The Respectability of Torture
St Mary’s University College, Thurs 1st August, 7.30pm
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, was a whistleblower who was removed from his ambassadorial post by Tony Blair for exposing the Tashkent regime‟s use of rape and systematic torture, including the boiling to death of political opponents. He has also spoken out against Central Asia‟s appalling dictatorships, regimes which are allies of the West, involved in torture and rendition, and was accused of threatening MI6‟s relationship with the CIA. Now a human rights activist, author and broadcaster, he outlines the dynamics of torture and the hypocrisy of incriminated Western governments.
My first public appearance for a while will be in Belfast on 1 August where I shall be giving a talk. Long term readers of this blog will recall that, while my focus is largely on international affairs, the domestic political achievements I most hope to see are a united Ireland and an independent Scotland.
“One day he broke down. He cried. He hated himself…. I told him to piss off”
I guess he hated himself just that little bit more afterwards. Shame.
This is in line with Iraqi “Inspections”. Throughout the inspections any time, or any where, that could lead to UNSCOM finding Iraqis “innocent” at once the team of inspectors were diverted, pulled out, or simply ignored the data.
The fact that UN team in Syria could come under attack and needed to set up a cease fire, to get to the sights, was in the West reported as the wilful refusal of the “Assad Regime”. The Syrians set up the cease fire, and arranged for the UN inspectors to go to the area. At this point the story was changed to; oh well now that UN Inspectors are going in, that is without the mandate to find whodunit and only to find “if there was any chemical weapons” used.
It is all a dog and pony show to fool the hamburger munchers into yet another war for the benefit of the ziofuckwits; who don’t like to see Assad win!
Donald 26 Aug, 2013 – 1:42 pm
“I guess he hated himself just that little bit more afterwards. Shame.”
I am sure he had more to worry about than my opinion. He didn’t hate himself because of me. You did clock what he did for a living? Maybe I should have embraced the babbling wreck and told him it wasn’t his fault. But that’s not me. He came from relative affluence (middle class home counties) and although I am sure he didn’t set out to become what he became, he did exactly that. I was never going to do anything except judge him.
Peer pressure is important, otherwise polite society condones barbarity.
French investigative journalist, Michel Collon, talks about Syrian intervention and his 5 principles of propaganda in creating a pretext for war:
1. Obscure one’s economic interests;
2. Appear humanitarian in work and motivations;
3. Obscure history;
4. Demonize the enemy; and
5. Monopolize the flow of information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV3_YF_mzs
Their ability to do this may well be breaking down.
“US Uses Past Crimes to Legalize Future Ones”
How Obama plans to use Kosovo as a model for direct intervention in Syria, without UN approval, and an opinion on Kosovo from British authority on international law, Sir Ian Brownlie:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/26/us-uses-past-crimes-to-legalize-future-ones/
Alex Thomson, Channel 4 News, quite dismissive of Hague’s claims re Syria.
https://twitter.com/alextomo
It’s common sense, but there isn’t much of that at the BBC. No doubt BBC minds are focussed on those big payoffs down the line.
Even Hitchens at The Mail on Sunday is aghast that they’re up to their tricks again.
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2013/08/before-we-bomb-syria-shouldnt-we-seek-proof-of-guilt-.html
“For what it’s worth, RD can be spiky, but (in my humble view) he/she is generally willing to find common ground as well as put forward awkward questions. The broad policy of this board to welcome all views does make it harder to strike a right balance, as does a lack of firm guidelines from our host on how to deal with persistent harassment.”
That was my thought abut RD, Jon. He has some sharp edges and seems on a mission to ‘equalize’ what he sees as one-sidedness in the discussion, but his intent is not to disrupt so much as erupt with contrariness. He doesn’t work very hard at being popular, and doesn’t cotton to humour much, but those aren’t disqualifications for being genuine.
Herbie: I don’t know which should give me more reason to worry about myself: defending a dictator (Assad) against the shock-doctrine war machine, or agreeing with every word Peter Hitchens has written.
@ Fedup
Nonsense.
If anything, the Israelis would like Assad to stay. After all, they’ve had 30 years to get rid of Assad (Father & Son) Inc and didn’t do so. And that not because they were afraid of his pussy-cat army, so good at killing fellow Syrians but so bad at fighting the IDF. So why should Israel suddenly want to get rid of him now?
The recent partnership between Guardian and NYT was brought by pressure. Why does UK want NYT? Judy Miller? Are you lurking?
““In a climate of intense pressure from the UK government, The Guardian decided to bring in a US partner to work on the GCHQ documents provided by Edward Snowden,” Guardian spokeswoman Jennifer Lindenauer said in an email. “We are continuing to work in partnership with the NYT and others to report these stories.”
The London-based newspaper has been under intense British government pressure this summer, its editor, Alan Rusbridger, revealed earlier this week.
He quoted a top government official as telling him last month: “You’ve had your debate. There’s no need to write any more.” Officials then demanded that the paper physically destroy files of which it in fact had other copies in other countries — a surreal demand Rusbridger described as “one of the more bizarre moments in the Guardian’s long history.”
Read this…http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/new-york-times-guardian-snowden
Then read this…..http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/pro-publica-joins-nsa-chase
@ Mod/Jon (11h24)
Tendentious by virtue of the following two part-sentences, which are doubtlessly aimed at me :
1/. “…make it harder to strike a right balance, as does a lack of firm guidelines from our host on how to deal with persistent harassment.”
Implication of persistent harrassment, not backed by facts or a public analysis of frequency and comparison of all posters (Eminences and “dissidents”)
2/. “PS. I am generally in favour of people answering questions, except of course from posters setting out to cause trouble.”
Subjective, and also runs contrary to one of Craig’s few public injunctions – posted here and occasionally quoted by commenters – which was to focus on the issues and avoid ascribing motivation to posters (since no-one can know what the underlying intentions, if any, are).
Top rated commnent on the Daily Mail right now with +797 votes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402067/Assad-warns-U-S-military-intervention-like-Vietnam-end-failure-maintains-innocence-chemical-weapons-attack.html
Fascinating to read the rest of the comments at the article. Click on sort by “best rated”.
AA; What is the ‘third party’ agenda? Chaos or control? I can almost see the wheels turning with Iraq. The naivete and cultural ignorance in the strategy made them blow bubbles of optimism, and yet nothing has been learned?
“Sow the Wind; Reap the whirlwind”
Surely they can’t see present day Iraq and conclude this was the outcome they desired.
I think chaoticians might have fun with the numbers, but who in their right mind deliberately whacks a hornet’s nest expecting a good outcome?
Ben,
Is this too obvious?
http://www.raptureready.com/featured/gillette/Isaiah_17.html
Yes I know it’s insane to try and actually bring this about.
Ignorance, AA. Isaiah was a major prophet warning Israel against continuing it’s apostasy. History shows they did not listen and Jerusalem leveled and the Temple destroyed. Then they did it again, resulting in the permanent head-wound to Judaism at the hands of the Romans.
I don’t understand the end-timers any more than the cult of the 7th (?) Imam who is to bring a similar result for the faithful.
The notion that Israel is somehow a sacred vessel is ridiculous. Twice, YHWH threatened to destroy Israel when in the Wilderness of Moses’ fame. He said he would raise heirs to Abrahamic promise from the stones, as they were a ‘stiff-necked’ people. They are only special because of Abraham,
So when End-Timers rally around their literal applications of modern prophecy (Revelations) and hear the word Israel, the assume this rejected relic of Bible History is somehow going to be resurrected again.
The Jews rejected his only begotten son. They have likewise been rejected.
AlcAnon 26 Aug, 2013 – 4:38 pm
“it’s insane to try and actually bring this about.”
If I recall didn’t reagan claim belief in rapture when courting the religious right?
Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version) 26 Aug, 2013 – 4:24 pm
“Surely they can’t see present day Iraq and conclude this was the outcome they desired.”
If the desired outcome was to make money from war and regain control of the oil then iraq can be viewed as a roaring success.
Control through chaos and division.
“The Middle East and North Africa have been turned into an arc of instability all the way from Iraq and the Persian Gulf to Libya and Tunisia. Chaos and violence seem to be in almost every corner of the Arab World and the Middle East. The bloodletting does not seem to stop.”
“The current upheavals actually have a resounding resemblance to the objectives of the Yinon Plan of 1982, named after its author Oded Yinon from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which calls for the fracturing of North Africa and the Middle East. The Israeli document may have been written in 1982, but it represents the strategic goals and ideas of Israel.”
“One country in the region, however, is gleaming with satisfaction. Tel Aviv has been given a free hand by the instability that it has helped author with Washington in the region. The chaos around it has allowed Israel to move ahead with its annexation of more and more Palestinian land in the West Bank while it pretends to be talking peace with the Palestinian Authority of the irrelevant Mahmoud Abbas. All it needs now is for the US to lead a war against Iran and its allies.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/yinons-revenge-a-panoramic-of-chaos-in-the-arab-world/5346899
“If anything, the Israelis would like Assad to stay.”
What utter rubbish. The leaked minutes (by the Russians) of the meeting between Netanyahu and Putin earlier this yeat show that Netanyahu offered Putin a veto over the next Syrian president in return fro Russian abstention at the UNSC no-fly zone vote.
Israel has launched air trikes against Syrian forces to directly protect the rebels when the SAA were decimating them.
Israel has set up field hosipitals for the rebels.
Israel has used extremely “unusal” ordanance on Syria at least twice – many experts beleive they have used low-yeild nuclear bunker busters.
“If anything, the Israelis would like Kehemenei to stay.”
“If anything, the Israelis would like Nasrallah to stay.”
“If anything, the Israelis would like Assad to stay.”
See how it stacks up?
phil;
“In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq’s war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein’s military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.”
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/25/secret_cia_files_prove_america_helped_saddam_as_he_gassed_iran
Herbie; Control of the currency of record, ‘Petrodollar’. Each time a dictator has threatened to utilize another…presto-change-o.
“In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader did not hide his determination not to allow the United States, Israel or any other regional force (eg Turkey and Qatar) to overthrow the government of President Bashar Assad.”
http://syrianfreepress.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/17254/
“If anything, the Israelis would like Assad to stay.”
Apologies to FJ if she did not post the offensive material that was linked to on another site that I commented on. I just presumed it was another political blog where you posted.
Although your desire to silence those with views dissimilar to your own (the trolls) silenced is troubling.
The views presented didn’t seem too dissimilar to the general consensus on ‘the Jews’ that is offered here and in my naivety I had never heed of stormfront so was unaware of it’s far right links.
Strange that both FJ and habba were mentioned by name.
Anyway, sorry if any offence was caused.
“If anything, the Israelis would like Assad to stay.”
http://www.jta.org/2013/08/25/default/netanyahu-israels-finger-on-pulse-and-trigger-regarding-syria
Petrodollar too, Ben, but their plans are much bigger than simply maintaining the US dollar as reserve currency.
That’s interim stuff until they get control of oil and gas and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.
Once they’ve got the ME secured, they’ll starve Russian exports and attack a weakened Russia.
They’ve got a window of about 15-20 years, and their reduction in human rights and civil libertiess are a measure of just how rough a ride they think it’s gonna be.
Let’s just hope they fight it out over the already poisoned Pacific and we wee shiresfolk are left in peace.
http://web.archive.org/web/20130130091742/http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270219/U-S-planned-launch-chemical-weapon-attack-Syria-blame-Assad.html
An article from 8 months ago that the DM have since scrubbed.
Israel’s interest: That Assad not be victorious
Herbie read this.
Daily Mail comment: “Watch this story vanish. – Arsalan , Wakefield, 30/1/2013 07:22”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270219/U-S-planned-launch-chemical-weapon-attack-Syria-blame-Assad.html
This recent paper might explain why the West and its media talk such warlike cobblers in unison:
Europe’s Energy Security: Options and Challenges to Natural Gas Supply Diversification
August 20, 2013
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42405.pdf