Roll of Shame 224


These are the 15 countries which shamefully voted against a UN General Assembly Resolution on Thursday which proposed to seek an opinion from the International Court of Justice on Britain’s continued colonial possession of the Chagos Islands. In the most absolute example of ethnic cleansing in modern history, less than 50 years ago the UK deported by force the entire population of the Chagos Islands to make way for the US military base on Diego Garcia, and to this day refuses to allow them to return.

The Dirty 15

USA
UK
Israel
Australia
New Zealand

The above are of course arguably the five countries in the world most profoundly implicated in the usurpation and destruction of native populations

Afghanistan
Albania
Bulgaria
Croatia
Hungary
Japan
Lithuania
Maldives
Montenegro
South Korea

This second small group is dominated by countries with a particularly close security relationship with the United States on which they place particular reliance in relation to a perceived threat.

It must however be heartening that the US and UK could round up so very few supporters for their utterly immoral stance. It is particularly worth noting that none of the major players within the EU backed the UK.

The US and UK are also remarkably silent on the blockade of Qatar by their ally Saudi Arabia. The release of Saudi demands including the closing down of Al Jazeera TV and other media outlets including the excellent Middleeasteye.net show the Saudis’ true motives. Frankly I am shocked by the failure of the mainstream media in the West seriously to question the ludicrous Saudi claim that this attack on Qatar is over support for terrorism.

Mohammed Bin Salman was appointed by his father the King as Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia on 21 June. Bin Salman has been directing the major affairs of the state for the last three years. The ferocity of the prosecution of the war in Yemen is very much his baby. Bin Salman’s master plan, which he has driven through with much skill, is for a far more aggressive Saudi Arabia leading the conservative forces in the Middle East, above all in fierce opposition to Iran and Shia interests. To this end he has forged a conservative alliance incorporating Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt and the United States.

US and UK involvement in the war in Yemen goes beyond the enthusiastic supply of the bombs and aircraft which have killed thousands of children. Both have had special forces on the ground, and the CIA has yet again been deeply implicated in the detention, extreme torture and murder of opponents.

The Bin Salman plan is dressed up as “pro-Western” and media hacks paint him as a “reformer” because he wishes to expand a network of McDonalds in the Kingdom. But as Iran slowly does reform, and sticks meticulously to the terms of the internationally guaranteed nuclear agreement, Saudi paranoia towards its regional “rival” becomes ever more dangerous. The Iranians deserve respect for the moderation with which they reacted to the Saudi sponsored terror attack on their parliament itself. But such provocations will increase.

Saudi support for ISIL, Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and the numerous other jihadist groups will only increase as Saudi Arabia seeks to deploy them in its sectarian war against the Shia and their allies. For that reason there is no prospect of terrorist violence in Syria declining. Indeed the United States shooting down of a Syrian jet in “self-defence” was almost certainly an indication that the Syrians were at the time targeting jihadist forces reinforced by US special forces. Israeli bombing and missile sorties against Syrian regime targets in support of jihadist rebels are finally being regularly reported in mainstream media.

I do not hold up Qatar or its ruling aristocracy as a paragon of virtue. But it seeks a more pacific relationship with Iran, and has more developed economic relationships including on shared offshore fields. Qatar has also consistently shown greater interest in the plight of the Palestinians, and more scepticism towards Israel, than Bin Salman is happy with. Qatar also has problems with the brutal military dictatorship of Egypt.

Most worryingly to Saudi Arabia, these slightly more liberal attitudes are closer to the views of the “arab street”, where there is disquiet at Saudi Arabia’s obvious but officially denied relationship with Israel. Qatar also has a media which can reflect these views to a wider Arab audience. Even though, following previous Saudi threats, al Jazeera’s content has been toned down, the Saudis see the station as an intolerable direct threat.

There is public fatigue in the West with regard to the affairs of the Middle East. This is a mistake as the situation is more dangerous than ever. The UK and USA both look likely to support the Saudis and Israel in their determination for conflict with Iran. The EU and Russia – and anybody not harbouring a death wish – will be working to keep the Iranian nuclear deal together. Bin Salman has chosen his time well, with slightly crazed right wing regimes in Washington, London and Tel Aviv willing to back his adventurism. The blockade of Qatar is but a symptom of something much more dangerous.

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COLLECTED WORKS

A volume of speeches, writings and interviews from when I first turned whistleblower is now available on Amazon. Many thanks to Kirsten who conceived and carried through the idea. My contribution was the totally non-controversial title to broaden the appeal! It includes some of the very first articles on this blog, which were only read by about 1,000 people.inBin


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224 thoughts on “Roll of Shame

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  • reel guid

    Gordon Wilson was instrumental in forging the modern SNP and keeping it on track through very difficult times.
    His contribution to Scotland’s freedom was substantial. The good Gordon of Scottish politics unlike yon New Labour no user.

    • Republicofscotland

      Penis envy, wishful thinking on her part, Freud would’ve had a field with her on the couch. ?

  • Dave

    The UN was set up and purposely funded as an instrument of US imperialism and can only work on that basis, because it can only work with US as a part of it and no superpower would allow it to act against its interests and working within international law is in every countries interest, except one!

    The problem is the pressure for US to leave the UN is coming from the neo-con lobby who are not interested in the US but Israel interest and cannot abide the UN for even daring to mention Israel war crimes and crimes against humanity. And they fear such bad publicity will restrain the US from acting against its own interests in favour of Israel interest and WWIII.

  • nevermind

    And there are four kind of Government employees and one head of state in these countries responsible for the state of Diego Garcia and the world at large.

    Diplomats
    politicians
    Bankers
    the status quo establishment.
    HMQ and hangers on.

  • Hieroglyph

    To all intents and purposes, the war isn’t happening. It probably never happened. In Australia, the only coverage you’ll get is the odd leader speaks to troops moment, or perhaps some dead-eyed general talking about our vital alliance with the US. As to what Australia is doing, the average citizen will remain none the wiser. Killing ISIS, or supporting them, whatever it’s all Over There, maybe it’s a dream after all? A rather dazzling propaganda success, even if the rest is an abysmal failure.

    And Yemen, seriously? Nobody gives a fuck about Yemen, it’s a piss ant desert with little of note or interest, and yet we are currently strafing the fuck out of camels, and wedding guests. The war on Yemen is final proof that everybody in charge has gone insane. I swear I begin to think some of them are Aliens, and they are just fucking with us; it’s as reasonable explanation as anything else. Even war and oil doesn’t seem quite right as an explanation, doesn’t fit the lunacy. Aliens it is then. They got to Macron, I’m quite sure.

    • Dave

      Alas just as the accusation of “racism” by MSM is intended to halt criticism of domestic policy, so the accusation of “anti-Semitism” is intended to halt criticism of foreign policy. And as long as the conflict is “over there” fighting “terrorists” its easier to avoid “hate speech” and just fall in line and look the other way.

    • Ba'al Zevul

      It’s getting easier and easier to believe in Icke’s lizards, isn’t it? But as you pretty well have to bea soulless sociopath to get to the top of any organisation (talent? Ability to promote anything other than yourself? PMSL) – it’s not too surprising.

  • Gofer Black

    Amazingly, forcible population transfer is the least of this case. This is a new opening in the world’s prosecution of the crime against humanity of systematic and widespread US torture. Chagos is a black site.

    https://ronaldthomaswest.com/2017/06/25/june-notes-week-four/

    While aggression is the highest crime of the US CIA regime, torture case is open-and-shut, with the CAT reinforcing humanitarian law. It’s the perfect entering wedge for Nuremberg 2.

  • Njegos

    As a half-English/half-Montenegrin, I have the dubious honour of being “represented twice” in the above roll of shame.
    Once famous for centuries of resistance to Turkish invaders, Montenegro has disgraced itself yet again this time by joining a gang of colonialists + apologists to thwart a judicial review of British colonialism. Hardly surprising, however, given that Montenegro is now a pathetic NATO-mafia vassal state that takes voting instructions at the UN from DC and London. The physical shove that Trump gave Markovic recently at the NATO summit was a perfect metaphor for Montenegro’s international status.
    Interestingly, it was al-Jazeera who exposed the venal scum running the show in Podgorica:
    http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2017/03/montenegrin-coup-170302060130440.html
    The cowards didn’t dare stage a referendum on joining NATO preferring instead to invent nonsense about a Russian plot to destabilise the country to create hysteria and soften stiff public opposition.
    But then what would you expect in a country where former PM cum mega-crook/”family businessman” Milo Djukanovic was once amongst the 10 wealthiest world leaders? Anyone who has visited Montenegro, a beautiful but poor Balkan backwater, will quickly understand just how corrupt one would have to be to achieve that eyebrow-raising distinction.
    An utterly nauseating state of affairs.

    • John

      One hopes that Duncan will at some point have to repeat all that to his Maker …

  • David Carraher

    Yesterday, I purchased a Kindle copy of “Zionism is Bullshit” on Amazon.com (the U.S. site) and received only the book’s cover and a copy of a letter to you, dated 7 July, 2006, from the Litigation and Employment Group, claiming an “Infringement Of Crown Copyright”. Amazon has charged my credit card but gave no indication that it will provide the book.

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