The BBC appear enraptured by the apparent death of Ronald Fiddler in Mosul fighting for Islamic State forces. Fiddler was a former inmate of Guantanamo Bay, so this “vindicates” the War on Terror. The BBC are leading every news bulletin and giving us full spectrum security services propaganda. We have MI6 mouthpiece Frank Gardner, the discredited neo-con chancers of the Quilliam Foundation and the far right professional supporter of military attacks on the Middle East, Afzal Ashraf, all giving us their views every half hour on the BBC.
It has never been disputed that Ronald Fiddler was tortured in Guantanamo, which is partly why he was paid substantial compensation by the British government. It does not seem to have occurred to the BBC as worth any consideration that the fact Fiddler emerged from Guantanamo and apparently became a supporter of violent Islam, does not in any sense prove that he was a violent islamist before being tortured in Guantanamo. Yet that Guantanamo was the cause of his extreme alienation is on the surface highly probable.
The BBC did not interview Moazzam Begg or Clive Stafford Smith or anybody who might have something thoughtful to say on the subject. Instead they went solely for self-reinforcing voices of the right wing establishment, the most pro-invading the Middle East voices that could possibly be found.
750,000 civilians face the assault on Mosul in the next few days. The rebel forces being attacked have precisely the same religion, precisely the same philosophy, and in a significant number of cases belong to precisely the same organisations as the rebels who were driven out of Aleppo by Assad forces and the Russians. Yet the assault on Mosul is apparently a wonderful thing, to be cheered on by the propaganda of embedded journalists, while the precisely analogous assault on Aleppo was an appalling and irresponsible massacre. It must be very strange to stretch your conscience to work in the BBC; a peculiar and remarkable kind of talent.
It is an appalling mess and a celebration of rank hypocrisy. The Guardian and the BBC have jumped the shark and have fully transformered into neoliberal mouthpieces. What is even more disconcerting is the citizenry’s blasé attitude to it all. There is a kind of stunned quality to the public as most people try to go about their daily business as if nothing has changed.
Which is exactly what Germans did under the Nazis.
The US claiming its war on terror is a response to Islamic terrorism is like the Nazis claiming in 1941 they invaded France to deal with the Maquis, when it was the Maquis which was formed in response to the Nazi invasion of 1940.
The main difference is the Nazis were generally more honest about their race-hate, genocide and plunder. Instead of full spectrum dominance they called it what it is, world domination, and instead of the indispensable nation they called themselves the master race.
USUKIS genocide of Muslims = Nazi genocide of Jews. As you say what does that make us?
Two articles from today’s New York Times front page: “Russifying of America Continues” and “Fears of Russian meddling in EU”
On Twitter, I saw actor Mark Hamill rise to a three-word creative writing challenge. His effort read: “Putin elects Trump”. This was retweeted 7,500 times.
What are these people on? I thought it was 63 million “deplorables” who elected Trump?
As Craig has pointed out, just before he left office, in his final press conference, the Great and Powerful Obama said the DNC emails were “leaked” not hacked, as the pedlars of Russophobic froth would have us believe. The corporate media, their neocon handlers, and the whole military-industrial-congressional edifice, are tearing their hair out at the thought of a less bellicose stance towards Russia, if not the world in general. Privileged liberal flakes who enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the corporate media should try a little investigating of their own before taking to social media. Put down the New York Times and The Guardian and go online, where the air is cleaner and real journalism thrives.
The thought of a nuclear super-power meddling in the affairs of other countries…. interfering in elections, training death squads, renditioning suspects, spying on citizens, deposing leaders, using banned munitions, bombing funerals, inventing evidence.
I mean, the very idea.
The liberal elites seem to be having some sort of collective psychotic episode.
Time to give the ‘While Helmets’ an Oscar.
To: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Don’t give an Oscar to “The White Helmets”
https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/do-not-give-2017-academy-award-to-the-white-helmets
Jamal al-Harith
23 February 2017
10.40 am
Yvette Cooper (Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford) (Lab)
(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary to make a statement on the case of Jamal al-Harith.
The Minister for Security (Mr Ben Wallace)
I make it clear at the outset that the United Kingdom takes the security of its people, interests and allies very seriously, and we will not hesitate to take action in accordance with our inherent right of self-defence. The Government strongly discourage British nationals from travelling to conflict zones and work hard to dissuade and prevent people from travelling to areas of conflict.
It is, however, the long-standing policy of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters. The monitoring of individuals is an intelligence matter, and the Government do not and cannot comment on individual cases. Neither can the Government comment on whether particular individuals have received compensation payments.
In November 2010, the then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), informed the House of Commons that the Government had secured a mediated settlement of the civil damages claims brought by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in the early 2000s. The details of that settlement were subject to a legally binding confidentiality agreement, and we are therefore unable to confirm whether any specific individual received such a settlement.
More broadly, the Government’s priority is to dissuade people from travelling to areas of conflict in the first place, and our strategy works to identify and support individuals at risk of radicalisation. More than 150 attempted journeys were disrupted in 2015. Since Channel, the Government’s process to identify and provide support to individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism, was rolled out in 2012, there have been more than 4,000 interventions to prevent radicalisation, but we have been clear that we will seek to prosecute those who travel abroad to commit criminal or terrorist attacks. Our brave men and women of the intelligence services and law enforcement agencies work every day to make sure that the risk to our citizens is minimised.
and so on until 11.18am
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2017-02-23/debates/83E35517-41F8-4A34-BF1B-7056A4E59701/JamalAl-Harith
Wallace continued to evade the question, passing the buck to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
Wallace – Sandhurst, Scots Guards and QinetiQ Previously NI Minister under Cameron.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wallace_(politician)