Dear President Ahtisaari,
I had the pleasure of meeting you on a number of occasions over the years, including when I was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, and I recall your genuine concern for democracy and human rights in a region where they are sadly neglected.
Like a great many people in Scotland I was shocked that CMI is employing Jim Murphy. Of course, in a democracy there are always losers as well as winners in elections, and both are genuine and valid participants in public life. It is not the fact that CMI employs a politician who has been so recently, comprehensively and humiliatingly rejected by his national electorate that will do any damage to CMI. In a sense I think it does you credit.
What shocks many people here is that Mr Murphy is by any standards a dedicated warmonger. He was a major and important proponent of the invasion of Iraq, and is the strongest of supporters of the massive increase of Britain’s nuclear arsenal, in breach of the Non Proliferation Treaty.
Mr Murphy is a member of the Henry Jackson Society, which as you know is a body which exists to promote United States neo-conservative foreign policy in its most aggressive sense, and openly and actively supports and condones extraordinary rendition and the use of torture by the CIA. It has supported every single military action by the USA since its formation, and defends United States exceptionalism in international law, including US non-membership of the International Criminal Court.
Mr Murphy’s belief set is therefore fundamentally at odds with the stated aims of CMI. Indeed, his employment by you can only lead to the suspicion that CMI’s stated objectives are not its real objectives, and that like Mr Murphy and the Henry Jackson Society your overriding goal in the regions where you operate is to promote the interests of the United States.
As you are funded by charitable donations and by governments, I think some explanation of your employment of Mr Murphy is in order, particularly when you have employed him as a conflict resolution expert in the Caucasus and Central Asia when he has no relevant experience of conflict resolution at all, virtually none of the Caucasus, and absolutely none of Central Asia.
I was the Head of the UK Delegation that negotiated the Sierra Leone Peace Treaty, and certainly under no circumstances would I let Jim Murphy anywhere near that kind of negotiation.
With All Best Wishes,
Amb (rtd.) Craig Murray
The BBC have a large contingent reporting from Paris. Imagine the logistics involved and the cost.
Anchor Ben Brown
Lucy Williamson
Tim Willcox
Damian Grammaticus
and good old Frank Gardner from afar
plus Norman Smith stationed outside No 10 (and getting wet!) interpreting Cameron’s thoughts for us poor ignorant citizens, ie straight from the spin doctors inside in the dry.
plus someone from St Pancras Eurostar
PS The latter does not think Cameron will start bombing Syria. Wow. We all feel better for that.
~~
Obama is off to Turkey for the gangsters’ meet up. Hollande is not going.
Turkey police arrest IS suspects in Antalya ahead of G20
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34744060
It is clear that the men in the flapping white coats haven’t arrived yet.
Could it be that they have anticipated the strikes by junior doctors of OUR NHS announced for December?
Another stupid remark from the Old Biddy:
“The BBC have a large contingent reporting from Paris. Imagine the logistics involved and the cost.”
_____________
The BBC is slated for covering the event.
If it did not cover the event or covered it less, it would still get slated by the Old Biddy.
This demonstrates once again that the Old Biddy’s “comments” (such as they are) have nothing to do with reality; they’re just the externalisations of a very disturbed personality.
Never said that French citizens seen as Muslims is consistent with Islam. They are so judged by where they came from, where they live, do they have a job, do they observer Friday prayers, etc.
Remember, for example, that Muslim soldier in the French Army in Toulouse who was murdered because it was thought that he had somehow killed some Jew in Paris, as I recall.
Mary
I have a Firefox add-on installed called “Google Search by Image“. I can right-click on any image and Google will list all the instances of that image it can find. If you don’t want to install the add-on, you can drag an image into the search box here.
@Fedup 12:21
France next month is going into local elections, so obviously we already know who will be winning these!
I have the same sense of foreboding as I had as 911 unfolded – a dread certainty that the Paris attacks will be translated into attacks on our liberties.
Fairly recently this was the standing for the PRESIDENTIAL 2017 vote: (from LeFigaro)
Projet Peur?
And on the attack on OUR civil liberties, it has already started with an interview on UK radio with another security reporter, he droned-on about how GCHQ needs Grannie’s iMessages urgently ” for our own protection ” and how the current interception snoopers charter must pass Parliament unmodified; the awake interviewer then challenged saying ” but the French passed laws to get these powers already, and that didn’t help ” of course the secu-bot came back instantly with the fewking cheek to say ” Yes Theresa and Dave will certainly urgently need to see if we need to add any additional powers to the snooping bill, to protect us all ”
All my NATO chums were urgently called in to work last night, after the news reports started, so not everyone was deep in a ‘complot’ but they are certainly trying to milk the tragic extremist incidents for their own snooping agenda, that’s very fast response, not a pleasure to hear.
Over to the trolls who will now debate the merits of which is better Bacon Sandwiches, or Chess?
Re boots on the ground, Russia’s co-operation is essential. Rationally, as has even been quietly argued in Washington – Cameron has been as usual slow in catching up – Russia’s involvement, keeping Assad, is unavoidable. The Israelis (even) seem to have realised this, probably with a deal to remove Hezbullah from the equation written into the small print. (Even the Syrian loyalists don’t like their Iranian helpers – the times they are a-changing). So form a coalition, declare war, pulverise Daesh, put Assad back for now and squabble about spheres-of-influence when some exist.
None of the other options looks any better.
Mary
“The BBC have a large contingent reporting from Paris. Imagine the logistics involved and the cost.
Anchor Ben Brown
Lucy Williamson
Tim Willcox
Damian Grammaticus
and good old Frank Gardner from afar”
__________________
Could you please do some digging and give us a heads-up on the biographies of these people?
For myself I’d be especially interested to know if any of them are Jewish or with, perhaps, a Jewish grandparent somewhere), or went to Oxbridge, or have had a varied (and possibly successful)career before joining the BBC, or have some money in the bank, or be married to someone of the Jewish faith haviing some or all of the above other characterisrics.
Thanks in advance and by the way you forget to tell us who would be on last Thursday’s Question Time!!
The Paris events demonstrate once more the pressing need to keep a closer eye on people’s electronic communications and the need to have more boots on the ground when it comes to human intelligence.
“French police say they have found another one of those indestructable passports that always seem to turn up at times like this”
Say what you like about muslim terrorists, you’ve got to admit it’s jolly thoughtful of them to carry their passports when they go about their business. It does help clear things up.
Keep up. My comment on Thursday.
12 Nov, 2015 – 6:31 pm
A suggestion for Jeremy next week at PMQs. LOL
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1447327541.html
~~~~
Tonight QT BBC1 22.35
Sajid Javid Business Sec CFoI ‘I would choose to settle in Israel’*
Lucy Powell Lab MP Shadow Education
Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall MEP,
writer and campaigner Paris Lees **
managing editor of The Sun Stig Abell.
* http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/94117/muslim-tory-mp-after-britain-israel-best
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Lees
“The appearance of the passport clearly points to an outside actor, that is none other than Syria, so it seems boots on the ground is the only other alternative at this stage!!!!”
One of the witnesses I heard interviewed this morning did say the attackers weren’t speaking French.
I made it clear in my first sentence that I am keeping an open mind. This carnage in Paris could lead to something potentially apocalyptic: NATO in confrontation with Russia in the skies over Syria. That being the case I reserve the right to view with scepticism any official narrative that leads to war. Anyone who doesn’t—in view of the stakes—is a fool.
September 2014: totally against international law the US starts bombing Syria, purportedly targeting ISIS.
September 2014 – September 2015: the flow of refugees coming out of Syria doubles, creating the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. We are told they are fleeing ISIS.
September 2015: at the invitation of the Syrian government, Russia begins bombing rebel groups in Syria, including ISIS.
October/November 2015: the Russian bombing campaign allows Syrian ground troops to re-take lots of territory.
November 11th: France dispatches its only aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf.
November 12th: the US starts a massive bombing campaign in support of Kurdish troops, who purportedly aim to capture the Iraqi town of Sinjar, close to the Syrian border.
November 13th am: it’s announced that Jihaddi Johnny has ‘probably been killed’. Mr Johnny remains front page news all day.
November 13th pm: terror attacks in Paris kill more than 140 people. The media immediately say that ISIS are behind the attacks.
November 14th am: one of the dead terrorists is found to be carrying a Syrian passport.
November 14th pm: Syrian peace talks begin in Vienna.
Anything I’ve left out..?
“Never said that French citizens seen as Muslims is consistent with Islam.”
No that comes from the normal definition of a Muslim as being one who follows Islam? The terrorists did not follow Islam or any other generally accepted moral code.
The Paris events demonstrate once more the pressing need to keep a closer eye on people’s electronic communications and the need to have more boots on the ground when it comes to human intelligence.
Habbabkuk (Solidarity with the French
Is this guy for real or is he taking the piss?
The Paris event clearly demonstrate once more the pressing need to stop interfering in other countries affairs, to stop launching unprovoked wars of aggression on behalf of brutal dictatorships, to start ruling own sovereign nation states using democratic values and to police our own borders. That is the ‘human intelligence’ that needs to be gleaned from this somewhat predictable tragedy.
Anything I’ve left out..?
RobG
Economic collapse and WW3?
Let’s not forget that Daesh in Iraq and Syria is a creature of the Western SIS in a fashion after the alQaeda in Afghanistan. Fact that these “freedom fighters” were encouraged, trained, and supplied to fight the “Assad Regime” somehow goes missing in the fury of the events.
Further missing from all the “reports” are the glaring links; Russian airliner crash, Beirut shia district bombing, Baghdad Shia mosque bombing.
Fact that already the blow holes dispatched to this blog are all busy playing up the emotional angle, obfuscating any rational reasoning, all the while promoting even greater degrees of state surveillance powers and control of the population, clearly manifests the authoritarian trends of our dear leaders’ intentions buoyed up and helped by the usual supremacist vermin.
“I made it clear in my first sentence that I am keeping an open mind.”
Yet strangely enough it is pretty clear in which direction it is going – especially if past evidence is anything to go by. I’m afraid that some are so open minded that their brains have dropped out to be replaced by goodness knows what.
“The Paris event clearly demonstrate once more the pressing need to stop interfering in other countries affairs, to stop launching unprovoked wars of aggression on behalf of brutal dictatorships, to start ruling own sovereign nation states using democratic values and to police our own borders. That is the ‘human intelligence’ that needs to be gleaned from this somewhat predictable tragedy.”
Yet when we talk about interfering in other countries affairs – the finger always seems to be pointed at the western democracies – and the fact that ISIS and Al Qaeda are made up of foreigners hell bent on interfering in countries other than their own, or the fact that Saddam invaded two other countries and gassed the Kurds, or that Putin interferes in all his neighbours affairs are just brushed under the carpet and ignored.
The State often isn’t the solution to the problems we face, in fact it can be the cause. The phoney left/right paradigm is used to stifle real progress, to divide and rule. Ron Paul spent a lifetime of effort to explain these realities. Hegel also tried.
What is the Hegelian Dialectic?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_F4WomLlq0
This carnage in Paris could lead to something potentially apocalyptic:
Sure. Hence the need for getting the terms and conditions quite clear. Dussia’s as much at risk from salafists as anyone else – more so, perhaps.
The official narrative is that Daesh has just killed 137, and counting, probably innocent and unarmed civilians, that Daesh has claimed reponsibility. and that Something Needs To Be done.
I see no reason to dispute this. It is completely in accord with what Daesh and its affiliates do. Something undeniably Needs To Be Done.
The official narrative is, or shortly will be, that increased surveillance of the public is essential. The public lost that argument long ago – reiterating its case does no good. Whether or not that part of the narrative is correct is debatable. Daesh is adept at evading surveillance, and this incident probably indicates that it has adapted to the increased focus on digital comms very well – no-one seems to have seen it coming. But making life difficult for terrorists still makes sense.
My opinion of Daesh remains considerably lower than my opinion of our government, low as that is. And let’s face it, there’s bugger-all we can do about it but express our opinions. Talk to regional players. Agree areas of activity (Westerners in Iraq, Russians in Syria, Turks lay off the Kurds outside Turkey and swallow their pride, Israel keep out altogether), declare war and do it. It will need boots on the ground: there is no other way to hold territory. Sorry.
Anyone who doesn’t think Daesh is a real threat is deluding themselves. Throw away the comfort blanket.
Errata:
*Russia*
*127*, possibly.
Yesterday I commented that the death of the fictitious character Jihadi John, must be the prelude to something more substantial, well they didn’t disappoint us did they. Why take out your number one fear factor terrorist, the answer lies in Paris.
The highly sophisticated attacks around Paris, are a clue in themselves as to who the real perpetrators of those events were.
Adding that special fear factor by targeting well know public areas, in Paris that subconsciously the people deem safe and welcoming, and turning them into no go areas was ingenious, warfare analysts have came along way from the Stockholm syndrome.
Of course the semi-transparent event of Charlie Hebdo, set the ground work for this more sophisticated and coordinated assault. France prior go last night was already alert to such attacks due to Charlie Hebdo, its entirely unbelievable that DGSE, wouldn’t have had a lead on such a highly organized and wide spread attack.
France has upped its participation in Syria, the aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, plus a attack sub, two frigates and a supply ship are all in the region.
So why the event in Paris?
Well, like Britain I’d imagine France is looking to gain a public consensus on more involvement in Syria (hence the heavy equipment already in place near Syria).
In order to get the public’s consent a unimaginable event had to take place, cue last nights attacks. France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, they’d never openly give their consent to a slaughter in Syria, now however, the possibility looks good.
The push in Syria is undoubtedly down to the stiff resistance from Syrian government forces due to Russia’s involvement in carnage.
I suspect this atrocity is an attempt to pull NATO back into a ground war in Syria/Iraq. Basically, NATO has been continuing to support Jihadism with one hand and oppose it with the other. If NATO really wanted to change direction, the key strategic alliance with Saudi/UAE/Qatar et al needs to be addressed expeditiously. It will not be addressed – as it was not addressed after ‘9/11’ or ‘7/7’ or the Madrid bombing or the Bali bombing, or… – because really, those in charge don’t really give a toss – not to the extent of it changing hard-wired war policy – about civilian deaths anywhere, not even in their own countries. It is cynical, it is seen as an opportunity to project power. There will be no realignment.
It’s Richard Lister for the BBC at St Pancras.
Normal Smith has changed his tack or perhaps he had had instructions from Cameron’s web spinner, Craig Oliver.
He says that now Corbyn has come out so strongly on the Paris attacks, opinion might be changing and Cameron might go for a vote to bomb Syria.
Illuminating?
Ms Kuennsberg is not around. Has w/e off presumably.
~~
That Syrian passport was tough to have survived the effect of suicide vest exploding. Amazing.
Four attackers died at the theater, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The Paris prosecutor told reporters eight extremists are dead in all, and seven of them died in suicide bombings. Police said they believe all of the attackers involved are dead
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-paris-attacks-live-updates-htmlstory.html
Silly me. Of course it must have belonged to the eighth ‘extremist’.
If the trolls on here really cared about the victims, they should be seeking the truth as the rest of us are attempting to do. Justice too.
Of course Denmark two days prior to the event in Paris was carrying out a Hollywood style terrorist attack in Copenhagen, gun fire and explosions could be heard around the city, was it purely coincidental that Paris would suffer a similar fate 48 hours later?
http://www.thelocal.dk/20151111/terror-and-nuclear-catastrophe-to-hit-denmark-in-drills
” Say what you like about muslim terrorists, you’ve got to admit it’s jolly thoughtful of them to carry their passports when they go about their business. ”
It’s compulsory to carry some form of ID in France, what else is a foreigner going to carry? Being a lightweight bit of card and paper or plastic it’s more likely to be blown clear with little damage than something more substantial.
” The Paris event clearly demonstrate once more the pressing need to stop interfering in other countries affairs ”
Too late. We already have. The real question is how do we defend ourselves from further outrages.
” was it purely coincidental that Paris would suffer a similar fate 48 hours later? ”
Yes. Oh sorry coincidences never happen in Conspiracy World do they?