Jack Straw Forgets His Lies 120


Lovely moment from an unpublished interview by Matt Kennard here, dating from 2006, in which Jack Straw forgets the particular lies he is supposed to be telling and dissolves into incoherence a la George W Bush:

MK: I was going to ask you about Craig Murray and Uzbekistan ?” the situation there. I was reading about you allegedly were trying to suppress his memoir. Is that correct?

JS: We were trying to get him to obey the rules. You need to get the lines off John on that if you don’t mind. But if you’re a diplomat you’re expected to abide by your responsibilities which include… you accept, again, privileged position, good money, access to all sorts of confidences, you got to… yeah, that’s the issue there.

http://www.thecommentfactory.com/uk-chilcot-inquiry-unpublished-interview-with-jack-straw-then-uk-foreign-secretary-from-2006-2688

Fascinating interview all in all. No wonder the student journalist, Matt Kennard, did not end up in the UK mainstream media – he’s much too good.


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120 thoughts on “Jack Straw Forgets His Lies

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  • Larry from St. Louis

    dreoilin, go read again your posting that keyed off Dubai authorities. You had to use it to make a generalization about the United States (“(Or just how badly their standards of education have fallen.)”)

    You made a sweeping generalization based on having met 2 or 3 Americans who said a stupid thing (and I think I’m being generous there), and then you simply denied that you did it.

  • tony_opmoc

    Clark,

    In 1962, we had serious money exchange controls. Whilst we were skint, My Mum had some rich Scottish relations – and her cousin sent her some money – and said go on holiday around Europe..

    So we did…

    A bit like the Royle Family Christmas Show…

    When we got as far as Geneva on the bus, we ran out of money.

    And we got interviewed by the Swiss authorities, and my Dad managed to get some more money out of Oldham.

    He then bought an Omega watch on the Street.

    But it was in 1962, and it was a genuine Omega watch and worked until the Day he died.

    It was an Automatic.

    We got as far as Diano Marina in Italy

    And then we came back

    Its funny the things you can achieve with fuck all

    Tony

  • Vronsky

    A few years ago I attended a cocktail party in San Diego. Most of my family are there now, but of course they have cascaded four generations, and all are American. I was there with my sister – we are still Scottish. The guests at the party were fun and interesting people – just as you would find anywhere on the planet. And as at any party on the planet, a larry will turn up. Said the larry to my sister (a graduate in Eng Lit, who teaches English as a foreign language) – ‘Woah! Ya Scats? Ya talk great English!’ Said my sister to the larry: ‘I’m afraid I can’t return the compliment.’

    We’ll be back in San Diego this July and I expect to have a lot of fun. Hopefully we’ll avoid the larries.

  • tony_opmoc

    technic,our,

    You never answered my question.

    I did keep asking you, and all I got was bluster in response.

    So can you answer my question?

    What exactly were you doing there?

    You know

    NWFP

    Why didn’t you simply answer the question?

    What have you got to hide?

    I am a simple soul, and I have no secrets.

    I have nothing to hide, because I haven’t done anything to be ashamed of, or if I have I confess and say sorry, and I am forgiven.

    I always try and make the peace, and sometimes say sorry just because it is the easiest way forward.

    Both my wife and I get seriously emotionally dumped on by our friends when their lives are falling apart – and we do our best

    So you are like an inquistor, yet reveal nothing about yourself.

    You see I don’t give a shit what you were doing there – but I did detect a late night conversation between you and some others on here which was as if you were speaking to them as if no one else was listening

    He replied with something like that was – and the word was not brave – as if you were a journalist – but as if you were exceedingly well protected. My friend has gone there and done it with no protection whatsoever

    So answer my Fucking Question.

    What were you doing there?

    Tony

  • Larry from St. Louis

    Vronsky,

    Likewise, when I’m in Britain or on the continent, I try to avoid British people who make the “I met an American once” argument. However, it’s impossible.

    I’ve also increasingly met Brits expressing flat-out racism. I also like to avoid those people.

    Ultimately I don’t act like your sister and take pride in my rudeness to dumb people. I just let it go.

  • anno

    Good volley off thread. If you sold just the horses grazing in the English countryside, let alone the 4 x 4s of the owners, you would recoup the national debt in a trice. But it has to burdened onto the under average wagers, because it doesn’t do to upset the self-made people, especially when they are being wooed by DC’s toffs to join an illegal hunt, otherwise known as a general election. We love our envy of the rich in the UK, even as we love rubbing those less well off than us in places like Afghanistan’s noses in the shit.

    Gordon Brown may not hate Muslims, but he always savours the power of military strength, over his invented enemies, by a flick of the prime Ministerial chin. Like a pit bull wrestling down urban trees and priding itself for not hiding the bones of mauled infants. ‘I could do so much more than this if I wished.’

    Come to think of it, that sums up Jack Straw. They have the smirk of satisfaction that others, Dostum, Karimov, Netanyahu ( surely a horse’s name ) will continue to do their murders for them. And they can live into a ripe old age, swathed in honours and their British blood lust assuaged, and even a small blue plaque on the door of hell, ‘Tony Blair lived here from the end of time to forever. Prime Minister.UK.’ in white porcelain.

  • tony_opmoc

    dreoilin,

    It ain’t going to happen.

    You express your heart and soul on here. I know nothing about you except what you have said.

    I think you are female and live in Ireland.

    I could however be wrong.

    Did I mention that my Son who is only 21 years old now, has been offering Full Internet TV Services to Peru for the last few years?

    And has travelled into London recently, and is considering massive expansion with his new partner.

    He has got Many Thousands of Customers all over The World, and the only ones he has given information to the security services and the police, are the ones that have attempted serious internet crime – like Mass Denial of Service Attacks – and he has become quite an expert at this kind of Defence From Attack, and sometimes The Security Services/Police contact him warning of a potential threat and asking him if he has detected anything. Sometimes this is by phone call and he sensibly determines their Real Authority by Phoning Them Back at The Appropriate Telephone Number And Asking For Them By Name

    The Intenet is Safe and Will Remain That Way. If You Want To Remain Anonymous and Are Doing Nothing Illegal Then You Will.

    Meanwhile The Information on The Criminals is Being Collected and Will Be Used To Prosecute Them.

    The Teenage Kid Hackers Merely Get a Visit From Their Local Policeman – and Tell Their Dad, That Their Son is Being a Naughty Boy and If He Doesn’t Stop It, We will Export Him with Gary McKinnon to Guantanamo Bay

    Tony

  • Clark

    Dreoilin,

    it’s ironic. Everywhere you go on the Internet, you’re tracked, using cookies, LSOs and recorded IP addresses. You are tracked by commercial concerns, who build up profiles on you, and sell them. That’s where spam comes from. The Government CAN access this info, but they don’t, unless a crime is committed. I suppose they were bound to get jealous eventually.

    Check this:

    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

    Damn. I left an ‘a’ out of ‘Meaulnes’, twice. I never notice these things until it’s too late.

  • Mark Golding - Children of Iraq

    Good point dreoilin 🙂 ISP’s are being asked to ‘police’ their networks and issue ‘surfing’ bans in a variety of ways such as a points system. Too many points for excessive ‘file sharing’ could mean a one year ban.

    A waste of time and money in my opinion because even 8yr old computer buffs will find a way round. I remember my son telling me with pride how he bypassed the blocks on social network sites at school, he was/is a great Bebo/MSN fan.

    Another recent hang-up was DeepWeb or DarkNet which can only be accessed with special software and is not visible to normal search engines and browsers. It was once thought to contain all sorts of evil – but if the truth is known it is the big commercial enterprises where the majority of illicit content comes from, and they need to be out on the open web; it is these fraudsters that need to be targeted not the likes of anonymous bloggers.

  • anno

    New Labour definition of a ‘measured response’: we could have nuked the f****rs if we wanted, but we preferred watching their families’ terrified faces on our televisions, knowing that by the time this parliament is over, they will be buried, widowed or orphaned and their menfolk gunned down by machine guns in concentration camps by ‘Afghans’, Dostum and other Obama mercenaries.

    Maybe we would be better off with the toffs, who get some of their blood-lust sorted hunting foxes over hedges and breaking their own necks. At least they know what to do with power, instead of just claiming expenses and pulling legs off flies.

  • Clark

    Tony_opmoc,

    the sticking point is copyright and “Intelectual Property Rights”. People are copying DVDs and music, and not paying the big corps, and they don’t like it.

    Big Media will build the bandwagon, and Government will be invited aboard, as they make the laws. The golden age we are enjoying is limited.

  • tony_opmoc

    It probably was a bit like a scene from the Film “Catch Me if You Can”, except he had done absolutely Nothing Wrong and Wasn’t Suited Up Much – Well He Didn’t Wear a Tie.

    So they agreed to the meeting, and he went their on Monday or Tuesday at 11:00am near London Bridge

    And he explained the detail of what he wanted in these really plush offices

    And at first they didn’t understand, and thought he had got the numbers wrong by 10 or 100 or 1000

    But he said – “No – it has got to be THAT Fast…”

    They thought

    “WTF Is He Doing?”

    “He Can’t Do That”

    They Thought

    “You are Only a Spotty Teenager”

    Even I have said – he must be mad…

    If he doesn’t get the new quality customers his company is going to go bust

    He said – “Dad I am full to capacity”

    I said well O.K.

    What are the Business Rates?

    He told me

    And I thought

    fuckin hell, we will have to start charging him for his board and lodgings

    Tony

  • Mark Golding - Children of Iraq

    ‘The Teenage Kid Hackers Merely Get a Visit From Their Local Policeman – and Tell Their Dad, That Their Son is Being a Naughty Boy and If He Doesn’t Stop It, We will Export Him with Gary McKinnon to Guantanamo Bay’

    That is a gem Tony, I also have a great deal of sympathy for Gary.

  • Clark

    Anno,

    it’s funny you should say that. Back in 1997, just after Labour got in, the mother of my girlfriend at that time said “There’ll be war now, the Labour party are the war party”.

    “Is it worth it,

    A new winter coat and shoes for the wife,

    And a bicycle on the boy’s birthday…”

  • tony_opmoc

    Clark,

    Over the last 10 years, I have bought a lot of music, around 80% from the Music Publishers…

    Yet I have bought around 20% direct from the bands at their gigs…

    And sometimes I have been so inspired by them (both young and old, that I have asked them if I can record their next gig with cameras and microphones – and I have even asked for a sound feed from their mixer desks….

    And I give them the results

    And they say – can you edit it for us and make it pretty and produce loads of copies in pretty well decorated cases?

    And I say Fuck Off

    Do it yourselves

    Its really fucking hard videoing a gig – and I do not do editing (much)

    but sometimes have achieved some rather good results that meant that the band got lots more gigs and other stuff

    I have always given it away for free, and rarely do it now, maybe two or three times a year.

    I ask nothing in return

    But it is totally WONDERFUL when they – The Young Musicians, Particularly, Achieve Some Success

    Tony

  • tony_opmoc

    And I have asked my daughter to bring my guitar and kit back from University if she is coming home this week like she said whe was – cos its a study week and she ain’t got any lectures – cos

    We have some friends staying over this weekend and we may have a party…

    She can have it back on Sunday

    And I mentioned this to my mate…

    He said – you can have my guitar and kit if you want…

    I said no we were just planning on a small party – about 10-20

    Now I do realise that most people who read Craig Murray’s website will not realise, that whilst occasionally it is crap, cos you are not in the mood or the band aren’t – or you have got some vast negative real emotion going through your head that you can’t shake off…that going to a live performance it sometimes just doesn’t work…

    But sometimes, quite often actually, it is nearly as good as screwing a thermal.

    Now screwing a thermal is something you can only do if your learn to fly without power

    Tony

  • tony_opmoc

    So why are these American Kids Playing The Pixies on My Guitar?

    She said – They Even Went WOW

    This a Real English Old House

    100 Years Old

    With All The Original Features

    And They Were Taking Photographs

    We weren’t there

    We were down our local pub, past closing time

    And they wouldn’t let them in

    I think they are in France now

    Which I don’t mind

    But I would like my guitar back by Saturday Night – Or Early Sunday Morning

    If You Can Play The Fucking Thing Then You Are More Than Welcome

    And even if you can’t – you are welcome anyway

    The chances are that someone will turn up to show you how its done

    Tony

  • Tony

    One thing I have read in none of our media today – maybe I missed it.

    If the Israelis took such joy in falsifying British passports so brazenly for their false-flag assassination op in Dubai, who is to say something similar might not have happened on 9-11 in New York? Not British passports that time, but maybe a similar pattern of fictitious patsies set up by other parties.

  • technicolour

    And I will carry On

    And on

    Because my name is Tony

    And that is all

    It takes, OK

    Whatever you People think

    Ok

  • dreoilin

    “dreoilin, go read again your posting that keyed off Dubai authorities.”–Larry

    I don’t need to re-read anything, Larry, I always know what I post.

    (“(Or just how badly their standards of education have fallen.)”)

    It’s common knowledge that standards have fallen, especially in maths and science. I’m surprised you haven’t read that. Unless you’re a Fox fan. I’ve got you two links. You can find the rest yourself.

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/496867/american_students_are_falling_behind.html

    http://www-users.math.umd.edu/~dac/650/vernillepaper.html

    Here’s an extract:

    “An increase in H-1B workers being utilized in U.S IT corporations in recent years tells tale of the poor standards of education U.S graduates are receiving. They are ill prepared, and ill qualified to find a position, and to contribute anything significant to the country. This relates to the fields of electronics development, engineering, and medical research as well.”

  • tony_opmoc

    Tony,

    That story also made headline news on the UK music Radio Station I Was Listening To tonight

    And I read more of your website, and the people who had linked to it and what they said and thought and some guy was crying and I was too

    Masters Of War

    Come you masters of war

    You that build all the guns

    You that build the death planes

    You that build the big bombs

    You that hide behind walls

    You that hide behind desks

    I just want you to know

    I can see through your masks

    You that never done nothin’

    But build to destroy

    You play with my world

    Like it’s your little toy

    You put a gun in my hand

    And you hide from my eyes

    And you turn and run farther

    When the fast bullets fly

    Like Judas of old

    You lie and deceive

    A world war can be won

    You want me to believe

    But I see through your eyes

    And I see through your brain

    Like I see through the water

    That runs down my drain

    You fasten the triggers

    For the others to fire

    Then you set back and watch

    When the death count gets higher

    You hide in your mansion

    As young people’s blood

    Flows out of their bodies

    And is buried in the mud

    You’ve thrown the worst fear

    That can ever be hurled

    Fear to bring children

    Into the world

    For threatening my baby

    Unborn and unnamed

    You ain’t worth the blood

    That runs in your veins

    How much do I know

    To talk out of turn

    You might say that I’m young

    You might say I’m unlearned

    But there’s one thing I know

    Though I’m younger than you

    Even Jesus would never

    Forgive what you do

    Let me ask you one question

    Is your money that good

    Will it buy you forgiveness

    Do you think that it could

    I think you will find

    When your death takes its toll

    All the money you made

    Will never buy back your soul

    And I hope that you die

    And your death’ll come soon

    I will follow your casket

    In the pale afternoon

    And I’ll watch while you’re lowered

    Down to your deathbed

    And I’ll stand o’er your grave

    ‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead

    Copyright ©1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

    Tony

  • dreoilin

    Tony,

    “It ain’t going to happen”

    I sincerely hope you’re right. I have a son in IT (network security) and he tells me they can’t do it. There is always a get-around. But he, too, could be wrong. Jailing dissident bloggers would have a powerful deterrent effect, I suspect. And censorship of websites is a first step on the road. Australia is almost there now.

    “I think you are female and live in Ireland”

    I am indeed. I don’t like to use my real name, for one reason: I have Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and various other accounts, and I won’t give “them” the satisfaction of linking them all up and making it easy for them.

    But I know if “they” wanted to find out about me (for some obscure reason!) they’d have the info from my ISP pronto if they had a warrant. And Google and Amazon etc are tracking us everywhere we go.

    Your son sounds like one of these tech-whizz-kids who was born to work on a computer, and has gone on to make a business out of it at an early age. More power to his elbow.

    Clark:

    “Everywhere you go on the Internet, you’re tracked, using cookies, LSOs and recorded IP addresses.”

    I know, it’s true. But I have a dynamic IP, and I clean out the computer thoroughly every day or so with “bleach” in Window Washer. But still, I know I’m track-able everywhere I go. I convince myself they won’t torture an old Irish granny! (How wrong can I be?)

  • dreoilin

    Clark,

    Did you put The Catholic Orangemen of Togo up on the web?

    Mark,

    “A waste of time and money in my opinion because even 8yr old computer buffs will find a way round.”

    Yep, my son and his mates say it’ll be an easy work-around, and meanwhile, governments will accidentally block perfectly legitimate sites that have nothing whatsoever contentious about them. All at enormous cost of course.

    technicolour,

    Sorry, I got it after I’d posted. 🙂

    G’night all, sleep tight

  • tony_opmoc

    technicolour,

    I am currently listening to a girl who has moved from Southern California to Manchester because she likes Elbow

    She can sing

    Did you have anything to say?

    She is on the Radio

    104.9 FM

    And Yes I did invite a Californian Girl To Come and Share a Tent at Latitude Festival where Elbow were playing

    And Many Thousands Of People Read What I Wrote

    I Like Californians

    They Are Just Like Us

    Tony

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