has been in the gunsights of Israel and of US neocons for a long time, high up their list of strong leaderships to be eliminated. Trigger-fingers are getting very itchy.

Let us hope the demonstrations in so many countries around the world focus the minds of our politicians that their electors expect more of them than ever more banker bailouts and ever more wars in the Middle East. We demand better value for our tax-money.

The game is up.

This whole episode is being orchestrated by forces within the far right, it has nothing to do with the press doing its job. Craig, you are just being used, strange is it not, that you have suddenly become so popular, as you said..”I was, for the first time in three years, not cancelled at the last moment.” Indeed, before you were 100% non grata!, as you will be again after all this!.
Its all a big chess game.

Hague has just been on Marr. The usual. No he did not meet Werritty since he has been in govt. but he ‘thinks’ he might have met him before then. He was asked about Atlantic Bridge on whose advisory council he was a member. Marr had called him a trustee but Hague corrected him. Just one of those many groups that promotes closer ties between the US and the UK he said! He did speak at one of their conferences in the US. No he was not aware that Werritty was there. An expensively dressed and glib liar and the more I study him, the stranger he appears.

I did not listen to the next segment which was about Libya. Could not stomach any more of the propaganda.

Earlier Marr had inserted the word ‘violent’ when referring to the protests yesterday. Only in Rome and Madrid as far as I could see and the people of Italy and Spain have more than enough justification to feel as they do.

Opinion on MediaLens about the Independent story. The commenter obviously thinks they have got it wrong.
.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-foxs-best-man-and-his-ties-to-irans-opposition-2371352.html
.
Werrity plotted with Mossad?
Not at all.
.
Fox was always a willing vehicle for all right wing US- Israeli Interests. He is open about this.
Werritty is merely the contact/delivery boy to Fox.

-Nice work if you can get it.

Well done, Craig.

However, the pressure needs to be kept up. There are suggestions that Hague nay be vulnerable. Despite his public protestations that Atlantic Bridge was not a suspect organisation, he has served on its advisory board and may have benefited from this himself:
.
http://www.stephennewton.com/william-hague-denial/
.
Do we live in a democracy? Who determines our foreign policy?
.
Hague, on R4 news at 1200, answers these questions;

“Foreign police is set by me, the Prime Minister and the National Security Agency…”

Next news item – Israel starts prisoner transfer process. Such nice people, and nothing to do with international subversion, obviously.

Pass the sick bag.

quote – “Hague, on R4 news at 1200, answers these questions;
“Foreign police is set by me, the Prime Minister and the National Security Agency…”

The National Security Agency?? Is this another instance of a British government arm being rebadged to sound like its American counterpart, like the Supreme Court, for example? Sheesh, these Atlanticists – how long before we get a colossal statue of Maggie seated within a pillared building…

I’d be happy to admit I’m wrong if you can show me I am. I wrote the line down seconds after he’d said it and the full horror had registered, and I may have got it wrong. He did say policy, not police, though.

Cameron had a murdoch(israeli) agent as his pr man, Liam Fox has a zionist agent as his handler/confidante/room mate, what’s the common element here? The Blair invents fake intelligence to justify an attack on Iraq.

President Ahmadinejad is a man of god he does what god has told him to do, does not need to question it for himself. At Columbia University he was questioned on the gay hanging stuff, he gave a rambling justification, along the lines that certain acts spread bacteria.

@Larry_Levin – your criticism of the British ruling classes is fine, but that does not mean you should wholeheartedly support their enemies. I don’t care if Ahmadinejad is “a man of god” – plenty of religious people do abominable things. The Catholic Church, for example?
.
You would condemn the use of capital punishment against innocent people based on their sexuality, I trust?

@Craig, yes – well done in shouting this from the rooftops. It is conceivable that the Mail and the Indie wouldn’t be running these stories without your persistence!

National Security Council, it was. Apologies.

But, exactly as you say, Mike, a cool new unit sharing its name with its transatlantic equivalent.
.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/establishment-of-a-national-security-council/
.
“The Council will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Permanent members will be the Deputy Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Secretary of State for International Development and the Security Minister.”

Therefore Fox WOULD have had input to foreign policy, like any other recipient of help from foreign agencies and companies.

Might be an idea to delete off-topic and unsubstantiated posts from comments on this subject, Craig? It is less likely to be accessed by journalists if they have to wade through Iran and the Rothschild conspiracy to get the nuggets on the real story. You have my willing consent to deleting any of mine, anyway.

16 October 2011 Last updated at 12:50
Liam Fox did not run separate foreign policy –
William Hague said he met Adam Werritty “only in passing”
.
Related Stories
Profile: Liam Fox
Fox leaves unfinished business
Fox resigns as defence secretary
.
Foreign Secretary William Hague has rejected suggestions that ex-defence secretary Liam Fox and his friend Adam Werritty may have been independently trying to create foreign policy.
.
“The idea that it’s possible to run a completely separate policy by one minister is a fanciful idea,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr show.
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Mr Fox had co-operated with the Foreign Office in policy matters, he added.
.
His remarks come as the police consider investigating Mr Werritty for fraud.
.
Labour MP John Mann asked City of London police to look into Mr Werritty’s use of business cards falsely claiming he was an adviser to Mr Fox.
[..]
“If I asked him not to go to Sri Lanka, then he didn’t go. Or if I asked him when he went to convey messages of the government, messages from me then he conveyed those messages.”
.
He added: “The foreign policy of this country is set by me, the prime minister working through the National Security Council, pursued by 140 ambassadors in 260 embassies and consulates – it’s a huge operation.
.
“One adviser or non-adviser, whatever he may have been to one minister, isn’t able to run a totally different policy from the rest of the government. And I think people can at least be reassured about that.”
.
Mr Hague said he had not come across Mr Werritty since becoming foreign secretary, but did meet him while in opposition.
.
In recent days, attention has centred on Atlantic Bridge, the now-defunct charity founded by Mr Fox.
[...]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15326141

Craig – I for one certainly have linked articles in your blog to comments I’ve made in The Guardian.

And I, for one, thank you most sincerely for the information that you and many of your commenters have provided.

As a member of the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ group – our main idea has been, recently, to try to spark a debate with The Guardian about its continuing support for the Liberal Democrats – I, and many others, am becoming seriously concerned with the links between The Atlantic Bridge, its financial background, and The Guardian itself.

There is a very large fungus growing underground, of which only the fruiting bodies are currently visible. Its nature and toxicity are perhaps undecided, but a closer study is certainly needed.

Filleep the new bod at the MoD (he reminds me of one of those floorwalkers you used to see in department stores) is performing his first official duty which is a bit of flag waving for the Empyre. Wootton Bassett is now ROYAL. Cameroon and Princess Anne are there for the ceremony. A Globemaster has just flown overhead. The choice of plane says it all. State broadcaster and Sky givinh live coverage.

Richard Silverstein posts a quote (translated from Hebrew) from Likud MP Shama-HaCohen who chairs the Israeli government economic committee and has a high-level intelligence background:

“At the beginning of the current government’s term three chief objectives were set: ending the economic crisis, returning Gilad Shalit, and eliminating the Iranian nuclear [program]. We’ve exited the economic crisis for some time, Shalit comes home Tuesday alive and well…”

Silverstein says “Two outa three ain’t bad. But this MK is telling his Facebook audience that Bibi’s goin’ for the Trifecta. The ellipsis after the word “well” says it all.”

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/10/15/senior-likud-mk-key-government-goal-elimination-of-iranian-nuclear-threat/

All Israel has to do is light the fuse. Obama has backed himself into a corner. He would have no choice but to take over should Iran retaliate against Israel. Remember the saying from 2003 – “real men go to Tehran”.

A question for Mr Murray: If Iran is attacked (an act of war in old-speak), would the Persian Gulf automatically become a war zone (with all the implications that has for shipping insurance etc)? If not, under what circumstances would it become a war zone?

@Craig, well hearty thanks to Mr. or Ms. X in that case. Buy him or her a glass of their favourite
.
The Observer leads with this in their paper edition today:
.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/15/liam-fox-resignation-exposes-tories
.
So it looks like most of the press are now reporting the real story. Meanwhile Private Eye has a picture about “Foxy Foxy” on its front page – I will get kicked out of the supermarket one of these days for laughing too loud.

Jon: Meanwhile Private Eye has a picture about “Foxy Foxy” on its front page – I will get kicked out of the supermarket one of these days for laughing too loud.

.
‘Ere! Are you gonna buy that? This aint a library you know!

Zabludowicz. Zabludowicz. Zabludowicz.

The guy’s anxiety to distance himself from Werrity, and the coincidence of the official spin – that Werrity is a fraud, nothing more, with his own brief account of the matter, is significant, I think. The guy was heir to an Israeli arms fortune, and is involved in the ongoing dePalestinisation of Israel.

Zabludowicz.

Have to laugh.
.
http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=1299&
.
There is also a good piece about the first Leveson hearing.
more »
THE LEVESON INQUIRY
.
THERE were tantrums in the tearoom on the very first day of the inquiry into press ethics under Lord Justice Leveson. The deputy editor of the Daily Star, Kieran Saunders, managed to cause such a scene that sensitive Alan Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, nearly choked on his quiche.
.
Whitewash brushes and buckets at the ready?

Now this is more like it !! They tried to make it look like simple greed and corruption when it was much more spicy!! Well done Craig, may the source stay with you !!
As any gardner knows,once you start weeding, you just have to get the whole bed done !
It will be very interesting to see what happens to these weeds from St Andrews.It has to be worse than just the compost heap of history.
It’s made my Sunday !! Think I’ll crack open a malt.

Jon,
.
“You would condemn the use of capital punishment against innocent people based on their sexuality, I trust?”
.
Of course without doubt – in the same way I condemn the murder of innocent Iranian scientists on their way to work. Let’s not cherry-pick a State that lost millions in the Iran-Iraq war whose people were brutally tortured and murdered by a Western puppet in the same way as another Western puppet tortures and imprisons medical workers in Bahrain or protesters in Egypt. This is not a perfect world, nobody is perfect, yet who can turn a blind eye to the Western atrocities of hegemony and greed, the cultivation of puppet states, their false wars, false flags and subversion, the murder of innocent children in Iraq and Afghanistan and the displacement of 4 million families who once lived like you and I toiling in an imperfect world to raise next generations who might have a better future.

Get yer lovely influence here. Only ten grand a bag!

http://www.conservatives.com/Donate/Donor_Clubs.aspx
.
The Renaissance Forum

.

Annual membership: £10,000 Chairman: James Stewart
.
For our closest supporters to enjoy dinners and political debate with eminent speakers from the world of business and politics. Members are invited to all Team 2000 events.

Treasurers’ Group
.
Annual membership: £25,000
.
The Treasurers’ Group is aimed at substantial financial supporters with a keen interest in politics. Members are invited to join senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners, lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches.
.

The Leader’s Group
.
Annual membership: £50,000 Chairman: Howard Leigh
.
The Leader’s Group is the premier supporter Group of the Conservative Party. Members are invited to join David Cameron and other senior figures from the Conservative Party at dinners, post-PMQ lunches, drinks receptions, election result events and important campaign launches.

Our political system, not just the Tory part of it, is in hoc to the international right and Ziocons everywhere, particularly in the US. This backdoor intrigue is a fascinating insight on how murkily they work the poison. But is there anyone who didn’t know about it? The Labour Friends of Israel certainly did.

I wonder how it will all end for Fox and Werritty, flatmates to cellmates!, sadly, I don`t think so.

@Mark – all agreed. My question was aimed at anyone who would support Iran unquestionably, or who would not condemn murderous homophobia when they see it. However, I don’t think Iran’s capital punishment should be used to support a call for war against that country.
.
And fwiw, I think that PressTV should be allowed to keep its British license even if there are legitimate questions about its bias (after all, no-one seems to be making an official fuss about Fox News, and that is readily available on Sky packages).

@Angry – yeah!
.
I did pick it up and have a read, but my local Tesco hasn’t thrown me out yet. I was going to buy, but remembered it is sold at the little newsagent next to my office. So I will get it tomorrow
.
@Clark, yes – worrying. I don’t know if it is official Tesco policy though – just some silly middle-manager types exercising their megalomania in their tiny fiefdoms!

“However, I don’t think Iran’s capital punishment should be used to support a call for war against that country.”
.
Not just in Iran, is it!!!
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/cases/usa-troy-davis

Effective as Craig’s blog may have been, great credit is also due to Stephen Newton, whose persistence forced the partial exposure and closure of Atlantic Bridge.

Writing in Tribune (before it was known that AB had transferred its assets to Transatlantic Bridge), he says:
.
“By choosing to wind up rather than reform its UK charity, Atlantic Bridge has confirmed it has no desire to operate for the public benefit. Yet since 2003 its activities have been subsidised by British and American taxpayers. Atlantic Bridge was remarkably open about its intentions. A 2007 annual report explained how tax breaks aimed at supporting charities could be exploited so that British and American taxpayers would subsidise its activities. It provided detail on how a tax deductible donation to its UK charity could be used to buy a trip to the US, that would be officially be paid for by the American non-profit organisation.” …..

“The Atlantic Bridge has always consisted of multiple legal entities, including a US-based non-profit one which has taken charge of the UK charity’s website – and may have inherited other assets. Closure of the UK charity should not be taken as signal that the American Legislative Exchange Council or Atlantic Bridge have gone away.”

Typical activities included sponsoring a celebration in New York to promote one of William Hague’s books and a dinner in Los Angeles for Tory MPs to meet the stars of Fox News. “The true purpose of the Atlantic Bridge was to facilitate networking between senior members of the Conservative Party and their American allies”
.
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2011/10/whether-or-not-he-stays-in-office-fox%E2%80%99s-goose-appears-to-be-cooked/
.
Newton’s blog is worth a visit:

http://www.stephennewton.com/

Bravo, Craig – it looks as if you can break into the catatonic trance of the media, the sleep of reason. I hope you feel encouraged after your recent low moods – I can’t think of anyone else who could have achieved this. My pessimism has taken a knock, thank goodness.

Howard Leigh, chair of Conservative Leader’s Group for big -spending party donors (see above), with a friend (photo)

http://www.thejc.com/galleries/the-guest-list/a-large-london-crowd-turns-out-b-icc-awards-dinner?img=17

ANOTHER British-Israel club.

There is something very wrong with that story.

First, if Mossad were using Werritty to manipulate Fox it is highly unlikely that the fact would leak so easily: Mossad is not that bad an intelligence service.

Secondly, the Israeli source of the story loses all credibility in claiming that Mossad believed Werritty was Fox’s chief of staff: a fact that mere inspection of the relevant public records would have proven wrong. If Mossad were using Werritty then it would have been in full knowledge of the real nature of his relationship with Fox, which clearly had rather more warmth than relationships between heterosexual anglo-saxon men commonly exhibit.

Thanx for the Stephen Newton link Komodo – interesting.
.
I am with you on that Deco – I don’t like the smell of that story either – Are we using Iran to soften the blow-back?

“I wonder how it will all end for Fox and Werritty”
.
I think Fox may be offered a junior ministerial position in MAFF. Shortly after Werritty will become proprietor of a shadowy, Mossad-sponsored whelk stall.

Mossad have been very very blatant , and then also caught red handed in the last few years(Dubai, NZ ).
I’m beginning to think that their professionalism is merely a myth.
The fact that we seem to be in their pockets however is new,to me at least.

MJ
I was thinking more of what happened to Blair/Levy, and all they got upto, nothing, absolutely nothing!. No, thats not true, Blair is making tens of millions and Levy is now Lord Levy.

I know. I just couldn’t help making a fatuous joke. It’s the way I am. Sorry.

SOMALIA – THE FAMINE & FOOD CRISIS
.
The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity (International)
banned in the UK but shown here:
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UYZWZ6N-6tc#!
.
Iran aid plane lands in troubled Somalia – PressTV
.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193519.html

The obliging silence of the Labour Party is undoubtedly due to exactly the same situation applying to it. If anything, Blair was closer – or more overtly close – to the neocon/AIPAC/US corporate crew than Cameron. And he was richly rewarded for this. I am certain that the mycelia of influence are everywhere. However, the present problem is clearly the government in power, and concentrating on this for the moment is excusable,

“I have no time for a regime that kills gays.”
*
What do you mean by “I have no time for”?
*
Does it mean you’re onside with the US/Israeli effort to destabilize the regime, or Israel’s impulse to nuke Tehran?
*
I don’t like Britain’s policy of killing unborn children by the tens and hundreds of thousands. Does that mean I should “have no time for” the British “regime”, that I should support undermining the British government by any means necessary to bring about the social change I desire, including, if necessary, nuking London?
*
A bit of clarity on this would be welcome.

“If anything, Blair was closer – or more overtly close – to the neocon/AIPAC/US corporate crew than Cameron”
.
That may be true but Cameron has been embedded in the project since at least the late 80s when he was involved – along with David Kelly among others – in the disastrous affair of the three missing Israeli/S African nuclear warheads.

Looks like Rabbi Jonathan Sachs will be cursing you in tomorrows Thought for the day.

“However, the present problem is clearly the government in power”
.
Try and understand, its the same government as the last one with just different faces, thats the “problem”.

Another US UK organisation that needs the oxygen of exposure is the British American Project. Its chosen members includes Paxman, Alibhai Brown and even Shami Chakrabati the self righteous head of Liberty and ex Home Office. David Willetts too and Lord Robertson and a smattering of some Friends of Israel from our Parliament.
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British-American_Project
.
‘Although former British Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, has been forced to resign because of his relationship with an unofficial adviser, Adam Werrity, the saga reveals another example of the numerous networks – pretty much all of them under the cover of being non-political and/or charitable – that operate to strengthen and consolidate the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States.
.
The Fox-Werrity Atlantic Bridge organisation was wound up earlier this year after the Charity Commission ruled it had no charitable functions or benefits and seemed largely a vehicle for channeling funds in Werrity’s personal direction. Yet, the political functions of the Atlantic Bridge, which unified elements of Britain’s and America’s aggressively interventionist establishments, should not be overlooked. Its members included William Hague, the current foreign secretary, as well as George Osborn, the chancellor of the exchequer; American members included US Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democratic hawk who backed the Iraq War. Its neoconservative ethos of aggressive support for military intervention is shared by PM David Cameron – as evidenced by his enthusiasm in backing military force to oust Colonel Gaddafi from office in Libya.
.
Yet, it is not only the extreme right in British and American ‘mainstream’ politics that maintains such ‘charitable’ networks: the British-American Project, funded by major oil and other corporations and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the subject of little public awareness or enquiry, represents a similar network on the centre-left, along lines Tony Blair and Gordon Brown would have approved. Indeed, it complemented the various schemes under which the future leaders of ‘New’ Labour were primed for high office, under the tutelage of the FCO’s Jonathan Powell, who later went on to become Blair’s chief of staff.’
.
/…
{http://ij-poli-blog.blogspot.com}

“Try and understand, its the same government as the last one with just different faces, thats the “problem”.”

Oh, I do understand. But you can’t attack it all at once. Come to that, I’m not seeing very much in the way of constructive input from you at all. You’ll find it easier if you focus a little.

Mrntioned the Leader’s Group above – more here. Some names to conjure with here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/sep/30/david-cameron-conservative-donors
.
Magic. Just magic.

“Oh, I do understand. But you can’t attack it all at once.”
.
That’s an interesting comment because I wonder if it’s true. The Scottish approach is to attack it in toto by withdrawal. It might appear on the face of it that that is not an option available to all – or if it is, it is not obviously so. But I think there are many potential ‘separatisms’ in England that could be built upon, and other ‘attacks all at once’ could be put in train. It may be that a practical understanding of local injustice is a better engine of political change than intellectual disapproval of a corrupt status quo – which tends to be the province of a small liberal elite (pointing no elbows). Think how often people who you had thought incapable of certain associations excuse themselves by saying that of course they agree with you, but they believe in ‘change from within’. Just like you they don’t approve of the body but they ‘must’ remain, because withdrawal would disempower them and deprive them of the opportunity to change things for the better. I never believe that story.
.
Anyway, if you’re right and it can’t be attacked all at once, where and how (and for God’s sake, when) do we attack? What is the alternative strategy? Not change from within, I hope.

Well done Craigs informant, you should get the highest honour for your principled stance and well done Craig for showing the world how much influence can be gained by lobbyists at the centre of British policy making.

William Hague addrssed your oints all day long, almost as if he was talking to your directly and his denials just make the whole story more plausible. Israel’s media lock down on this treasonous scandalous story further strenghtens the substantial allegations.

Listening to Hague todaqy was like listening to a desperate man trying to make out that UK foreign policy is not undermined, infiltrated and re directed by the friends of Israel.

If Clegg has got any nous and guts left, he will take this outside influence in british foreign policy making as his nadir for his forelorn adhesion to this coalition. Call it a day ffs, get some spine back.

If he can not see that the FoI have vastly superior access to our ministries, their policy makers and instigators than any other civil or public lobby groups, then he is a collaborator to this treasonous behaviour. Once again he is provided with the historic chance to change british politics, regain the lost trust and stop the fascists tghat are re directing our taxes for their aims.

Ban Friends of Israel from becoming MP’s.
As for nolabour Mr. Murphy’s chit chat over this affair, he does not fill me with confidence whatsoever, his wafflin’ just indicates that he is in Israels pocket as much as this Condem cabal.

Auf die Barricaden!

Vronsky, thanks for your considered response. The strategy of every arny in history has been to attack the weakest point of the opposition, and to work round strongly defended positions. The Fox affair is a definite breach in the system’s defences. The question is, will polarising the “separatisms” give the unintended consequence of creating a more united enemy, as the reactionaries coalesce on the other side?

There’s no harm that I can see in giving the other parties a seeing-to. You can perform this service for Labour, for instance, here:
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http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2010/03/donations-from-non-doms-labours.html
Some Tories are as pissed off about external funding as I am, seemingly. Though we should note that Cohen, slammed by Dale, is now something of a Cameroon, and has donated to the Tories since Brown evaporated.

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What (I think) I was saying was that ending undue influence was central to any reform of our government, and undue influence is the subject of this blog.

What to do? Make sure that as many people as possible are accurately informed on the extent of government’s corruption by special interests.

Also, I think the purpose of this blog.

Let me add my congratulations to all the glowing tributes. Late I know but I’ve been working in Wales where nobody can get a signal, not even on their phones. Well done Craig. It’s a pleasure to get the news when it’s first available, and also comforting to know that the mainstream media catches up in the end.

This recently in:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15328122
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“In their own good time, your dear leaders will condescend to consider the possibility of doing what they previously promised to do to get your plebian votes….”

Progress, of a sort, I suppose.

Excellent work.

…..but why call Fox and Werrity “useful idiots” in your Mail article?

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-liam-fox-is-not-a-useful-idiot.html

The reason the Israelis denounce Ahmedinejad’s regime is because they want it obliterated as a competitor and as an obstacle to their ambitions. The recent US ‘terror plot’ by Iran is scary because although the story itself is laughable it might well mean that an attack on Iran nuclear facilities has now been given the go-ahead by Washington. It is hard to imagine a more terrifying development.

Whatever you think of the Iranian policy of gays right now any sensible person will be lobbying everyone they can to ensure no such attack on Iran is allowed to take place.

Not under any circumstances.

By the way, as another poster has said, abhorrence of the reality of 200,000 or so UK abortions per year should not make a person indifferent to the fate of this society as a whole.

We must speak up for Iran over here in the UK.

When was the last time THEY invaded a foreign country?

There are real dangers to the living world out there but we will find the criminals that need to be dealt with much closer to home……like right within the apparatus of our own government.

“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5

Canspeccy
Singing from the wrong hymn sheet can result in being ignored.
No problem. Starting from the top, one two. ‘ O God our help in ages past, when we called all the shots, defend us with our sinking masts, I hope the bastard rots. Amen ‘
This is not about Fox, Iran, Libya, Africa, Turkey or Syria.
Just as Obama is taking a little holiday from being seen to be totally under the control of the Israeli lobby, so the UK has to make a little show of being in charge of its own destiny from time to time.
I know you can’t really accuse the owner of the blog of trolling, but the UK establishment is flexing its miniscule muscles by leaking a dreadful secret of treasonable proportions that Ministers sometimes get waylaid by Mossad lobbyists to an anti-establishment blog. It’s insulting to the intelligence.
After you’ve trod in it, how do you get the dog-poo off your shoes?

Good catch with the Atzmon piece, Kevin.

“Fox and Werritty were not ‘useful idiots’ – individuals who seem to naively support a foreign ideology or thought but in practice are cynically used by a foreign power. They knew exactly what they were doing and who they were aiding. Fox, who In 2006 said, “Israel’s enemies are our enemies and this is a battle in which we all stand together or we will all fall divided.” is a strong supporter of Israel and is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel. Fox also supported the illegal war against Iraq, a war regarded by many as just another Israeli war but fought by American and British soldiers and in 2003 he voted for the invasion of Iraq. He also supports action against Iran.

So Fox and Werritty were not naïve. They knew exactly what they were doing and who were their donors. They fully understood their role and willingly did what was required.”

Worth considering, but maybe time will tell.

Don’t you just love Americans:
.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCRnkamitVk

Ending the day with the memory of seeing the hypocrite Obama, currently waging eight wars according to Stop The War Coalition’s newsletter, singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ at the unveiling of a memorial to Martin Luther King.
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The statue was made in China incidentally. A nation of 300 million people apparently have nobody with the skill and the soul to create such a work of art. Killing and destroying is their skillset.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/16/thousands-attend-mlk-memorial-dedication/?page=1&utm_medium=RSS&utm_source=RSS_Feed

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There’s another element of the Fox story which I haven’t seen mentioned.
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Luke Coffey, Fox’s official SpAd:
.
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https://hotterthanapileofcurry.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/liam-fox-adam-werrity-but-no-mention-of-luke-coffey-cia-agent-with-access-all-areas-pass-at-the-mod/

“Vronsky, “What to do?” – I’m not sure that we can do anything as such, apart from what we’re doing already, ie reading, posting links, solving the jigsaw, increasing awareness, building consensus. The public mood will slowly change, or not, as the case may be. Momentum seems to be increasing, globally.”
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A stark reminder thank-you Clark
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There is something else to do, well two things at a push; we can support the majority of foot-soldiers, the ‘Occupy Britain’ group of students, graduates, young employed activists and people like you and me and Uncle Tom Cobley and all considering the extent of the 99 percent. They need us.
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Please listen to my friend Alison here if you have time:
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http://www.uk-collapse.com/
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Being ‘collapse-ready’ is good thinking – Be Prepared or BP which ever way you look at it.

I remember Liam Fox saying in a talk to us 1st Year Glasgow University Medical Students, around 1979/1980, “If you don’t take part, you wont get on” – yes, how wonderfully ironic that sounds now, Liam, eh?
.

So, is this engineering of the downfall of the odious ‘Doctor Liam Fox’ the product of an internal power struggle within the security and intelligence services? Remember that some months ago, an attempt was made to bring down Hague using the issue of an ‘assistant’. I mean, I’m very pleased that Fox – a hero, it seems, of the equally odious Con Coughlin of the Daily Telegraph – is gone (to both the back benches and possibly also those multiple, revolving-door ‘Defence’ Industry directorships?) and that this whole thing is being (one hopes) exposed (as well as covered-up). All congratulations to Craig, absolutely. I just wonder why precisely (apart from Oborne – that may been enough, of course) was Craig allowed onto BBC Radio 4 after so many years of being barred and whence, and why, exactly did Craig’s mole emerge?
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One gets the sense, does one not, that there is more to this than meets the eye.

Craig

this week you’ve been on BBC radio, and had an article in the mail on sunday

All this only a few weeks after rejoining the SNP

Don’t fall for it, they are trying to change your course.

Saor Alba

Nice one Dude. Spidersense on fire! Cheers

Richard Norton-Taylor, of The Guardian, is also reported to be very close to the intelligence services. So if stuff is appearing by him in the MSM, it may be another sign that a faction within those services has been responsible for this rapid exit of a Govt minister who until a few days ago, seemed impregnable, unstoppable and almost blessed with covert approval.
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Clydebuilt, re. the SNP, I don’t think it’s that. I think it’s something else – see my earlier post, just above yours.

‘One gets the sense, does one not, that there is more to this than meets the eye.’

If Craig was putting out the Mossad connection then the intelligence services may well have wanted to use this to hide the real scenario.

The intelligence services being responsible for the security of the UK would surely have monitored the Minister of Defence and have known exactly what he was getting up to. I know that others using funds procured through illicit dealings of the intelligence services are kept under surveillance in setting up companies and making investments. In my opinion Werrity belongs to MI6 or he’s one of their appendages that gets a cut.

Craig,

Your courage is amazing. What you have done here is phenomenal, and equally important to your stand against torture.

Over the last few weeks, the entire world seems to have reached a tipping point, in the right direction.

Now it seems that Good is actually beating Evil, and the demons are on the run.

Thank You,

You are a Hero.

Tony

Well said Tony – I guess we have truly missed you.

‘here’s another element of the Fox story which I haven’t seen mentioned.
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Luke Coffey, Fox’s official SpAd:’

Herbie- Coffey’s role appears to have official sanction, but Werritty has no credentials whatsoever, other than his personal connection to Fox.

Great work from Craig this past week- let’s keep the bastards on the back foot.

Mark,

I Resigned from here, cos Craig had better things to do than moderate me dumping my guts, and I was never much good at singing in the choir. I thought I would dump my guts in America instead, as writing Hebrew via Google translate is a pain.

Good to see that Vronsky can still cut through extremely hard turds as if they were as soft as shit, and still come out looking by far the most intelligent poster here.

Sure, I miss you Guys Too – especially The Irish Girl – I will remember her name a second after I hit the Submit Comment

dreolin?

I will leave you in peace now

Tony

[Mod/jon - off topic, deleted]

Correction Craig:
It was the EXPOSED Mossad link that was really worrying Whitehall about Fox.

[Mod/jon - off topic, deleted]

[Mod/jon - off topic, deleted]

[Mod/jon - off topic, deleted - sorry Tony]

@Suhayl
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What encouraged me most about Craig’s success was the apparent discovery that there will still some people of conscience working in government. You’ve gone and spoiled that. Back to my pessimism.
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I’d like all to give more thought to English separatism. A though experiment: what would scare the establisment most: a long-running occupation of Whatever Street in protest at globalisation/the bankers/capitalism, or the secession of Cornwall from the Union? In which cause would it be easier to create a political party standing in opposition to the Indivisible Trinity of Lab/Lib/Con?

Saor Alba….eh, Clydebank?

What’s the Saxon for “Free England”?

[Mod/jon - off topic, deleted]

Vronsky, it’s not mutually exclusive. There are many decent people working in the state, but there are also likely to be internecine struggles, esp. if foreign powers are involved; the murder of Gareth Williams may have the outcome of one such war (who knows?). These matters are often extremely complex.
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The Establishment would only be scared by a strategic, united/popular mass (millions), militant, long-running active struggle not confined to a single geographical location, involving primarily the working and lower middle classes in which the generators of both energy and wealth were under threat of being closed-down for significant periods. Then they would send in the Army. If Cornwall were seceding, they’d simply send in the clowns.

Mr Murray, with or without your mobile telephone, you really are passing on garbage of the first order here, indeed I have little doubt that after a moment’s careful reflection you’d agree. (On its face: contrary to your assertion, the Cabinet Secretary’s investigations really do not seem to have been a cover-up.) Stick to the Burnes and don’t encourage these potty people.

http://www.thinkorbeeaten.blogspot.com
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Aug 06, 2011,

“If you want to find the real radical true believers, the real plotters of government takeovers, the real bomb setting terrorists, the real haters of our freedom, the real killers of countless innocent people, then you’ll need to look away from all of the usual places. It’s not the Muslims. It’s not the Christians. It’s not the Jews. It’s not any organized religion that you’re aware of, yet it is the most powerful religion in the world. It is the religion of Doing Business.”

In a nutshell.

We shall see. En passant, Murder in Samarkand was a brave, fine book, which will pass the test of time: I sincerely urge you to channel your manifest talents and qualities in a worthwhile direction.

Tony said: “American(Australian) version of ENGLISH”
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Very harsh mate, please don’t conflate Australian and American English I also miss Dreolin (even if I was mostly a lurker when she posted).
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Suhayl, good to see you posting again.

How lovely.
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Oxford University invests £630,000 in US firm that profits from cluster bombs
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Oxford University has invested £630,000 in Lockheed Martin, one of three US arms manufacturers still involved in the cluster-bomb trade.
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Freedom of information requests obtained by The Independent reveal that Oxford University Endowment Management (OUEM) has invested more than £2m in defence companies including Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautics Defence and Space.
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The Lockheed investment is particularly controversial as the US defence giant has outstanding contracts with the US military to refurbish old stocks of cluster munitions.
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Britain is a signatory to the Cluster Munitions Convention, a global treaty now signed by more than 100 nations which bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster bombs.
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Under a loophole in current legislation, financial institutions and private citizens can continue to back cluster-arms manufacturers, as long as they do not invest in the bombs directly.
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A spokesman for the university said OUEM works to an investment list approved by a committee , which checks if companies may be in breach of UK law on landmines and cluster bombs. “Lockheed Martin is not on the prohibited investment list,” the university spokesman said.
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“If there is new factual evidence… that clearly demonstrates that a company has significant and current activities that would cause them to be included in this list, then this should be brought to the attention of the investment committee,” he added.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/oxford-university-invests-163630000-in–us-firm-that-profits-from-cluster-bombs-2371608.html
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What are we going to do about this? Lockheed Martin are also in possession of all of our personal details by way of this year’s Census.

To the smiling girl-next-door type who puts out some of the propaganda for the state.
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BBC and the Middle East
From: Pat B
Sent: 17 October 2011 06:49
To: sophie.long {you know} bbc.co.uk [Mod: edited to defeat spamming software]
Cc: ‘Media Lens Editors’
Subject: Middle East travel
.
Sophie
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As a BBC news presenter, I’m certain you know about the BBC’s role in society and their commitment to ‘balance and objectivity’. I’m happy to hear that (presumably), in order to be properly informed on events in the Palestine region of the Middle East, that you were part of a delegation to Israel.
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However, I am deeply concerned that this visit appears to have been funded by BICOM, the Israel lobbying organisation that has (as we now know) close ties to Liam Fox and Adam Werrity. I am also concerned that the delegation met Mark Regev and Dr Alex Yacobsen and they spent three days organised by BICOM.
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In the interests of ‘balance and objectivity’ I will be most grateful if you can tell me what steps were taken to hear and see events from the Palestinian perspective and if the same amount of time was expended on this part of the trip? Perhaps you will also be kind enough to tell me if the BBC funded the trip?
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Many thanks and looking forward to your reply.
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Pat B
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http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1318836910.html

I see that Hammond has had some of Hintze’s ‘hospitality’. Note that Hintze was at the Palace last Thursday. That’s Buckingham not Hammersmith btw.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/16/adam-werritty-liam-fox-pargav

What a lot of slimy things are emerging as the stones are turned over. Good for Rupert Neate of the Guardian. He should get one of those journalism prizes for his investigations into this revolting affair.

Credible analysis of just why Fox jumped here:
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/how-britain-works-follow-the-money-2371361.html
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Fox goes, and over the next week or two, the principals breathe a sigh of relief and return to the shadows. Investigations by Parliament and police skirt carefully round the principals. The media find something else to do. Hintze appears to have been spotlighted while the other two make their escape: Hintze is Jewish, but has no clear connections with pro-Israel lobbying that I have seen. Lewis and Zabludowicz are closely associated with BICOM, and Zabludowicz with Netanyahu. Other sponsors of Atlantic bridge include Pfizer, whose name has only been mentioned in passing lately. Pfizer has been expanding its Israeli operations significantly over the last couple of years, and has opened new R&D facilities there.

The connection between Atlantic Bridge and US corporate, anti-environmental and neoconservative interests is overt. Atlantic Bridge, Inc, its US sister, is also the subject of investigation as regards its nonprofit status.

As stated on the Carbonbrief website:
http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2011/10/atlantic-bridge-and-the-climate-skeptics

“Washington, DC-The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is pleased to announce the launch of The Atlantic Bridge Project as the latest component of its International Relations Program. The project aims to foster positive relationships between conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic, so that they may further the ideals exemplified by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

ALEC is proud to launch this project in conjunction with the Atlantic Bridge Group, a non-profit organization chaired by the British Conservative Shadow Minister for Defense, Liam Fox MP. The organization is supported by Lady Thatcher and ALEC Alumni Congressman John Campbell who serves on the Atlantic Bridge Advisory Board.”

Even though the Atlantic Bridge Project (USA) and the Atlantic Bridge Group (UK) were different organisations, it seems that they subsequently operated extremely closely together, promoting links between US and UK based conservatives, and paying for flights and expenses for Liam Fox and other senior Tories to take trips across the Atlantic. Accounts for 2007 for Atlantic Bridge Group state that “The two entities have been set up to mutually support each others aims”.

It took the tenacious blogger Stephen Newton to label Atlantic Bridge the “Tory Travel Club” and chase it down over a two-year period – including making a complaint to the Charity Commission. His blog tale is well worth a read. The final result of this was in July 2010, the Charity Commmission ruled that the charity had been undertaking overly political work – as it put it:

“Although it is legitimate for a charity to study, research or educate the public about the ‘Special Relationship’, it is not permissible for a charity to promote a particular pre-determined point of view.”

The ruling (removed from the Charity Commission’s website but obtainable from them on request) stated that “the Charity’s current activities must cease immediately” and that it needed to make a “clear separation” from Atlantic Bridge Inc (set up by ALEC) in the US.

ALEC are an interesting organisation. They have been described by Greenpeace as a “Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group” – (make of that what you will) – with Greenpeace using the US’s more transparent funding reporting to detail a total of $608,858 given by the Koch Foundation to ALEC between 1997 and 2009.

ALEC’s PR work on environmental issues has been extensively documented. They produced a short and accessible “Climate Change Overview for State Legislators” document – essentially a Q&A which systematically downplays the risks of climate change. They lobbied against Kyoto, adopting a model resolution for states to pass calling on the U.S. government to reject the Kyoto Protocol and banning states from regulating greenhouse gases. They are currently lobbying against the US Environmental Protection Agency, having produced a booklet entitled ” The EPA’s Regulatory Train Wreck” with an accompanying policy summit and campaigning website.

PRWatch has extensively investigated ALEC’s activities opposing action on energy and climate change and there are two separate website – AlecExposed and Alecwatch – dedicated to tracking the organisation’s activities, both of which accuse it of acting as a front group for corporate lobbyists. Their board of directors is heavily dominated by corporate interests.”

The links on this page are well worth following up.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Fox scandal involves the gaining of influence over UK policy by foreign vested interests. The evidence, even in the public domain, is overwhelming.

And all of this certainly takes our attention away from the continuing collapse of the economy. Accident or design?
eg
UK Economy Latest
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UK unemployment hits 17-year high
Bank injects £75bn into economy
UK economic growth revised down
Drivers ‘cut petrol use by 15%’
and
Philips the Dutch owned multinational are making 4,500 workers redundant.

Atlantic Bridge’s parent organisation.

Note the politics of the directors.

Komodo
Your name reminds me of a snippet on the news about elderly care last week. They complained that commodes were present at meal times. Maybe for semi-incontinent people that’s precisely the time they might need one.
And that in turn reminds me of this government. Too weak without a coalition with people of nearly opposite values, other than Clegg. Not remotely in control of its expenditure, if the Zionist bankers order them to bomb another Muslim land. But still desperately clutching to its frayed dignity. Better just to leak a little into its absorbent drawers, blogs like Craig’s on the internet. The only conscience this country has.

Sorry, link omitted above. Also explanatory post lost. I’ll try again.

ALEC created Atlantic Bridge,Inc, as a US counterpart to Atlantic Bridge. The aims and objectives are the same. AB Inc and AB worked hand-in glove. The charitable status is equally in doubt. This site:

http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

is onto them.

No, Anno. I picked the name because I am cold-blooded, persistent and my spit is poisonous.

“And all of this certainly takes our attention away from the continuing collapse of the economy. Accident or design?”
http://moneymorning.com/2011/10/12/derivatives-the-600-trillion-time-bomb-thats-set-to-explode/

It’s odd how things interconnect… reading about Hague distancing himself from werrity, there was oddly a photo of Chloe Smith displayed.
I googled Chloe Smith ,because she’s just gone into the cabinet… She won that seat in Norwich Craig which you were so keen to get. Turns out she’s made a few visits to Israel,financed by the Conservative friends of Israel and another Israeli Lobby… Did you know that when you were running against her ???
but because she has zionist leanings, google connected her name to these 2 very entertaining vidz by Sandra Barr…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WksX92r0sGM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14T03Q0x0iM

Disgraced former UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox​ knowingly served Israel
By Gilad Atzmon
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17 October 2011
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Gilad Atzmon argues that recently-resigned UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox and his friend, the spiv Adam Werrity, are not Israel’s useful idiots but “knew exactly what they were doing and who were their donors … fully understood their role and willingly did what was required” of them by Israel”, and that Prime Minister Cameron and his Cabinet are fully complicit.
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Full article here: http://www.redress.cc/global/gatzmon20111017
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or here at Gilads site: h_ttp://w_ww.gilad.co.uk/writings/gilad-atzmon-liam-fox-is-not-a-useful-idiot.html

And what of Lt-Col Graham Livesey, sleeping soundly in Fox’s guest room during the burglary?

He was (or maybe still is) CO of this:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceFor/ServiceCommunity/Hive/Central/HermitageHive.htm

And was (and probably now isn’t) Fox’s special advisor.

“The Joint Aeronautical and Geospatial Organisation (JAGO) is based at Denison Barracks, Hermitage. The Unit houses 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) and the Royal School of Military Survey.”

No doubt his expertise proved useful.

Breaking News….No resignations to report today.
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Only joking

Not greatly important but it has been discovered that the funny money swilled through the Gerrards Cross branch of HSBC on the instructions of Fox. Gerrards Cross is close to Beaconsfield where Fox was a GP.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/8830567/Liam-Fox-affair-HSBC-branch-at-centre-of-funding-mystery.html
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Incidentally HSBC is involved in the funding of the manufacture of cluster bombs.{http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-banks-fund-deadly-clusterbomb-industry-2338168.html}

@ Donny Darko. Thanks. I posted this on the previous thread. I have been keeping my eye on her moves. A rapid rise to a powerful position, Economic Secretary to the Treasury to replace Greening. She will be Chancellor ultimately at this rate!
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mary

15th October 2011
Komodo. Chloe Smith, who won the Norwich North by-election where Craig was a candidate, worked for Deloittes who gave Grayling assistance in his office to the value of £27,000 in kind and who in partnership with Ingeus who have been given seven DWP Work Programme contracts according to the LabourList link you gave.

‘She is a management consultant for Deloitte, noting that she considers it important for MPs to have “experience of the real world”. Smith, who was born in Ashford and moved to Norfolk aged three, is on secondment to the Conservatives’ implementation unit, drawing up plans on how the party would govern once in power.
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She got into politics when she left school by working for Gillian Shephard, the then MP for South West Norfolk, whom she describes as “a real mentor”. After studying at York University, where she got a first in English literature, she also worked for the East Anglian MP Bernard Jenkin and is now registered as an assistant to James Clappison, a shadow work and pensions minister.’
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/24/chloe-smith-youngest-mp-norwich-north

Note to whom she was a Parliamentary assistant. Shadow DWP Minister James Clappison! Well placed to promote Deloittes?? Wonder who ran the Conservatives Implementation Unit when they were in opposition and to whom she was seconded.
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Gillian Shephard, for whom Smith also worked, was a member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life that I wrote about earlier. I said we discovered that several members of the Committee were members of the Friends of Israel lobby groups. At the time we were in contact with the Chairman and when she was a member of the Committee, she was a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel lobby group.

“The main, perhaps only, donor to Atlantic Bridge was Michael Hintze, a multi-millionaire hedge fund owner and leading financial supporter of the Conservatives.”

Rubbish. Hintze’s the only donor prepared to admit it.

Craig I’m glad to see that you are no supporter of the Iranian regime – but as well as pointing out that you wouldn’t follow the Mossad/Tory right wing/Tea party approach – could you identify what approach you think should be taken. Perhaps one of the reasons why neocons are able to make the running on this and on other matters in the Middle East is that there really isn’t much offered in the way of constructive alternative approaches apart from the usual anti-American noises. For example – given that most of us would see a role for multinational institutions how do you get the UN to start working effectively, what does an ethical foreign policy actaully mean etc. etc. It might also be constructive to give some thoughts as to what rights of Israel has and how they should be protected – rather than leaving the answer to that question largely in the hands of Mossad.

On the other hand we could just have a sterile continuation of the old debate.

Badly needed: light relief.

Here.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/16/charlie-brooker-cameron-a-lizard?newsfeed=true
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WTG, Charlie.

“I sincerely urge you to channel your manifest talents and qualities in a worthwhile direction.” Joe Templeton.
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Joe, in another world, might that be read as a veiled threat to Craig?
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Also, Joe, to pursue the anno-Komodo redondo, are you inferring that I am “potty”? Perhaps, but re. ‘potties’, it is likely that I am no more a potty than the good dragon, Komodo or your beneficent self (who clearly are the antithesis of potties).
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Stephen, hello, how are you? Welcome back.

BREAKING NEWS: MoD confirms O’Donnell will NOT investigate Atlantic Bridge as Charity Commission scraps regulatory case reports
In a letter to this blogger, whose complaint to the Charity Commission led to the closure of Liam Fox’s Atlantic Bridge charity, the Ministry of Defence confirms that Gus O’Donnell’s investigation will not examine questions raised by the Atlantic Bridge. This comes despite assurances previously given to journalists by 10 Downing Street that “All unanswered questions will be answered”.
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In a further development the Charity Commission has announced that it is to scrap regulatory compliance cases. This was the informal process by which Atlantic Bridge was originally investigated. The announcement was made by Kenneth Dibble, the commission’s head of legal services, at a Charity Law Association conference in response to suggestions regulatory compliance cases were unlawful. However, the commission plans to ignore those – including its former chair Geraldine Peacock – who have called for its investigation into the Atlantic Bridge to be re-opened.
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http://www.stephennewton.com/odonnell-atlantic-bridge/
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live links and a copy of the letter on the link.

Then there was this from a few weeks ago, where Michael Gove challenged eight Islington and Haringey schools on their intended participation at a Palestinian literary festival. They backed down.
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Vivian Wineman, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the Jewish Chronicle: “I can think of few organisations which would be less appropriate to run a workshop in a school than the PSC.”
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Looks like all that Israeli money pumping into the Conservative party is doing its work.
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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23993812-michael-gove-bars-schools-from-palestinian-literary-festival.do

It seems clear Werritty and Fox were conspiring to get up a war with Iran. But what about Libya? The two were supposedly on a skiing trip in Switzerland 17-21 February 2011. Who did they meet there? (Hillel Neuer of UN Watch or Sliman Bouchuiguir of the LLHR?) Were they involved in the drafting of the UN Watch “Urgent Appeal” released from Geneva on 20 February which got the whole intervention rolling? Was Werritty with Fox at the Herzliya conferences in 2010 and 2011 and how is he described in the participants list? In 2009 he was listed as Liam Fox’s advisor,of course.

Michael Gove:

http://www.thejc.com/galleries/the-guest-list/michael-gove-helps-raise-£28m-ujia-projects

UJIA=United Jewish Israel Appeal
“Powering young people in the UK and Israel”

No conflict of interests there, then.

Komodo What else from a founder member of the Henry Jackson Society UK?
http://www.henryjacksonsociety.org/signatories.asp?pageid=36

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btw it was £2.8 million which is bad enough. I did not think that even that slimebag could raise as much as £28m for his friends in Tel Aviv.

If I’d corrected the figure on the link, you wouldn’t have been able to follow it! Gove was also on AB’s books, of course.

Michael Gove: a short retrospective:
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/10/17/michael-gove-is-warned-that-politicising-the-department-for-education-will-end-in-tears-115875-23493587/
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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23892378-michael-gove-looks-to-us-for-support-on-free-schools.do
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http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/07/murdoch-news-education
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http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2011/07/michael-gove-and-the-sweetheart-deals-between-american-school-reformers-and-rupert-murdoch/
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http://politicalscrapbook.net/2011/07/michael-gove-murdoch-links/
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1251345/CHRISTOPHER-WILSON-God-help-ditzy-blonde-Goldie-Hawn-future-British-schools.html

And why am I not surprised – either by Gus O’Donnell, or the Charity Commission? Regarding the latter, I remember the raid that the Coal Board did on the charitable donations raised for the people of Aberfan – they took £150,000 without a cheep from the Charity Commissioners. To remove the tips that had already caused a disaster.

Oh, and New Labour paid it back to the Aberfan fund twenty-five years later – £150,000 – but no interest.

Cosmetic adjustments to lobbying rules will take a while to invent, says Camoron:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/17/new-rules-lobbyists-not-rushed?newsfeed=true

@Stephen:
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I don’t agree with you on the “usual anti-Americanism” point – we come, I expect, from different parts of the ideological spectrum. Is there such a thing as racism against Americans? Yes. Should this fact be used to deflect legitimate criticism of an obviously unilateralist and militarist superpower? No. My tuppence worth!
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So, what to do? Good question. I’m in favour of the UN. The headquarters should be moved forthwith to a neutral country, so as to reduce US influence and surveillance. A mechanism to abandon the veto at the UNSC should be made a top priority.
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In terms of the Fox/Werrity story, firstly a mandatory register of lobbyists made publicly available. This could be instituted in the UK at first but genuine efforts should be made to broker similar agreements in other countries (some already exist). Jail terms would be appropriate for undeclared lobbying, if it is reasonably thought to be deliberate.
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I support the call for Werrity et al to be investigated and prosecuted for fraud. We need to see that conspiracy against the public interest, involving secret deals and acting against the spirit of democracy, will be met with reasonable punishment.
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Importantly, anyone who becomes a Member of Parliament must relinquish all of their other business interests. This is often scoffed at by those it would most affect – but it is not such a bitter pill to swallow. MPs are paid around £65K/annum and could quite comfortably live on this figure without extra income. I would also be inclined to permit existing parliamentarians the remainder of their term of office, after implementing this law, to dispose of their assets. I would generally agree with blind trusts for pensions and other reasonable savings, if they are properly policed.
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No Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet MP may take any paid employment with an organisation relating to the area in which their held posts until five years have elapsed. (If ordinary members of the public would be in agreement, I’d make this ten years.) Ex-members would then have to find work based on their management skills, rather than their contacts or influence.
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I am incidentally unsympathetic to the suggestion that some of the above ideas would chase ‘talent’ out of Parliament. I think it would chase money-grubbers out, which would suit the public interest just fine.
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OK, let’s have a public no-confidence mechanism for MPs (the recall system). If enough members of a constituency decide that their MP is rubbish/greedy/dishonest/whatever they can petition for a local referendum. I am not au fait with the various proposals on how this would work, but there are various organisations that have been clamouring for this for a while.
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Lastly I think I would take a good look at the defence industry. I’m not specifically a pacifist but I don’t see how profiting from the sale of weapons can possibly reduce conflict – in fact I think it has the opposite effect. I don’t think it is a coincidence that people who run or invest in arms companies are hawks generally, even if the linkage is subconscious. War on Iran/Iraq/Palestine/whoever is good business! I would therefore start with forcing all defence companies headquartered in the UK to open their books – everything they do will henceforth be run on Open Book Accounting. (They could be nationalised instead, but I am not sure that will have as much of a useful effect. Even public institutions sometimes grow the need they were set out for.)
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There are loads of extra things I’d support to democratise our political system – voting reform, workplace democracy, a decent independent media regulator etc. but the above will do for now!

Jon – brilliant! You’re on a roll, man! Big wheel keep on turnin’!

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23997366-thieves-steal-dostoevsky-unabridged-from-michael-goves-car.do
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The wife sounds pretentious. When I last read her stuff before the paywall came in, it was all about domestic bliss in the Gove household, labradors on the bedm waiting for Michael to arrive home, etc.
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Apparently according to Ian Bone’s blog, the car is still there. A K reg Skoda – a man of the people. No shiny black 4×4 like most of the rest of Surrey. Another pretence.

Heh, cheers Suhayl
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I did wonder about how to deal with the issue of MPs being members of “Friends of Israel” groups. If it is true that 80% of Conservative members belong to such a group (see Wikipedia for reference) then that is of substantial concern, in my view. I understand “Israel’s interests”, in the way that such groups would define them, as prolonging the occupation, dismissing concerns about Palestinian human rights, obfuscating the details of Israeli war crimes, subverting attempts to establish Palestinian statehood, etc. (Of course these things are antithetical to Israel’s long-term security, but that doesn’t usually get mentioned.)
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So, this 80% sets out specifically to prioritise Israel’s needs before Palestinian ones. That should be bad enough, but (as in the Fox/Werrity case) what about the politicians who are prepared to prioritise Israel’s interests before British ones?
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I should admit to a major bias, however. I regard memberships of “Friends of Palestine” groupings in the opposite way – those members are opposed to the status quo, and would like to bring both sides to the negotiating table without preconditions, so that repeated attempts at agreement can be made. (I should clarify that there are probably members in both groups who in practise oppose justice for the opposite side, but I stick with my formulation in general.)
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This presents a dilemma: in what way can a rule be written that prohibits membership of groups that are opposed to Palestinian justice whilst at the same time permitting members their democratic right to join whatever group they choose? If a particular grouping is made illegal according to Commons rules, would that not force such groupings underground?
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(This is a stream of consciousness question, since I am afraid I don’t think there is an answer!)

Jon, as you suggested, these interests need to be openly declared and also open to scrutiny. Elites will tend to support one another – nothing new there – and so one might almost expect many MPs to gravitate to the prevailing node of power. Imperium has a vested interest in maintaining Israel as a colonial settler-state and preventing real integration into the Levantine area. Like many states, Israel also seems to make it a cornerstone of its foreign policy to cultivate maximal political leverage in key groupings. Israel just seems so much better at it than almost every other state in the world. Perhaps this is partly to do with its positioning as central node in the military-industrial-techonological complex, partly to do with its influential and active constituency within the political apparatus of the USA and partly to do with it assiduous cultivation of European guilt transference.

Jon

Well I’m sure we do come from different parts of the spectrum – but I certainly wouldn’t regard my self as being on the Right but just as a social democrat who is able to see out of both eyes. Yes the US has it faults but in terms of respecting the human rights of its citizens and in its democratic institutions it is light years ahead of what goes on in Iran (or many other Middle Eastern states). The UN whatever you might think is there to defend UNIVERSAL human rights – and I hear very little from you as to what it should be doing beyond Israel and the US and how it might be strngthened in those aims. I’m afraid Ahmenjinabad did not win the last Iranian election and is responsible for a wave of repression against his own population – and is the case with all fascists he is not above playing the racist card (against Israel and the US) in order to support his position. Being on the real Left I believe that steps should be taken against all fascists – and I would prefer to use international institutions rather than bilateral military action, but I do not see ignoring the problem and letting it go away as a viable alternative however. I also believe that action and pressure should be taken against Israel fro its abuses – but you should see how the failure to adopt an even handed approach actaully means that you end up doing nothing to resolve the situation until it blows up in your face.

I also think that some of the things you propose e.g. taking away the veto at the UN Security Council, moving the UN from New York really are just not grounded in reality and what is possible.

I have no problem with transparency re lobbying – but you need to guard against lobbying being stopped and driven into secret – because it is pretty essential that lobbying does occur in a democracy and is seen as listening to everyone regardless of the ability to pay (not much lobbying in Iran other than from one particular viewpoint you will note). I’m not sure about a £65k limit on MPs salaries – some parties would struggle to find qualified resent their views at that salary (much as I dislike Tories I do still feel that they have a right to be represented)

And on the Iran-Saudi Ambassador tale, well, anything’s possible, but it does sound suspicioously like entrapment to me. A very convenient entrapment. Watch out for those car dealers – can one believe anything they say?!

Some quotes from the Daily Mirror of 1/10/2011 – “He [Fox} blamed commanders for a “complete breakdown of trust” between the Ministry of Defence and the rest of Whitehall.” “Tory Dr Fox said: “The MoD consistently dug a hole for itself that it eventually couldn’t climb out of.” “Dr Fox has threatened to shed even more jobs unless the MoD’s finances are brought under control.” Ten days after these comments the scandal broke. Could it be that Fox preempted the attacks on himself by criticizing his own MoD civil servants so publicly?

Stephen, what some people are looking for is simply that, an even-handed approach. That has never been the case, as you well know. There’s much more than that, of course, but it would be a start. It’s not going to happen, and so the ‘blowing up in one’s face’ – actually, usually in the faces of the people of the Middle East is more or less guaranteed. The USA et al – and indeed all states in the world – absolutely do not premise their foreign policy on universal human rights, they premise it on the acquisition and sustainment of power and wealth, access to resources, etc. I agree of course that domestically, the USA, UK, etc. are by far more preferable places to live in than Iran. Why would you suggest that Jon believes otherwise?
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Stephen, earlier on this site – you are the same Stephen, aren’t you? – you indicated that you had supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003 even though it was conducted on completely false premises.
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Did you – since you are a social democrat – support the invasion of, or sanctions on, Pinochet’s Fascist Chile, one wonders?

Hi Stephen, thanks for the reply
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Couple of issues first: we all believe we see out of both eyes, I guess, and I am not sure there is anything I’ve said that shows I am entirely biased against Israel, or the US, or against MPs. More on that in a bit!
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> Being on the real Left I believe…
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Ah… (tongue in cheek!): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
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> I hear very little from you as to what it should be doing beyond Israel
> and the US and how it might be strngthened in those aims
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Well, it would be a mistake here to assume that everyone here (or everyone on the progressive/socialist Left) is reflexively pro-Iran. Opinions vary wildly, in my experience, and on this very forum we have plenty of voices supporting your position – that Ahmadinejad could be dangerous and needs to be considered with caution. My views on the balance of opposing Western imperialism with the need to consider international responses to appalling regimes have, I think, been modified by posting here over the long term.
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My dilemma is that no humanitarian intervention undertaken by the UN or NATO will have human rights at its core, mainly because the military-energy-financial complex informs most of the political decisions (the Fox/Werrity farrago is a good example of how that happens). It is (mostly) about power projection and profit, in my view, and how much these motivations can be hidden in propaganda from a lazy and xenophobic media. The question we need to ask ourselves in each case of military action is “Would attacking country X and occupying it, rewriting its laws, neo-liberalising its economy and killing some civilians be better that atrocious dictator Y?” In Iraq, as was predicted, definitely not. In Libya, it is more difficult to say.
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So, it’s complicated. One could say that “doing nothing is not an option”, but as good as that sounds in a speech, sometimes it *is* the right thing to do. Or, sometimes there are good ideas that require patience, like sending neutral weapons inspectors in. I am sure a middle ground was possible in Iraq and in Libya, but aggressive militarists in the US and elsewhere are often not amenable to dialogue/careful solutions.
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I agree entirely that “international institutions [are better] than bilateral military action” which is why people were so angry over Iraq. Clearly faked documents (the Niger connection) and a fake informant (Curveball) plus a failure to get international agreement (the second resolution) – bilateralism *and* deliberate, malicious misinformation!
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> Yes the US has it faults but in terms of respecting the human rights of its citizens
> and in its democratic institutions it is light years ahead of what goes on in Iran (or
> many other Middle Eastern states).
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This is more complicated than that, I think. I agree that Saudia Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and most of the Middle East has had an appalling human rights record and an open contempt for democracy. I also acknowledge that the US and the Western powers have a history of democratic rights, a matured judicial system and a relatively free press. But I suspect the US and its coterie (i.e. the UK in particular) has been responsible for more unjust deaths and suffering in the last fifty years than most of the rest of the world’s atrocities put together during that time.
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This is of course a paradox. How can a democratic country kill more people than an authoritarian one? Partly the answer is that democratic countries are not as democratic as we like to think they (we) are. We also (as mentioned earlier) cloak the injustices we perpetrate in misinformation, lies and spin.
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This is an unfair comparison, since every superpower will kill to achieve its greedy aims – history teaches us that plenty of countries have tasted Imperialism, spilt blood, and enjoyed the spoils. We find it difficult to see the modern superpowers in that light because the history books have not yet judged them, and also – as you quite rightly say – those powers in theory have laws to check their behaviour. But a corollary of this position is that it is preferable (on balance) to have a religious nutter leading an imperialist and nuclear United States than it would be to have a religious nutter leading an imperialist and nuclear Iran. Obviously it would be nice to have had neither, but one of them has already happened (the other one could too, if one argues that a nuclear Iran would become imperialist).
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On MPs salaries – I think they could get by on £30K, frankly. It is above the mean wage in the UK (which sits around £26K last I checked, and that is much higher than the median wage). But if we could have a Parliament of people whose only income is from the government and whose only priority was their constituents, then yeah, they can have a big fat raise. I’m not comfortable with it, as I think big fat wages give rise to negative social consequences, but if that is what it takes to clean up Parliament…
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> I also think that some of the things you propose e.g. taking away the veto at
> the UN Security Council, moving the UN from New York really are just not
> grounded in reality and what is possible.
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I would say that, as things stand, a permanent peace accord in the Middle East looks exactly as likely as either of these. But you won’t catch me dismissing the possibility of peace as “not grounded in reality”. We have to hope that it is possible

How about some “even-handedness” wrt Saudi Arabia or Bahrain? And you make thee comments, Stephen, in the face of a UK Govt Minister supposedly having been caught with his pants down, making backroom deals with a foreign power to destabilise and/or attack other countries.
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And we are supposed to beleive that Fox did not have the blessing of the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister? If he did not have the blessing of the FS and PM, the FS and PM are grossly incompetant and if he did, the FS and PM are also deeply involved in destablising other countries and possibly of putting the intersts of the MIC above those of the UK.
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Of course, we know fine well – recent history tells us – that the UK has destablised countries/regimes when it sees its interests being contingent with that dynamic. Trying to pour a human rights gloss over that granite simply won’t work any more, Stephen.
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No-one would be the least bit interested in human rights in Iran if all Iran sold was caviar from the Caspian. The USA/UK are after Iran’s oil and gas. The regime in Iran is a shit regime. I know people in Iran – who are no friends of the CIA/MI6, btw as they know full well what those organisations have done to their country/their people – who, esp. since July 2009, have been in fear of their lives. But even if the regime were a model one in relation to human rights in that country, the geopolitical dynamic would remain the same. I don’t know why you imagine that people are so stupid as to not to be able to see all of this clearly. With both eyes wide open.

Absolutely, Jon. The Islamists in Iran massacred the Left in Iran during the 1980s. But the ‘choice’ now facing the people of Iran seems to be b/w the Islamists – torture, repression and death – or dismemberment, mass death and re-colonisation by the West, in other words, having an ‘Iraq’ done them.
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Let’s focus back on Liam Fox and the hard work he – and possibly others – may have done for the Israeli MIC and weapons dealers in general, work which makes Mark Thatcher’s alleged crooked exploits look like playground games.

Totally pathetic as was expected. The BBC give us a preliminary.
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October 2011 Last updated at 22:43
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Liam Fox broke ministerial code, official report to say
Mr Fox resigned on Friday after a week of allegations relating to his friendship
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Q&A: Liam Fox row
Profile: Liam Fox
Timeline: Fox and Werritty meetings
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Former Defence Secretary Liam Fox broke the ministerial code in his dealings with his friend Adam Werritty, an official report is expected to say.
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Mr Fox resigned on Friday after a week of allegations over his working relationship with Mr Werritty, a lobbyist and former flatmate.

The BBC understands a report by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell will find Mr Fox broke the rules.
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!!+++++!!
But it will conclude Mr Fox did not gain financially from the arrangement.
!!+++++!!
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In resigning, the defence secretary said he had allowed his personal loyalties and professional responsibilities to become “blurred”.
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He had been criticised for his conduct in relation to Mr Werritty, who had claimed to be Mr Fox’s adviser, joined him on 18 foreign trips and arranged meetings for him despite having no official government or Conservative Party role.
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/…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15344455

Another Iran “Expert”, pray tell, how did you adduce; “people of Iran seems to be b/w the Islamists – torture, repression and death – or dismemberment, mass death and re-colonisation by the West, in other words, having an ‘Iraq’ done them”
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Further, you seem to have not understood; there already exists an Algerian “National Transitional council” in exile, crack addicts and money junkies always go after little old ladies and not strapping brutes, whom are likely to kick their arse to hell.
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If the neocon could have attacked Iran, they would not spend a single minute to bitch and moan, coming up with B movie plots.
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The unbelievable chauvinism on display on this borad discounts people whom want to lead their lives based on their religious beliefs.
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PS Take a look at the Mediterranean map and then tell me what you see سهیل?

@Fedup – sorry, I didn’t follow much of that at all.
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Most people here, it should be said, strongly support religious freedom. I do to, even though I tend to disapprove of religion. My formulation to permit freedom but to trammel the harm of evangelism, though in jest, is “permit religion, ban churches”!

There appears to be a curious silence in the Iranian media about a Mossad-linked plot to overthrow President Ahmadinejad. Might it have something to do with this
little-analysed point?

“In May 2009, Mr Werritty arranged a meeting in Portcullis House between Mr Fox and an Iranian lobbyist with close links to President Ahmadinejad’s regime.”

Has anyone seen any discussion of this aspect of the affair, anywhere?

According to the Mail’s coverage, sensitive defence information was passed to Werrity – and then to Luke Coffey – by Boulter, in the belief that it would go to Fox. Did it? Have either Werrity or Coffey so much as signed the OSA, ever? Who the hell is Coffey anyway?
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http://hotterthanapileofcurry.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/liam-fox-adam-werrity-but-no-mention-of-luke-coffey-cia-agent-with-access-all-areas-pass-at-the-mod/
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Incidentally, the commentator “Komo” on this site has no connection with me. He has C&P’d a quote which I earlier C&P’d here, which is cool.

And another one bites the dust -
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/17/jonathan-djanogly-stripped-power-ambulance-chasers

As for who cares about the Iranian Government for reasons other than oil – well I think many Iranians do, I do and Is suspect most decent human beings do as well. It should also be noted that many Israelis – both ordinary citizens and those in government do as well. And indeed it could be said that given the noxious statements of the Iranian leadership with regards to Jews and the Holocaust that the Israelis have not a little justification in portraying Iran as the bogey man.

As for who is responsible for the most deaths in wars and conflicts in the last 50 years – might I suggest that you go back and look at the statistics – you may find that the 11m deaths which occurred during the Cultural Revolution rather disprove your argument. And in that regard perhaps it is worth noting how almost without fail the current Chinese Government can be seen as standing behind most of the world’s remaining dictatorship and is among the first to argue against any action being taken against the same.

Suhayl – human rights are not a gloss – it is not for no reason that they are at the heart of what the UN is meant to stand for. I have no problem whatsoever in criticising the human rights abuses which occur in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain or anywhere else for that matter.

As for the Liam Fox thing – I’m afraid it really doesn’t tell us anything new about the world – there are those which to see the whole Arab Israeli conflict as a continuation of the Crusades. I for one never doubted their existence within the ranks of the Tory Party or that they will continue to exist. But there is another side to the same grubby coin.

Yes democracies do things in the rest of the world that they should be ashamed of – the one fundamental difference is that the citizens in those democracies can do something about should they wish and their citizens can also stand up for those in the rest of the world whose human rights are being denied. We have the freedom to say a plague on both of your houses without endorsing one or the other.

The other thing that you don’t realise that once you appease the fascists and dictators you are actually weakening your own moral legitimacy to use your democratic rights to stand up and point out where your rulers are often abusing the self same rights

@Komodo “Who the hell is Coffey anyway?”
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Obviously, he is the CIA-op in this plot. The acronym for Council for Emerging National Security Affairs is CIA, as far as I understand.
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Seems wherever there are Ziocon interests you always find both Mossad and CIA.

Stephen, on the 11m figure – is that from the Great Chinese Famine? Wikipedia puts various estimates as much higher. I don’t know that history well enough to analyse it unfortunately – so my ability to independently determine how much of figure X was deliberate and how much was due to natural disaster is somewhat limited. Says WP: “In 1960, an estimated 60% of agricultural land received no rain at all”.
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But, your general point is taken. Let us assume that the 11m figure is correct, and is wholly attributable to the malice of the Chinese government at the time. I would not be the first to refute it – there have been plenty of malicious governments in these last fifty years! But in Iraq, the sanctions cost around 1M lives (half of them children, as acknowledged by Madeline Albright). The second invasion and occupation has cost somewhere between 100K and 1.2M lives, depending on which report one reads. Vietnam, easily 1M. East Timor, 200K. Guatemala, 100K. Indonesia, 500K-1M. Afghanistan in 1979, 1M dead, 3M disabled, 5M displaced.
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And so it goes on. This is just a sample, and doesn’t include those who were deliberately tortured, raped, shot, dismembered and all the rest of it. As I say, all superpowers throughout history have had their chance at depravity on this scale, and now it is the turn of the US. Is there another nation in these past fifty years that has sown so much international discord and suffering?
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Still, we can agree to disagree. Perhaps my leftism is idealistic – the basic structures we have (particularly the UN) are okay but they need to democratise. In fact, everything needs to democratise more; as has been discussed on this site many times, if we can inject some real democracy into our national (UK, US) structures, that would build a much better set of international groups whose intent was genuinely human rights, rather than the conflicting mix of justice, propaganda and brutality we carry out now.

@Jon,
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Taking a look at Mediterranean basin map, would clarify the mindset that belies the slow push towards Supremacy/Total Domination or bust attitudes of the psychotics assigned the task of holding the US empire together, and ensuring its longevity. In fact Mediterranean is gradually being transformed to an exclusive lake for the US, and her satellites in Europe. Securing this area from any potential intrusions of Chinese or Russian naval assets, in anticipation of potential confrontation, and military clashes in the area. Furthermore, stationing military assets throughout the lands surrounding Mediterranean basin, in further enforcement of isolation of the basin. These steps are in complement to the control of ingress and egress routes through the natural choke points; Strait of Gibraltar, and the Suez Canal.
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The project was kick started with destruction of Yugoslavia (Milosevic’s representatives hinted at this in early stages of his trial in Hague), and its dismemberment to the current political geographic arrangements in the Balkans, Furthermore, this has been followed by insertion of National Transitional Councils, into various victim countries, which happen to share the topography of the isolation strategy, as in the case of Libya. That is to be followed, by Algeria (NTC has already been cobbled together), followed by perhaps Syria (NTC has been formed, and introduced in Istanbul), Tunisia sandwiched between the land masses of Libya and Algeria is most likely to escape this fate, however Morocco in all probability will be somewhat pruned to fit the scheme.
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Support for this line of thinking is found in Qaddafi’s demise. We all knew he was a complaint vassal, yet he has been deposed, and Libya is currently under the occupation of NATO albeit a small force, nonetheless a bridgehead put in place for future rapid deployment scenarios. For domination of the area, there exists a need for contiguous and uninterrupted topography of deployed forces stationed in the area. Therefore, the formulae applied, itself is a variation of Gene Sharp doctrine; “how to start a revolution” as applied in the case of the colour revolutions in the former Warsaw pact countries.
, and then and as well as through insertion into the beaches sounding the basin. This step is complimentary to introduction of the missile defence shield which in theory would secure the survival, after a engaging in a first strike scenario.
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To this end “National Transitional Councils” have come to play an important part. The various NTC are manned by the West friendly dissidents, whom in turn legitimize the subsequent waves of aggression on the target country. Furthermore these client states mostly armed by the West, find their supplied military equipment ineffective due to the identification friend or foe systems that stops these kit from functioning, in any confrontation with the US, or NATO forces. This is apparent from the lack of any retaliation against the invading NATO and US forces, by any of the air forces of the victim countries, or lack of use of any sophisticated weapons systems, despite heavy investments made by these various countries in such weapon systems. These seem to only use the rudimentary and established low-tech weapon systems, and find their high tech stuff to be very bulky and expensive paper weights
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However, the above contention is lost in the reportage of the events, and passed as the triumph of integrated battle systems in the fight to invade these victim countries. That is despite the propensity of the high-tech to break down and frequent malfunctions. Yet this is glossed over with great adverts that are aired as news programs, accompanied with glitzy packages aired to convey the overwhelming force application that paralyses the enemy. However, in the words of Vladimir Putin in 2003 we find the truth; “America cannot be defeated at this stage, world needs America” aired during the period which American forces were at a halt during the dust storm in the Iraqi deserts.
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Without boring you too, much, the plans drawn up by the US generals whom fought the last war, call for domination of the topography, whilst discounting space born (protection umbrella of MDS), and intercontinental missiles , which are developing too. As with the multiple war head weapons, armed with war heads, and decoy heads to confuse the Missile Defence Shield, as well as introduction of intricate trajectories, that will evade the MDS. Not mentioning anything about space born devices, which have come a long way from the days of the cannons stationed in space ( Soviet Almaz Craft, US. MOL).
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Fact is for US to remain dominant, its supremacy can only be through application of force, and destruction of any potential competitors, without either of which US will surely fail. Therefore, the only course of action for US is to be found in first strike doctrine (nuke them first) and then reliant on Missile Defence Shield, survive any potential retaliation. Furthermore, by dominant control of the resources; raw material, hydrocarbons, etc. US can set the index of growth of any potential competitor, avoiding any potential competition.
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Therefore before war on Iran US has to cover many bases, because war with Iran is not going to be the cake walk to Baghdad, and or bouncing rubble in Afghanistan. Iran is not a push over, and furthermore is the red line that will invoke Chinese and Russia wrath. Althea their current strategy of easement are in fact is fishing in muddy waters. This can be seen in Russian navy’s anchorage in Syrian ports, and the Chinese Persian Gulf Fleet already formed and ready, only awaiting a nod from Iranians.
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Hence my incredulity in the face of regurgitation of the usual info bytes fed to public. It is to be found on various discussion boards. It is tiring to see thinking contracted out to various media, without scrutiny of why the information has been made available in the first place, given the fact that any information of any value has always been tagged with “secret, top secret, etc”.
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Finally, in the face of onslaught of the lunatics bent on destruction of all things, by misinterpretation of the doctrine “Creative Destruction”. The firs target proves to be any means of organisation of the masses; political, religious, tribal, etc. Hence the almost non stop Islam bashing, and the constant torrent of anti Islam propaganda, because the only obstacle to all of the convoluted plans afoot; prove to be organisational capabilities, and cohesion of the target people/masses. With this in mind, we witness the frequently regular, coordinated two minutes hate rituals directed at Iran, which somehow have come to be presented as accepted facts. Fact that Iranians, and others wish to live their lives based on their religious beliefs, is somewhat misconstrued as they are being forced/coerced to live under such circumstances. The plethora of assumptions, assertions, followed by customary denunciations, all traits of primitives lacking intellectual capacities, somehow has come to be accepted as the main stream modes of thought. This is so evident in the material available in public domain, which have no roots in fact, for anyone whom remotely is familiar with Iran, Iranian and their culture. Ever seen a missionary from Iran anywhere on the planet, who is busy civilising the ungodly heathens, and converting the to Islam? Islam does not work on evangelism, it is a way of life, hence the almost phobic response to this un Wall Street system of beliefs, and political constructs.

I ought to have tidied up before pressing submit, alas I am tired, and exhausted, hence apologies for the spelling mistakes and untidy grammar, etc. However, I hope I have clarified my contentions.

I agree with just about everything Fed Up wrote in the long post above. I know that Fed Up will ignore this. I do not agree with this, however:
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“Fact that Iranians, and others wish to live their lives based on their religious beliefs, is somewhat misconstrued as they are being forced/coerced to live under such circumstances.” Fed Up.
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I personally know Iranians in Iran (and who recently have left) who are very much being forced to live under such circumstances. These include people who lost family in the various wars and who are against US foreign policy and want Iran to remain independent. Your comment in an earlier post that the blog “discounts people whom want to lead their lives based on their religious beliefs” actually is an illustration of part of the problem. The problem in relation to this specific matter – which in my view has nothing to do with the geopolitics around Iran – that too often such Islamist cadres, whether in the majority or minority, demand maximum tolerance and the right to do whatever they want to do in the name of religion but when they get into positions of power and influence they then deny others the right to do the same and oppress others to the point of death. They have proved this on numerous occasions and in a wide variety of places: Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt…
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Now, as I said, Iran would be under threat from the USA/NATO even if, politically, it were ‘Switzerland’ or ‘Sweden’. Indeed, possibly even more so, as then, like Nicaragua in the 1980s, it would provide an example to other Muslim countries which would need to be destroyed. The West instrumentalises Human Rights – we all know this. That does not make the consistent abuse of human rights a good thing.
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Stephen, thanks. Yet your support for military intervention (i.e. war) sees to coincide almost wholly with Western military intervention. So why not simply say, “I support Western military intervention, regardless, in support of Western economic and strategic interests”. Why this need for gloss and redemption? ‘Human rights’ in this context is simply instrumentalised to serve US/NATO goals; a re-run (or rather, the ongoing imperial saga of) Lord Palmerston wrt Europe, C19th. And who, actually, “appeased” (much more than appeased in fact!) the dictators, set up many of the dictators, in Latin America, South Asia, the Middle East, etc.? Uhm, the West. Yes, well.

@suhayl

So why not simply say, “I support Western military intervention, regardless, in support of Western economic and strategic interests”.

Because that is not what I believe as you well know. I do believe, however, that the best way of dealing with facists and other totalitarians is for interenational institutions to come down on them extremely hard and treat them as pariahs at an early stage. Such a course of action will often remove the need for war and protect human rights. If this action is postponed and the totalitarian state then becomes stronger and abuses human rights further then military action is likely to be necessary if it has a practical chance of success. Whether it is Western or otehr military intervention isn’t really the point – the Soviet Union acted against the NAzis in WW2, the Kurds acted against Saddam (without western support for many years), Tanzania acted against Amin.

Suhayl

From your standpoint do you believe that it was coreect for the Allies to wage war against Nazi Germany and its allies? If you do – you must accept that there is some line where military intervention is appropriate to defend human rights even if it also coincides with defending Western strategic and economic interests. You may place the line in a different place from me – but there is still a line.

Yes, I agree, Stephen, there is a line – and it was right that the Allies fought Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but Iran and Iraq were/are not Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. Nor did/do either of them have any possibility of becoming like Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan in terms of power, threat to the world, etc. That parallel, constantly pulled up by proponents of the invasion of Iraq, for example, holds no water whatsoever.

Re. your previous post wrt tolalitarians, Stephen, if that rule were applied even-handedly across the board, then fine. But clearly, it’s not. Quite the opposite, in fact. That was one of my points actually. Everyone can see that the West actively supports Saudi Arabia and Israel (and Pinochet’s Chile, and the Brazilian Fascist junta, and Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, and the death squads in El Salvador, and when it mattered, apartheid South Africa, and on on and so on) and so long as it serves perceived Western interest to not do so, applies zero real pressure for these countries to change their domestic and foreign policies. Yes, there are shifts and rivalries within imperium. But in essence, So then, everyone can see that whatever the West says is couched in such fundamental hypocrisies. This ongoing colonial/neocolonial dynamic (the “forked tongue”, one might say) – as well as much else systemically wrong in many majority Muslim countries – allows the Islamist military/paramilitary cadres, for example, to gain a real constituency.

Need I go on again about 1953 and the active overthrow by MI6/CIA of the democratically elected liberal regime in Iran in favour of an repressive absolute monarchy actively and vigorously supported for several decades by the USA/UK? All for oil and gas. And we know where that led…

“but Iran and Iraq were/are not Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan. Nor did/do either of them have any possibility of becoming like Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan in terms of power, threat to the world, etc.”

I can agree that different circumstances require different reactions but I wouldn’t like to explain this nicety to a Kurd who was gassed by Saddam or a Kuwaiti when his country was invaded, or the Marsh Arabs who were the victims of genocide. So would the message be that you can torture, commit genocide, invade neighbouring countries, abuse any human rights until you are big enough to threaten the world as a whole??

Of course the West has been hypocritical in its respect of its actions and has interfered when it shouldn’t have – and sometimes it may do the right thing for the wrong reasons – but that doesn’t mean that intervention is wrong in all cases. And being a citizen in one of those western countries and a member of the human race – I’m afraid I have a responsibility to arge for when and when I think my country should act. You on the other hand do not seem to have anything like a principled approach as to when it is and isn’t right for Western countries to intervene. I have no problem in saying that the removal of Mossadeq and his replacement with the Shah was completely wrong – there was no human rights argument for that intervention – just as it was wrong for Ahmedjinabad to rig the election and abuse and torture those who oppose him. And no I don’t think that military action to depose him would be right in the current circumstances – but I do think that some pretty serious steps should be taken to stop Iran being able to develop nuclear weapons.

The other point you miss is that your lack of clearl thinking as to when intervention is appropriate – also means that you are not doing much serious thinking as to the form that intervention should take and the role of international bodies in taking that intervention. If this were to be sorted out then the need for military intervention and the inevitable damage that results could be reduced.

Suhayl

As a further thought – we are obviously playing out what is a long standing polemic between the anti-imperialist and anti totalitarian left, and while you may wish to associate me with bedfellows who I still disagree with many if not most things – perhaps you should look at history of your own side. Not only do you end up with bedfellows such as Stalin, Mao, AAhmedjinabad and Saddam – but a fair amount of your number either ending up agreeing with everything that their bedfellow says or even worse losing the ability to dissent when it is too late. My recommendation is to read some Orwell – who had a pretty good understanding of how to prioritise between anti imperialism and anti totalitarianism.

Yes, I agree with you, Stephen wrt the international bodies and intervention, etc. I also think that Saddam, for example could never have become so regionally powerful (for a time) without overt support from the West, Russia and others. So one ‘error’ compounds another – but they are not really errors though, are they?
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Orwell was an interesting case. As I mentioned on another thread, he ended up spying for MI6 and ratting on communists – though it was understandable because of his bad experiences in Spain where the Stalinists crushed the rest of the Left (and so contributed towards the Fascist victory) and because he saw the dangers of totalitarianism of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ as being the prime dangers in the 1930s (which they were).
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I didn’t argue for no action at all. Just for consistency – if one supports secularism and democracy/liberation and control of natural resources, self-determination on the basis that mutual trade will ultimately be better than economic rape, then let’s do that. But right now, it’s the rule of the robber barons. If you take action on Iran with whatever, then also take equivalent action wrt Israel and Saudi Arabia (for example). But we all know that that won;t happen, don’t we?
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I accept the danger of psycho bedfellows and do not think we should have such bedfellows at all – same danger applies on both ‘sides’, no? Saudi kings, beheaders, choppers, misogynists, and Iranian mullahs, hangers of gay people and children. Psychos, all. But one lot are in bed with our dear Prince Andrew and our wonderful (Lab-Lib-Con) governments. Perhaps one day, they’ll switch places or it’ll be a threesome! I’m sure Mr Werrity and his equivalents are under the bed (as it were).
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Bottom Line: The elites in the West are not interested in what you or I are interested in, Stephen, they just want more and more and more. Greed is the driver. Everything they do is premised on that.

So from my point-of-view at least, the key here is not about ‘do something’ or ‘do nothing’, it’s about the policy underlying it all because it is that which results in the deformations to which I alluded.
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Afghanistan, from 1979 onwards, is a prime example. Now, when the USSR invaded to support/ stabilise the Saur Revolution and ensure its people got into power within the Communist movement (there were different factions), what did the West do? Did they support secular democratic movements? No. They helped (with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) to create Sunni Islamism as a deeply retrograde military-political force across the region. They strengthened general Zia ul Haq in Pakistan to the point where he and his cohorts and allies were able fundamentally to change that society for the worse (and it wasn’t good to begin with). This was not a mistake; this was a very deliberate policy. It was implemenetd because it was in the interests of the MIC of the USA in the Cold War context. It was in direct opposition to human rights.
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This is not an isolated example, it is the norm. You must be aware of many other examples. The Friedman doctrine – first implemented as an entire model in Pinochet’s Chile – has been rolled out across the globe. This forms the bedrock of imperial policy, it concerns the deployment of economic and political rape of ‘Third World’ countries, the use of torture, etc. and is nearly always in direct contravention of human rights. If you’re anywhere on the Left (as opposed to Blair’s fictitious ‘Left’), you must know all of this, Stephen.

Anyway, always good to discourse with you, Stephen.

Here’s an interesting article (and he’s written another book, or at least a monograph) on the subject, by Rory Stewart. Now, whatever one’s views of Mr Stewart’s role/work (one is aware of the info. which Craig provided some time ago), and while acknowledging that (as with ‘Paddy’ Ashdown – who is mentioned favourably in this article and who of course admitted he once was an SIS officer) Stewart will be coming from a particular viewpoint, nonetheless, he is very experienced. His material is worth reading, firstly because he is a good writer (as is Kissinger, actually) and secondly because he strikes me as being an excellent tactician. I would suggest that to some extent, this applies regardless of one’s own political views.
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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n07/rory-stewart/here-we-go-again
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/08/libya-intervention-rory-stewart
Here’s an interesting article (and he’s written another book, or at least a monograph) on the subject, by Rory Stewart. Now, whatever one’s views of Mr Stewart’s role/work (one is aware of the info. which Craig provided some time ago), and while acknowledging that (as with ‘Paddy’ Ashdown – who is mentioned favourably in this article and who of course admitted he once was an SIS officer) Stewart will be coming from a particular viewpoint, nonetheless, he is very experienced. His material is worth reading, firstly because he is a good writer (as is Kissinger, actually) and secondly because he strikes me as being an excellent tactician. I would suggest that to some extent, this applies regardless of one’s own political views.
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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n07/rory-stewart/here-we-go-again
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/08/libya-intervention-rory-stewart
Here’s an interesting article (and he’s written another book, or at least a monograph) on the subject, by Rory Stewart. Now, whatever one’s views of Mr Stewart’s role/work (one is aware of the info. which Craig provided some time ago), and while acknowledging that (as with ‘Paddy’ Ashdown – who is mentioned favourably in this article and who of course admitted he once was an SIS officer) Stewart will be coming from a particular type of imperialist viewpoint, nonetheless, from the academic point-of-view, it is instructive to read his work. His material is worth reading, firstly because he is a good writer (as is Kissinger, actually) and secondly because he strikes me as being an excellent tactician. I would suggest that to some extent, this applies regardless of one’s own political views. Indded, as an anti-imperialist (and anti-totalitarian), it behoves one to ‘know thine enemy’ (as it were).
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Usual prefixes.
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lrb.co.uk/v33/n07/rory-stewart/here-we-go-again
guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/08/libya-intervention-rory-stewart
washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/can-intervention-work-by-rory-stewart-and-gerald-knaus/2011/07/26/gIQAZPx9wJ_story.html

Why has this appeared theree times, above? Glitch! Please feel free, dear Mods, to delete two versions within the post for tidiness sake and as an anti-migraine measure! I also took out the http and www prfixes, yet there they are, back in again!

Of course I know all of this – but I would dispute your account as to why the Soviets invaded, they were not supporting a revolution in Afghanistan but stepping in to prevent the pretty awful and corrupt regime that was about to be kicked out – and the Russians were never popular with any of the Afghan population wherever they subsequently stood. But obviously the West made many mistakes subsequently – and as you note particularly in Pakistan where they didn’t pay much attention to human rights and/or corruption. If you look at it in pure economic terms as you tend to) – it is difficult to say that could have ever been the main driver of Western policy. I thing ignorance and allowing the right wing nut jobs free reign

As for the Friedman doctrine – I think you will find that it is now pretty discredited in the West (a part from a few Thatcherite diehards who are sentimentally attached to it – including possibly Craig from time to time on the few occaisions when he mentions economics) – and it certainly is in Chile which is now run by social democrats.

I’m not saying that the West doesn’t do stupid things driven by perverse economic political and ideological views that are held by some from time to time – but that is a partial picture – there are sucessful humanitarian interventions, and the one thing that we have is that these views can be corrected by pressure from democratic electorates. Weren’t some lessons learned from Iraq with regard to Libya and the Arab Spring? Aren’t their Western politicians who realise that Palestinians have some legitimate grievances against the Israelis that have to be addressed? Isn’t it recognised by most sensible politicians that a differnt approach is required to Iran than was applied to Iraq. I’m afraid the deterministic Marxist Military Industry Complex model of my student days just doesn’t stand up to much examination (and yes I do remember reading Baran’s book on economic development and I also have a lot of good things to say about Tony Blair). And how do you explain the differnt attitudes among different West imperialists – or how it is now the Chinese who seem to specialising in a different kind of economic rape of the 3rd world. I’m afraid life just isn’t so simple as to be bolied down into a simple model of imperialism. And then there are all these other currents going on – religion, tribalism, historical antagonism’s etc. Isn’t placing all your faith on a single model of economic development/ theory of imperialism just really trying to replace the simple theory of the right wing ideologues with a simple theory of your own?

And even if the West does something wrong (and it clearly has in many cases) – I’m not sure that is an argument against subsequent interference, it might even be an argument that it should interfere to put right the wrong. Some might say that the roots of Naziism were in the Versailles and other settlements after World War I – so did getting those wrong mean that the West shouldn’t intervene against Hitler.

Hitler, again. Hitler died in 1945. Why do you constantly try to link all US/NATO actions back to the scare figure of Adolf Hitler and 1930s appeasement? Many small-to-medium-sized countries which become the foci of US/NATO attention try to ‘appease’ the USA right now because there is no countervailing superpower any more and because they don’t want to be “bombed back into the Stone Age”! AS for Marx – I am not a Marxist, I do not place all my thoughts in one theory (if that is what you say Marxists do, which is not accurate, actually); I am not a determinist. I am not an immature student, either, Stephen. What makes you think I am saying all Western politicians are bad? I just posted links to Rory Stewart’s work, for goodness sake (though maybe that wasn’t visible to you till now, as it went via the Mods). And tell me what the UK electorate has achieved recently vis a vis stopping their leaders going to war? Zilch. All the main parties are signed up to the same thing. There are differences among elites in relation to how best to govern empire. Latin America is freeing itself, it was not ‘granted freedom’ by the West! The West is having to a deal with Latin America – that is what has led to the rise of social democratic govts there. Struggle is what achieved this. The United Fruit Co. would still be running a serf empire had it not been for Latin Americans struggling. What has been learned thru’ the Arab Spring – how best to subvert and co-opt popular struggles and how best to continue to collude with oppression. It’s not a question of learning; it is a question of policy and strategic goals. And neoliberalism is the dominant doctrine exported aggressively by the West – that is partly what these wars are about. Friedman and his economic/CIA torture manual are very much alive and kicking. The CIA actions in Iraq wrt torture are the same as those used in Chile by the Pinochet regime at the behest of the CIA. Everything ‘bad’ the West does is a “mistake”, according to your theory. Of course the world is complex. But when the USA/UK does something wrong, you seem to ascribe error, rather than policy. Mistakes are made, of course, but so many mistakes? And so consistently? No, the expansion of the European empires in C19th was not a mistake, nor is the current neocolonial phase a mistake. I you agree with it, fine. But don’t try and say, ‘Oh well, we meant well.’. No-one buys that any more, Stephen. After all that’s happened, and in light of Craig Murray’s ongoing whistel-blowing revelations, plus all the other info. that’s leaked out, or been exposed, how can you still be trying to sell it?

Please see “Provoking a Path to Persia: The Saban Center’s prescient paper on war with Iran” at the above website.

Ah! The spambots – a veritable invasion! They’re back – and they’re just the same! Wipe ‘em off the face of the blog! Bye-bye, spambotties!