The Russians call it Kompromat – the use by the state of sexual accusations to destroy a public figure. When I was attacked in this way by the government I worked for, Uzbek dissidents smiled at me, shook their heads and said “Kompromat“. They were used to it from the Soviet and Uzbek governments. They found it rather amusing to find that Western governments did it too.
Well, Julian Assange has been getting the bog standard Kompromat. I had imagined he would get something rather more spectacular, like being framed for murder and found hanging with an orange in his mouth. He deserves a better class of kompromat. If I am a whistleblower, then Julian is a veritable mighty pipe organ. Yet we just have the normal sex stuff, and very weak.
Bizarrely the offence for which Julian is wanted for questioning in Sweden was dropped from rape to sexual harassment, and then from sexual harassment to just harassment. The precise law in Swedish, as translated for me and other Sam Adams alumni by our colleague Major Frank Grevil, reads:
“He who lays hands on or by means of shooting from a firearm, throwing of stones, noise or in any other way harasses another person will be sentenced for harassment to fines or imprisonment for up to one year.”
So from rape to non-sexual something. Actually I rather like that law – if we had it here, I could have had Jack Straw locked up for a year.
Julian tells us that the first woman accuser and prime mover had worked in the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC and had been expelled from Cuba for anti-Cuban government activity, as well as the rather different persona of being a feminist lesbian who owns lesbian night clubs.
Scott Ritter and I are well known whistleblowers subsequently accused of sexual offences. A less well known whistleblower is James Cameron, another FCO employee. Almost simultaneous with my case, a number of the sexual allegations the FCO made against Cameron were identical even in wording to those the FCO initially threw at me.
Another fascinating point about kompromat is that being cleared of the allegations – as happens in virtually every case – doesn’t help, as the blackening of reputation has taken effect. In my own case I was formerly cleared of all allegations of both misconduct and gross misconduct, except for the Kafkaesque charge of having told defence witnesses of the existence of the allegations. The allegations were officially a state secret, even though it was the government who leaked them to the tabloids.
Yet, even to this day, the FCO has refused to acknowledge in public that I was in fact cleared of all charges. This is even true of the new government. A letter I wrote for my MP to pass to William Hague, complaining that the FCO was obscuring the fact that I was cleared on all charges, received a reply from a junior Conservative minister stating that the allegations were serious and had needed to be properly investigated – but still failing to acknowledge the result of the process. Nor has there been any official revelation of who originated these “serious allegations”.
Governments operate in the blackest of ways, especially when it comes to big war money and big oil money. I can see what they are doing to Julian Assange, I know what they did to me and others (another recent example – Brigadier Janis Karpinski was framed for shoplifting). In a very real sense, it makes little difference if they murdered David Kelly or terrified him into doing it himself. Telling the truth is hazardous in today’s Western political system.
Clark; true, though actually I get quite annoyed when people refer to the UK as though we were/are behind those idiots. All those polls showing 70 percent or so against!
Dreoilin: “There’s a man who knows which side his bread is buttered.” That may be true about lucrative speeches, but I understand that the proceeds from his book “A Journey” are going towards the rehabilitation of injured British soldiers. I plan to wait for a cheap paperback edition to come out.
Larry said:
“You’re such a coward that you can’t admit to your beliefs. You run away when challenged. Stand up for yourself, you Jew-hating Nazi 911 truther.”
The current incarnation of Larry appears to be a Zionist spambot. It seems to rely on keywords to generate the usual “you blame Jews for WWI, WWII, 7/7, whatever.”
But when you challenge the thing to deal with a real question, it makes no sense. It fails the Turing test.
So guys, over at Mossad Central, more work needed.
Suhayl,
Re: “Why has this thread now come to focus about the usual circlet of ‘Lowest Common Denominator’ subjects? Alfred invoking Larry and the immediate response.”
As indicated above, I invoked Larry for the specific purpose of performing the Turing test. The result was very satisfactory.
‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’, starring Judy Geeson and Barry Evans. Good fun! Anyone remember that film? It was also an album, which I have, in LP form: Spencer Davis Group et al.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_We_Go_Round_the_Mulberry_Bush_(film)
It’s fascinating and somewhat sad that even though Our Man in the Mid West knows he’s not welcome hereabouts, he seems still to be keeping one (or four, perhaps) on the blog and seems able, rather like the proverbial Jumping Jehosaphat, to leap in the moment an allusion that lies within his ‘remit’ appears.
Responding to the hopes expressed by several for more relevant comment, I have been looking at Web coverage of the Wikileaks story and find that opinions fall mainly into two out of three possible camps:
(a) That Wikileaks is doing a useful job exposing American war crimes, etc. (Spiegel, Guardian, NYT — all sharing Assanges contempt for 9/11 Truth)
(b) That Wikileaks is an anti-American propaganda outfit (e.g., Pajamas Media — who the heck are they:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-wikileaks-hoax-part-i/?singlepage=true)
And
(c) That Wikileaks is a US intelligence operation to both trap would be leakers and to diseminate US propaganda (advocated by TM here and very few others).
All of the evidence I have seen is consistent with any interpretation. I think (c) deserves closer consideration, especially as the MSM have no time for it.
Certainly the bunglingly stupid charges of rape against Assange could very well have been designed to “backfire”. i.e., make Assange appear to be the target of a smear, and thus by inference, a good guy.
And the way in which the leak of Afghan war papers has inspired stories to justify the War-on-Terror narrative is consistent with (c).
Eyes, that is, eyes. And yes, I agree with technicolour that the use of such horrible terms as “Jew job”, “raghead”, etc. suggests that deep-down, the enunciator himself is profoundly anti-Semitic in the truest sense and is using various techniques to mask his visceral anti-Semitism. Anyway, enough on him.
What’s new with the Pimlico murder? Sherlock Holmes onto it yet?
Well not all of the MSM rejects my hypothesis (c). See this, for example, from the Pakistan Daily:
http://www.daily.pk/wikileaks-a-cia-disinformation-front-19278/
“We know there are thousands of videos which already exist on the internet which have captured American soldiers crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but for some mysterious reasons the video which was released by the Wikileaks was propagated with a zeal, the mainstream media projected Wikileaks as a authentic source, which is working to propagate truth, without any involvement with any intelligence services, to build this public image of Wikileaks, Wikileaks released video was used as a building block, thus the public mindset was now ready to except anything Wikileaks published. CIA propaganda through Wikileaks about the Pakistan (ISI) and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a follow up on the United States Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton claiming that Amir ul Momineen Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid and Sheikh Osama bin Laden were in Pakistan.
In these ludicrous and sinister disinformation campaigns against Pakistan is hidden a very dangerous agenda of Israel and America.”
Well who knew it, Hillary Rodham’s middle name is Diane?
A Q. about Greek yogurt for Suhayl (as medical expert) & Dreoilin (as guinea pig – er, person with First Hand experience). Suhayl, I am curious about how it might help upset stomachs. Does Greek yogurt kill germs responsible for food poisoning, or does it counteract their poisons? Dreoilin: did it actually work, better than string tea?
PS. That should be strOng tea.
Pauper tea is thrift.
Alfred, it’s a valid argument. But as I said last night, one has to be careful when reading or listening to some Pakistani outlets/ people. If one looks at the website of the above-mentioned newspaper, it is quite clear that they are intensely pro-Army, every second article is a celebration of the former military dictator, Musharraf and the current army. Also, while the body of the quote is sensible, the end of it gives the game away. There is an intense and unthinking reflex in Pakistan, cultivated in recent times, to blame everything – everything – on Israel. This conclusion at the end weakens the argumentation wrt Wikileaks. It appeals to facile emotional cadences. The very fact that they refer to ‘Mullah Omar’ (Taliban Leader) in such deferential tones is also a giveaway.
http://www.daily.pk/category/headlines/
Yoghurt – I think it’s because it helps commensal bacteria (‘goodies in the gut’) multiply, so re-balancing the internal environment of the intestine (as they might say in certain clinics in California).
But whatever works, Abe, whatever works! Grren tea is good for the digestion, so black tea probably contains some chemical constituent that aids the process; one would have to consult with a herbalist or Chinese Medicine practitioner or text to find out how these things work.
GrEEn, I meant, green tea! ‘String tea’ is a new one on me, Abe – perhaps to do with the comsic strings which bind everything and nothing together? But if the strings are strong and the grren is green, then we’re all fine and dandy just like peppermint candy.
I think a mug of string grren tea is completely in order at this point.
Of course, that was a tautology by me, earlier, as by definition, a reflex is ‘unthinking’.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20100906/tuk-police-appeal-for-information-on-dea-dba1618.html
“Mediterranean appearance…”. Hmn. Echoes of the Dubai hit? Except, of course, no-one waved at the cameras this time. And while that assassination was a broadcast event to Hamas-and-anyone-else, this has been more elusive. Let’s wait for the toxicology. It may reveal nothing.
Suhayl: “Green tea is good for the digestion”. Now you mention it, whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant, my practice is to order a pot of Chinese tea instead of beer or coke. It can last the whole evening (between solid food helpings, that is).
I think pepperming can be nice for stomachs, too.
Argh. The misspeelings are taking over.
But, Suhayl, re com (sic) strings, I saw an intriguing thing on Dr. Hawking, etc – http://bloodandtreasure.typepad.com/blood_treasure/2010/09/first-it-wasnt-then-it-was.html
(I’d never heard of this “Huainanzi” he refers to, I think more people would recognise it as the Tao te Ching)
Suhayl,
Re: ” But as I said last night, one has to be careful when reading or listening to some Pakistani outlets/ people.”
No, doubt.
I cited the Pakistan Daily not for the validity of their argument but as a rare example of MSM support for Hypothesis (c). And it is an example because the agenda of the Pakistan media is presumably different from that of the Western media.
So which bunch of lying media outlets are you gonna believe?
LOL
garlic’s the thing for bacterial stomach upsets. one of the six ‘alternative’ medicines proven to work – anti-tumour, antiseptic, pro healthy stuff. one or two raw cloves a day. also works on dogs & cats against fleas (though dosage according to body weight).
others included St John’s Wort instead of pharmaceutical antidepressants & valerian tea, instead of sedatives (knocks you right out)
can also vouch for manuka honey for wound healing & comfrey for the same (not for deep wounds as it heals the surface too quickly but also works for tendons)
“are you gonna” – is this the same Alfred? Thought you were a ‘respected elder’? Or are you gettin down wid da kidz?
http://www.wikileakileaks.org/
Richard, interesting!! Abe, yes I do that too. In fact, years ago when I started writing creatively, I used to drink green tea for the purpose because I felt it cleared my head and didn’t make me too hyper. Later, only extremely strong coffee would do. The slippery slope, eh? Alfred, yeah I know what you mean, good point.
God, technicolour, I knew about garlic and St John’s Whatsit, but the rest… that’s super – I’ll know now who to come to when I need advice on all things natural! A veritbale compendium, Mrs Craik, a veritable compendium! And Dude Alfred is a man for all ages.
“What’s new with the Pimlico murder? Sherlock Holmes onto it yet?”
They didn’t find any “routine drugs” in him, which is a phrase I hadn’t heard before.
Back to the original Assange issue, it turns out that Craig Murray’s fantasies about secret agent men turn out to be just that. I never doubted it for a second.
This is in line with Murray’s other fantasies.
http://gawker.com/5624854/wikileaks-founders-molestation-police-report-leaked-his-top+secret-moves-revealed
hahahahaahahaahahahahah!!!!
“Again she bought his £10 train ticket because he had no cash and said he didn’t want to use his credit card in case his movement was being tracked.
He spent most of the 45-minute journey surfing the internet on his laptop, reading stories about himself and twittering or texting on his mobile phone.”
Bwwwaaaaa-hhahahahahahahahahahaha!
Angrysober,
Did you post September 6, 2010 1:57 PM?
dreoilin: yes well spotted, Blair called off the signing. I wrote to Waterstones and Tate Modern – we wait to see if Blair’s ‘secret party’ goes ahead…
Hamid Mir who is writing Bin Laden’s biography is a slippery character in my opinion. Robin Cook did not trust him. Check out the interview with David Dastych.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/dastych050906.htm
Mir works for Geo TV headed up by Azhar Abbas brother of Major General Athar Abbas who is in charge of the Pakistan Army information unit.
Go figure!
Tin Foil hats promoting Wikileaks as a double bluff? Pull the other one.
Rule one of counter-espionage, discredit the enemy.
Suhayl, seriously, they were going to amputate my father’s (arthritic) toes as they said the deep ulcer caused by rubbing was untreatable – but regular application of manuka honey cured it (and it turned out the nurses were using it in the local hospital without telling anyone too)
there is more in heaven & earth, horatio…