It is now important that Prime Minister Mirzieyev – who appears to be in control in Uzbekistan at the moment – produces Gulnara Karimova and shows that she is alive and healthy. The whereabouts of her daughter Iman are also obscure.
Twelve years ago President Karimov jailed his own nephew, Jamshid Karimov, for the “crime” of writing an article in a state publication which suggested modest improvements to his uncle’s economic policies. Like other prominent dissidents, young Karimov ended up chained to a bed in a psychiatric ward being pumped mind altering drugs to re-educate him.
Nevertheless, when President Karimov’s daughter Gulnara was confined to house arrest two years ago, I was inclined to view it more as protective detention than real incarceration. Gulnara was wanted on fraud and corruption charges in Sweden, Switzerland, France and the USA. The US government has demanded she forfeit 550 million dollars. Her “detention” in Uzbekistan prevented her being subject to an embarrassing trial in a foreign state. Besides her ability to tweet and send sorrowful photos from her house arrest seemed to argue against real detention. But 18 months of complete disappearance have caused me to worry. Another interpretation, to which I now tend, was that in his declining years Karimov was not all powerful and became unable to protect Gulnara from Mirzieyev and security service chief Inoyatov. Though it still remains possible that he incarcerated his own daughter to an uncertain fate – after all his funeral just took place with not even the western obituaries mentioning the existence of his eldest child, a discarded son from his first marriage.
There is no doubt that Karimov did think of Gulnara as a potential successor – or at least in that unenlightened country, in conjunction with a suitable husband. Mansur Maqsudi was a surprisingly good choice, but he proved unwilling to put up with Gulnara’s blatant infidelities and they divorced. The private lifestyle of the Karimovs got rare public exposure when the New Jersey divorce settlement awarded Gulnara, for example, her US $4.5 million worth of personal jewellery.
There was no sign of Gulnara at her father’s funeral. It is rumoured, and not impossible, she has been moved to Israel under an assumed name. On the other hand she could be dead. While I believe her to be involved in numerous crimes including corruption, sex-trafficking and conspiracy to murder, I should like to see her tried rather than murdered, and the Uzbek regime should now be asked to produce her – not least to help numerous investigations worldwide into mafia operations.
I have long expected Mirzieyev to take over as President, but I am happy to say I do not believe the corrupt system in Uzbekistan will last much longer. Uzbekistan has become a remittance economy. The highest single source of revenue was remittances from Uzbeks working abroad, mostly in Russia and Kazakhstan. The collapse in the oil price and the not coincidental crackdowns on illegal migrant workers have slashed remittance revenue from $5.2 billion to under $2 billion. Exports of natural gas, mostly to China, were Uzbekistan’s second biggest revenue source and the price has fallen drastically. So once again the state is turning the screws on forced labour for the cotton industry.
Decades of relentless propaganda had bought Karimov an artificial but real popularity. His successor has to start a personality cult from scratch against sharp economic decline. I am very hopeful the system will collapse within two years.
Interesting read. Thank you. Just a thought and a question: What are the chances of Uzbekistn getting closer to Russia and thus keeping the system going? Currently, Russia is trying to strengthen its grip on former Soviet countries which are becoming disillusioned by west’s double standards.
Karimov avoided becoming close to Russia and refused to join Putin’s new economic bloc. It is going to be fascinating to see what happens next – I don’t expect that to change quickly.
Putin and Karimov became a lot closer recently – there was a summit in April at which various agreements were signed and Putin has been returning various escapees from the Uzbek regime for the last couple of years. And now Putin has paid his respects to his fellow mafia leader during a visit to day – my guess is that the visit also took a interest in the living rather than the dead.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uzbekistan-russia-putin-idUSKCN11C0ZA
This article written in May is also of relevance
http://thediplomat.com/2016/05/the-implications-of-tightening-russia-uzbekistan-ties/
“Putin and Karimov became a lot closer recently”. No they did not. Putin is a head of state. He does international business unless he delegates. He does it with Erdogan, Obama, Theresa May and lots of other unsavoury characters who have clawed their way to the top. He does not have to like them to work with them, nor they he.
I’ll leave it to the ordinary reader to decide whether a person who has never uttered a single criticism of Putin or the diplomat website to which I link above is more authoritative on this matter.
” He [ie,Putin] does international business unless he delegates. He does it with Erdogan, Obama, Theresa May and lots of other unsavoury characters who have clawed their way to the top. He does not have to like them to work with them, nor they he.”
_______________________________
You sound as if that doesn’t upset you unduly, Mr Goss.
Nor should it, of course. It’s called international relations.
Will you now extend the same generosity of spirit to your judgements on the leaders of the West, who also do not have to like the people they have to deal with and whose dealings with those people do not necessarily imply approval of their actions and policies?
🙂
Oh and as well visiting Karimov’s grave he sent his Prime Minister as well.
http://tass.com/world/897641
All poor old Thatcher got was the lousy Russian Ambassador despite Putin expressing his admiration for Mrs T in the past.
Those who watched the Sopranos will of course know that funerals are a big thing for the mob.
And yet, putin found karimov to be more comfortable to work with than many others he meets as head of state. Just like karimov putin brought media, parliament and judiciary under his firm control. Just like karimov putin allowed security services (the most recent national guards) flourish. Just like karimov putin remains president in breach of Russian constitution despite his PM tenure legal loophole.
It was well noted here that funeral is a big thing for mobsters and putin therefore was obliged to stop in Samarkand and give respect to the grave of his teacher.
NEB? Watch out for screamers.
Intrigued by “It is rumoured, and not impossible, she has been moved to Israel under an assumed name”, I Googled “Gulnara israel assumed name” and got a link to this post, time stamped “1 min ago”. I’m very impressed. Is it possible to force Google to instantly index a website?
You can’t force the Google. But, if Google already indexes your site, your site is reasonably active, and you have a public RSS feed, this is likely to happen.
Intel reveals MI6/CIA manipulation of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan – the payoff from which will cause an ideological vacuum, one that could be filled by Islamism, especially, as Craig concludes, the country’s socio-economic situation declines.
The chaos will upset exports of natural gas to China and pipelines are in the sights of a British SAS team tasks with disrupting trans-Uzbek pipelines ie silk road projects.
Indeed the death of Karimov represents a potential spark for several highly dangerous scenarios. Watch this space if I remain sound.
Golding
“.. pipelines are in the sights of a British SAS team tasks [sic] with disrupting trans-Uzbek pipelines..”
_____________________________
Can you provide (even modest) back-up for that claim?
Whether yes or no, please keep us informed when that disruption has taken place, won’t you.
Are you pulling my leg, Anon, or has he actually said that somewhere?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/were-british-special-forces-soldiers-planting-bombs-in-basra/994
Well, I didn’t mean back-up quite as modest as that, Golding.
You make a claim about the here and now/future (2016) relating to pipelines in Uzbekhistan and “back it up” with an article from “globalreasearch” from 2005 which talks about “suspicions” that UK special forces “might have” planted bombs in Basra, Irak.
A bit thin, I’d say. Skeletal, even.
The trouble with that part of the world is that historically transfers of power from a former autocratic ruler to whoever might be the new one are rarely peaceful, almost always messy and often disasters for the general population. This one is not looking good.
Why does Gulnara Karimova need the US government more than the money she owes?
Could she have been involved in the plot which got rid of her father?
Craig – I have read Murder in Samarkand (and loved it – along with your prior book) but could you expand on “artificial but real popularity”?
“Decades of relentless propaganda had bought Karimov an artificial but real popularity.”
A difficult statement indeed to get to grips with. Apart from the disjunct “artificial but real”, it is rather difficult to understand how such a ruthless and brutal dictator could have been “popular”. Popular with well-placed beneficiaries within the ultra-elite, perhaps? (Although even there perhaps not very genuine popularity …) Popularity with the CIA and MI6 totrture co-conspirators and War-onTerror conspirators? Or just a simple typo?
Can’t have been very popular amongst ordinary people – unless you mean they were enthusiastically flattering the regime while a hatchet waved above their heads!
Bhante
Unfortunately if you have complete totalitarian control of both media and education system, you can teach people successfully to hero worship you. From day 1 of primary school Uzbeks were taught to worship Karimov. The sad truth is that with many it works.
Don’t the Uzbeks remember the soviet regime? I think that there’s a difference between conformity and naivete, just listen to ordinary people here and compare it with the propaganda version on COMbbc and the corp-0-rat media.
Strangely the same sad principle applies to our own neck of the woods, which somehow seems to be assiduously ignored and at times even promoted.
I know, hardly a day goes by without Elsie the Selfie visiting another primary school.
http://www.snp.org/schools_pack
Fedup
What do you mean?
Are you seriously (or even non-seriously) suggesting that there is “total totalitarian control of both media and education system” in the West?
Heavens to Betsy oligarch owned media can never be totalitarian at all, at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The thoughts of that alone would make any apologist cry into their cereal.
Fedup
Thanks for that response and would you now care to give your thoughts on what I asked you, viz:
“Are you seriously (or even non-seriously) suggesting that there is “total totalitarian control of both media and education system” in the West?”
Thanks in advance (and welcome back, of course)
As Craig states, it’s called conditioning. Much the same process of being conditioned into (organised) religion. No matter whether it’s Islam, Christians, Jews, Hindus or Budhhist, which is fashionable. Although it is true that the Oriental religions, Hindu and Buddhist are longer on philosophy and shorter on dogma.
It can happen to adults too if you have a desire to ‘believe’. Of your own, through reading and ‘liking’ what you believe rather than thinking through things for yourself, or with a little help from your friends.
I imagine Uzbekistan has also been caught in a little bit of a time-warp making Authority easier. However, hopefully the times are a changing.
The Greatest Political experiment however imo is China. But one does have to marvel at the progress they have achieved in infrastructure and economic terms. How they have put men and material together to modernise. In contrast India with a similar billion-plus population is a laggard, and for all its democracy, sometimes appears as unmanageable.
Btw, did people note how Theresa May was practically bowing to Jinping as he simply looked on?
Re India, I feel India a bit like Britain is crippled by its repressive class system which of course is another type of conditioning which works for very few but is followed almost religiously in Britain and actually religiously in India. Unfortunately class systems lead to high powered jobs being fill with incompetents that are there through family connection rather than merit. Having elites from such a minuscule part of the populous almost always leads to a following of perceived wisdom that is unquestioned – you have to be upper class to be intelligent. You can only succeed with an expensive education even though it’s just untrue. Two examples in Britain that come to mind are firstly the great artist JMW Turner who was taught to read by his working class father and became famous through sheer force of will and talent and still throughout his life was the victim of class snobbery, the second being Michael Faraday who had almost no education and again from a poor working class background and yet is responsible for defining the modern world and turning electricity from a freak show fascination to the engine that drives the modern world.
A regime may be hated while the head of state is loved. If only the saintly king did not have those dastardly advisors that ruin everything!
“artificial but real popularity”
is when you do very unpopular things (kill economy, make millions poor, kill those who oppose you or who you think could oppose you, treat people like sh.t) and yet you are extremely popular. This kind of popularity could only be enforced by decades of propaganda and fear.
Many soviet people literally lived in sh.t and there was no family who did not have one or more relatives sent to Gulag BUT when stalin died in 1953 millions of people were crying on the soviet streets and in soviet kommunal flats. They felt as if sky was falling.
Your bad experience make you wish for the collapse of the country.
That would not be good for those in the area beyond Uzbekistan
Hopefully the transition will be peaceful and the new leader works with its neighbours to ensure that Islamic terrorist don’t take root in the country.
It’s not in the interests of the neighbours Russia, Kazakhstan and China for their to be instability and they will no doubt support the new leader.
Fed up with the Western/ US regime change campaigns they only bring disaster.
It is the US and it’s Western and Middle East ‘Partners in War Crimes’ that the created the ‘Islamic’ Terrorists, for their own purposes.
If you don’t realise that, you haven’t a clue on what has transpired. And these same ‘Islamic’ Terrorists are STILL doing the West’s, Saudi’s, Gulf’s and Israel’s dirty business.
The Western/US regime change campaigns haven’t failed, they have accomplished just what was intended – chaos, mayhem and broken-up countries (check out the ‘Yinon Plan’).
And don’t take all the ‘Terrorist Attacks’ in Europe at MSM face value – many if not most are hoaxes, or hybrids.
I don’t wish for its collapse. It is collapsing from economic mismanagement, whether I like it or not. I merely hope this will result in better government.
Yeap, when karimov ordered those in Andijan to be slaughtered it was much better was not it? Karimov type stability is what uzbekistan needs is not it?
Posts like yours make me realise what white mens burden really means.
I recall from your book, that you met Mirzaeyev, in winter in a very cold room, where he launched into a 30 minute propaganda speech, back then you called him a bully, who had a confident swagger. You added he was appointed as PM in 2004.
So would it not suit Mirzaeyev, to remove any of Karimov’s family no matter, how estranged, they’d become from their father, in order to acquire full, power over the nation. It wouldn’t do to have any of the old rulers heirs or successors around, who might fire up loyal supporters of the old rulers reign, in favour of them.
Why am I not surprised, about the rumour surrounding Israel’s involvement.
the new PM has form, he is called ‘no brain two fists’, as rumour has it that he had beat up a farmer to a pulp with his own arms, not his goons, who refused to acknowledge him.
I hope that the people will be able to carry on living and making ends meet, that he might find a streak in him that will benefit Uzbekistan.
What happened to the $25m luxury dwelling in Geneva?
http://goo.gl/maps/uiJSZvqpFRq
‘Switzerland will still go to any lengths to protect the ultra-rich dictators and mafia who flock there. Mutabar Tadjibaeva – multiple rape victim, survivor of repeated torture and still dogged human rights activist, is wanted for questioning by Geneva Police for the crime of ringing the bell of Gulnata Karimova’s 25 million dollar house and asking to speak to her.
That is absolutely all she did. I know, as I was there and did it too. We both left our visiting cards, took some photos from the streets so the children of Uzbekistan could see where the profits from their slave labour in the cotton fields went, and then we left on the bus, as we came.
Uzbekistan is the World’s sixth most corrupt country according to Transparency International. I doubt one in ten of the houses in Cologny is bought with earned money. This is Gulnara’s 25 million dollar home, with the cranes then building a massive extension at the back.’
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/03/fascist-switzerland-strikes-back/
Interesting post based on real expertise and relating to a situation and place most readers know bugger all about.
Regrettable therefore that, 15 comments in, we already have one focussing entirely on Israel, another which semi-focuses on Israel and one semi-coherent rant from Mr Barbara which includes the notion that most of the terror attacks in European countries are hoaxes or hybrids.
It would be interesting to count the posts which say nothing whatsoever about Israel. Excluding your own of course, which rabbit on about nothing else. If you’re not careful you might easily give this site a bad reputation. I’m, sure you wouldn’t want to do that.
Habb.
16 comments in not 15, talk about knowing bugger all.
Not to mention a contribution from the one poster that can be relied upon to gripe, moan, whine and admonish other posters, on a rather tiresome and general basis.
But enough about you, Glenn.
I bet you impressed yourself there!
Further to your, another most obscure, comment, have you considered that many here might actually have read Murder in Samarkand, indeed some relating lines wand chapters within that book to what is written here.
maybe you should allocate some more time to reading rather than wasting your time here, Habbybi, then you can keep up, rather than dillydally here, go tarry somewhere else.
And if Israel is involved this will not be a surprise here, everyone can make mistakes, some do it all the time.
A bit more detail about Gulnara Karimova, from a BBC piece published a few years back…
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28869885
Even as little as two years ago the MSM were still putting out some real news! (the curtain started coming down with the Snowden revelations in the summer of 2013, as anyone who reads the Guardian will know)
O/T
I am sure I speak on behalf of everyone here in applauding the sentence of five-and-a-half years solitary confinement handed down to Anjem Choudry today at the Old Bailey. Let us hope he serves every last day of it.
You certainly don’t speak on my behalf: solitary confinement is a form of torture. As to the offence itself I know nothing about it. But if it is a thought crime, of which he has been convicted it is bad news for those of us who believe in Freedom of Speech.
When one considers the daily incitements to violence-reaching millions of credulous people- from media such as the BBC, one trembles to consider what the length of their sentences might be. And just for telling lies about Weapons of Mass destruction, economising with the truth about the intentions of Serbia in its Kosovo province or misrepresenting the ‘provocations’ to which Israel replied by massacring thousands of civilians in Gaza.
I am sure I speak on behalf of everyone here in applauding the sentence of five-and-a-half years solitary confinement handed down to Anjem Choudry today at the Old Bailey.
I’m sure you can think of other religious and political leaders who have called for violence against civilians. Would you applaud jail terms for all who incite such violence, or just Muslims?
Isn’t that an illustration of the kind of off topic remark that the moderators want to put an end to?
He’s not been sentenced to solitary confinement, the possibility of that exists if it’s the only way to prevent him radicalising othe prisoners. It’s a matter for the prison service.
He’s been found guilty of inciting violence. I would expect anybody guilty of the same offence to be dealt with in the same way but wouldn’t expect to see the sentence questioned here if it were somebody from the EDL encouraging people to beat up asylum seekers.
Kempe and Anon1.
Ayelet Shaked is Israel’s justice minister. On her Facebook page she called for genocide of the Palestinians.
The next day Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair was kidnapped and burned alive by six Israeli Jewish youths.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-lawmakers-call-genocide-palestinians-gets-thousands-facebook-likes
Should Ayelet Shaked be imprisoned? Or are you hypocrites?
They weren’t actually her words but if it’s what she’s promoting then yes.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israeli-lawmakers-call-genocide-palestinians-gets-thousands-facebook-likes
There are hypocrites on this blog but I’m not one.
They weren’t actually her words but if it’s what she’s promoting then yes.
I didn’t say they were her words but she IS promoting them. THESE are her words referring to the call to genocide :
“This is an article by the late Uri Elitzur, which was written 12 years ago, but remained unpublished. It is as relevant today as it was at the time.”
Thank you. I respect (like you care) your even-handedness.
Anon1? Hypocrite?
Ironic really, not just because nobody radicalized more Muslims than Bush and Blair, but because the US, Israel, UK and France created, funds, arms and trains ISIS; then puts them back together again when Russia, Syria, Iraq and the Kurds neary kill them.
Clearly I am almost alone in welcoming the sentence handed down to Anjem Choudary. 🙁
I think everyone’s trying to tell you that’s you’re making a plumb of yourself Anon. I’m sorry to spell it out but it would be cruel to allow you to continue in ignorance.
Anon!
You are certainly not alone in welcoming the fact that someone who has been found guilty by due process of breaking the law of the land (in this case, by incitement to terrorism) should pay the price.
Having said that, if I had been the judge I would have welcomed the opportunity to show the quality of mercy so evidently absent from Mr Choudary’s preachings by perhaps imposing a slightly lighter sentence.
That is because I believe that in cases like this – and even more so in cases where young, disaffected people have been luring into terroristic thoughts by cowardly hate preachers – everyone should be given the chance to turn over a new leaf after serving his or her sentence. After all, they can always be brought to trial again if they repeat the offence. In summary: sentence moderately but sentence often (if necessary).
Very thoughtful comment with which I concur completely. I guess he’ll be released in a couple of years or so, but the point had to be made by locking him up.
They are asking the same question in Russia. According to the author of this article from what I understand she is still under house arrest. She was allegedly put there on the instructions of Karimov. There were rumours that she was accused of trying to overthrow Karimov to install her cousin, the nephew of his wife, Akbar Abdullaev, but these were denied by Karimov. The head of SNB Rustam Inoyatova was instructed to place her under arrest for disobedience.
http://www.mk.ru/politics/2016/09/04/kuda-ischezla-doch-karimova-gulnara.html
Another possibility, the author, Daniel Kislov, suggests she was put under house arrest due to bringing shame on the Karimov household for her dealings with international corporations and the money-laundering charges you mention. (I can see you all smiling regarding shame on the Karimov household).
Another rumour is that she is dead. She apparentyl has an irregular heartbeat and needs treatment but has not been released from house arrest.
Apparently a video of Gulnara singing a song dedicated to her father was played on the network on the eve of his funeral but this it is said was made two years ago.
I must say the concern of the mafia for its molls is very touching.
Hm. Indeed.
Craig says: “I am very hopeful the system will collapse within two years.”
Forget about the system in Uzbekistan.
How long will it take for the system to collapse in the United Kingdom?
FFS. Where’s Cecil b.de Mille when he is needed?
OK, so this is totally off-topic, but…
Who would like to know the secrets of Menwith Hill?
https://theintercept.com/2016/09/06/nsa-menwith-hill-targeted-killing-surveillance/
Enjoy, courtesy of Mr Edward Snowden.
Secrets of Menworth Hill.You can find them enjoying tea and cakes at Betty`s tearooms at Ilkley.
See
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/09/thought-dangerous-usa/comment-page-3/#comment-622696
Greetings Alan, that’s the first piece from The Intercept I’ve tried to read. Is it representative of their writing? I hope not, it was bloody awful. Anyone would think they were working for American Caesar rather than exposing him.
Sorry about that. I’ve found and on-topic article to make up for it 🙂
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/07/what-obama-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-uzbekistan/
It even mentions Genghis Kahn.
Not your fault, it seems that Americans are congenital windbags. Quite why they are willing to use the fascist euphemisms of American Caesar I don’t know.
Alan.
Thank you for that interesting link, I didn’t realise that Uzbekistan was the world’s fourth largest producer of gold.
I’m rather surprised Hollande, hasn’t sent French troops into Uzbekistan, like he did in Mali, under the pretense of fighting terrorists, when it was in my opinion, to secure the gold mines, and keep production flowing.
I wonder who owns the Uzbekistan gold mines?
The French, being so totally dependent on Nuclear Power are probably more watchful over Mali’s uranium mines.
Rob.
You do have a point, thinking of points, the white elephant of Hinckley springs to mind, still there’s plenty of African nations, to choose from, when it come to obtaining uranium.
Here’s a list I like to keep handy.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/others/uranium-in-africa.aspx
OK, not much info on who actually owns the mines. This is all I could find
The Uzbek government has taken an active and heavy handed policy toward the foreign mining companies that develop the gold mines in the country. They even seized all the assets that belonged to one company over a tax dispute without a court hearing on the company’s behalf.
That has left many gold companies leery of investing in Uzbekistan mines at a time where this foreign investment capital is vital to their growth.
As was mentioned, if Uzbekistan can sort out its political issues with the mining companies it really looks poised to become even more of a major player in the world’s gold production hierarchy, especially if companies from India and China come onto the scene as expected.
Checking further revels this:
http://www.mining.com/the-worlds-top-10-gold-mines/
Muruntau. This mining complex, located in Uzbekistan and consisting of open-pit mine and heap leach operations, is believed to produce about 2.6 million ounces of gold in 2014. Huge open-pit mine has following dimensions: 3.35 km – length, 2.5 km – width and 560 m – depth. Due to depletion of oxide reserves, Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat, state-owned operator of this mine, has recently commissioned world’s biggest BIOX® plant. Keeping in mind stunning remaining resource base, which estimated at about 170 million ounces of gold, this operation has all chances to keep world’s leadership position in a longer term period.
Craig, what do you think about Rustam Azimov, his chances to become the next president and what kind of president he would make? Apologies if it is too much 🙂
Craig would of course mention his first battles with Straw. Blair, the west..Re Irag…and it all started in Uzbekistan ( for Craig ) .. I agree with those who consider ‘ Murder in Samarkand’ a great book..it sure is.. Such Honesty..not forgetting Bravery.
From the Previous post by me
It’s now at Over 9.000..In half a day –
https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/tell-u-s-to-let-craig-murray-into-the-country?source=twitter-share-button#
petition stands at 12.500 at 10.10 am this morning, an impressive score and more meta data for the NSA to collect, thanks for than link John Goss and Alan. Menwith Hill should be taken down as it is not accountable to tax payers, its construction was decided on the back of a Westminster Parliament beer matt.
It also has carried out industrial espionage, undermining large company bids for all sorts of projects, as well as surveillance of peaceful protesters.
Yorkshire’s people should take it down, bit by bit, maybe using this union song as inspiration and in support and memory of Angie Zelters actions some time ago.
http://unionsong.com/u068.html
We long suspected what was happening at Menwith Hill. This is from a blog in
summer of 2012.
http://johngossip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/puffballs-on-hill.html
If I write to my current MP, Steve McCabe, he usually responds, but on matters of defence he is so circumspect my queries are invariably met with silence. However, now that it is known, we are complicit in extra-judicial murder I ought to contact him again.
Mr Goss
Your MP probably has a quite heavy post-bag of genuine constituency problems to deal with (most MPs do).
Would you really be happy to have him waste his time on your complaint rather than dealing with another constituents perhaps critical real life problem(s)?
There are surely moments when one should put others before oneself?
Mr H (or whatever your name is) if you were living in the Middle East, Africa or Pakistan, and you and your family or those in your vicinity were obliterated by drones without you ever being tried for a crime, would you consider it a “critical real life probelm”?
I have some tangentical knowledge of Gulnara from my very minor role in the investigation into Telia and bribery and corruption where she figured prominently. For her sheer greed in grabbing millions from one of the poorest countries in the world, I have no sympathy as to her fate. But as Craig says, she ought to be tried not tortured/executed.
A version of events according to OCCRP.
Uzbekistan: After Karimov, A Struggle for the Spoils
Wednesday, 07 September 2016
http://www.occrp.org/en/blog/5618-uzbekistan-after-karimov-a-struggle-for-the-spoils
OCCRP is made possible by
Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network
USAID
Swiss Romanian Cooperation Programme
!
Open Society Institute and Soros Foundations Network are sister groups. Soros is a hypocrite accusing the Karimovs of corruption without taking the great plank from his own eye. His ill-gotten money is behind much that is wrong with the world: behind the coup in Ukraine, behind GM crops, behind the Open Society in Russia that has been clandestinely trying to overthrow the government there. I don’t doubt Soros and his minions will be struggling for the spoils of Uzbekistan.
Speaking of “groups”, Mr Goss, how’s Left Unity getting on these days?
Apart from the Ted Rall piece on this very topic, Counterpunch also has an article by Badruddin Khan arguing that Israel has colonised, not only Palestine but the USA.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/07/has-israel-effectively-colonized-the-united-states/
If it’s in Counterpunch then it must be true, eh, Bev?
Except if it’s by the egregious “Dr” Paul Craig Roberts, that is 🙂
What a stupid comment, even by your extremely low standards, Habbakuk. You must raise your game if you still want to be a real 00spook rather than a Cheltenham Hasbara, on a zero hours deal.
I don’t know what the imoji for fuck off is, but consider it inserted here.
Habby, why do you chose to act like a troll when you don’t have to?
The only thing about Roberts that no one can successfully dispute is his not having a Ph.D, from the University of Virginia.
Habbabkuk, I’ve told you before your usage of ‘egregious’ in this manner is inaccurate. On its own it can mean either ‘remarkably good’ or remarkably bad’. Are you a admirer of Dr. Roberts?
So, KOWN that means it’s ambiguous. Like good art, you make what you want of it!? In this case, it can work either way to not dissimilar effect.
So Putin sent his puppet Medvedev to see Karimov off, meanwhile Obama, is in or has been, in Laos recently, repeating how sorry (ad nauseam) he is that the USA pounded the country to a pulp, during their faux pas in Vietnam.
Back home the PM has slapped down the Indian Jones of the Brexiteers, Davis Davis, for saying that “it was very improbable” the dis-United Kingdom would remain a member of the single market, if it mean’t accepting free movement of people.
Thank you for that timely news round-up, RoS, I didn’t have time to read the papers and hear the news so far today.
Please keep it up (I know you will! 🙂 )
Here ya go Habby lad, I aim to please. ?
“Instead of rolling out a welcome mat for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who kickstarted his visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday amid huge pro-Palestine protests, the Dutch should “send him right away to the International Criminal Court,” Dries Van Agt said.”
“Ahead of Netanyahu’s two-day visit to the country, Van Agt, who served as Dutch PM from 1977 to 1982, labelled the Israeli leader a “war criminal” in an televised interview with the NPO1 national TV channel on Monday.”
https://www.rt.com/news/358467-israel-palestine-neitherlands-netanyahu/
I take back anything I’ve iterated on the Dutch, and Srebrenica, at least some of them, can see Netanyahu, and his military apartheid state for what it really is.
Iterated?
Iterated?
Gosh I hate having the same insipid identican colour as RoS. Hope this reverts to the original. I see that Habby has.
IdenticOn
More from the papers, a nice respectable London based literate source. The German emigré (1933) author was both in Irgun & Knesset, he now has a diverse point of view.
He seems to think that, similar to how Switzerland is neutral to the outside world (all the cantons compete bitterly, internally,allegedly) perhaps some sovereign nations in the ME have war at heart-at easy reach, to avoid the bitter-internal stuff? Makes you think?
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2016/09/06/uri-averny/israels-impending-civil-war/
yes, RoS, Mrs. May is rather heat up over her weakness to commit to a plan nobody ever wanted to plan for, otherwise they would have instructed the civil service a long time ago. It is unfortunate that her most knowledgeable and able bods are all working for the EU, so what she is left with here is hard cheese.
The idea might have never been to have a satisfactory solution, but to create chaos and uncertainty on top of the refugee crisis heaped upon Europe from outside. D.Davies had his first slap, lets see how many he’s going to get before he’s exchanged and they start all over again, playing for time.
Is the UK waiting for Godot?
Yes indeed Bevin, the other day I was childminding, when on the tv Thersea May popped up on the screen, sitting all alone at the G20 summit in China, she had a puzzled and forlorn look on her face, that’s when my young charge uttered out of the blue, she (May) looks like a Decepticon.
I had to think for a minute as to who or what he was referring too, but it came to me that the young fellow had a point, I smiled at him and said yes indeed she does have something deceptive about her manner. He looked at me in a rather puzzled way. However, it was later that day that I discovered exactly what a decepticon really is. The young lad had hit the nail on the head, so to speak. ?
Re my last comment, It is mean’t for Nevermind, I do apologise.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/09/07/assange-says-clinton-leaks-might-come-as-early-as-next-week.html
“Assange says Clinton leaks might come as early as next week”
Is Murdoch anti-Clinton? imagine what Fox says counts?
Watch the short interview too in the above link, with Assange
I’m afraid Team Clinton already have a response, which, rather than being laughed at, is ‘taken seriously’ by her many friends in the media. Team Clinton will just repeat the lie that Assange is working for Putin, and the story will die quickly.
People on this blog have long known that the corporate media are just that: media brands run by corporations. Those corporations are mostly owned, at least in part, by oligarchs, and not always Murdoch. It would seem fairly obvious to this poster that brave truth-telling isn’t big on the list of oligarch objectives, and anyone who has ever had a job knows how hierarchies work, and the little people really don’t get much of a say in anything. Most journalists are just the little people, the content creators, and they probably mock Clinton privately, but that’s about as much leeway as the little people get these days. Soon, we won’t even be able to mock privately.
Assange personally makes me laugh, in a good way. He leaks documents that, quite possibly, could get him killed, and routinely mocks the idiocy of neoconism, so whatever his personal flaws, I admire him. I also certainly admire the fearlessness of the Wikileaks staffers, who know they are under watch. However, they are ably balanced by the Blackadder treachery and cowardice of corporate media shills everywhere, so Clinton will probably be unscathed. Well, until she’s impeached for some crookery or other, which is basically inevitable given her clear character failings.
On a side note, if The Guardian was what it pretends to be, Craig Murray would be employed as some sort of Foreign Correspondent, telling us about Poland and Uzbekistan and Ghana and stuff. His remit would be wide-ranging, and he’d routinely get kicked out of various countries for trouble-making. Instead, we get poorly disguised spook, Luke Harding, banging on about Russia. Lame.
I thought The Telegraph’s edited highlights of Theresa May’s attack of Jeremy Corbyn in today’s Prime Minister’s question time worthy of the Children’s Pantomime Aladdin, but not as good as David Bowie’s version.
It reminded me of an exceedingly good article that Chris Hedges recently wrote…which incidentally appears to have been deleted from Truthdig (much too close to the truth?)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45408.htm
“America the Illiterate”
By Chris Hedges
Extract
“September 04, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – “Truth Dig” – We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and clichés. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This divide, more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban, believer or nonbeliever, red state or blue state, has split the country into radically distinct, unbridgeable and antagonistic entities.
There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are growing by an estimated 2 million a year. But even those who are supposedly literate retreat in huge numbers into this image-based existence. A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent of college graduates, never read a book after they finish school. Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book. … “
Whilst looking for a Playhouse for my Grandson (and most such structures for the UK market are designed and built in the UK) I came across the Zombie Fortification Cabin (ZFC-1)
I can’t imagine anyone in the UK being crazy enough to actually buy this…
So I guess this Yorkshire company have a thriving business exporting it to the USA.
(Who says UK Manufacturing is Dead?)
http://www.tigersheds.com/product/zombie-fortification-cabin-zfc-1/
Extract
“Get yours before they get you!
Exclusive – The world’s first and only certified* Zombie Proof Log Cabin. The zombie apocalypse is coming..
View the entire Tiger Sheds log cabin range
10 YEAR ANTI ZOMBIE GUARANTEE*.
Upper deck with 360deg vantage point + escape hatch
Re-enforced slit windows, walls and doors
Barbed wire surround
Arsenal storage unit for weaponry
Garden Section to grow vegetables
Toilet System
Kitchen Area with Microwave
Living area with TV, Xbox and Sound system Turntables”
Tony
“I came across the Zombie Fortification Cabin (ZFC-1)
I can’t imagine anyone in the UK being crazy enough to actually buy this…”
Just call it a Zionist Proof Log Cabin, market it with a “10-Year Anti-Zionist Guarantee” and start shifting units right here…
Putin is readopting the old KGB habit of sending political opponents, from the annexed Crimea, to psychiatric hospitals
http://www.rferl.org/content/crimean-tatar-activist-umerov-released-psychiatric-clinic/27971935.html
Of course Karimov never gave up the habit
https://www.ifex.org/uzbekistan/2012/12/07/central_asia_joint_action/
And I am sure all the old Stalinists will now be happy that the authorities are now on the case of Memorial, a research and advocacy organization devoted to researching the crimes of Stalin and preventing their recurrence. Of course al this digging up the past and helping Russians trace what happened to their relatives is a foreign inspired plot.
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-september-7-2016/
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-september-7-2016/
God, this gets boring, whether it comes from government trolls or useful idiots. Next you’ll be telling us that the USA is a democracy, despite the absolute farce of the present presidential election.
Keep taking the pills, it’s what makes Big Pharma profitable…
https://williamblum.org/essays/read/overthrowing-other-peoples-governments-the-master-list
https://www.popularresistance.org/us-has-killed-more-than-20-million-in-37-nations-since-wwii/
And let’s not forget the ‘special relationship’ (ie, Britain is a vassal state of America, and just about all of those who sit in the House of Commons are total traitors).
$RD. People in the UK dream of having psychiatric hospitals to be evilly locked up in!
Imagine a country rich & intelligent enough not to have sold it’s populace ‘care in the community’ in Maggie-time, now reduced to an occasional 15 minutes ‘care’ from an assistant on minimum wage or a service with about one empty ‘community-care’ emergency bed per county, more often zero.
The hardworking police are now the front line psychiatric care in the community service. The cop shop cells, or the afterlife, are the reality of UK mental care . LBC had a great talk-in about this last week;
Now someone/some AI machine mentions evil Putin but can we point out that that was 2014’s message and we are now rather bored with it. RFE/RL have also been making up sh!t for years, please try harder, zero faith in yr propaganda. It makes you sound like a nato tweet-monkey
Context. Yes, I have really worked with top-level soviet dissidents, Юрий Фёдорович Орлов, who really pissed off Breznev then Andropov, survived all the old Soviet sh!t at Lefortovo & Perm camps 35 & 37, he’s obviously (nearly) retired now but I doubt he will be expecting you in the web of western IC to try and recreate the old Beria oppression, just a bit more digital & better!
A rather poor response if I might say – I’m afraid none of my shit was made up, you cannot justify one wrong with another, and I very much doubt Yuri Orlov (a member of HRW who also confirm the RFE/RL report – see below) would try to do so.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/26/crimean-tatar-activist-confined-psychiatric-hospital
Thanks that’s (HRW) a better source than RFE/RL [aside:- have you ever scanned the Hotbird satellites deeply and seen how many versions of “radio freedom” there are in so many different languages – yet all sound a bit hollow!] Like the Saudi minister this morning calling for freedom for women in Syria, freedom for religious expression in Syria, freedom for death in Syria is what he was selling! Start with those rights first in KSA, eh!
I see what you are taking about, tartars, krim, sad story – you win some & you lose some! The western deepstate lost however the big prize nuke base, even after letting TopGear film it, and are pushing on all fronts , covertly as usual, for a way back from the total disaster in Ukraine. The people who I personally talk to in krim, seem to be doing ok. I don’t plan to visit . I disagree with you on Yuri O’s point of view. As an academic he would recognise the deaths that you (deepstate) have caused, I don’t think he would play cards with the reckless slapdash way that you play the game. He thought a very lot before doing things, as in he did THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS for years, before acting. You lot just have committees, avoiding individual responsibilities for the seemingly inevitable errors. And you cause meaningless deaths, as ‘sovereign states’ you can do anything you like – I was told, really.
P.S. I’m not defending vlad vladimirovich, I’m sure he’s a corrupt rich evil politician but has he killed as many people as our own very very very rich ‘evil’ politico? Personally I don’t keep count. Who’s color is leading today in Tashkent?
Personally I do not belong to the school where one person’s wrongs can be used to justify another’s – and I doubt Yuri Orlov is either. Throwing political opponents in psychiatric hospitals is wrong, making life hell for organisations such as Memorial is wrong.
I’m not sure what this has to do with anything, except Craig’s post here and his previous post. Gosh, the Sioux tribe are just as evil as the doctors in the UK; all pesky critters who want to stop progress and worship that darn Satan Putin…
https://www.rt.com/usa/358307-sioux-protesters-dakota-pipeline/
Vote for Hillary and reduce your funeral costs! (because you’ll be instantly incinerated, along with all other life on this Earth)
Nostradamus said I predict
That the world will end at half past six
What he didn’t say was exactly when
For around 5 years I used to spend a lot of time on American websites – like Alternet – basically to try and understand what Intelligent Americans are like (the kind of people who would vote Liberal like me in England (USA equiv??) about 10 years ago. I found the Americans on Alternet incredibly intelligent – but also very tolerant and forgiving of me. Some of them would be so passionate about all sorts of things, that I bought a lot of books over the 5 years that some of them recommended.
One of them was this in 2007 “The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot” by Naomi Wolf
I just sent a letter in reply to an American. You will have to click on it to read it.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45408.htm#IDComment1029682401
Tony
The Guardian view of what’s going on in Gabon; all very calm and sedative (keep taking the pills, folks)…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/07/the-guardian-view-on-gabon-recount-the-votes
And another view on what’s going on in Gabon…
http://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/08/gabons-presidential-election-ends-in-flames/498266/
No doubt the Karimov family leave much to be desired. I guess the influence of the Karimov family is largely confined to a far away land about which most people know little.
Closer to home we have the Clinton family – who on any rational analysis stand comparison with the any of the most corrupt figures anywhere on the planet.
For anyone interested in something more than sound bite analysis please see the attached forensic deconstruction of the gigantic fraud embedded in the Clinton Foundation
http://charlesortel.com/