It is ten years since I ended my FCO career by going on the Today programme and blowing the whistle on CIA/MI6 complicity in torture. It was on my 46th birthday, and I was in my second year as an Ambassador and my seventh as a top Whitehall civil servant, a member of the Senior Civil Service.
Looking back now, what is most striking are the blatant lies by the FCO that they were not obtaining intelligence from torture. As the BBC reported:
In one he claimed MI6 had used information passed on to it by the CIA but originally obtained in Uzbek torture cells – something strongly denied by the Foreign Office.
I do not think there is a single person in public life or social media nowadays who would not accept that the FCO were simply lying. Jack Straw was blatantly to lie about it to parliament. But ten years ago the public and media knew much less than they know now. Nobody outside secret circles had ever heard the words extraordinary rendition. It was a year later – May 2005 – before the New York Times revealed the CIA was sending people to Uzbekistan to be tortured, precisely as I had stated.
It sounds incredible, but in October 2004 many people believed it was Craig Murray who was a liar, not Jack Straw. Again I do not think there is a single individual today who does not understand that Jack Straw was lying through his teeth. But back in 2004 life was hard for me.
After going on the Today programme I went on the run, in fear for my life. I am not paranoid, remember David Kelly. I first stayed with my old friend Andy Myles in Edinburgh, then I think Chief Executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. He was phoned the next morning by the FCO. When he denied knowledge of my whereabouts, they not only said they knew I was staying with him, they said which bedroom I was sleeping in. Ten years ago today I was hiding in Aviemore in the house of my old friend Dominic.
That was the start of a decade as a dissident where I have devoted my life to exposing, and trying to counter, the evil of the neo-conservative policy pursued by our political class at the behest of the corporations who fund them. I have suffered a huge loss in money, status and most of the other normal aspirations. But what I have gained is invaluable. I have respect and love, while Blair and Straw will forever be despised.
Congratulations Craig and may you have many more anniversaries. At the end of the day one has to be able to live with oneself and that surely you can do.
Mary.
You do have a wealth of knowledge.
Notice no one has taken Shelly up on his poem. I wonder why?.
My generation have had it instilled into them, “they’ll get you” if you say or do anything that criticizes the Powers that be.
Terrorize the few, to get compliance from the many. Is that not how it is?
Well, I cannot be terrorized, so, waste massive amounts of the taxpayer’s money, discrediting yourselves. Sooner now than later after the bad behaviour of H M’s Government in the Scottish Referendum it will come back to haunt them.
Just look at the Police, they resign to prevent prosecution. Who gave them that “loophole”. The Law in these islands has more loopholes than Rab C. Nesbett’s vest. Is that not right Mary (doll)?.
“But the fact of his dismissal had an unexpected consequence. He would always have been remembered as the finest parliamentarian of his era, the man who brought the Labor Party back from 23 years in the wilderness, whose great, if ultimately flawed, program changed the structure of Australia and inspired a generation with a renewed belief in the possibility of rational, visionary reform within the parliamentary system. But Fraser and Kerr made him more than that: a political martyr, a heroic and tragic figure of Shakespearean proportions.
The left, which had once doubted him, now embraced him as a secular saint. Even his failures and misjudgements – it was revealed that as well as the disastrous miscalculation of the petrodollar affair Whitlam had been involved in a plan to restore Labor’s finances through a loan from the Iraqi Baath Party – failed to crack the image. Whitlam himself thrived on it, taking the job of Australia’s ambassador to UNESCO.
He became a fixture at opening nights and at political funerals. It should have been faintly bathetic, but instead every appearance seemed to increase his stature and his place in public affection. When lists were drawn up of Australia’s living national treasures, the name of Edward Gough Whitlam was invariably towards the top.”
http://www.echo.net.au/2014/10/rip-gough-whitlam/
Hear, hear!
You would be surprised to find the how vast the numbers of people who are subject to such treatment? The net result of which is a decaying British economy that has effectively locked itself into a spiral of diminishing activity. Take a look at the barren and deserted high streets, and the mix of pound shops and charity shops that pepper the landscape in every town and city. Telling of the success of the zersetzung that has been exercised.
The principles of hounding and disrupting the lives of dissenters and those confronting the rampant corruption has always been the main stay of the power structure in UK.
Craig you have done well, fact that you are still alive and prove to be a pain in the neck to the powers to be, itself is telling of the degree of your success. Well done and happy anniversary mate, your reaffirmation of your humanity is to be commended.
Yours is a much less lonely voice than it was ten years ago. The slumbering masses are slowly awakening. Take good care of yourself Craig and you may yet see some tangible amd positive consequences of your honesty, decency and personal sacrifices.
Thank you Craig
Much respect For your Bravery…its an Honor to have Shook your hand
Some day soon, the deliberate confusion and invective of callous Rule will be revealed and rejected. Common people will be facilitated by openly developed, ergonomic and inclusive, crowd bonding and resolution systems. Built to help us, not divide us.
Well done that man !
UKIP now getting support from substantial numbers of former supporters of all three major parties in Rochester: Ukip Holds Big Lead Over Tories Ahead of Rochester By-Election:
With respect to Whitlam, Christopher Boyce, the protagonist of The Falcon and the Snowman, ended up selling American secrets to the Soviet Union largely because he was disenchanted by being exposed in his NSA contractor job to messages revealing that the CIA was trying to bring down Gough Whitlam’s government and that the Governor General who eventually dismissed Whitlam, quite irregularly, was regarded by the CIA as “our man”.
I knew that John Pilger would come up with a decent piece on Gough Whitlam RIP.
October 23, 2014
How America and Britain Crushed the Government of Their “Ally” Australia
The Forgotten Coup
by JOHN PILGER
Across the political and media elite in Australia, a silence has descended on the memory of the great, reforming prime minister Gough Whitlam, who has died. His achievements are recognised, if grudgingly, his mistakes noted in false sorrow. But a critical reason for his extraordinary political demise will, they hope, be buried with him.
Australia briefly became an independent state during the Whitlam years, 1972-75. An American commentator wrote that no country had “reversed its posture in international affairs so totally without going through a domestic revolution”. Whitlam ended his nation’s colonial servility. He abolished Royal patronage, moved Australia towards the Non-Aligned Movement, supported “zones of peace” and opposed nuclear weapons testing.
/..
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/23/the-forgotten-coup-2/
Boyce didn’t know the satellite data was a defunct program and was useless to the Soviets, but yes he was a disenchanted citizen. It’s too bad he chose that path. He decided against going to the press, instead employing a rock-hammer as a message to the system and his dad (FBI). When he escaped prison in 1980 he enjoyed some freedom, but used it to rob banks. Everything about the CIA diddling with foreign elections got buried under that messiness.
He recognized the wrongness of Chile prior to all this saying in response to ‘Allende was a communist’; “He was elected’.
The U.S. intelligence community was also involved in ending Harold Wilson’s second stint as prime minister. (Although plenty of UK institutions were as well.)
I see parallels between the lives of Craig and Whitlam. As I said, I hope Craig reaches the century mark healthily.
Craig.
I was living in that part of the world when the Queen sacked Gough Whitlam.
The average Aussie did not know she had the power to do that, and was very angry. This sparked the idea that it was time for Australia to become a Republic and to get out of the Commonwealth.
Did anyone else hear the story recently about the American Air Force dropping four bombs on or near the Great Barrier Reef because they were running short on fuel and needed to lose weight to get back to base?. Or was it just paper talk?
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@Robert Crawford: It’s quite true. Here’s a link to the report, where the BBC say “it has emerged”, rather than “alleged” or other modifier to indicate it might not be accurate:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23394233
Not only have you educated many by showing them what sustains the establishment and status quo, you ahve also enriched many peoples lifes, including mine.
I would not want to change one minute of the campaigns we ran and got involved in.
You, Craig Murray, hold the world record for filming, editing, finding the right manufacturer, burning and then delivering a DVD in 12 days, ready to be distributed, it was utter madness to even try, but teamwork got there.
Your status is immense, off the Richter scale, you have moved mountains and hearts, thanks. I have always pointed to your security, give it some thoughts please.
Glenn uk.
Thanks for that link.
Why would they be carrying “inert” bombs? What’s the point. Why not carry “chocolate drops”, it would be cheaper?.
Anyway, a couple of days ago 38 degrees asked me to send an Email to my M.P. asking him to vote for recall. Guess what, he is not for it. No surprise there then, his name is Eric Joyce, (Labour). I did not vote for him and I am stuck with him.
Mutual self protection at the top?.
Glenn uk.
Further more all aircraft must have enough fuel for the “planned” journey, plus a reserve, just in case.
Clever Americans Eh?.
“My husband has just retired after 40 years’ exemplary service in HMRC. In April he wrote to the Guardian to correct some factual errors on tax and civil servants… HMRC found him guilty of “serious misconduct””
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/22/punished-for-writing-a-letter-to-the-guardian
““My husband has just retired after 40 years’ exemplary service in HMRC. In April he wrote to the Guardian to correct some factual errors on tax and civil servants… HMRC found him guilty of “serious misconduct””
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/22/punished-for-writing-a-letter-to-the-guardian”
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Yes, that sounds bad.
Until you realise, on reading the Guardian article carefully, that the man was still employed by HMRC when he wrote the letter. Therefore it is not a question of HMRC sanctioning a former employee.
Now, I would imagine that it is part of the rules of every govt department (or even of most private companies) that employees do not contact the media directly. It sounds as if the man broke those rules.
What was the purpose of Je’s cut-and-paste, exactly?
Je.
Your comments reinforce what I said about the No vote. The civil servants would not rock the boat in case they put their pensions at risk by voting YES.
At this time there is a substantial number of people on the Private Taxpayers Payroll. Too many in my opinion.
Gordon Brown placed full page adverts in the Record and T.V. ads threatening to get you if you were working and cheating the Benefits Offices while unemployed/sick/disabled. And all the time it was the MPs who were on the fiddle. A tax free fiddle at that.
Ian Hamilton Q.C.(the man who brought back the Stone of Destiny to Scotland) in his You Tube videos said David Cameron had sent instructions to the military chiefs to tell their underlings to vote NO. The essence of democracy is a FREE VOTE.
The envoy silenced after telling undiplomatic truths
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1474852/The-envoy-silenced-after-telling-undiplomatic-truths.html
The envoy who said too much
One minute he was Our Man in Tashkent, the next he was a major embarrassment for the Foreign Office. Craig Murray, ambassador to Uzbekistan, talks to Nick Paton Walsh about his turbulent year
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/15/foreignpolicy.uk
https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Craig_Murray
Did anyone record the Radio 4 Today interview by any chance? It comes up as Error 404.
I see the weasel Habb hasn’t congratulated Craig on his contributions to a fairer society by exposing the miscreants.
Meanwhile, back at the lubyanka,
The Metropolitan Police have issued an extraordinary warning today that anyone viewing or sharing a graphic video of the beheading of a US journalist may be liable for arrest.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Scotland Yard said they were examining the video, which shows the murder of freelancer James Foley by an ISIS jihadist with a British accent. The Met warned that “viewing, downloading or disseminating extremist material within the UK may constitute an offence under Terrorism legislation.
Now watching may well be an offence, just what that offence is, isn’t quite clear yet, Scotland Yard, London’s finest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/20/watch-james-foleys-beheading-online-and-you-could-get-arrested_n_5694871.html
I applaud your stance on partially every issue Craig.
You strike me as an intelligent and patriotic Scot.(Unlike 55% of our nation)
Please please join the SNP-we need all hands to the pumps, especially when dealing with the laughably named “Smith Commission” and its inevitable aftermath when talks break down.
The sight of the unionist puppets who wish SFA devolved to Scots, around the Smith Commission table (apart from SNP) makes me physically sick to look at-and WTF is Travesty Scott doing there FFS??? Didn’t realise any of his “party” were left……………
Robert Crawford
The essence of democracy is a FREE VOTE.
Up here Robert, the number on your voting card is recorded next your name in the polling booths. So, how you voted can be traced.
Ergo, the UK is NOT a democracy, is it not?
The Seanad has passed a motion calling on the Irish Government to formally recognise the State of Palestine.
Last week, 31 of the upper house’s 60 members signed the motion which was proposed by Fianna Fáil’s Averil Power.
Fine Gael senators met to discuss their position on the motion yesterday and it was passed earlier today without a vote.
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It would appear Sweden’s enlightened actions, are becoming infectious.
http://www.thejournal.ie/seanad-vote-palestine-1738722-Oct2014/
Craig.
The last time the English were at Stirling Castle in force, they left behind their Beheading Stone. It can be seen by looking at Lady Alba’s (bad romance) she did for the Scottish Referendum.
Beheading is nothing new. Neither is concentration camps. The English used them in the Boer War. Long before Hitler was born.
Now all these things are a crime if used against us/them.