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.
Re: ‘Gonks’ – anno, that’s a new word for me – I like the sound of it!
Anonymous poster at 3:08am – yes, exactly.”
I suggest that use of the term “Gonk” should be unacceptable here.
The work is racist, “pertaining to all those of African descent,” thus permitting a snide reference to Obama’s racial origins, as in “Gonk alliannce”.
Furthermore, the term is speciesist, imputing brutality and stupidity to two of God’s gentlest and most intelligent creatures; namely, the Gorilla and the donkey — both herbivores.
And the term is unpleasantly reminiscent of “Gook,” the racist term used by American servicemen in reference to the North Vietnamese.
It is quite inapproporiate that such a term be applied here to British, Canadian, US and other western forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc.
These are our soldiers, without whom the state could not exist. If their mission is evil, let us focus on the source of evil — the policies and the promulgators of evil policies, not engage in racist name calling.
Abe,
Don’t bother with Google translate, it’s appalling. It turns up total rubbish in French, even.
You didn’t answer my questions … but never mind. I’m in Wexford and in no mood to argue. The cheeseboard is good. Cheese(s), crackers, strawberries, apple and grapes. Almost a meal in itself.
The Pikeman 1798 bronze memorial in the centre of town has been relieved of its pike. No sign of it being replaced so far.
http://www.wexfordecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhgbidauid&cat=news
From the Daily Mail (David Kelly story):
“Oxfordshire-born Mr Bartlett is far from a conspiracy theorist. A father of three, he has been a dedicated paramedic for 24 years.”
Y’see? Stuff Larry&Noodle et al, we’re all perfectly normal here! Got kids? Got a job? Can’t be a conspiracy theorist! (But if you are, it’s a derogatory label and should never be applied to anyone in the medical sphere.)
An Irish person’s DNA has been mapped for the first time, and some findings are predicted in the Irish Times. Irish Mothers take a bashing … ’tis a hard life …
http://tinyurl.com/23atowa
Alfred, take note.
Abe, I didn’t know that about “Gonk”. Thanks for the info.
The 1798 (Pikeman) memorial is a great statue, if you want to have a look:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3654910076_c6fc53ed8c_z.jpg
“These are our soldiers, without whom the state could not exist.”
Well, that’s debatable … We exist fine with a tiny army, and no navy or air force to speak of. Our army only sees active duty as part of UN peacekeeping forces. The Navy and Air Force (such as they are) spend much of their time on air-sea rescue … But then, we have no aspirations to power or huge influence in world affairs. That which we ‘wield’ is done through the UN and EU.
I tell people we have nothing the US wants. Lately they’ve been replying that with peak oil on the way, they’ll want our bogs soon enough. heh
See y’all later
“”These are our soldiers, without whom the state could not exist.”
Well, that’s debatable”
Not really.
The existence of the state depends on its ability to defend itself and its territory and to impose its laws by, if necessary, force. The state relies on the police or military to exert such force as is required.
In a civilized society, the agency that provides enforcement is non-political, which is to say that it does not question authority.
Questions about policy are for the ruling class — in a democracy the people — to determine, not those charged with enforcing policy.
“The existence of the state depends on its ability to defend itself and its territory and to impose its laws by, if necessary, force …”
The Irish military couldn’t defend this country from a determined invasion by a much bigger, stronger, force. We don’t have the weaponry, apart altogether from the numbers. They’ve been called out (in numbers) to help in bus strikes more than any other situation. One or two demos that were expected to be troublesome. The police (Gardai) enforce the law 99.99% of the time.
And how does this: “The state relies on the police or military to exert such force as is required”, stack up in the US where (I understood) the military are not supposed to be deployed on home soil? Isn’t there some law against that in the US?
And where were the military on 9/11, the only time in recent history that the US was attacked at home?
Got to fly!
“Angrysoba, it is interesting that you have declared yourself a social democrat. I’d like very much to hear more on such matters. Give us your world-view, man!”
Well, in a nutshell, it is the worst form of government except all the others.
Clark: “Look at the actual charges. Osama bin Laden is wanted ‘in connection with’ 9/11; he’s only wanted ‘for’ the 1998 embassy bombings. The murder and conspiracy to murder charges are both for US nationals *outside* the USA.”
Clark, those refer to actual, formal indictments. Nobody has been indicted for 9/11 because it was treated by the Bush administration as an act of war rather than a criminal act. We can be unhappy with the blurring of those lines but it doesn’t really give us much of a conspiracy angle.
As for the “in connection with”, I wouldn’t read too much significance into that. You’ll find that typing “wanted in connection with” into Google produces a number of articles in which the people wanted are absolutely considered to be the perpetrators themselves. In fact one of the search results that appears is the FBI’s most wanted poster of OBL which reads:
“USAMA BIN LADEN IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE AUGUST 7, 1998, BOMBINGS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, AND NAIROBI, KENYA. THESE ATTACKS KILLED OVER 200 PEOPLE. IN ADDITION, BIN LADEN IS A SUSPECT IN OTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.”
So “in connection with” is being used interchangably with “wanted for”. Plus at the bottom of the page is a referral to the State Department’s Rewards for Justice page which is the one I originally linked to.
“The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden.”
You’ll find that typing “wanted in connection with” into Google produces a number of articles in which the people wanted are absolutely considered to be the perpetrators themselves.
“The Irish military couldn’t defend this country from a determined invasion by a much bigger, stronger, force. ”
Which is why Ireland belongs to NATO, “a much bigger, stronger, force.”
“And how does this: “The state relies on the police or military to exert such force as is required”, stack up in the US where (I understood) the military are not supposed to be deployed on home soil? Isn’t there some law against that in the US?”
I spoke of an “agency that provides enforcement”, which could be police or military. The US can certainly deploy the military at home: the USAF, should have prevented the attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. Where were they on 9/11? A good question. Ask Angrysoba (self-declared “Footsoldier for 9/11 lies”). Well, on second thoughts, that would be a waste of time.
Yes sometimes my knickers get twisted anno, but I always read the bottom line and in this world that is geopolitical not religeous.
Pakistan, Russia, China and others are certainly against the security hazards posed by further expansion of the North Atalantic Treaty and US interventionism.
In fact our own SIS were somewhat alarmed that PM Putin managed to win over pro-West politicians in Moscow including Medvedev by completing the Bushehr contract after a 12 year delay. This together with the nuclear fuel swap won a certain amount of praise from the Pakistani government despite the age old rumours of a Saudi oil for nuclear pact that still lingers in Iran. In my opinion Pakistan should discourage further visits by the so called Saudi prince’s. I have had trade dealings with their representatives in Dubai, an experience I never want to repeat.
Europe and America have turned the volumes of war threats up on Iran which has resulted in Iran’s production of long range drone bombers, midget submarines, fast cruise missile equipped boats and Qiam1, a surface to surface missile that Pakistan has eyed due to the constant threat of more sophisticated US drones violating its borders. Iran is now capable of exporting arms to 50 countries.
The sale of s-400 defense system to Saudi and multi-million dollar US arms sales may indeed catalyse Russia to commit to contract and supply Iran with the s-300 as promised to negate its vulnerbility to air attack.
Iran must reduce the threats of cross border attacks from Pakistan and Iraq and strenthening its trade with Pakistan is a step in the right direction.
Angrysoba,
“an act of war”; do you have a link for that please? I’d like to see how they worded it, as I’d sort of assumed that war could only be declared upon countries. Does the one rule out the other?
That Eric Margolis article is awful. I thought he was smarter than that but this type of thing is utterly disingenuous:
“In 1993, I was hijacked over Germany on a Lufthansa flight bound for Cairo. The Ethiopian hijacker took us all the way back to New York City. The hijacker was threatening to crash our A310 jumbo jet into Wall Street.
Our flight was shadowed by US F-15 fighters that had orders to shoot, if necessary. Where, then, was US air defense on 11 Sept. 2001?”
There’s no shortage of information on this topic if he was prepared to read up on it.
Why on Earth does he think the 1993 hijacking is remotely comparable to those in 2001? In the latter incidents the hijackers didn’t signal their intentions to ATC, they switched off their transponders, and crashed each one within minutes of being hijacked or known to be hijacked. The simultaneous nature of the attacks also overwhelmed ATC and the long-emasculated air defenses which consisted of two alert stations with a pair of fighters each.
In Margolis’ hijacking he even points out that his plane was hijacked OVER GERMANY and flown to New York. He doesn’t mention that the plane actually landed at Hannover first and REFUELED before making the seven-hour long trans-Atlantic flight on an Airbus with its transponder squaking. D’yer think that’s enough warning time for the F-15s still on Cold War-era alert status to get airborne and intercept the flight?
“February 11, 1993: Lufthansa Flight 592 scheduled service from Frankfurt to Cairo and Addis Ababa, was hijacked at gunpoint by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethiopian man. The A310 initially flew to Hannover for fuel before flying to New York’s JFK where the hijacker surrendered after brief negotiations. No passengers or crew were injured or killed. ”
Oh, and the plane blatantly wasn’t shot down even assuming that they did have shoot-down orders so again, why does he assume that would have happened on 9/11?
There’s a lot of other feeble nonsense about how Arabs would have crashed into each other rather than buildings. And then there’s that ole chestnut about the dancing Israelis. Yawn!
Clark:
“”an act of war”; do you have a link for that please? I’d like to see how they worded it, as I’d sort of assumed that war could only be declared upon countries. Does the one rule out the other?”
Of course the Bush Admin. considered it an act of war. They called the war the “War on Terror”. There were a lot of arguments about it at the time.
Anyway, US presidents don’t have the power to formally “declare war”. That belongs to Congress.
‘Which is why Ireland belongs to NATO, “a much bigger, stronger, force.’
No, Ireland doesn’t belong to NATO.
‘The US can certainly deploy the military at home’
Federal military personel may not participate in domestic law enforcement due to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
Switzerland
“Since 1989, there have been several attempts to curb military activity or even abolish the armed forces altogether (see Group for a Switzerland without an Army). A notable referendum on the subject was held on 26 November 1989 and, although defeated, did see a significant percentage of the voters in favour of such an initiative.”
The original statement by Abe was:
“These are our soldiers, without whom the state could not exist.”
Ireland and Switzerland “exist” perfectly well, without much military to speak of. Of course, neither country gives weapons’ manufacturers a whole lot of business. Ireland’s main defense, IMO, is non-aggression.
Thanks, Alfred, for the explanation of the word. I had no idea it derived from such sources. I don’t know why anno felt able to use it here. If the derivation is as you say, then I completely agree that its use is unacceptable. But then, perhaps there are a variety of meanings, as I see now from doing a search on it; the commonest usages seem other than the one you suggest. So, anno, would you do us the courtesy, please, when you have a moment, of providing an explication of your usage, since it seems virtually inconceivable that you would have used it deliberately in the manner suggested by the etymology provided by Alfred. Were you referring to ‘liars’ or ‘furry toys’, for example? Thank you again.
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861675724/gonk.html
If one looks up Wikipedia, there are other meanings as well.
Strange, how this craze passed me by completely!
Here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonk
“Abe, I didn’t know that about “Gonk”. Thanks for the info …
“The original statement by Abe was …”
——————
Sorry, Alfred. I’m beginning to think I need new glasses.
However, my points remain.
Dreoilin: “Since when has it become the business of the USA or the UK to use their military to tell Afghans how to run their country?”
Firstly, the Taleban are a regime unworthy of humans and deserve to be thrown out, as that of Saddam, of Syria, of Burma, of Zimbabwe, of Cuba, of Red China. This is the burden not of any race but of democrats generally. However it is generally too expensive to carry out such invasions, and probably impossible in the case nuclear powers such as China.
Secondly, the course of justice, and not allowing murderers to get away. After the Taleban gave shelter to Al-Qaeda after 9/11, Bush declared that he would make no distinction between those who carried out tne attach on the WTC and those who gave them shelter. The Taleban wouldn’t hand UBL over, and the rest is history.
But the mode of execution is another matter. In retrospect we can see many mistakes that could have been avoided. Historians need to write about these things, so that the next time someone tries to overthrow repressive regimes by invasion for whatever reason, they’ll get it right.
Rumsfeld may have made some very bad decisions, but I would be happy to see a ‘tidal wave of democracy’ in the Middle East myself.
Ps. Dreoilin, I agree that enjoying good cheese is more important than the debates here. Extra mature cheedar, Hovis digestive biscuitss, a pot of black tea and Midsomer Murders on TV was one way that I spent many enjoyable Sunday evenings in the few years following 9/11..
they deserve it – we can do it – ‘democrats’ have to kill people – they deserve it.
Abe, I think you could be right about the quality of ‘debate’ here. Perhaps you could read something about the formation of the Taleban and something about the current state of Afghanistan before you comment about them/it.
Do you know someone called eddie, by any chance?
Abe Rene,
i think youll find that they would have handed over UBL if they had produced evidence that he was responsible moron…..you find any let me know, cause the FBI doesnt have him on their most wanted….
Oh and Abe so glad the western world sat back with the emargo on Iraq and killed 1Million, read it Abe 1 Million men, women and children for being nothing other than being Iraqi….
I think Alfred is pulling everyone’s chain on the etymology of “Gonk” although I have no idea what Anno means by it.
I think it odd that Alfred would choose to lecture others on racism given that he has no problem using terms such as “Japs” or “Pakis” and at the same time feels the need to threaten people with legal action if posts he doesn’t like aren’t removed.
It’s clear to me that Avatar Singh is a nutter but most of the time I don’t bother to read his unlettered crap. The little I have read is standard Larouchean conspiracism which I doubt anyone takes very seriously.
But this reaction by Alfred is over the top:
“Craig Murray’s Web admin should check to see where Avatar Singh’s IP address is located. If it is in the UK, then Singh’s comments are, among other things, treasonous, I should think. And if they are, anyone aware of it who fails to report it to the proper authority is guilty of the crime of misprision of treason.”
On another thread Alfred was accusing me of being libelous and essentially threatened Craig Murray with being sued.
I can’t think of a more hypocritical stance of a Truther to be demanding that other people’s freedom of expression be suppressed. Usually they are the ones bellyaching about how they are marginalized and yet here is Alfred saying that someone as nutty as him (Avatar Singh) be reported to the authorities for nonsense rambling.
agreed. i don’t read what passes for avatar singh’s writing either; he just seems a way to get at Suhayl for some bizarre reason.
And just to plead Holier-than-thou for a second (I think I’ve earned it after all this time), I have never once asked for anyone’s comments to be removed and never once said that anyone has no right to post what they want. As far as I am concerned, people should be allowed to post anything that Craig Murray allows on his site and think it is very much worth knowing what any particular person thinks and letting their record speak for itself.
And I also agree (not that he needs my permission) that Craig Murray has every right to delete posts that he does not like.
“Ireland and Switzerland “exist” perfectly well, without much military to speak of. Of course, neither country gives weapons’ manufacturers a whole lot of business. Ireland’s main defense, IMO, is non-aggression.”
I think this is a romantic notion but not one that is borne out by the experiences of other non-aggressive nations. How did non-aggression protect places such as East Timor or Kuwait, for example, not to mention countless victims of imperial aggression? It would be a bit smug or offensive to say that those who were invaded were obviously not keeping a low enough profile to suggest that the only reason Ireland doesn’t need defence is because it is so innocuous.
One of the things that Ireland clearly benefits from is its geographical location. Western European nations have finally learnt to live with each other after a few centuries of extraordinary bloodshed and Ireland sits right on the periphery where no country except possibly the US or the UK could possibly mount a successful invasion without having to go through other far stronger militaries that wouldn’t allow it.
Japan is a pretty non-aggressive, wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly nation in the world and even has a anti-militarisation clause in her constitution technically forbidding her from any aggressive military action or even the maintenance of a military with a war-waging potential and yet at the same time Japan has one of the most expensive defence budgets in the world. Why does Japan retain such hi-tech weaponry? Because most sensible Japanese don’t simply rely on the reciprocal good-will of her neighbours particularly given that some of her neighbours have very little good-will towards her.
Incidentally, my uncle served with the Irish army during its participation in a UN peace-keeping mission in Lebanon. My cousin’s husband is also in the Irish army and next week he may even get a chance to hold the rifle. He’s very excited about the prospect.
“The simultaneous nature of the attacks also overwhelmed ATC and the long-emasculated air defenses which consisted of two alert stations with a pair of fighters each”.
8.46 am; 9.02 am; 9.38 am; 10.06 am. A sequence of events spanning 90 minutes.
The “long-emasculated” air defenses comprise the coordination of hundreds of fighter jets located at the of AFBs and AGSs liberally scattered around the country. In the year preceding 911 the system was called on to intercept over thirty domestic flights, the most common trigger being the sudden loss of a transponder signal.
“And then there’s that ole chestnut about the dancing Israelis. Yawn!”
Yes there is isn’t there? Five Mossad operatives arrested in NJ for filming the attacks in NY. Held for a few months then quietly released. Pretty solid evidence of Israeli foreknowledge of the attacks. Guaranteed to cause zio-panic whenever mentioned. I’m sure that calling it a chestnut and feigning boredom will make the whole reliably-documented and hugely incriminating story go away.
Mark
The bottom line is missiles, tanks,bums on seats. Islam denies the bottom line as when Bush says, we have more weapons so we are going to win. No, Sir, you lost, all your respect, honour, credibility, money, jobs, etc. Everything which is worth having in fact.
Nothing makes sense to me except the religious information. The Shi’a corrupt the teachings of Islam, in order to create a compound which has the properties of disbelief. It’s not 100% the same as England or France, but sufficiently close to satisfy the US Zionist state that it is an enemy to its own enemy, Islam.
I have been living in Turkey, to try to escape Tory rule, which I had my fill of , last time. The upsurge of Islam caused by opposition to US UK aggression, is ruthlessly controlled by dark, forces of Attaturkian Freemasonry. Nobody can succeed in their career unless they conceal their faith from relentless spying. The whole Egodan revolution rides on the back of free enterprise that is beyond the control of state espionage.
If they come into Europe they might even have to pretend to be nice to Kurds and Muslims, but please don’t let’s import their obscene Freemasonism at the same time.
“8.46 am; 9.02 am; 9.38 am; 10.06 am. A sequence of events spanning 90 minutes.
The “long-emasculated” air defenses comprise the coordination of hundreds of fighter jets located at the of AFBs and AGSs liberally scattered around the country. In the year preceding 911 the system was called on to intercept over thirty domestic flights, the most common trigger being the sudden loss of a transponder signal. ”
And?
Not good enough MJ, because you have to point out the times each flight was hijacked and known to have been hijacked before you can pretend that fighters responding to the hijacking of AA 11 would also know they have to intercept United 93. This is a common sleight-of-hand by Truthers who use their exceptional 20-20 hidsight vision to know what air defences should have been capable of on the day.
“The upsurge of Islam caused by opposition to US UK aggression, is ruthlessly controlled by dark, forces of Attaturkian Freemasonry.”
But, of course.