The award is judged by a group of retired senior US military and intelligence personnel, and past winners. This year the award to Julian Assange was unanimous.
Previous winners and ceremony locations:
Coleen Rowley of the FBI; in Washington, D.C.
Katharine Gun of British intelligence; in Copenhagen, Denmark
Sibel Edmonds of the FBI; in Washington, D.C.
Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan; in New York City
Sam Provance, former sergeant, U.S. Army, truth-teller about Abu Ghraib; in Washington, D.C.
Frank Grevil, major, Danish army intelligence, imprisoned for giving the Danish press documents showing that Denmark’s prime minister disregarded warnings that there was no authentic evidence of WMDs in Iraq; in Copenhagen, Denmark
Larry Wilkerson, colonel, U.S. Army (retired), former chief of staff to Secretary Colin Powell at the State Department, who has exposed what he called the “Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal”; in Washington, D.C.
http://original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2010/08/15/can-wikileaks-help-save-lives/
Not sure yet where this year’s award ceremony will be held, but I’ll be there.
The College of Shame
The Air Marshal
Sir Joe French, 57, was Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Salary: up to £95,000.
Role: Testified before Hutton, defending the notorious – now disproved – claim that Saddam’s weapons could be launched within 45 minutes.
Now: Retired ex Commander-in-Chief of RAF Strike Command on £154,000 a year.
The MP
Ann Taylor, 59, Labour MP, was chairwoman of Parliament’s Intelligence Committee.
Salary: £56,000.
Role: She headed the committee that published a report which exonerated Downing Street over allegations of manipulating the Iraq intelligence.
Now: Ennobled as Baroness Taylor of Bolton. In her first year in the Lords she claimed more than £30,000 in tax-free “subsistence allowances”.
The Select Committee Chairman
Donald Anderson, 67, was Labour chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Salary: £56,000.
Role: Caved in to Government request not to ask David Kelly awkward questions about Iraq’s WMD. Kelly was found dead two days after he appeared before Anderson’s committee.
Now: Elevated to Lords as Baron Anderson of Swansea. Claimed £25,000 in tax-free attendance allowances in return for attending Lords on a total of 94 days.
The Defence Secretary
Geoff Hoon, 53, was Defence Secretary.
Salary: £129,000.
Role: Accused of neglecting his duty of care towards MoD employee David Kelly by sanctioning the release of his name to the media. Hoon admitted he could have done more to help the scientist.
Now: Jobseeker, cluster bomb expert
Blair’s mouthpiece
Godric Smith, 41, was one of Blair’s two Official Spokesmen.
Salary: £80,000.
Role: Announced Kelly’s death to reporters on the then PM’s plane as it arrived in Tokyo – responsible for many subsequent briefings.
Now: Honoured with CBE. Sports-mad Smith landed dream job as chief spin doctor for the 2012 London Olympics. Paid £120,000 a year.
The spin doctor
Alastair Campbell, 49, was Blair’s Director of Communications and Strategy.
Salary: £130,000.
Role: Allegedly masterminded the “sexing up” of the official report on Iraq’s WMD, author of the second so-called “dodgy dossier”, and was the man behind the strategy that led to the public naming of David Kelly.
Now: Charged Labour £40,000 plus VAT for a few weeks as a consultant during 2005 Election. Sports writer for Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper. Stands to make £1 million for his memoirs.
Blair’s other spokesman
Tom Kelly, 51, was Blair’s Official Spokesman (joint post).
Salary: £80,000.
Role: Briefed reporters that David Kelly was “Walter Mitty” character.
Now: FSA Communications Director £100K+
The Whitehall intelligence chief
Sir John Scarlett, 58, was chairman of Whitehall’s Joint Intelligence Committee.
Salary: £130,000.
Role: Accused of acting as “human shield” for Alastair Campbell. Scarlett insisted he had “overall charge and responsibility” of the Iraq intelligence report – No 10 had not meddled.
Now: Promoted in 2005 to the most glamorous job in British intelligence: Chief of MI6. Known as “C”. Salary up to £200,000. Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George now retired.
The deputy intelligence chief
Martin Howard, 52, was Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence.
Salary: £90,000.
Role: Insisted Downing Street had no knowledge that 45-minute claim was wrong.
Now: Assistant Secretary General for Operations NATO £100,000 plus
The Chief of Staff
Julian Miller, 51, was Chief of the Intelligence Assessment Staff, Cabinet Office.
Salary: £80,000.
Role: Defended Alastair Campbell, suggested David Kelly was too junior to have had access to crucial intelligence.
Now: Made Companion of the Order of the Bath. Was Director-General of Resources and Plans in the MoD on £100,000.
The Inquiry Secretary
Lee Hughes, late 40s, was Secretary to the Hutton Inquiry.
Salary: £50,000.
Role: Managed day-to-day logistics of the hearing.
Now: Made CBE. Was promoted to senior role in Department of Constitutional Affairs, on £60,000. Unknown
The MoD Press Officer
Kate Wilson, late 30s, was chief Press officer at MoD.
Salary: £50,000.
Role: Responsible for strategy that led to Kelly’s “outing”. Journalists were told in advance that if they gave the correct name, the MoD would confirm it.
Now: Honoured with an OBE “in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in connection with operations in Iraq”. Was chief Press officer at MoD. Salary around £60,000.
The PM’s top foreign adviser
Sir David Manning, 57, was Tony Blair’s chief foreign policy adviser.
Salary: £120,000.
Role: Present at all Downing Street sofa summits leading up to the war.
Now: Promoted to Washington Ambassador, the most sought-after job in the diplomatic service. Basic salary £130,000 plus tax-free allowances of £90,000. Now adviser to the Princes & an intelligence company staffed by ex MI6 officers.
The top civil servant
Sir Kevin Tebbit, 60, was Permanent Under Secretary of State at MoD.
Salary: up to £264,250.
Role: Sir Kevin admitted “responsibility” but not “culpability” for Kelly’s death.
Now: Enjoying comfortable semi-retirement as non-executive director of the Smiths Aerospace group on £60,000 a year and is also a visiting professor at Queen Mary College, London.
The MI6 supremo
Sir Richard Dearlove, 61, was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service – MI6.
Salary: up to £200,000.
Role: Insisted to Hutton he was not aware of any unhappiness within the intelligence community over the 45-minute claim.
Now: Living in genteel retirement as Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, on Civil Service pension of up to £100,000.
Thanks Rowena – we love you
The truth is, in my view, that the top spooks aren’t the heads of MI5 and MI6. There’s probably one smaller hidden organisation that oversees everything to do with state tyranny. It would be permanently staffed by the same control freak douchebags who would even put Blair to shame. And like Blair, despite being private and not public, they’ll just never fuck off. Just in case they ever read Craig’s blog…
‘HI THERE YOU EVIL FUCKTARDS.’
MJ, yes ‘nobody’ knows his stuff, especially about the paedophilia. I don’t think he was too thrilled about Craig not officially stating 9/11 was an inside job. :-0 He certainly hasn’t appeared as much since then.
For anyone that may not have seen this, it has a great angle of WTC7 collapsing. The guy’s channel has loads of vids on it and is quite funny too. He lives in Arizona and calls his local cops, who he frequently films, the Phoenix Pirates. :-0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=972ETepp4GI&NR=1&feature=fvwp
“Dr Michael Powers QC speaking on Radio 5 this morning on the Victoria Derbyshire Show to a presenter called Stephen Nolan who seems to have been primed. Nolan 0 Powers 1”
Stephen Nolan is a fat ugly little shit on the make.
The best critique of fattie Nolan is that provided by Gerry Anderson, a colleague of his on Radio 4 Northern Ireland. They had adjoining progs on the station and Anderson used to take the piss out of fattie Nolan’s shock jock efforts on regular occasions as they handed over.
The clue is that fattie Nolan has been promoted to BBC national broadcasting precisely because of his Faustian instincts. London notices those without integrity rather quickly. They have much need of them in these propagandist times.
Such scumbags are still relatively rare.
“I thought the point was that you claimed that Mark “knew” this was the case, when in fact he was clearly hypothesising.”
NoOooOoOOoOooooOOOoOOo! I’m pointing out the absurdity of any investigation concluding that. How can you keep switching from non-lethal dose to lethal dose depending upon how convenient it is for your theory?
“The wider point is that co-proxamol is an equally speculative suspect, given the amounts found in Kelly’s blood and stomach.”
There’s nothing equal about them at all. Because co-proxamol WAS found at the scene and in his stomach and it was accompanied by the presence of paracetamol in the blood. This is explained by co-proxamol whereas there is absolutely NO evidence of a lethal injection at all.
***This is not to say that co-proxamol was obviously THE cause of death; it wasn’t determined to be. But co-proxamol clearly explains the presence of dextropropoxyphene better than anything else.***
“I’m sure cotton gaffer tape is hopeless at retaining fingerprints, but pretty good at absorbing and retaining DNA. There is also the question of the co-proxamol packets. Were they wrapped in tape too?”
Now, you’re just being absurd. Was forensic evidence expected to be found on the co-proxamol packets? Would the absence cause concern in a regular police investigation? Was the packet even tested for forensic evidence or are we just trying to create doubt where none really exists?
That’s why I referred to the CSI effect when juries require far higher levels of forensic evidence than is usually possible to obtain.
“No, I don’t. I take a contrary view to him on just about every subject discussed here but I think he fights his corner very well.”
Thanks King of Welsh Noir!
😀
You are pointing out absurdity stupidsoba? Ha ha ha. What about the absurdity of you LITERALLY LIVING on Craig’s blog for a minimum wage income to disseminate government propaganda? Freak!!! When you first showed your nasty mug, a year ago I think, you said you were on holiday when queried about the amount of time you spent here. Some holiday eh?
Stupidsoba, ‘This IS your life.’ No red book i’m afraid. Sorry.
“What about the absurdity of you LITERALLY LIVING on Craig’s blog”
That is pretty absurd. Maybe you should look up the word “literally”.
Mark – thanks for the info. on toadies being promoted and handsomely rewarded. Nice work if you can get it, eh?
Jaded, how d’you know it’s minimum wage?
“Freak!!!”
Three exclamation marks, no less. It’ll give you away every time, you know.
If you want to know the Real Secret Establishment, consider the Brotherhood of the Bell:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=brotherhood+of+the+bell+xooberant&aq=f
Damn good film! See clip 9 to see how a talk show host (William Conrad, who later played the P.I. in the excellent series “Cannon”) deals with conspiracy enthusiasts of different types.
I think Angrysoba makes important points at August 23, 4:59 PM. However, how do these poisons’ concentrations in the bloodstream decrease with respect to time when (a) ingested via the stomach and (b) injected in pure form?
“How can you keep switching from non-lethal dose to lethal dose depending upon how convenient it is for your theory?”
Whether one leans toward the suicide theory or the murder theory the dextropropoxyphene issue is problematic because, although Kelly had quite a lot in his blood, it was way short of what is generally considered a lethal dose. The matter is complicated further by the small amounts of co-proxamol found in his stomach and the evidence that he had spat several tablets out. So where did the high – but non-lethal – dose of dextropropoxyphene come from? I agree that there is no evidence of an injection but in the absence of an inquest it is legitimate to indulge in conjecture. You may prefer to point the finger at co-proxamol and you may be right but the forensic evidence does not particularly support it.
Rather weighty expert opinion also casts doubt on the notion that Kelly died as a result of his severed artery, so we are actually left not knowing for sure how Kelly died at all. The case is clearly screaming out for an inquest.
“Was forensic evidence expected to be found on the co-proxamol packets?”
Yes. On each bit of the blister pack pushed out to release a tablet one might reasonably expect to find a thumb print, or part thereof.
“Would the absence cause concern in a regular police investigation?”
The absence would be noted.
“Was the packet even tested for forensic evidence”
It was a potential crime-scene so forensic examination would have been thorough. Fingerprinting of found items is part of the routine of helping demonstrate or eliminate the possibility of foul play.
“Whether one leans toward the suicide theory or the murder theory the dextropropoxyphene issue is problematic because, although Kelly had quite a lot in his blood, it was way short of what is generally considered a lethal dose. ”
Exactly, so while the pathologist thought it wasn’t sufficient to have been the cause of death ON ITS OWN, according to Mark’s hypothesis it was.
That’s the problem I am pointing out and which you seem to be at pains to avoid.
“It was a potential crime-scene so forensic examination would have been thorough. Fingerprinting of found items is part of the routine of helping demonstrate or eliminate the possibility of foul play.”
Fine, but Mark said there had been no fingerprints found on the strips of co-proxamol but I can’t find this being said anywhere but here.
Mark, do you have a source for this?
“Exactly, so while the pathologist thought it wasn’t sufficient to have been the cause of death ON ITS OWN”
That’s not what was said.
From the doctors’ letter:
“Professor Milroy expands on the finding of Dr Nicholas Hunt, the forensic pathologist at the Hutton inquiry – that haemorrhage was the main cause of death (possibly finding it inadequate) – and falls back on the toxicology”
Assange’s revelations damaged no establishment figure. Their primary impact was to release ‘secret’ information connecting Pakistani government with the activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan, thus providing a pretext for further US expansion of its war against Pakistan.
Assange is not be trusted, imo. These leaks look like a CIA operation.
The recent charge of rape against him and then its withdrawal looks, to the public mind, like a CIA dirty tricks operation further boosting his credibility as an anti-establishment truth teller.
Let’s see what he comes up with next and how damaging it is to the US/UK/Israel Imperial ‘make war for peace’ project.
‘Kelly’s death was caused by bleeding from the cuts to his wrist, severe heart disease and an overdose of painkillers …’
“It was an absolute classic case of self-inflicted injury. You could illustrate a textbook with it.” –Nicholas Hunt (Sunday Times)
Dr Kelly couldn’t have known if he had partially-blocked coronary arteries since he wasn’t being treated for them, was he.
So how was he trying to kill himself? By cutting one wrist and half-swallowing some tablets? But Hunt’s version would make heart disease one of a trio of vital causes. So how then is it a “textbook” case?
Given what ‘somebody’ posted about Nicholas Hunt at August 22, 2010 9:41 PM, how do we know if he’s competent? or if anything he says can be trusted? And if that doubt is there, why can’t someone theorise about injections? an injection site can be easily covered up under “numerous cuts” to the left wrist.
And references to ‘CSI effect’ are downright silly since ‘fingerprinting’ has been in use since the late nineteenth century.
“So how then is it a “textbook” case?”
He was probably referring to “The Textbook of Baffling, Ambiguous, Suspicious and Downright Dodgy Deaths” (OUP 2004).
“how do we know if he’s competent?”
On the question of there being very little blood found at the scene, Hunt says:
“There was plenty of blood ?” it was either hidden or had soaked into the ground”
Come again? The mind boggles as to what else may have been “hidden” at the scene. Harvey the giant rabbit almost certainly. A herd of vicious killer wombats perhaps.
What he meant to say, if he were being intellectually honest, was: “although it is correct that very little blood was found, there remains a theoretical possibility that some blood had soaked into the ground and was not immediately visible. In this instance however it is likely that the blood would have been found in the subsequent forensic investigation of the scene”.
Chris Lee was seen running off in a cape. :-0
angry (I take it that was you):
“That’s the problem I am pointing out and which you seem to be at pains to avoid”.
Hardly. I’ve been going to great pains to emphasize it. I don’t actually agree with Mark on the issue, as is clear from my initial response to his suggestion, but I accepted that he was merely hypothesizing, which you did not. On the basis of the known facts the proposition that the high but non-lethal amount of dextropropoxyphene was caused by injection is no less plausible than the proposition that it was caused by taking co-proxamol.
Back to Assange on what has become a dual Assange/Kelly thread.
a~
Assange prosecutor cited for secrecy breach
Published: 24 Aug 10 16:39 CET |
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28556/20100824/
The prosecutor who issued the warrant for the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been reported for violating rules on the confidentiality of preliminary investigations, newspaper Dagens Juridik (DJ) reported on Tuesday.
The prosecutor on duty, Maria Haljebo Kjellstrand, decided on Friday to issue a warrant to arrest Assange on suspicion of rape. She later confirmed to Expressen that there was a case and that Assange was charged in absentia. The warrant was withdrawn one day later.
Due process organisation Rattssakerhetsorganisationen (RO), which had previously notified the prosecutor through the Ombudsmen of Justice (Justitieombudsmannen, JO) for her conduct in connection with the decision to issue the warrant, has now supplemented its notification, the report said.
According to the organisation, the prosecutor violated the confidentiality of preliminary investigations by giving the media information about this case, DJ reported.
“We believe that the matter has been handled extremely badly for all parties involved and we are highly critical of how quickly one has taken the decision to detain a person,” RO Chairman Johan Binninge told DJ.
“From an investigative standpoint, it is a disaster to go out in public this way, which can only harm the investigation. A prosecutor must also take into consideration all parties involved, including the suspect, and consider the consequences of a particular intervention for the suspect, in this case, an internationally known person,” he added.
The supplement submitted to Swedish Prosecution Service Authority (
Sometimes Assange appears as a long-haired platinum blond, other times as a well coiffed brunette.
So does he sometimes bleach his hair, or is he a natural albino who sometimes dyes his hair?
unbeliever, that had occurred to me and I’m sure to many others. One doesn’t know what to believe. But an allegation like that tends to damage the recipient even if repudiated later; people remember the initial news rather than the follow-up. Plus, there will be those who will say, ‘no smoke with out fire’, etc. We’ll see what transpires. I suspect that if the US authorities really wanted to arrest Assange and have him extradited, they’d have got their pals in [insert name of country] to effect it. Maybe it’ll still happen. Who knows? Anyway, ‘damage’ is something which may occur over a period of time. Let’s see.
Dreoilin:”Book recommendations are exactly what I need!”
I would try and get the books by John Barron, “KGB: the secret work of Soviet secret agents”, “KGB Today: The hidden hand” and “Breaking the Ring”. Unfortunately they are not available as kindle books.
On the other hand, Daniel Ellsberg clearly sees Assange and Wikileaks as genuine subversive entities. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone does a ‘Vanunu’ on him anytime soon. If the US authorities get him, and they do seem to be after him, they may well toss him into jail and throw away the key.
We shall see, we shall see.
Brotherhood of the Bell – good film, Abe. A TV film, at that. But I thought it starred Glenn Ford.
Claudy bombing – police – church – government cover-up.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2010/aug/24/claudy-bombing-report-priest-northern-ireland.
In 1972 nine people died in a GOVERNMENT conspiracy – so heads up people – keep digging – yes as MJ clearly sees I am hypothesizing – My axiom relating to the death of David Kelly hinges on a compound in David’s blood that was missed in toxicology – not an exact science as Suhayl has quite rightly pointed out.
As usual Angrysober has used his myopic ‘vision’ in adversarial twists to fight his corner; Hunt would have directed toxicology and I believe his incompetence and the ‘planted’ c-proxamol narrowed the search for other compounds – if I am wrong – then I will give a public apology and I will write a letter to Janice Kelly offering my sincere apologies. Meanwhile I say again , when is the date of the inquiry?
Sorry that was me above not my son.