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.
Juteman raises an example of a forgotten one, I certainly hadn’t heard of before. If we include him in our holistic circle of sympathy and compassion whats wrong with that? You seem to be a little prickly, not realising that if people keep repeating the same thing, like broken records, no matter how valid, it starts losing its effectiveness and people start sounding like robots. Proaganda might be met by counter-propaganda but its still propaganda.
[Mod: another attack on FJ, please desist]
Villager; There ought to be a pic of you in the dictionary under ‘persistence’.
I’m not defending ‘Charles Bronson’, but I find his case troubling.
I defy any human being to read his book, and not feel profoundly sad by the end.
Yes Kempe, I would have him as a neighbour. At least he is anti drugs, unlike some of my present neighbours.
Police States – Something Germans, both East and West know all about.
“While there is the occasional burst of resistance on the island, most just accept surveillance as the price of freedom. And, in contrast to Germany, many journalists are wont to defend their government, particularly when it comes to the global interest of the United Kingdom and its supposed national security.”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-cozy-relationship-between-britain-and-its-intelligence-apparatus-a-917689.html
Thank you Ben, but i know i am prone to misunderstanding and i prefer to clear the decks. Misunderstandings are the easiest thing in communication to achieve. Understanding comes with greater labour and is the essence of relationships which in turn is the essence of life.
You remind me of a line from a Dylan song “Dignity has never been photographed”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atseImSMIWs
Another on my playlist if you’re in the mood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZerKlpIk9A
Sleep in Peace!
Have you seen the film, Juteman.
Great performance from Tom Hardy:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172570/
Kempe: I wouldn’t put you up in my spare room, but that’s no reason for you to spend the majority of your life in jail. If you wanted to sound at least half reasonable for the first time in your life, you might consider Bronson’s crime, the amount of time he’s served, and conclude that he’s done more than enough for it.
AA; You are way over my head. Don’t assume the particulars are understood, especially within UK politics. I only superficially understand my own. That goes for math, astrophysics, geology, and sundry other subjects of which I am a jack-of-all but Master of none. 🙂
Suhayl, thanks – missed the positioning of the quotes. For some reason I thought the first para was quotation and the remaining text your own analysis. Oops, and will put into the to-read pile! Btw I find <em> … </em> a good mechanism for quotation.
Villager, the attacks on someone for their age are unpleasant, now removed.
I’m spotting quite a lot of “ouch moments” emanating from your comment stream. I believe you when you say your opinion of your own self’s output is “holding up a mirror”, and “honesty”, but nevertheless your words as I read them create an “ouch” that I feel for whoever they are directed at. One for reflection possibly, rather than rejoinder?
Hundreds are chicken feed, in terms of the kills committed by the mercenaries sent to Syria.
The elements of the “fsa” are consisting of the low life scum of the Saudi prisons; mostly sentenced to be beheaded, or on tariffs of life sentence. These are given the choice; get out and go to Syria to fight, here is a couple of thousand dollars. Or you will be killed or left to rot in jail. Clearly a very hard decision.
These are in addition to the mercenaries recruited by Erik Prince of Blackwater. Who has been injecting mercenaries ever since operation Syrian destruction began.
Surprisingly most of the European countries are pretty relaxed about their nationals making their way to Syria to fight in opposition to Syrian people that normally is passed as “Assad Regime” around this neck of the woods. Although if any of the would be fighters decide to go places like Somalia, and or Yemen, the story takes a different turn!
The Syrian Army has been pretty successful in pushing back these murdering scum and has done so without using any of the exotics weapons systems.
A while back Turkish security forces caught some of these mercerises on their R&R in turkey in possession of chemical weapons, but as ever the bought and paid for medjia is not going to even hint at that. Although Tim Marshall trying to preserve his kudos, has been putting a lot of qualifications on the so called “chemical attacks” while singing from the faxed hymn sheet.
Syrian Army is winning it does not need the publicity, on the other hand the mercenaries are running away and they need every bit of propaganda to get more funding and weapons. Also unreported are the news about most of Syrians helping to mop up the towns and cities from these mercenary fucking scum bags who are there in Syria just to kill and destroy.
====
Mark Golding, the promise of shale gas production to reduce the energy prices are lies, and no more than empty free beer tomorrow promises. Given the pipelines to Europe the produced gas will be sold to other countries, while we will still continue to pay high prices for our energy, as well as drinking contaminated water, and eating poisoned food.
Fedup: yes, and thanks.
Satellites glimpse ultra-powerful “black hole” whirlpools in Atlantic
Fedup,
Are ordinary people from Europe going to Syria to join the rebels? Are European countries permitting it without border eyebrows being raised? I agree about the general levels of hypocrisy regarding “official enemies”, but I should welcome links for the above. It pays to be cynical in both directions, I find!
Fedup; Bermuda Triangle? Has anyone noticed the strange cloud formations, many different varieties within the same visual field? It’s almost Saturn-like.
thanks Jon and actually, because I know that people are being released from saudi prisons in order to fight in Syria, and about Blackwater, hence my ‘yes and thanks’. But actually:
“low life scum of the Saudi prisons; mostly sentenced to be beheaded, or on tariffs of life sentence. These are given the choice; get out and go to Syria to fight, here is a couple of thousand dollars. Or you will be killed or left to rot in jail. Clearly a very hard decision.”
low life scum? not sure that everyone under a death sentence in a saudi prison is a low life sum, at all at all.
Villager ‘good of you to forgive’ – don’t be daft. Mary is welcome to ask me any question, as is anyone else, and I am equally happy to respond (in this case the answer was ‘no’)
it try.s to win points with this –
Nothing “technical” about it, old chap.
As Komodo pointed out some time ago, by enlisting he signed up to military law. And broke it subsequently (word “technically” deleted).
“United States military that had once proclaimed that if a soldier saw wrongdoing and violations of the Geneva Convention on the Laws of War, that soldier should go to a higher authority and report it, and if it was within his power, he should try to stop it. The Private did report it, but the report of these violations fell on deaf ears”.
“It is Bradley Manning that will suffer for these actions. The American military is using this to issue a warning to their soldiers that conscience and adherence to the laws of war will no longer be tolerated “.
“This is a new age however. An age of masking wars as defensive actions, even though they are in reality invasions of other nations against all International Law, the Geneva Conventions are no longer relevant”.
They Have Been Getting away with fucking the world on International Law, and the Geneva conventions for Too long
Well Done Bradley Wee Hero
You are welcome. Note the last two days the mejdia has been filled with the stories about the waves of Syrian refugees pouring into Northern Iraq! (Iraqi Kurdistan).
The mercenaries are taking heavy losses and that is why the dog and pony show that is on the telly to educate the punters whom they should be hating!
Billy fourteen pints talking of the UN and Sky news airing a package about Syria that was taken in Fukoshima Japan from the personnel clad in the protective gear and masks, with their test kit for testing the nuclear material that has been dispersed in the environment. But hey who cares, passing the Japanese video clip as Syrian UN inspectors, so long as the voice over tells the punters what they should think.
“The mercenaries are taking heavy losses and that is why the dog and pony show that is on the telly to educate the punters whom they should be hating!”
I wish you were wrong.
Good ol’ Jon showing his bias by leaving this one in place. How classy!
[Mod: removed another attack on FJ – FJs response, as you know, was provoked. Criticism of mod left standing]
Macky is right you are losing the plot! I of course had warned earlier, as had Glenn. And Jon if i need help from you on what of life i’ll reflect on, i’ll tap you on the shoulder, promise.
Brian and Fedup: thanks both – any links appreciated. Eg Brian, I was trying to find the relevant part of the Geneva convention earlier but if you have it?
Forgot the link to my above post
“Illegal Orders” in the Military, War Crimes and the Trial of Bradley Manning
http://www.globalresearch.ca/illegal-orders-in-the-military-war-crimes-and-the-trial-of-bradley-manning/5344119
Political prisoners in Saudi will not be released under any circumstances, these will be far too dangerous to be let go of. Most the prisoners released to go Syria are; armed robbers, rapists, murders, child molesters, drug dealers, and pushers. These characters can be relied on to go and enjoy indulging in their hobbies in Syria while getting paid for it too.
However you are right not all prisoners in Saudi are low life scum in fact many revolutionary heroes are caught up in the clutches of the al Saud torturers and henchmen, and are detained indefinitely based on trumped up charges and at times even sentenced in show trials.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-syria-chemical-weapons-hoax/5339208
Villager; personally I wouldn’t have deleted your attacks but that’s because they were adequately refuted. I don’t think asking someone to ‘dry up’ is precisely an attack – considering your own forays into this area, I’m sure you can’t either.
USG fighting its rear-guard battle for impunity for war criminals and aggressors,
http://warisacrime.org/content/obama-doj-asks-court-grant-immunity-george-w-bush-iraq-war
USG’s latest cheap trick buys time for its criminals at home at the cost of bolstering universal-jurisdiction admissibility of the subject crimes. Universal jurisdiction kicks in when a state triggers unwillingness criteria like those set out in Rome Statute Article 17 clause 2. State-imposed impunity makes US government criminals fair game for special tribunals and national courts worldwide.
The US government’s criminal goons will be looking over their shoulder the rest of their lives. Snowden, Manning, Kiriakou, Edmonds, Tice, Rowley, Boyle, Salem, drip, drip, drip – more and more evidence coming out.
Jon you poor bastard, you must have the patience of Job.
And Jon, here’s another fact you’re not going to enjoy. The other day you made a veiled threat to me about what if Craig looks at the backend of your system. No worries about that as our antipodal friends would say. Why don’t you look at the embarrassment of your front end:
https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=nw#filter=0&fp=5dc60938afabf6cd&hl=en&q=ziofuckwit&safe=off
Make sure you look through fully through the first two pages. Under your watch. And you’re worried about the word shrivelled?
You’re a bunch of hypocrites. They should give you a newly instituted Zerofuckwit award of the year.