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
“BTW; How are you holding up under the merciless ‘caning’?”
——————
Oh Ben I don’t think I can take much more (says I tongue in cheek). I’ve never laughed as much in a long time.
I wonder if Krishnamurti has a sense of humour, then again with all the cash rolling in from his books, he must be laughing all the way to the bank.
Republicofscotland
You have still not told us what the charges brought by the Spanish judge against PM Netanyahu actually are.
I’m beginning to suspect that you don’t know and that you have merely rushed to post something you picked up somewhere. Kind of knee-jerking.
So: what are the charges? Do tell us.
Mary
“I have not visited this site since 3.35pm…”
_______________________
For which I would like to thank you very sincerely.
Do try to keep it up. 🙂
Mary, the trolls are going into overtime.
And the subtext to everything they say is WAR, WAR, WAR.
Unfortunately, mental health services in the UK have been stripped to the bone, so I can only suggest that the trolls leave war and peace to sane people, and join their compatriots on a park bench with a can of Tenants Super.
“and join their compatriots on a park bench with a can of Tenants Super.”
Perhaps if they were “Drug-addled upper class twits who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth” they could come and join you for a glass of Pineau or three?
“For which I would like to thank you very sincerely.”
Habby punch-line of the month!
Are The Old Trolls really devoid of wit?
38 Degrees are running this survey. Please participate to stop this slide into Tory Totalitarianism.
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us having to pay for information about our own politicians ministers having more power to block the release of information they don’t want us to know swathes of information being completely closed off from the public.
But it’s not a done deal. The government’s put out a survey on the future of Freedom of Information – and we have until next week to have our say. If thousands of us respond, we can use people power to show that we won’t stand for them making politics more secretive.
The survey itself is full of jargon – so the 38 Degrees staff team have translated the questions into plain English. It’s easy to fill in and you can skip any questions you don’t want to answer. There are also some tips on the page to help you. Please click here to get started:
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“You have still not told us what the charges brought by the Spanish judge against PM Netanyahu actually are.
I’m beginning to suspect that you don’t know and that you have merely rushed to post something you picked up somewhere. Kind of knee-jerking.”
—————–
Temper temper, no point in returning to your childish fit sitting there at Denison, with your arms folded stomping your jack-boot on the floor, whilst you stare at your computer screen, which reflects your petted lip.
Get onto Pardo at the institute, and he’ll fill you in, failing that, a mystic session with Krishnamurti may reveal the answer, but you’ll need to buy the book first….got it.
” Before this month’s out we will all be marching to World War Three, ”
Tht may not be such a bad thing especially if the US, Russia, the UK, France, China and India, amongst many others, all want to see the end of these jihadists and the KSA with its wings clipped and put in its place.
Yes RobG. I agree. The question is why are they given free rein here to divert and distract, insult and ridicule genuine commenters. Surely Craig, with his history of taking stands against war and injustice, should see what is going on.
What do all those unseen and unheard readers of the blog think?
Mary
“There was no world or local news on the BBC Six O’clock News just now other than the Paris attacks and the aftermath. The whole of the main bulletin (25 mins) and the local regional segment (5mins) was given over.”
____________________
One can of course understand that some commenters on here should be upset that the BBC and other MSM are devoting so much news coverage to the terrorist attacks in Paris.
On the other hand, some other commenters – perhaps rather less sympathetic towards terrorism and the use of terroristic methods and less willing to find justifications for them – would probably find such extensive coverage entirely justified.
Republicofscotland
So you don’t actually know what the Spanish judges’s charges against PM Netanyahu are, do you.
Your knee-jerk noted.
“Yes RobG. I agree. The question is why are they given free rein here to divert and distract, insult and ridicule genuine commenters.”
__________________
Which “genuine commenters” would those be?
Hen’s teeth amoung the Eminences and Old Trolls, I’d say.
Habby, wrong re: RoSy’s ‘knee-jerk’.
Jerk, plain and simple will do.
Is he going to pick up his courage and talk to Mary? I mean just one message? Maybe like repels like.
Alcone, I assume you are now on your fourth can of Tenants Super?
Mind you, that might not be a bad thing. It does get very nippy in the UK at this time of year, particularly if you’re sleeping on a park bench.
So, before you pass-out, presumably in your own vomit, can I take it that you’re in favour of World War Three?
E F Nicolson on exceptionalism of nationality and ethnicity, even in death.
We #PrayForParis, but #CheerForBombs dropped on Syrian children.
November 15, 2015
http://things-that-matter.net/2015/11/15/we-prayforparis-but-cheerforbombs-dropped-on-syrian-children/
How I miss WWII. It’s been 70 years after all. Time for some more eugenics.
We live in a police state, Mary.
I think that the likes of Craig’s site would be taken out in an instant if the trolls/government agents were reigned-in.
It’s all to keep up the allusion that we live in a ‘democracy’.
“One can of course understand that some commenters on here should be upset that the BBC and other MSM are devoting so much news coverage to the terrorist attacks in Paris.
On the other hand, some other commenters – perhaps rather less sympathetic towards terrorism and the use of terroristic methods and less willing to find justifications for them – would probably find such extensive coverage entirely justified.”
——————
This is the exact same nonsense you came out with last night, some commentors this some commentors that….blah blah blah.
Man up and just say who they are, Krishnamurti wouldn’t be so hesitant now would he.
Certainly very tedious now.
What I meant then Glenn, was not that you were advancing claims of crisis actors etc. but that you were bewailing that everyone else was claiming crisis actors etc. were or even must be involved, when no one was making any such claims of this kind, not here anyway. Until posting earlier my entire and only source for information on the events in France was the snippets of reports posted and the comments of others here, I haven’t seen such claims. The reactivation of assorted establishment robots, controls set to “Frenzied Rebuttal”, bashing away at each other with their flailing egg-whisks reveals far more than all the corporate and alternative media put together, their slapdash whitewashing efforts draw you to the underlying cracks in the story quite readily.
Warmongering Murdoch’s Sky News are slandering Jeremy Corbyn now.
‘Sky News are running an article today with the headline ‘Jihadi Jez’ in the title. http://news.sky.com/story/1587369/jihadi-jez-under-fire-from-his-own-side
This is completely unacceptable.
Their excuse for this headline will no doubt be – this is a nickname for Jeremy Corbyn they’ve learnt about from unnamed sources. Well if that is the case – and without any transparency how can we trust it is – these sources are equally shameful. To equate the labour leader with a terrorist who zealously murdered innocent people is not just an insult to Jeremy Corbyn, but it is an insult to all of Emwazis victims, some of whom have expressed similar sentiments regarding a preference for trial, as those articulated by Jeremy Corbyn.
We demand Sky News remove this disgusting tasteless headline instantly, followed by an apology for the frivolous and disgraceful use of the term jihadi in this way.’
https://www.change.org/p/sky-news-sky-news-must-remove-then-apologise-for-disgraceful-jihadi-jez-headline
“Labour remains opposed to the UK taking part in airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria, but might support wider international military action without the need for UN approval, the shadow justice secretary, has said.”
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/15/labour-may-back-syria-airstrikes-without-un-approval-lord-falconer
At the time of posting, no reader’s comments allowed on the above article; just as most Paris attack pieces have not allowed readers to comment; because they know that many readers will say stuff that doesn’t fit with the narrative.
“Certainly very tedious now.”
As Suhayl would say “Mirror, mirror, on the Wall’
_________
Mary it is apparent you didn’t go to a public school. You wouldn’t have lasted one hour.
I bet you were an attention-seeker as a child, always running off to the teacher to complain?
_________
As for RobG, he is such a pleb; I wonder if he was deprived of school altogether ?
Re the wearing of ski-masks, if you’re you’re going to blow yourself up, what’s the point of wearing a mask? Surely it doesn’t matter anymore if you’re identified or not? Also if you Are going to wear a mask to protect your identity, why bring along your Syrian or Egyptian passport to the crime scene, since the only purpose THAT serves is to identify you…. Odd
“Man up and just say who they are, Krishnamurti wouldn’t be so hesitant now would he.”
RoSy I’m glad that the Krishnamurti bee is in your bonnet. Be careful, it might sting. But if it’s Life that stings you, you know where to go to for deep, profound understanding! 😉
Eagles Of Death Metal Targeted Because Of Pro Israel Stance?
Well I don’t want to jump into conspiracies but I was trying to remember where I had heard of this band before. A few months back they refused to take part in the BDS anti-Israel movement. They were threatened and gave a big Fuck You to Roger Waters and his movement.
Another mention is the Bataclan Cafe which was also targeted a few years back by Jihadi anti-Israel protesters. Videos below to support this theory;
[First video he states his support for Israel]
Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=32a_1447603658#kDYkpU3wZadDjKkx.99
Note one of haabaakkukk’s little manipulative weasel tics here, demanding information he could look up himself. It’s a trick the little submissive wouldn’t dare pull face-to-face but safe behind the internets it gives him a precious rare frisson of feeling in charge.
Wouldn’t he be abashed to know he’s been doxxed?
“Eagles Of Death Metal Targeted Because Of Pro Israel Stance?”
Does anyone know whether the band members were able to escape the scene or number among the victims?
Alcyone
“Good to see you back on here and have a great day as well!”
Support group assuages the anxiety. Is it a threesome?