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.
Somebody, re. Alexander Allen, please see earlier ‘Assange’ thread onto which we are Biblically migrating, en masse, with Clark, sandcrab, Uncle Tom Cobley (sorry, Mike, not meant to refer to you!) and all!
“The Privy Council allied with the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and the Cabinet and Cabinet Intelligence Unit which is the real control over the security and intelligence services are part of the secret permanent unaccountable Government.
We have seen from the arms to Iran, Iraq affairs, the Sandline affair and other scandals that politicians and Parliament have little or no control and are more like players in a pantomime put on for the general public and gullible public.”
Gerald James
Terribly nostalgic deja vu – they’re closing the pub (or we’re being barred) so we have to leave and carry the conversation elsewhere. Is it a portable conversation? Will the mood leave us when we step out into the cold night air? Will our community policemen (larry and angry) come too – rocking up and down on their toes, watchfully bored, making sure our behaviour doesn’t become a nuisance to the lieges?
Drink up, let’s walk around the corner and continue.
Allo-allo-allo, what’s all this then, eh, Mister Vronsky, sir? [rocks on toes] Plottin an conspirin, is we? [takes out notebook and pencil, licks pencil, once, prepares to write] Anythin you say will be noted an may be used in evidence. Playin the oud, were you? [writes in notebook] I see. very suspicious. very suspicious indeed. [rocks on toes] We shall ‘ave to look into that, we shall, Mister Vronsky-sir. ‘Ere to protect the public, we is. [rocks on toes and falls over]
“[rocks on toes]”
I hate it when people drop them on mine, too.
haha! priceless 😀
‘Playin the oud, were you? [writes in notebook…’
-i cant flip over again!
@ ALL – THINK ABUT THE MESSAGE – FORGET THE MESSENGER:-
“Call for probe ignites controversy, but many still say September 11 tragedy needs investigation
UNITED NATIONS – (FinalCall.com) After President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke before world leaders and the international press at the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly, an uproar followed and the United States expressed outrage at his remarks.
Protesters hold anti-war and anti-President Bush signs during a protest march Sept. 19, 2006, in New York. The anti-war march, arranged by United for Peace and Justice, was scheduled to coincide with President Bush’s speech before the United Nations general assembly. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
The U.S. media widely reported that the Iranian president accused the U.S. government of killing U.S. citizens in an attack on the World Trade Center in New York on the fateful day of Sept. 11, 2001.
But the world leader’s question and message were much more nuanced and important than that?”his core assertion was that a horrible attack that killed some 3,000 people and the U.S. response changed the world:
Humble pie time.
I spoke to an Iranian friend of mine who happens to be very apolitical about the quote of Ahmadinejad’s. I wrote down the roman script version that appears on Wikipedia and asked him what it meant. He didn’t know so I started reading it. He still looked baffled. Then I tried going through the words individually and he recognized most of them and told me what they mean. His English is not great so we sometimes had to use Japanese but the message came through. In the end he said he understands the phrase to mean, “The occupying regime of … will hopefully disappear from the pages of history.”
When I tried to pronounce the word for occupying he said I pronounced it terribly and started laughing, “I think you shouldn’t go Iran. No one understand you! Ha ha ha ha!”
But I asked if it meant the same as in the sentence “We are occupying this table”.
“Yes, yes!”
“And what about this ‘mahv shaved”? I pronounced it “marv”.
He was confused for a while but then realized, “Ah you mean marrr hah v!” with a rolling “R” if I remember correctly. He explained it means disappear or go away. “It means, if they come and sit at our table I hope they fuck off.”
So I asked, “Does it mean you will remove them?”
He said, “No, no! It just means you wish they fuck off.”
The “qods” part didn’t register at all even when I explained it was Farsi name for a particular city. He said there is no city called that in Iran. I ventured, “Maybe in Filistine?” and then the penny dropped, “Ah! Qods!”
So, in short I am now ready to believe that the phrase does mean, “We wish the regime occupying Jerusalem [Israel] will be removed from the pages of time.” Or words closer to that effect than that Iran desires to actively eradicate it.
“So I asked, “Does it mean you will remove them?”
He said, “No, no! It just means you wish they fuck off.””
Thanks, angrysoba. For asking, and again for passing it on. Helpful stuff.
Angrysoba,
thanks for checking up on that, and reporting it here. You have won additional respect with me.
It still leaves a load of questions that I don’t really have time to go into now, but the translations at the conference (on the podium?) and on the missile carriers seem more aggressive than the original quote – so I wonder about the significance of this…
Angrysoba,
Courteny Barnett,
discussion has moved to the previous thread, as this one is getting too long for the server to send quickly.
Its a bit stuxed out there just now though.
Thanks Courteny Barnett, and Angrysoba for your posts here.
Right Crab… I’m rather stuxed out with the whole conversation there too.
Sally Bercow is being sued for libel by a right wing outfit called Migration Watch which is run by ex UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Andrew Green.
http://richardwilsonauthor.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/time-for-an-open-and-honest-debate-about-migration-watch-defamation-case-against-sally-bercow-highlights-the-urgent-need-for-libel-reform/
Yes, it seems that one cannot say anything about anything without being faced with the possibility of a libel suit. It is deeply ironic that the USA – in most other respects, a far more litigious society than the UK and one in the courts provide a forum for public debate on many issues – has much more sensible and rational libel laws than here. It seems to be that if someone feels their reputation has been damaged, they have grounds to sue – even if the allegations made against them are 100% true! It’s an utterly ridiculous siituation a clear case of the law being abused for nefarious ends. I hope Bercow wins this.
This article has more detail,
http://blog.indexoncensorship.org/2010/10/01/breaking-news-breaking-news-sally-bercow-threatened-with-libel-action/
@ All ?” so Dodi had sex with someone closely connected to the throne ?” and ?” does that then say that Dodi committed treason ?” or ?” can we see the total hypocrisy in this. Many persons in the world see the American Empire as one that advances on the assumption of “exceptionalism” and “manifest destiny”. The remnants of the British Empire proceeds on the basis of some sort of “Monarchial exclusivity” into which realm “commoners” ( read: camel jockey ?” Dodi ) shall not enter. But we have
” democracy” ?” like fuck we do… read on…
“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Joyce was the last person to be tried for treason in the UK, here seen under armed guard in 1945.
Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the sovereign amounting to an intention to undermine their authority, or the attempt to do so. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign’s consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign’s enemies, giving them aid or comfort; and attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeiting money and being a Catholic priest.[1]
High treason was formerly distinguished from petty treason, a treason committed against a subject of the sovereign, the scope of which was limited by statute to the murder of a legal superior. Petty treason comprised the murder of a master by his servant, of a husband by his wife, or of a bishop. Petty treason ceased to be a distinct offence from murder in 1828.
Considered to be the most serious of offences, high treason was often met with extraordinary punishment, because it threatened the security of the state. A particularly horrific manner of execution known as hanging, drawing and quartering was often employed. The last treason trial was that of William Joyce, who was executed in 1946.
Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 became law, the maximum sentence for high treason in the UK has been life imprisonment.”
@ Suhayl,
Try relating your comment below to my post above:-
“It’s an utterly ridiculous siituation a clear case of the law being abused for nefarious ends. I hope Bercow wins this.”
Think:-
– Article 2 UN Charter – Tony Blair – Iraq
– Death of Dr. Kelly
– Death of Diane
And of what legality and laws do we speak?
Courtenay,
(Unable to do the off to next pub ;-))
It’s clear there exists a ‘recoil’ to Mahmoud’s bombshell :
tinyurl.com/retaliation-911
In response to this :
tinyurl.com/retaliation-911-1
As reported by ‘somebody’ too many Daily Mail readers agreed with Mahmoud and that caused the chivers to a small ‘dirty’ sub-group of the secret state when America started sowing seeds of discontent.
Courtenay, good point, absolutely.
Hello everyone. Hope all are well! Reading what ingo wrote earlier:
“until Craig has either decided to scrap the blog or update it”
reminds me that I had wondered lately if something happened to Craig, or if something untoward in his life has stopped him coming back. I think it’s about five and a half weeks since he’s posted. I do hope I’m wrong about him, but surely he’d have popped in by now?
Very hard to write here with the number of comments!
Not much point in saying that I wish Hillary and Obama (so busy “apologising” to the Guatemalans for more US extreme nastiness) would tell their people the truth about what angrynoodle posted, “No, no! It just means you wish they fuck off”. The more belligerent version suits their purposes just fine.
Ahmadinejad may not be a delightful character, and I only read the English version of his UN speech once through, but I saw nothing particularly nasty in it. I thought the walk-out was nothing but theatrics for home audiences and I was angry to see Europeans walking out like sheep after their American counterparts. Meanwhile we have an alleged “‘Al-Qaeda’ terror plot” and an obvious cyber attack on Iran. Am I proud to be physically located in the “West”s camp? No I’m not. We have a Gov’t (now under siege admittedly) that pretty much slavishly follows the dictates of Obama, the man who has taken onto himself the right to (quietly) assassinate his own citizens anywhere in the world on the basis of *undisclosed and uncontested* allegations.
“I actually can’t believe that there is even a “debate” over whether an American President — without a shred of due process or oversight — has the power to compile hit lists of American citizens whom he orders the CIA to kill far away from any battlefield. The notion that the President has such an unconstrained, unchecked power is such a blatant distortion of everything our political system is supposed to be — such a pure embodiment of the very definition of tyrannical power — that, no matter how many times I see it, it’s still hard for me to believe there are people willing to expressly defend it.”
Glenn Greenwald
http://tinyurl.com/36qmfru
(worth reading)
And the drone attacks on an “allied” country go on and on … No wonder Pakistan blocked the NATO supply route. Have they unblocked it yet?
When will we see a massive Memorial Day to the victims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan (and elsewhere) along the lines of the recent massive televised fuss about 9/11? (While an ignorant idiot threatened to burn the Quran?)
I tell you, I feel physically sick sometimes and need to avoid the “news” for 24 hours or so.
Anyway, hurry back, Craig. Apart from everything else, this thing is too unwieldy now. Even for the diehards. 🙂
Hello Dreoilin!
Excellent post; strong agreement from me on most points. Most of the regulars are posting on the previous thread now, as this one has got too long, as you say. Ingo has posted. He was helping Craig fix up his new home, so it’s not so long since anyone has heard from Craig. But yes, it would be very nice, and somewhat reassuring, to hear from him.
See you on the previous thread, I hope.
Hi Clark!
Ok, thanks for the heads up.
Mark Golding runs a phony charity, and pockets all donations. In other words, he makes money off of the suffering of the Iraqi people.
Mark Golding is a fraud.
Sue me, Mark Golding, you fraud.
And you people are sick for enjoying his pictures depicting the results of Islamic jihadism.
Larry gets on my tits.
Anno,
that’s because Larry is an on-your-tits-ist. Just as terrorism is defeated by refusing to be terrified, Larry is defeated refusing to get annoyed.
Larry,
post your name and address so that you can be sued. But you won’t. Like all bullies, you are a coward, and you only respect bigger bullies.
Banking fraud was built into the system by Mrs T and everybody’s scared rigid of removing it in case the system collapses.
The simple remedy is to make usury illegal. Then , if people want to borrow money, they will have to borrow from the vast wealth accumulated by people in the Thatcher Blair bubble years. The rich won’t allow their ill-gotten gains to be taxed, in order to save the country’s debt crisis, selfish bastard being their second names, so let them feel a little of the pain of their Thatcher-worship by having to lend without interest now.
So long as there is interest in the system, the banks will continue to consume the capital that belongs to other people, instead of returning it to them in full.
Secondly
Secondly
We have to prosecute Blair, if onlt to send a message to futuure leaders that we the British people refuse to have our good name and reputation ruined by a return to imperialistic destructivity a collusion of secret state and populist politicians.
If he is not hung publicly from a lamp-post now, and allowed to rot in good, old, medieval fashion, the secret state and its Zionist banking partners will assume that they have succeeded in hijacking Britain to their own evil ends, and be encouraged to do the same again. The UK is not an imperial power any longer. Two world wars nearly brought us to ruin in order to convince us to desist in this idea, and the good Lord is well able to bring a third to teach the smug idiots who control this country the error of their smug stupidity.
As to the recession, I am convinced that it is purely the manipulation of the banking system, to force people into borrowing before they return the 15% interest rates the Tories caught us with last time. I flew over England a couple of days ago, every field neatly harvested and ploughed, every acre worth £10,000, every now and then a mansion of horses and parkland. The money’s there to solve the problems but we have not just returned to imperialism, we have returned to oppressing the people of our own country as well.
That is Thatcherism. Look at it and put into your heart that it was the opposite of everything about which the British people take pride. An utterly counter-productive, and totally counter-intuitive project of regressive legislation, which purported to return this country to Victorian values,m and which has achieved worse. The Victorians had to pawn their wedding rings to survive. Modern family UK has already pawned their whole life’s working income to the Zionist banks, to have the shelter of a home.
As to Islamic Jihadism, what you saw to now was merely self-defence against imperialism. What is to follow will scour these thieving capitalist scum out of their cosy English/American village pipe-dreams. They don’t even care about their own fellow-countrymen struggling on the dole. How could it possibly penetrate their sleepy brains, that the oil they are stealing from Iraq cost the lives of a whole society in that country? Don’t care will be made to care. Allah is watcher over all things.
Live with the nightmare Larry (not from St Louis) because it’s there to stay ad infinitum by your own instruments.
‘Better the pain of truth than the cancer of deceit.’
For anyone wondering about Craig, his Facebook page shows no activity for him since before 4th of June, but Nadira posted to her wall in late September that she was enjoying walking on the beach in Ramsgate, and not missing London yet.
Is craig still doing his house up?