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.
Annie Machon introduces Julian Assange.
Last year in Holland.
Video here
http://www.anniemachon.com/annie_machon/wikileaks-discussion-panel-with-julian-assange-har-nl-2009.html
“Yes, but who says so?”
“Babel fish? Google translate?”
I’m not sure I follow the question marks, I thought you were the one that knew. But if you mean that they were the source, then thanks.
Does LfStL know that he is making highly libellous remarks about Mark Golding in the style of ‘When did LfStL stop beating his wife?’ Does he also know that the libel laws here are draconian?
Vronsky’s vignette is also the opposite of “Not tonight, Darling. I have a headache.”
This on the Radio 4 Today website just gave me a turn. I thought there had been a resurrection. Has someone got a sick sense of humour?
Political editor Nick Robinson analyses the vision Ed Miliband will set out in his first speech as Labour leader
YOUR COMMENTS
I want to hear a break with the New Labour experiment. Labour needs to get back to its roots… We need to shift the centre of politics back to the left.
Gareth Williams
Via Facebook
http://www.tolerance.ca/Article.aspx?ID=97075&L=en
Freedom for Sakineh.
“Has someone got a sick sense of humour?”
They’re neither of them massively uncommon names, there are probably several other people who have it too ?
“I’m not sure I follow the question marks”
I’m just saying it’s a straightforward word-for-word translation, such as might be put together from any dictionary. Those are the orthodox translations of the words used.
Somebody,
I agree. The only line to be drawn is the one underneath a title that reads; Ten Years of Deceit and Bloodshed.
Which generation *will* say ‘sorry’ for torture, for extraordinary rendition, for ‘black’ squads, for deception, for lies, for murder, for wiping out a generation of Iraqi children, for displacing millions of families with nothing to return to?
Certainly not Ed Miliband’s camp and certainly *not* his brother David who would rather conceal torture and call for the destruction of Iran.
One has to ask – Are our politicians just pawns for the higher ranks paying lip service as part of a great game?
@ Angry,
“Wiped off the map” or “Vanish from the pages of time” translation
Many news sources repeated the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting statement by Ahmadinejad that “Israel must be wiped off the map”,[5][6] an English idiom which means to “cause a place to stop existing”,[7] or to “obliterate totally”,[8] or “destroy completely”.[9] News sources currently continue to repeat this claim.[10]
Ahmadinejad’s phrase was ” ???? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ??? ” according to the text published on the President’s Office’s website, and was a quote of Ayatollah Khomeini.[11]
The translation presented by the official Iranian Government press Islamic Republic News Agency translated the statement as “wiped off the map” this was challenged by Arash Norouzi, who says the statement “wiped off the map” was never made and that Ahmadinejad did not refer to the nation or land mass of Israel, but to the “regime occupying Jerusalem”. Norouzi translated the original Persian to English, word for word, with the result, “the Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.”[12] Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, agrees that Ahmadinejad’s statement should be translated as, “the Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).[13]
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translates the phrase similarly, as “be eliminated from the pages of history.”[14]
According to Cole, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ because no such idiom exists in Persian”. Instead, “He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse.”[15]”
“I’m just saying it’s a straightforward word-for-word translation”.
Well, thanks. I wasn’t intending to disagree, I was just wondering where the knowledge came from. I mean, Courtenay Barnett’s quote is fortuitous – I only learnt what sort of writing that is somewhere upthread, I wouldn’t begin to know how to use a dictionary on it, still less transliterate it into latin script.
Just look upthread, we’ve had several bald statements of “X means Y”, and maybe some of them do, but sometimes they contradict each other, and then it helps to wonder what reason the people have to be so sure of it.
Verbal Essentialism ?
@ All,
There are so many wrongs in the world and so many political issues that one can only ultimately explain by reference to the use of the key and critical political fulcrum, “power”.
In Iran we have a Middle Eastern country that is in some ways steeped in the religious past, yet is very much in tune with the global political future.
In Britain there is in many ways, a secular global future deeply connected to corruption:-
” BBC pulls Ashcroft Panorama programme
28 September, 2010
The BBC pulled an edition of its Panorama programme about the financial affairs of controversial Tory backer Lord Ashcroft just hours before it was broadcast.
The show – meant to have gone out last night (27 Sep) – was withdrawn after receiving a response earlier in the day to a question about a share interest transfer, the broadcaster said.
The BBC said the answer “shed new light” on the issue and it would be reviewing the programme.
Billionaire Lord Ashcroft helped to finance the Conservative election campaign.
He was dragged into a tax row earlier this year after confirming he had “non-dom” status and had not been paying UK income tax on his worldwide earnings.
Earlier this month it emerged he would be standing down as the party’s deputy chairman.
Monday’s Panorama was replaced with another edition about UK military justice.
A BBC spokesman said: “We put a number of questions to Lord Ashcroft two weeks ago, including one relating to a share interest transfer.
“We asked for a response by Friday September 24. In a response received (yesterday) afternoon we have been given information that sheds new light on that issue and we will therefore review the programme.” ”
Terrrrrrrrrrr alert. This must have got Teresa May’s knickers in a twist.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11432849
Why it’s old Alki Ada again courtesy of I was there Frank Gardner.
29 September 2010 Last updated at 03:23
‘Al-Qaeda’ terror plot targeting Europe uncovered
By Frank Gardner
BBC security correspondent
France has recently visibly beefed up police patrols outside its national landmarks. Western intelligence agencies are tracking a significant al-Qaeda plot to carry out commando-style raids on cities in Britain, France and Germany.
It is thought teams of jihadists plan to seize Western hostages and murder them – in a manner similar to the siege of two Indian hotels in Mumbai.
The plot is believed to be in its early stages.
No imminent arrests in the UK are expected, and the national threat level remains at its current level of severe.
Details leaked
Intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic are tracking one of the most serious al-Qaeda attack plans in recent years.
Inspired by al-Qaeda’s fugitive core leadership in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the plan is understood to include small well-armed commando-style teams of jihadist militants.
The idea is thought to have moved from the aspirational stage to actual planning.
Western security agencies may have been hoping to keep their knowledge of it out of the public spotlight for longer so criminal evidence could be gathered, but initial details were leaked to the US press.
In the UK, the national threat remains at severe, where it has been since January, meaning a terrorist attack is thought highly likely.
But government officials say there are no plans to raise it to the highest level of critical, and they do not expect to see an imminent wave of arrests.
France and Germany are both on a heightened state of security alert.
Ah! Good old Frankie Boy! Frank, the great gardener of the Middle East. As Ian Cuthbertson used to intone: “I’m back – and I’m just the same!”
Frank Gardner and Con Coughlin – what a duo!! Abbott and Costello, Frankie and Josie… How about ‘Frankie and Connie’? Yes, from now on, that shall be their public monicker. Spread it around, people, spread it everywhere. Debunk everything they write. Their oeuvre is geared-up as grease for bombs and bullets. What we need is a degreasing agent! Trichloroethylene! Go for it! Mop ’em up!
———————————-
Yeah, free Sakineh, absolutely – but in your dogged pursuit for freedom for the world’s people, don’t go bombing her and her countrywomen, please, Lord Palmerston. Work does not make free, nor do bombs. Thank you.
Add Norton-Taylor and Bowcott of the Guardian to your list of double acts Suhayl.
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1285746759.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100929/tuk-terror-plot-to-attack-european-citie-45dbed5.html
Silly goose conspiracy theorists in the mainstream media, lapping up everything the authorities give them, including smoke coming out of the dome of an archetypal European cathedral! Oooh, memories of Vienna, 1689…
BwaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHH!
Makes you wanna sip coffeee in Seattle and gaze the birds.
Faith-based dunderheids!
If there is a conspiracy, it’s likely to have been one (or 57 varieties of one) engineered and controlled by those same authorities. They control and manipulate Jihadist groups (there are lots of brainless ijeuts around who equate God with their generative organ), just as they manipulate the various ‘dissident IRA factions’ and others.
Nothing new, then.
[sorry, couldn’t resist the parody]
Uk has new ‘personality’ leader elected, turmoil in the City, even without any policy being muttered.
No better time to come out with threats and fears and get us all consuming, its not that we are inundated with civilian death and terror attacks on the infrastructure, but just mentioning it should be enough to shut us all up.
This thread is taking ages to load due to its lenght so I shall refrain from posting until Craig has either decided to scrap the blog or update it.
I’m sure that whence Julian releases his second tranche of news to the world, he will move.
Appreciate for posting this information. I just want to let you know that I just check out your website and I find it very interesting and educational. I can not wait to read lots of your blog post.
Heh Clark – what about those gay men in Iran?
Personally, I believe in solidarity with them.
Do you also think that there are no gay men in Iran? Is it OK to imprison people for being gay?
Another of Larry’s touching and so telling posts, he clearly shows concerns for gay men in Iran, but not for gay women. why such bias when he is not homosexual?
How about the 40.000 Jews who refused to be bought back ($10.000/head)into Israel’s uncertain future lands, any concerns for them Larry?
What about that Morlock chap? should he be handed over to Afghanistan justice for being a deliberate killer of innocent unarmed civilians?
Ingo,
did Craig suggest that he was going to stop blogging, or was he just concentrating on fitting up his new place?
As to the time it takes for the page to load, we could start using one of the shorter, earlier threads.
Brilliant Idea, start on the ‘my bed’ thread next? that should bring it home to Craig… (:-)
Or just the previous ‘Assange’ thread, perhaps. not the ‘9/11’ thread, though!
The ‘My Bed’ thread is a nice idea, Ingo, but it means waiting for the pictures to load each time. I’ll be checking both that and the previous ‘Assange’ thread, to see what develops.
Comments on threads as of now:
This thread: 1774
Previous thread: 289
“My Bed”: 197
I’d really prefer the previous thread, “Julian Assange wins Sam Adams Award for Integrity”, as the pictures on “My Bed” make my browser window expand, and I have to keep scrolling left-right to read the text!
Well, all’s quite logical with he terrorist threat coinciding with mass unrest in Europe over cuts. Maybe a big explosion during a demonstration or the threat will be enough and then the draconian laws to take effect to curb the freedoms of citizens and shut them up.
Really, we’re just being used.
Ok lets go on to the previous Assange thread, fine by me.
Your points are spot on, Ruth fear and loathing is not just used by the catholic church to keep the flock in line, our string pullers do use it on a daily basis to cover up their bloody hands.
Ruth,
JTAC are responsible to the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIT) for assessing and setting the threat level. Also in the loop appears to be an ‘Oversight Committee’ that reports to the Cabinet Office. The so called ‘oversight’ ensues that JTAC ‘meets customer requirements’…
JIT is also part of the Cabinet Office and is overseen by the Intelligence and Security Committee consisting of a number of parliamentarians under the control of the Official Secrets Act. The chairman is The Rt Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, KCMG QC MP as of 6th July 2010.
The committee did have a web-page at cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence/ but that no longer exists. Information can be found here:
cabinetoffice.gov.uk/intelligence-security-resilience/intelligence-and-protective-security.aspx
The Committees last report can be viewed here:
cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/348175/isc-annualreport0910.pdf
although they admit ‘we have not this year examined all of the work of the broader UK intelligence’ (due to time restraints).
The committee is a separate legal entity
but is still hosted by the Cabinet?! (because the Cabinet have ‘vetted’ staff) even though the Committee members have signed the Official Secrets Act.
The system is expensive, out of date (the Strategy is dated March 2009 and still contains a forward and picture of Gordon Brown), unwieldy and complicated for public (the customer) viewing.
The whole procedure is in tight control from Prime-Minister David Cameron who appears to be controlled in this respect by the Intelligence Services.
I am deeply suspicious of the overall structure and arrangement and I intend to examine it in fine detail and will report back here with my findings.
Anybody ever heard of The Hon. Alex Allan? He seems to have nearly had a Dr Kelly moment in 2008 or was that to add some mystery to the operation?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Allan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7488971.stm
Mark, I agree, the Parliamentary ‘oversight’ system of the security and intelligence services is stuffed with placewomen/men and is cumbersome, inefficient, obscurantist and toothless. Perhaps this is not accidental, but rather, has been allowed to fester in a typically British manner.