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.
The Tokyo subway was subject to a sarin gas attack in 1995 – in case we have forgotten. But perhaps all the terrorists had PhDs?
They used “a converted refrigerator truck”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway
Villager, much more so than habby, is becoming a bit of a running sore through these threads.
It adds virtually nothing, but subtracts quite a lot.
=====================================================
Talking about habby:
No. 4
It’s always a significant tell when habby does a runnner, and I fully expect this one to run and run from the narrative lance. So I’ll just number the occasions asked at the top of each request.
===========================================
Habby claims wrt the murderous Apache crew:
” I’m surprised that they appear not to have been subject to any sanction.”
Why are you surprised?
Quite right Glenn. I was mocking him especially through one of his favourite phrases “that is not who_we_are”. We are the proven little coward, basically.
From this side of the Atlantic it might actually have been 21st August 2012 when Obama made the red line speech depending on time of day. So perhaps it was exactly one year precisely after that speech that the rocket or whatever it was was fired.
Tech @ 8:04 If you’re referring to ‘havasack’ it is analogous to Carpet Bagger and is not obscene but descriptive.
Not to worry. I won’t be referring by name anymore.
Thank you TC for context and balance. I hope you also saw through the attempt of the writer to put words in my mouth to term Gitmo a ‘permanent inconvenience’. Sly, very sly indeed.
Good article by Shamus Cooke, from 30th July 2013.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/07/30/why-no-revolution-exists-in-syria/
‘Most Syrian analysts, however, admit that the most effective fighting force among the Syrian rebels is Jabhat al-Nusra, religious extremists that use terrorist tactics and are directly affiliated with al-Qaeda. But now this group’s dominance is being threatened by another Islamist extremist terror group, Ahrar al-Sham, which is funded and populated by Qatar and which is thought to have 10,000-20,000 fighters in Syria.
A list of the top ten powerful militias in Syria — with the exception of the Kurds — are fighting predominantly for an Islamic state, i.e., they are religious extremists who want nothing to do with democracy, equality or freedom. The Muslim Brotherhood cannot be characterized as a “moderate” group in Syria.
This is a crucial fact. The Islamist extremists are not mere “players” under an umbrella of rebel groupings. The extremists are the motor force of the rebels, who do the vast majority of the fighting, who dominate the “liberated” areas of Syria where fundamentalist Sharia law has been implemented, and who will rule the rest of the country if the Syrian government falls. In essence, they have become what claims to be the “revolution.” ‘
“Sly, very sly indeed.” Villager, at 8:30pm.
But I thought I wore my “religion on [my] sleeve”. How can I be both sly and open? Surely, it is either one or the other.
Sorry to be “inconvenient”.
Any chance we can get the Queen and Charles to abdicate overnight so that we can get William on the throne tomorrow so he can get the treason trials started once he finds out more “stuff” and before he has a chance to calm down?
Suhayl, thanks for your thoughts on Syria. This is an area I don’t know much about, especially with regards to the MB. You say they cannot be characterised as moderate there, but my assessment of their position in Egypt was that they seemed to be following a moderate path (worrying presidential decrees aside, of course).
Perhaps I’d wrongly assessed MB’s commitment to democracy* in Egypt, and that a neutral assessment would suggest that, if they’d not been ousted, they could have slid towards substantial authoritarianism.
Is there substantial common ground and collaboration between the parties in the two countries (and any others), do you know?
(* Passerby and co – I mean democracy in the traditional sense of the word i.e. electoral mechanisms, rigorous application of law, hierarchical secular courts and so forth – and not the US/UK double-speak that I am sometimes said to be supporting).
One other item from the BBC London News that I omitted to mention was that one female prisoner in Her Majesty’s Prison Bronzefield has been in solitary segregation for over five years. HM Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick observed that she had been in that state for three years when he observed her in 2010 and he was very surprised to find her in the same state three years later on an unannounced visit.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cruel-inhumane-and-degrading-female-prisoner-kept-segregated-in-squalid-cell-for-five-years-8777722.html
So similar to what Bradley endured and what goes on at Guantanamo. I was thinking what his state of mind is at the present.
Bronzefield (what a poetic name) is outsourced to Sodexho. Enough said.
Where are Messrs Chris Grayling and Jeremy Wright when you need them.
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/jeremy-wright#biography
[Mod: More commentary about Flaming June, please avoid and stick to topics, thanks]
Then there’s the other ‘grown-up’ one suffering from amnesia, again of what has been declared here before. Perhaps you can help him? Risking the state of your eyelashes, i reject all organised religions — they are contrary to Einstein’s ‘cosmic religious feeling’ (a reality not a theory) and if anything stand in the way. Christianity and associated wars and violence has had its day. Its Islam’s turn now and the many aggressive tenets in this religion of The Book are not helpful. By contrast Buddhism is becoming more fashionable because its a softer, gentler, more embracing, non-expansionist religion. The Buddha (i presume you know the meaning) did not craft Buddhism; i reject that also. All forms of tribalism that keep people captive from unconditional Freedom.
Jon, at 8:56pm, thanks.
Btw, that was not me who wrote those words (please see my post at 8:32pm), but the author of the Counterpunch article, Shamus Cooke. I copied and pasted a bit from the article. I used single quotation marks around it because there were double quotation-marks at the end of it and I wanted to avoid confusion (!)
Jon; I probably know least of all wrt Syria. It seems the only constant is the effort toward anarchy and the Takfiri seem to want all of that. Imagine trying to survive in that environment where identities outside of immediate family, seem the Foggiest war. Even the Balkans had clearer sides.
@ Dreolin and all
Lurking still.
One step to step tickle you under their.
Interesting take on our confirmed? Nature/nurture….
http://therebelpath.com/2009/08/13/social-engineering-101/
Ben: no, not you, it got mutated by someone else into ‘havenosack’ (can’t quite believe am typing it again)
Villager dry or wet, not washing at the moment, I’m afraid. I mean sure you can reject every religion which is hardly an unusual position, but if you object to personal attacks why do you keep making them?
FYI. Very well researched.
Fracking – Britain’s Next Revolution
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/08/fracking-britains-next-revolution/
I read elsewhere today about a US House of Representatives report that lists 70 chemicals contained in the water used to produce the fracking.
I am sick of the use of the words ‘fracking’ and ‘terrorist’ which I have seen and heard dozens and dozens of times today.
What? This sort of thing used to come out once a year and take months of research to check but now it’s coming thick and fast and no time to double check, so anyone who can (Mary? Komodo?):
Proposals in a bill slipped out as Parliament broke for the Summer, and due to be debated as soon as MPs return, will gag the TUC, trade unions and every campaign group in the country in what can only be seen as a “chilling attack on free speech”.
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/08/19/the-new-lobbying-bill-will-criminalise-even-basic-campaigning-by-trade-unions/
TC i observe the facts and i state them as they are, hold the shining clear mirror up. Yes my words appear cutting at times, but so is the truth. I am not going to call a snake a rope.
Tech,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23750845
AlcAnon many thanks: anyone here who has time to read the actual Bill would be cool, will also.
Re solitary confinement, what about ‘Charles Bronson’?
He has spent most of the last 40 years locked up in a cage, simply because the state doesn’t know what to do with him.
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/aug/09/charles-bronson-conviction-review
Juteman thanks for highlighting that.
“Re solitary confinement, what about ‘Charles Bronson’?”
What about him? He’s had more “last chances” than hot dinners and messed up on each occasion. He’s not a victim or some kind of hero he’s his own worst enemy.
Face it, would you put him up in your spare room?
Government Bill at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0097/cbill_2013-20140097_en_1.htm
Or PDF version at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2013-2014/0097/14097.pdf
AlcAnon: one for the morning, thanks again.
I should add otherwise we only hear of the pet suspects like Talha Ahsan and Babar Ahmed et al around here.
Glenn, in case you missed this…
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/08/16/director-oliver-stone-says-obama-is-a-snake/2665239/?morestories=obnetwork
“I should add otherwise we only hear of the pet suspects like Talha Ahsan and Babar Ahmed et al around here”
Woooh, “pet suspects” – really, Villager. I am grateful (and ashamed) that those people are mentioned here because sure as eggs are eggs they are forgotten most places else.
Mary, yep, seems v good piece, thanks.