The GCHQ listening post on Mount Troodos in Cyprus is arguably the most valued asset which the UK contributes to UK/US intelligence cooperation. The communications intercept agencies, GCHQ in the UK and NSA in the US, share all their intelligence reports (as do the CIA and MI6). Troodos is valued enormously by the NSA. It monitors all radio, satellite and microwave traffic across the Middle East, ranging from Egypt and Eastern Libya right through to the Caucasus. Even almost all landline telephone communication in this region is routed through microwave links at some stage, picked up on Troodos.
Troodos is highly effective – the jewel in the crown of British intelligence. Its capacity and efficiency, as well as its reach, is staggering. The US do not have their own comparable facility for the Middle East. I should state that I have actually been inside all of this facility and been fully briefed on its operations and capabilities, while I was head of the FCO Cyprus Section in the early 1990s. This is fact, not speculation.
It is therefore very strange, to say the least, that John Kerry claims to have access to communications intercepts of Syrian military and officials organising chemical weapons attacks, which intercepts were not available to the British Joint Intelligence Committee.
On one level the explanation is simple. The intercept evidence was provided to the USA by Mossad, according to my own well placed source in the Washington intelligence community. Intelligence provided by a third party is not automatically shared with the UK, and indeed Israel specifies it should not be.
But the inescapable question is this. Mossad have nothing comparable to the Troodos operation. The reported content of the conversations fits exactly with key tasking for Troodos, and would have tripped all the triggers. How can Troodos have missed this if Mossad got it? The only remote possibility is that all the conversations went on a purely landline route, on which Mossad have a physical wire tap, but that is very unlikely in a number of ways – not least nowadays the purely landline route.
Israel has repeatedly been involved in the Syrian civil war, carrying out a number of illegal bombings and missile strikes over many months. This absolutely illegal activity by Israel- which has killed a great many civilians, including children – has brought no condemnation at all from the West. Israel has now provided “intelligence” to the United States designed to allow the United States to join in with Israel’s bombing and missile campaign.
The answer to the Troodos Conundrum is simple. Troodos did not pick up the intercepts because they do not exist. Mossad fabricated them. John Kerry’s “evidence” is the shabbiest of tricks. More children may now be blown to pieces by massive American missile blasts. It is nothing to do with humanitarian intervention. It is, yet again, the USA acting at the behest of Israel.
“UPDATE: 4:00 PM US East Coast Time”
“The letter contains the threat of impeachment:”
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2013/08/31/obama-reveals-his-dictatorship-paul-craig-roberts/
Syria has said, “..while appreciating Kerry’s concern over the Syrian people’s security, affirms that this pretext has become exposed to everyone, and that under the pretext of defending the Syrian people, the US is paving the way for an aggression against this very people, an aggression which will claim hundreds of innocent victims whose blood will be on the hands of the United States and those who join it in this aggression morally, politically or effectively.”
Let’s rewind back to 2003 and the Iraq war to:
Britain’s secret service and the CIA were told through secret channels by Saddam Hussein’s foreign minister, Naji Sabri and his head of intelligence, Tahir Habbush al-Tikriti, that Iraq had no active weapons of mass destruction.
Tony Blair told parliament concurrently before the war that intelligence showed Iraq’s nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programme was “active”, “growing” and “up and running”.
Thankfully this crucial antithesis awareness has not ‘poisoned’ public confidence and heart, quite the opposite, it has been a blessing, an antidote injected into the human psyche that may save the lives of countless Syrian children.
On that crucial show of hands for war, the spirit of sentient British people restored intention and removed the shadow of immaterial egotistic shaping of events in Syria based on lies, hokem, religious blackmail and ‘we know best’ hubris.
The horror of a ‘shock & Awe strike on Syria is so much more wretched and abhorrent than the delirious spectre of cutting open a man’s chest, taking the heart out and eating it, then putting the result on Youtube.
sewage satanyahu’s dream come true, US cruise missile strikes, an Israeli Dolphin opportunistic strike (with a US weapon) on a Russian Naval ship, free for all ensues and Israel extends up to Litani river and Suez. bibi delusion that an ex-Mossad chief publicly expressed concern about is real, the high-level zio devil has harboured this ambition to be known as another ehretz israel creator like moshe since 1990 !!
In 2003 #Syria Proposed a WMD-free Middle East. US Said NO! http://www.abc.net.au/news/2003-04-17/syria-proposes-wmd-free-zone/1837816 …
That was a great read Craig and I am glad you are back on track. The Troodos article helped me to understand some of the stupidities of John Kerry’s pronouncements on Syria. The rabid influence of Israel is another issue suffocating intelligent discourse in the US both in the Congress and the media. Will the US ever be free?
Pepe Escobar
This is WHY there will be war.
Take a very good look at these signatures. These neo-cons and Zio-cons are all AIPAC. And AIPAC runs Congress. The White House would never have made that announcement if they were not sure they have enough votes in the extremely unpopular US Congress. Bottom line: AIPAC – as in Israel operating the remote control – wants a war to empower al-Qaeda in Syria. I suggest a bombing date: the 12th anniversary of 9/11.
(the headline in the link is mistaken; this is about the Zio/neo-cons letter to Obama).
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36050.htm
Calling Craig’s judgement in linking to stories into question with the closing remark “Either my assessment of infowars as a fucking joke or you as a wise man is fucked” deserved a reply with the same sharp, plain-speaking tone.
With regard to criticisms of linking to dubious websites in general, I recommend reading the following –
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/01/defend-stephen-sizer/
Maybe we just shouldn’t link to anything on the internet because of its bad reputation as a repository of child porn and crackpot conspiracy theories.
Herbie –
re your links showing bbc Syria timeline “Opposition Organises July 2011” coincides with Syria/Iran/Iraq signing of MOU on the pipeline.
of course it’s not even a PART of any media narrative. and this is why it’s a problem when some blogs only use MSM headlines. unwittingly or not, they end up promoting the official narrative. the MSM knows it only needs to omit mentioning such interesting facts in order to win the propaganda war.
But Kerry’s 1429 fatalities and 3600 injured ALL within the timing of ONE HOUR over a WIDE area in rebel held Damascus, would have required an impossibly massive aerial assault within a HALF-HOUR with planes,rockets and artillery shells?!! Clearly a false flag then,and so the gas was actually ALREADY there on the ground. If you want to see the face of the Synagogue of Satan, rerun Comical Shlomo Rifkind speech in the Commons trying to spin crypto Kohn/JIC facts into “compelling” evidence against Assad. Purely satanic, he should be hanged for it.
The good and decent man Stephen Sizer is still going strong in spite of all.
This time the ‘Anglican Friends of Israel’ attack the British supporters of the Kairos Statement which emanated from Palestinian Christians. Mr Sizer prints the response of two of the British supporters.
http://www.embraceme.org/blog/kairos-britain-document
http://stephensizer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/signatories-defend-kairos-statement.html
~~
He also gives us a biblical perspective on Syria and provides some apt quotations.
‘Someone in a big white house is clearly not reading his Bible.
“do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame?” (Proverbs 25:8)
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9)
“Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.” (Proverbs 17:12).
“Scorners set a city aflame, But wise men turn away anger” (Proverbs 29:8).
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” (James 1:19)
Will any “limited act” in Syria be a sign of wisdom or folly? We probably don’t have long to wait to find out.’
http://stephensizer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/wisdom-and-folly-on-syria.html
Sharmine Narwani is well informed. She writes of the Saudis and Israelis vis a vis Syria.
‘And no parties in the Mideast are more vested right now in urgently “correcting” the regional balance of power than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the state of Israel – both nations increasingly frustrated by the inaction of their western allies and the incremental gains of their regional rivals Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and now Iraq.
Worse yet, with every passing month the “noose of multilateralism” tightens, as rising powers Russia, China and others offer protective international cover for those foes. Israel and Saudi Arabia are keenly aware that the age of American hegemony is fast declining, and with it, their own regional primacy.’
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/bandar-ibn-israel
Her twitter Sharmine Narwani @snarwani
Senior Associate, St Antony’s College, Oxford Univ
CW is a moral obscenity except when we do it
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BTCLoPBCIAE_5zj.jpg
Apologies for posting this again but the original is right at the end of the last thread.
Who is Dr Rola?
Twitter Hashtag #WhoIsDrRola
Look and listen carefully to her performance on Friday’s Newsnight – and scrutinise the accompanying ‘has not been Unverfied’, but shown nonetheless video – and something looks, sounds and smells very fishy.
In view of what that woman advocated with such clverly restrained emotional power, she has absolutely no right whatever to remain anonymous. Her bona fides need serious scrutiny IMHO
O’Bomber has bitten his bottom lip, crossed his legs and wet himself in front of the whole world: Good! Let’s hope this moment marks the start of a long overdue realisation of what a paper tiger the United States actually is. I am praying that Congress delivers the same rebuff to O’B as the Commons did to Cameron. If, as I hope, this moment marks the high-water mark of their homicidal lunacy, not only will the rest of the world benefit, but ultimately the American people will be better off too. However they, and we, will have to live with the fallout from our blatant contempt of International Law for a very, very long time.
As a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation, Dr Rola appears to display some characteristics of her past life, could she have been the infamous Lord Haw Haw of WW2 yore? But she was nowhere near Rifkind’s “compelling” performance at the Commons anyway.
I found her via Google images Sabretache. On the ‘team’ here:
http://atfal.co.uk/the-team.html
She is Dr. Rola Hallam, MBBS, BSc, FRCA
Rola is a doctor in anaesthesia and intensive care,
with a passion for education, child and global health.
Drawing on her previous charitable work in sub-Saharan
Africa, Rola has been working since the beginning of the
Syria crisis on delivery of aid to Syria, raising awareness
and advocacy.
Dr Rola represented a charity called hand in hand for Syria http://www.handinhandforsyria.org.uk/
I thought it was very odd that she wasn’t properly named but on their site they don’t name or show any doctors “for security reasons” I don’t know if that is valid but there she is on National TV so does that rationale stand up?
Is she a doctor (of medicine)?
She seemed like a very cool PR spokesperson to me and her whole tactic of challenging everybody to come to Syria is obviously diversionary from the point.
Can any sleuths here find out more about Rola and HIHFS??
Meanwhile, Why has Obama U-turned? The only thing that fits, that we know about is the UN inspectors getting back yesterday. Did they report something that wasn’t consistent with the narrative? or did Putin get on the phone and explain a escalatory scenario that was hard to swallow? Thoughts?
@ Herbie (22h44)
The answer to your second question is again no. And now to substance:
You obviously consider the facts I brought to your attention (the existence of a pro-Israel/pro-Zionist website called “BBC Watch – the mirror-image of what you read about the BBC on Craig’s blog) to be a defence of the BBC.
Why do you consider that defence to be “dim-witted” (I think that was the word you used)? Can you take me through your thinking?
Dr Rola Hallam is a Syrian from Homs married to a Dr Simon Hallam.
•
A big thank you to Dr. Simon Hallam (from England) and his wide (sic) Dr. Rola ALkurdi (from Homs, Syria) for holding a private fundraiser dinner in Kings Cross a couple of weeks ago where they raised OVER £45,000 for Hand In Hand for Syria in a single night with majority of donators being British. From their efforts alone they also have encouraged a different charity to sponsor and donate the money to buy 2 ambulances for the people of Syria. It’s nights like this that puts some faith and hope back into our family from Homs that there really are people out there that want to help. So thank you again to Mr and Mrs Hallam for creating a night that put a smile on our faces again. Please keep us posted about your events, thank you all for your efforts!
https://www.facebook.com/handinhandsforsyria/posts/406219736080401
She is an anaesthetist and is/was secretary of their professional association. She has spoken at UCLU of paediatric care in Uganda and Zambia so obviously highly motivated as a doctor. She should stick to medicine and leave out the politics.
Thanks, Mary and Wikispooks. Agreed. Dr Hallam obviously is a dedicated health professional and one hugely admires the fact that she is out there, helping peiople in terrible situations. I note that most charities – including Christian Aid – are totally against military strikes on Syria. Dr Hallam – and all charity/health workers – should be very wary of being ‘used’ for geopolitical ends.
Yes, Mary, at 6:42am, today. For the reasons given in the quote you gave, Saudi Arabia and Israel (who long have been de facto regional allies, in spite of the rhetoric) are driving this agenda wrt Syria. The stupid invasion of Iraq inadvertently (but predictably) fundamentally altered the balance of power b/w Iran and Saudi Arabia in favour of Iran. So we see how one war leads to another.
“What is the USG motivation for this migraine?”
Have you thought about the usual motivations? Obama is clearly standing up to the “special interest” group’s representatives that favour war and he’s effectively saying to them, “if you want this war then you take the responsibility for it and you answer to the voter for it”.
It’s going to highlight to the country who in the congress and senate are owned by the war lobby, because up until now they have voted against Obama at every single opportunity. Obama is effectively saying to the lobby, if you wantt the war then I’m going to make sure it’s “your” war and not mine.
I think the Russians appreciate the delicate position that Obama is and Putin seemed genuinely suprised by the turn of events in London. There may well be a deal whereby Russsia/Syria won’t retaliate if the US does stick to a limited attack – e.g. if they pre-supplied the coordinates of targets then Russia/Syria would know they are sticking to an agreement should missiles begin flying, obviously the Israelis may use any attacks as a cover for their own escelations -this is where Netanyahu is in grave danger of miscalculating (another Obama politcal trap?).
“I am praying that Congress delivers the same rebuff to O’B as the Commons did to Cameron.”
Do you honestly beleive that Obama wants to attack Syria? He even said he could if he wanted to but dosen’t. He’s forcing congress and senate to reject war, otherwise they will have to support him and this war and the Republican voters won’t like that one little bit.
“He’s forcing congress and senate to reject war”
Obama knows how to turn the oppositions advantages into weaknesses, here he is pitting the lobby’s republicans against it’s natural political instincts. With Dave it was using the ‘special relationship’ and the access to POTUS it offered, along with Dave’s own psychotic sycophantsy and dreams of glory, to get him to bolt early – presumably telling him that “action was imminent” when no such thing was, even the media were expecting US bombs Thursday evening (because Tories have been breifing them). The suggestion that US bombers were on the runway waitng for the vote in London is beyond laughable.
” I like Obama,” Bullshite.
So, you would have preferred to see President Romney and Defence Secretary McCain handle this situation?
Donald
1 Sep, 2013 – 9:06 am
All that makes sense but it also made sense last week. Why the acrobatic sword rattling then on Saturday night, handing that sword to congress? He has lost not insignificant face.
@Fred.
Are you employed by the British State?
Where does your anti-Scots self determination come from?
“Anthony Lake has rightly indicated the implications of 1 million Syrian refugee children. Yet the inescapable conclusion today is that this conflict may require the intervention of outside forces. While The Lancet does not take a position on whether or not a military solution to the Syrian crisis is right or wrong politically, we agree with Mr Lake—the slow and now accelerating asphyxiation of an entire population cannot continue.” [Editorial, The Lancet]
“The intervention of outside forces”. Hmn.
Mind you, this is the same Lancet which, a few years ago, came in for such condemnation by the US Adminstration and their supporters when it published figures wrt the Iraqi dead. I guess there is the overwhelming desire that ‘something must be done’. Something indeed must be done, but whether military ‘intevention’, i.e. an attack or an invasion, is the ‘something’, whether it would so any good at all, remains in grave doubt (to put it mildly). This is a proxy war. I think that Saudi Arabia and Iran (and Russia and the USA) need to get round the negotiating table, pronto. Meanwhile, humanitarian help must be delivered expeditiously and properly to the refugees, as best it can be delivered. And both the USA/UK/France and Russia and others need to stop pouring weapons into the conflict – this is the story of modern conflict, actually and it is why so many people get killed.
Beyond that, there are some pertinent articles in The Lancet on the terrible situation wrt internal and external refugees in Syria.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current
“Is the BBC subverting the will of the people?” [from a post on the site below]:
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1377942849.html
Yes, so we were talking here last night about how, in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, Kurdish women would be paraded relentlessly on TV to scream at panellists who opposed invasion. This particular media event seems to have been directed specifically at Milliband. It mentions his family. I smell the hand of the hard state in the way this narrative has been delivered, it is typical of their tactics. No-one has suggested, for example, that David Cameron and his family like to visit, say, Damascus and see what the Jihadists are doing to people and would he like to sit there while Cuise missiles come flying in.
I fear that something else – something major – is going to happen (as inevitably it does in wars) and there will be calls for another vote in the UK Parliament. The US Congress is due to meet soon, too. Expect more. They are not going to let go of this; it is a strategic matter and a few MPs will not be allowed to stand in the way. There seem to be conflicting views within the UK and US political and military establishments and all this – the referral to Congress, etc. – may be a reflection of that tussle.
For the last 4 days there has been a sustained attack on one of the only reliable news outlets, Global Research, which has been reporting on US culpability in the Syrian chemical attack. This is what happens in so-called democracies. This link was working an hour ago.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/media-truth-and-sabotage-online-threats-directed-the-global-research-website/5347388
I’ve put a couple of links on my blog from various sources, one gleaned from Craig Murray’s blog. I suppose the ‘shower of shills’ will consider this suppression of real news a user or provider error.