So a tiny independent radio station in Ireland managed to interview Robert Fisk on the ground in Douma, but none of the British mainstream broadcast media today has him on, despite the political fallout from our Syria bombing attacks being the main news story everywhere? Meantime MSM propagandists including Richard Hall (BBC), Dan Hodges (Mail) and Brian Whitaker (Guardian) and many more queue up to denounce Fisk on twitter from their cosy armchairs.
It bears repeating that the information on the alleged gas attacks – which raises great doubt but which Fisk himself does not claim as definitive – is not the most important part of Fisk’s article. The Hell of rule under the jihadists that we in the West are arming, funding, training, “military advising” and giving air support, alongside Saudi Arabia and Israel, is the indisputable and much more important element of Fisk’s report, as is the clear evidence he provides that the White Helmets are part of the jihadist factions.
To return to Scotland, I am sorry I shocked many of those who wish me well with the vehemence of my attack on Ian Blackford and the SNP for accepting MI6′ version of events, together with a renewed expression of my outrage at Nicola Sturgeon for having instantly supported Boris Johnson’s anti-Russian rhetoric over Salisbury without waiting for evidence.
My anger is not synthetic and there is a fundamental point here.
The question is this: whether Scotland wishes to become truly a different kind of state to the UK, or whether it is simply a case of a management buyout of the local NATO franchise. As the UK enters enthusiastically into a new cold war, that question is now a much sharper one.
The UK security services are Scotland’s enemy. The next effort at Independence is not going to look like 2014 – the British Establishment only allowed that because at the outset they did not believe there was a hope in Hell we could win. Now they are rattled. Our next effort at Independence will look much more like Catalonia. All the signs are that the current leadership of the SNP, who are so comfy having little chats with MI6 in their career break from investment banking, or who want to be an inclusive, unionist-friendly “Queen Mum” figure rather than campaign for Independence, do not have the stomach for the fight. What they do have is comfy, very highly paid, billets as a pocket of token opposition and diversity within the United Kingdom.
Nicola buying into the Johnson story of the new cold war is not a small thing. It is huge, momentous, epoch-defining in Scotland. And a fundamental betrayal of her voters.
A Fully Paid Up Member of the British Establishment
In the next street to where I am writing was born the great James Connolly. He wrote:
When it is said that we ought to unite to protect our shores against the ‘foreign enemy’, I confess to be unable to follow that line of reasoning, as I know of no foreign enemy of this country except the British Government
Note the British government are the enemy – not in any way the people of England. Anybody who cannot repeat Connolly’s statement with conviction is only pretending to be part of the Scottish Independence movement, and will falter as soon as Westminster says no.
Tomorrow, in the Leper Room of the OPCW HQ in The Hague the Skripal poisoning case is up for debate. This is important because the findings of the Swiss laboratory which analysed samples of Skripal blood, according to Russian FM Sergei Lavrov the samples analysed appear to contradict UK findings.
https://off-guardian.org/2018/04/17/spiez-laboratory-the-skripal-case-and-the-opcw/
Not so much contradict but suggest the OPCW and UK are being somewhat “economical with the truth”
An offence of omission rather than commission.
I suspect it’s a little more subtle than outright omission. We already saw the sleight of hand when they used the phrase “a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent” without specifying in which way it was closely related. (Hint: it’s probably not closely related in a chemical sense.) This is the UK government’s official position; the chat-show rants of ministers are not official statements.
In its publicly available statement, the OPCW has agreed with the UK’s findings. What that means is open to some interpretation but it will almost certainly have agreed with the officially-stated position of the UK govt, which is weaselly-worded.
Thus we have a vaguely-worded statement that appears to say it agrees with a weaselly-worded statement. Nobody is actually lying or even withholding the “truth” but instead it’s all designed to obfuscate, rather than omit — and the OPCW is a participant in the obfuscation.
I agree to the scepticism but the OPCW appears to have stuck largely to its guidelines. It must be under intense pressure from the west to follow the west’s narrative so that it has not been able to go where it chooses but where MI6/CIA directs it. Remember the OPCW was invited by the UK to confirm Porton Down findings. In essence it has not done so. Russia too is part of the OPCW which is why Lavrov was able to talk about the findings not being in line with what the UK is telling us. We have to give the OPCW the chance to examine until it proves itself to be a tool of dollar-manipulation. Remember too that it is currently investigating the alleged chemical attack in Douma for which there is enough evidence to know the White Helmets was behind this fake attack. If it does not agree with RT, Robert Fisk, Rand Paul, Pearson Sharp and others who have reached the conclusion, mostly from having been there (except in the case of Rand Paul) then we will know it is complicit in the narrative.
Certainly the OPCW is careful in its choice of words. I have emailed the OPCW (12 April) to try and establish whether their own medical staff took samples from the Skripals. I suspect not.
“Can somebody please clarify whether medics from the OPCW took independent blood samples from Sergei and Yulia Skripal or whether the body relied solely on samples supplied by Great Britain? The verbal phrase used in the summary is “was able to collect” which is ambiguous. I thank you in anticipation of clarification.”
I await a response. Other words and phrases which have been used about the samples are ‘obtain’ and be ‘supplied with’ but these are not the same as ‘take’ which would leave no doubt in anybody’s mind. Let’s give them time, at least for the moment. There is huge pressure on them to condemn Russia as there was on the IOC and WADA in banning Russian athletes from competing. Both these bodies disgraced themselves. Let’s give the OPCW a chance to prove it is not likewise a victim of dollar-manipulation.
My god Craig, give the woman a break. I wouldn’t do her job for three times her salary. She’s not perfect. And her Party is a long way off what I’d call ideal. She makes mistakes. We all do. But that’s not a reason to demonise her.
I’m from Australia, and compared with the Howard, Abbott and Turnbull despots I have lived under, I’m thinking that Sturgeon is not too bad a leader. While I have great respect for your opinions I also have a lot of respect for our First Minister, too, and for the demands of office that are made of her.
“give the woman a break. I wouldn’t do her job for three times her salary…”
I wonder if she would.
I wonder if she will.
If ever there was a good reason to demonize a politician, false flag attacks with chemical weapons in order to provoke a major war must be it. False flags were how Hitler started WW2 and USA the Vietnam war, chemical weapons were the pretext to invade Iraq. All ended in horrible human suffering and total failure. The Nazis has their Nuremberg tribunal, but no one ever brought the lying warmongers in Washington and London to justice. And here you are saying that we should give May a pass, because – hey, who cares, it’s only false flag attacks with chemical weapons in order to provoke a major war, nothing to get angry about.
Art, Truth & Politics, Harold Pinter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH96tuRA3L
I have a very bad feeling.
……….
The deliberate targetting by Israel on Iranian assets in Syria
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/israel-admits-to-syria-strike-in-first-we-hit-live-iranian-targets-1.6007914
(To create a motive (False Flag) to say Iran has attacked Israel)
US attack Syria to “test” air defences
Aircraft Carrier Strike Force enters the region
Theresa May visibly and audibility shocked by something she has been told before Commons Debate
……….
The scene is set – is this what happens next
Israel Attacks the country of Iran in response to alleged Iranian strike on Israel
Russia steps in
The US responds
There is little evidence that if Israel attacks Iran without involving Russian personnel, that Russia would retaliate, after all they have specifically refrained from doing that in Syria. So do not have sleepless nights yet.
Certainly the west and thier allies in the region are trying hard to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia and that may in part be related to Putin’s speech of 1st March. But what is clear that there is a lot of probing of both Syria’s defences and Russian resolve. It certainly seems to me that Russia has things up it sleeves but would await a serious confrontation before exposing them. Some of this may be electronic jamming which has been rumoured to happen and which is the reason why there have been repeated mention of cyber and electronic warfare by the west.
Didn,t Russia completely destabilise an American warship a while back in this region?giving the yanks all sorts of nightmares,they can apparently do so at will.
Charles, Let us hope and pray in earnest that this is not the case. I still cannot understand how Israel is being allowed to bomb Syria in any event – but hey, I guess they are acting in the USA’s name. On another note which I hope will mean this scenario will not happen is when i was looking at these things last night, Donald Trump appeared to have made two interesting statements. Firstly, that he had been pressured or ‘tricked’ or something like that to expel the Russian Diplomats and secondly, that any further sanctions against Russia would be delayed because he wanted to remain on good terms with Putin for the peace process in Syria, or something like that. Is this a Red Herring or is it for real?
I’m afraid that I am, once again, correct. Was never a fan of Sturgeon, I find her quite charmless personally. But her politics always had a vague whiff of opportunism about them as well. I don’t know if she’s controlled opposition, or just a bit lightweight, but backing May over this spy baloney is very curious behavior indeed. Does Ms Sturgeon truly desire independence? Genuine independence, not just more of the same under the EU banner? I do not know.
Btw, once more, props to Corbyn. He’s one of the few sane ones in parliament.
Looks like the spooks have told the Guardian to publish this
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/17/syria-crisis-medics-intimidated-over-douma-gas-attack
as a rebuttal of Fisk. The journalists are not even in Syria, let alone Douma.
Funny given that both Fisk and the bloke from OAN spoke to random mere mortals they found in the street and not just the medics… I suppose they had to change the narrative after they realised “The Russians clean it up in the few days” didn’t quite add up with the Brits saying that Salisbury would take months to clean up…
as someone else said in response to this ; the guardian relays testimony of the UOSSM that the medics interviewed by the Russians were subject to “extreme intimidation” to deny that the attack occurred. “UOSSM happens to be the main organization that trains and supports the White Helmets in Syria! What a coincidence!” why doesn’t the guardian just stick with white helmet videos 24/7? why go for less? ORWELL HQ was how someone else referred to the guardian.. that about sums it up… who reads the horrible rag anymore?
Yes James, I am totally dismayed that the Guardian, a once truly good newspaper, has become a propaganda machine for the Government and joined the MSM in this. What has happened to their editorial team that they cannot even report impartially or factually or even secure an interview with Fisk himself. I don’t follow the MSM any more I find better and more impartial reporting on RT Today, Al Jazeera, The Canary and other alternative news sites.
Kareem Shaheen and Martin Chulov have been consistent mouthpieces for the Al Qaeda led terrorist outfit. Thier reporting has been so one sided and I am not even sure that either of them has recently been to Syria to report directly.
Thanks Craig.
I wonder at it myself.
It only strengthens my resolve, in my own small way
Happy to know there is a greater movement out there
Of like minded folk.
Even more so when there is guy’s like yourself.
I try not to assume anything, although might have with the
SNP.
They do not seem to be pushing for anything, especially in the face of increased obfuscation and downright arrogance by the English state.
For instance , are they taking the English state to the Nth
Degree by this latest supreme court action?
I believe the supreme court ,like the Spanish courts are politically controlled.
I will be surprised if they come down on the side of Scotland.
If they do the English will enact the Royal prerogative
Which trumps all in their selatious doings.
I was surprised myself, with NS statement on the Salisbury
Incident if there was an incident.
We all knew there was no proof either way and now the bombardment of Syria.
Now they can bypass their parliament whenever.
MAD.
Regards
Keep safe.
I love this – thank you Kenneth.
We all know that whatever flavour of democracy one aspires to … there will always be those who seek to subvert that process for personal gain. A key component that safeguards against this happening is a free press. The current situation in the west, the chaos and potential catastrophe that is only a few seconds away …. is primarily due to the failure of that safe guard. The responsibility for that in the final analysis lies with the silence and compliance of the journalists themselves with the machinations of those who own the media and their political allies.
I’m glad you named some.
I believe naming and shaming them , holding them personally to account and making it clear to them they will not be forgotten if ever we make it through this era of disgraceful journalism is the only avenue left to head off the impending disasters. . They have failed themselves, their families, the people and their country … shame on them!
I agree with you completely. The media has not spoken “Truth to power” but become mere stenographers for the most blatant lies.
The Armada is approaching. Even if the Syrian side may be able to take out 2/3 of the rockets of the first batch, it will not help much. The batteries themselves will be pulverized this time. The enormous U.S. military bases on the Arabian Peninsular and elsewhere in the region will then be brought into play. The small local Russian forces will be pressed into defending themselves, a hopeless and meaningless undertaking & situation. Too much is at stake for Russia, for the Syrian Government and even perhaps for the World. I have this suggestion to Mr Putin.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich .
Time to do a tactical withdraw? My suggestion: Return all of your forces to Russia. Give asylum to the members of the Syrian Government who want to go. Leave the mess to the Americans and their allies. They will learn the hard way how to face the consequences of their stupidity. After a long time, when the opposition groups have annihilated each other, and probably many other changes in the M.E. landscape, perhaps the remaining people of Syria will ask the Assad government – or at least its members – to return, who knows.
Good luck, and best wishes for peace and prosperity to Russia. Olaf
Show me an Armada and I’ll show you a target.
Dear Olaf Olafivich
I have a sneaking suspicion that Vladimir Vladimerovich is well aware of the intricacies and dangers of the situation and that he knows that the major showdown might well be coming. But I am also sure that VV knows what he has up his sleeves and did so since his U.N. speech of September 2015 when he took on the empire and defied it openly.
Also in a related way, note how out of all this ‘international community’ only three who can protect themselves in the UNSC have come out openly in this belligerent action with even other prominent NATO members hiding behind mummy’s skirt. The only other allies they have are the Wahhabi staunch democrats and the Apartheid state. So we wait and see this intricate chess game.
Russia is winning, why would they retrieve?
Also, you need not forget why they came in first place. ISIS where threat to some parts of Russia and they need to react on the source. Same thing with China. Basically, west went to far with this Arab spring and they needed to defend vital Russian interests by protecting Syria. This is why it is so dangerous to start ww3. In case of any serious US or UK attack they will respond in kind. It could easily be a nuclear exchange.
I suppose escapism is excusable in the circumstances of Mrs May declaring WW3 and taking 10 years to apologise for the crimes she committed in the Home Office. Are to understand that unlike Messrs Blair et al and Cameron et al, Mrs May is going to issue an apology for the destruction of life as we know it in 2028 when I would have been d.v. 73 ?
I suppose it’s the feminism factor, that you can’t be a proper female politician without copying Maggie and bonding with Caliban Mrs May. Like Trump playing to his domestic audiences , methinks Ms Sturgeon is misunderstood concerning her target audience. She doesn’t think Mrs May is right about Russia poisoning the Skirpals or Assad poisoning kids in Douma, but she does think its right that women politicians can play the role of starting WW3 if they want to. There is no glass ceiling. Everything else has been molten into glass except the sky.
Sturgeon is a member of the privy council. She has taken an oath of allegiance. She has thus pledged loyalty to the British establishment and.. “Everything is but discourse until her Majesty gives her consent.” In other words everything that is central to sovereignty, defense and security is in contention until validated at a secret meeting of the council. Sturgeon must resign from the council to be trusted.
Trouble in Paradise?
https://apple.news/ABtcRb1ZtQVu0xnPFnK55FQ
Don,t know about that crackerjack what with Celtic looking to win the league pos the treble everything looks rosie to me in “Paradise” no wot I mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-NEHsSl1z8
Say nah more! Putin stooge!
LOL, thanks for the smile this morning.
Eh its late but a few comments caught my eye , the people posting their dislike of Nicola Sturgeon and by association the SNP Who are you working for ? , because it certainly isn’t the independence movement , Name one ,just one other political Party that can deliver Independence , Let me help you out there isn’t one . These posters seem to have got lost on the way to the scotsman or the Herald and instead stopped off to have a dump here looking for click bait and spread their particular brand of venom and bile carry on chaps , seen it all before your kidding no one .
I think you misjudge many by referring to their “dislike” of Sturgeon. Many of those who have commented and expressed dismay are supporters of Sturgeon, her Party and independence.
They are taken aback that Sturgeon, Blackford and Defence Spokesman McDonald could have associated their Party and Scotland with May’s reckless and irresponsible actions in recent weeks.
It isn’t necessary to be “working for” a body opposed to independence in order to be alarmed by the mess Sturgeon and Co have made of this. What is more alarming, actually, is that you seem to be suggesting that no one should ever criticise the SNP simply because it’s the only Party backing independence. I call that worrying.
I feel the same as Jo – I’d vote “yes” if a referendum on independence were to be held tomorrow, but was shocked and really disappointed that her response to the Skripal affair and the alleged gas attack in Douma wasn’t the same as Jeremy Corbyn’s. I also think that, at the moment, the SNP is the only party that will deliver independence. My worry is that it is being too cautious.
Thanks Craig
You were a diplomat, badly treated I understand and from the way your views were suppressed it is no wonder you question everything. I was a journalist and PRO for Labour, retired.
I speak from my experience. Robert Fisk was not interviewed by the mainstream media because they don’t trust his reports. He has in the past made serious errors. This time, when in Douma, he filed a report after speaking to just one doctor who he himself says said something that indicated he was an Assad supporter. Fisk’s report proves nothing and actually helps feed conspiracy. The balance therefore indicated chemical weapons were used. Illogical to use them, yes. But War is not tidy. The more interesting question to me is the Macron ‘proof’ (what is it?) and the Jeremy Bowen reports – (at least twice on BBC news) he mentioned images of dead bodies and ‘foam’ at the mouth – evidence which the public have not been allowed to see. I think we are quite able to bear seeing the same material that Bowen speaks about, if it exists and can be assured it is not the same images from 2013. In 2013 when 800 people were killed by chemical attacks by Assad, the West failed to respond. Hypocrisy and lack of foresight there and also in not realising that Putin and Russia, needed delicate handling diplomatically in the past by the West and because we did not we have blocked acess. Russians are a proud people. The Syria reprisal, a meaningless gesture in itself, was simply to save face. It won’t actually do anything to stop Assad. Its too late to do that. While I agree that Parliament should have had a say – May was hardly going to wait until Monday for something Trump and Macron wanted to do at the weekend, before Parliament came back after recess. The failure of good men in Politics is often down to self-inflicted injuries. How Corbyn rows back from this is hard to see, especially with other pressures such as the weaponising of the fomented anti-Semitism accusations, whipped up far in excess of reality by those who wish to do Corbyn harm. He should have been deft and simply supported May in the House over Russia/Skripal when she first raised it and asked his reasonable questions later, and b) never allowed his team to believe Fisk or give news interviews about it. A conspiracy theory too far.
I would trust Robert Fisk’s reports over the corrupt and discredited “mainstream media” who are pushing the government’s war mongering agenda.
Absolutely Kathy. Sorry Rosie, but your account makes no sense to anyone with a modicum of critical thinking skills. Assad knew that the one act that would give an excuse for the most powerful military in the world to intervene in a war he had already won would be to use CW. To do so would show not that war is not ‘tidy’, but that Assad and his military are suicidally insane. It is clear from the conduct of the war against the F.U.K.U.S.IS insurgency they are anything but. To hold your view of the situation one must not only discount logic, but must have unwavering trust in the statements of the proven liars in U.K./U.S./French government and intelligence. Your perjorative use of the word ‘conspiracy’ as an explanation for Fisk’s reporting would suggest that you believe that intelligence agencies do not conspire to fool other governments and the general public despite all the available historical evidence that this is exactly what they are masters of. Perhaps your pre-retirement association with a Labour administration that formented an illegal and murderous war on the basis of fabricated intelligence should have made you slightly more skeptical of the claims of ‘experts’ in the M.I.C. and MSM.
By the way, your unsubstantiated smear of Fisk was unbecoming to say the least.
To anyone with a modicum of thinking skills? Please. I am usually right. I give my name on here too., It is not good enough to simply say all the mainstream media are wrong on this. I am not going to be convinced by people who don’t give their name on here. I do. Robert Fisk is not smeared . I don’t descend to that. I gave an accurate summary of his report from Douma and it is also reflected in Craig’s own summary. Any brief trawl on Robert Fisk’s posts will show quite clearly where he ‘leans in’ on his reports. He said quite clearlyh, all medical staff witnesses were not there when he came to Douma. HYe asked one eprson and that person indicated by what he said that we was an Assad supporter. And I am not against questioning, I ask questions myself. You do yourself and others a disservice CanExpat by your response.
Last time I looked Fisk was working for The Independent which is part of the main stream media. A piss-poor part granted but a part nonetheless.
Rosie Brocklehurst, I’d be interested in a link or two to Robert Fisk’s ‘serious errors’. Years ago I read about several minor errors in one of his books – it sounded like nit-picking to me, given the size of the book and the amount of material it contained. Anyway, if you could bring me up to date on where he’s going wrong, I’d be grateful. I think the work of Vanessa Beeley and Eva Bartlett should also be added to the balance on the Fisk side. They don’t have Fisk’s profile but during this war they have spent more time in Syria than he has.
Absolutely! Which serious errors? And would they in any way call into question Fisk’s credibility? Come on, let’s have the details.
I’m sure Rosie Brocklehurst has made a few errors in her time. Does she suggest that we should also ignore everything that she is now saying?
Fisk reported from the hospital that was on the video apparently used as damning proof that Assad used chemical weapons. The doctor said quite clearly that the people there were suffering from a lack of oxygen due to breathing in dust. Backed up by the mother in this clip (which has been doctored by the BBC but still supports the dust story)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-middle-east-43776015/syria-chemical-attack-girl-seen-in-hospital-video-speaks
Please ask yourself how a child in a basement would know that a “barrel” eas dropped letbalone went pfft. And this is the cleaned up version. Sadly you have to take my word that the original video they posted was strange from the Jihadi propagandists and the was frankly beyond credible. But having said that note the mothers words. “There was white smoke”. That is not Chlorine which has a green tinge. That was most likely pulverised plaster or morter or concrete which backs up the doctors story
Fisk did not rule out Assad, merely suggested thst the gas story was “highly unlikely”. My qoute. All IMV of course
And sadly we cant rule out a fake attack somewhere else in Douma bit I think we can say that the reasons used for our attack on Syria were based on a lie. “Open Sources” indeed
@ Rosie Brocklehurst: Corbyn should have ignored the stench of black ops and joined May in blaming Russia in the absence of any evidence? Is that your idea of political proficiency?
“I speak from my experience. Robert Fisk was not interviewed by the mainstream media because they don’t trust his reports.”
Here we go again. Different Alias but same rubbish.
The NYT, BBC, Guardian, and basically all the mainstream US/UK media spread outright lies about Iraqi WMDs with the help of the same ‘journalists’ who are aping for a war with Syria. Why should we trust them? Fisk might have made a few minor errors in his long career, we all do. The Iraqi WMD lies were not mere errors, they were a crime. Fisk lives in the ME and he actually tries to visit the lands he reporting about, unlike the mainstream armchair warriors filing their reports from London. There is Patrick Cockburn from the Independent, who is also ignored by the MSM. And Fisk is open about the polotical bias of the interviewed doctor, while the MSM tries to present the White Helmets as saints with no political affiliation. I take Fisk and Cockburn over your MSM hacks any day. It seems the only people foaming at the mouth in this sorry saga are the ones sitting at their desks in London and urging yet another war on an Arab country.
Public Trust has gone, period. Recent history has left us with so many lies, oh so many lies and scandal and what with all these whistle blowers I feel the public can be forgiven for being doubters of the official line. It is a failure of Government just when things are ratcheting up on the old climate change existential front too. Giddens, he talks about this loss of faith and trust in our ‘expert systems’, blames the Internet and completely neglects all the lies and failures of Governance. Oh, to engage with but one of your points. Many of those performing the ‘left wing Corybyn-ite-anti-Semite role’ are ravenous consumes of Cambridge Analytica’s output and Breitbart news and are very much ‘anti Corbyn’.
Fisk reported what he found. He didn’t say ‘This is what happened’ but ‘This is what someone said happened’
Exactly. A reporter is not in the business of providing opinion, proof or refutations.
Rosie said
“The more interesting question to me is the Macron ‘proof’ (what is it?) and the Jeremy Bowen reports – (at least twice on BBC news) he mentioned images of dead bodies and ‘foam’ at the mouth – evidence which the public have not been allowed to see. I think we are quite able to bear seeing the same material that Bowen speaks about,”
Rosie. Check out this link from moonofalabama where you can find links to those videos as well as still images taken from them.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/syria-manipulated-videos-fail-to-launch-world-war-iii.html#more
You will note from the still images that various bodies have been moved from one position to another, and that one body is shown at one point without foam at the mouth, and at another point with foam. Shaving cream perhaps?
Access not ‘acess’ I meant.
Rosie must not have read Robert Fisk’s article – which includes his speaking with numerous people in Douma. It’s more than apparent that the establishment state/corporate media are afraid of interviewing voices that contradict their dishonest narrative. We’ve witnessed numerous examples of this in recent weeks with respect to the situations in Salisbury and Syria.
For this reason Ishmahil Blagrove suggests a new approach to this dynamic:
“Public protests frustrate me because the energy and time invested do not reap the desired results – except to provide selfie photo opportunities for many of the public who want to simply say that they were there. This is not to undermine public protest in its entirety, but to argue that the strategy behind them needs to be revisited. I felt the ‘Stop The War’ movement was embraced by the state because it pacified public anger. Rally, chant, and go home. When Obama came to power, his blackness short-circuited liberal sensibilities, for unlike the anti-Bush and Blair pictures and slogans that were ubiquitous at every rally, there were none of Obama when he maintained the U.S. position on Guantanamo, when he continued the bombings of Afghanistan and Iraq, when he supported the overthrow of Morsi the first democratically elected president of Egypt, when he overthrew Gaddafi, or when he sponsored radical Islamists to overthrow Assad… Instead of rallying 200,000+ protesters to gather in Trafalgar Square, rally them to the BBC and Sky News headquarters, The Times, The Guardian and the Daily Mail, name specific journalists, put their faces on placards, expose their individual lies and complicity, expose their ties and connections, expose the corruption, expose the stranglehold that a handful of billionaires have over the British news media, expose the outlets of propaganda and the propaganda itself. Disembowel the propaganda machine and you muffle the establishments mouthpiece and the Republican Guard of this corrupt State.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3301635/Cash-bid-halt-doctors-strike-Jeremy-Hunt-makes-pay-offer-15-avert-meltdown-371-consultants-sign-letter-warning-E-staff-crisis.html
p.s. the correct URL for Blagrove’s cri de coeur is:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156445229303969&set=a.481100148968.242938.711488968&type=3
The SOF (Salisbury Occupation Force) has settled in for several months’ garrison duties, evidence demolition and “disinfection” (©Russian Embassy).
The Russkies do it faster — forty-eight hours, done and dusted. But then Salisbury is a much cushier billet than Douma.
quasi_verbatim
That must be why everybody one knows is out of work, because the Jaish al MI5 has stolen all the fit and able-bodied for covering up false-flag operations. This will make work for Salisbury cafes and toilet cleaners, because they all have to be fed on military diets and occupy the empty B & B’s of this historic town. That’ll keep them busy until their needed to clean up the false flag Damascus operation.
Quasi, SOF as far as I can tell, are not decontaminating anything because there isn’t anything to decontaminate – they are destroying evidence that destroys the Govt’s propaganda and lies!
So, Here I am taking on the National again..
Cat Boyd – The National –
” THE chemical attack on Douma was not “staged”. This was no “false flag”, there was no Western conspiracy, and anyone who claims otherwise has misunderstood this conflict. The atrocity didn’t come out of nowhere. It fits with President Assad’s pattern of behaviour. Since the murderous civil war began, his forces have indiscriminately killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. The “opposition” aren’t much better, but Assad has shown himself unworthy of leadership, and, ideally, he should be punished for his war crimes by a credible international court.”
Me –
” The most Disgusting Piece of National writing EVER
Has Boyd ever been on the Ground during the wests Manufactured Slaughter of Syrians.
Unlike Robert Fisk, Vanessa Beeley, Tom Duggan, Eva Bartlett.”
Brian
The West has no boots on the ground, only carpet slippers and a strong imagination. But there again there might be some leathery things with rubber on the bottom directing freedom fighters where to point their weapons by sticking wet fingers up in the wind.
Cat “enough about me what do you think of my hair?” Boyd.
That Cat Boyd?
I’ll tell you why I don’t like political Islam or its military wing Al Qaida.
In 2001 or 2002, after I had been experiencing my usual problems as an English Muslim convert with the Asian community bypassing the Building Regulations, I met a Kurdish, CIA agent who had been involved in several countries in CIA/MI6 jihad , including Kurdistan and Afghanistan. He tried to woo me to his jihadist cause by nice food and friendship. He started to re-educate me minute by minute on every tiny thing from how to eat, sleep , make sex, clean my teeth. Some beneficial, some deeply pernicious. But the main problem I found with his teachings on Takfirism. They told me that Islam is not for everyone; war is the normal condition of man; a man should be able to defend himself and his family; if you didn’t pray in the right mosque your prayers were not accepted; one should join an Islamic group against the USUKIS anti-Iraq coalition.
it’s funny, the way these people remain firmly prevented by their medical conditions, age and family responsibilities, bringing up their children in welfare Britain, while preying on isolated individuals they can sell as recruits for MI6’s Islamist , colonial jihad. It had already earned him a substantial amount of property in Kurdistan. Unfortunately for him I am not a total sucker for chicken and rice and I refused to listen. he did find me a wife but indicated jokingly he wanted some payment in return.
Finding me unwilling to be sold to public enemy no. 1 in the whole world, the British government, he then cut relations with me even though that is forbidden inside family ties in Islam. He told me he would persecute me through my friends and family and there was nothing I could do to prevent him. He contacted all my friends and Kurdish family to trun them against me. Then he contacted all my English family and befriended my wealthy mum, whom he persuaded to cut me out of her will. If he was visiting her , I was faced with a police car sitting in the car park, and he unfortunately left his hat on the stairs in his scrabble not to get caught red-handed.
He then proceeded to exercise his malign influence at work. They found me a job inside a Muslim company and he tried to get me do work which I consider haram, such as CCTV installation. Spying is not allowed in Islam.. then he contacted my Asian friends and relayed to them some information about me he had found, with his Muslim Brotherhood friends through internet and mobile phone spying. Then he did the same in Kurdistan. his most recent annoyances have been trying to set a honey trap for me by getting me a job in Student Accommodation. A trap I carefully did not fall in. Then they tried to pretend that I had made a joke that was too close to the knuckle to be acceptable and sacked me for nothing.
The most recent episode in this long and baffling campaign was for him to befriend my next door neighbour and set him against me, talking big Asian man talk in a mixture of Kurdish and English, to let me know what was happening. In other words since he was unable to persuade me by reasonable argument or by quoting from the Islamic sources, of the righteousness of causing hell on earth for our fellow Muslims for the benefit of the colonial powers, he decided I must be coerced. Fuck off little man.
I wish that there was a video of this exchange from Monday’s long Syria debate. Theresa May’s true character emerged. She glared at the young Labour MP and gave the reply in staccato form, one word at a time, and with her voice raised. Pure venom.
Laura Smith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)
Among those of us who have been trying to follow President Trump’s tweets over the past week, I cannot be the only person who has found it extremely difficult to keep track of whether he was for military action or against military action, so I wonder whether the Prime Minister can tell us at what point the President instructed her that military action would be taken.
The Prime Minister
The answer to the hon. Lady’s question is this: at no point at all. I took this decision, because I believed it was the right thing to do and it was in our national interest. It is a decision that should, I believe, be supported by anybody who recognises that we need to re-establish the international norms in relation to the use, and the prohibition of the use, of chemical weapons.
_______
and another
Laura Pidcock (North West Durham) (Lab)
I have not heard much clarity on this, so will the Prime Minister tell us whether she is planning to use Executive powers again with regard to military action in Syria—in breach of the commonly understood parliamentary protocol that would have given the House a say in a matter of war? There is clear opposition from British people to airstrikes, and I think the public are right to be sceptical, so will the Prime Minister also explain how Friday night’s airstrikes have improved the safety and security of Syrian people practically, when we are aware that the bombing and violence is continuing unabated throughout the region?
The Prime Minister
I have responded to a number of questions in relation to Parliament. In the second part of the hon. Lady’s question, she asks about what impact this will have. The strikes that took place were about degrading the chemical weapons capability of the Syrian regime. As I have said in answer to other questions, the assessment we have made is that the strikes were successful. We obviously continue to build that picture, but that is our assessment of the strikes that have taken place. It is by degrading its chemical weapons capability that we can have an impact and ensure that we are reducing the likelihood of the humanitarian suffering in the future.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-04-16/debates/92610F86-2B91-4105-AE8B-78D018453D1B/Syria#contribution-F3451F7C-8DE3-475B-A8B5-CE359B2C6FA0
ie Don’t you dare to question me, you young female Labour MPs!
Mrs May is an extremely fragile, touchy individual. But it’s a difficult environment in which to tackle her. She has an army of braying apes cheering her every word and shouting down anybody who challenges her. And across the aisle, half the people on the Labour benches still think the Iraq war was a good thing and are up for bombing anywhere, anytime, for any reason. Mini-Hillary Sturgeon seems to be cut from the same cloth.
BrianFujisan
April 18, 2018 at 04:54
I agree with you Brian, anyone describing the Syria situation as being or having been a ‘civil war’ is wilfully spreading disinformation and are a lost cause, what remnant of a mind they might have is already made up for them, they’re sorry excuses for ‘democrats’ making the case for regime change for war and for genocide, religious supremacist crusader Israel-firsters without a shred of awareness of how disgusting and ridiculous their position is.
Sturgeon has been spooked in some way in several different senses, or had always been a wrong ‘un, a career politician first and foremost. Selection of and vetting potential candidates centrally to weed out those with genuine conviction set alarm bells ringing loudly. As a party they’ve mutated into New Labour in a quite astonishing way, were soon mired in the same tiresome useless identity politics posturing which has poisoned politics for decades, as a displacement activity, as a substitute for having any meaningful, useful practical or honourable distance between themselves and those they affect to oppose. When such intrinsic things as person’s racial mix, sex, sexuality, are of so little account, of no importance politically, are arguments already long ago won decisively for perfect equality, that people are weary of it, that it is absurd to waste so much or indeed any of their time and effort debating and arguing these issues, internally or without. All smoke and no fire. The independence cause was a means to an end and that end was swelling the bank balances of these otherwise unemployables. I wish I was wrong, I wish it wasn’t so, but experience has taught me there is forlorn hope now.
The great hope then were actually directionless and rudderless lightweights and frauds, they have become the new establishment, a safety valve that opened then closed again; whether beaten down or more probably bought, they submitted with ease, and are so far already removed from the people they sought to represent as to have become be no less a menace and a danger to us all than the Tories all politicians aspire to and eventually become.
Theresa May’s maiden speech June 1997, 21 long years ago. BLiar had come to power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRtzS7G-hAs
She was full of herself even then as a newcomer. Before she had been a councillor.
and her first question to BLiar, following her obvious makeover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDITJ-Xk3Zc
Earlier she had been a councillor in the London Borough of Merton until 1994 and then stood for parliament in Barking, but came third.
http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/news/theresa-may-tried-to-look-like-essex-girl-in-1994-barking-by-election-1-4621845
Fisk has been reporting on and off from on the ground in Syria since the war began (he lives in Beirut). At the beginning he bought into the official narrative but when Syrian soldiers started being killed en masse, even when attending funerals of fallen comrades, he realized what he is seeing and hearing does not match the official media narrative.
He’s talked to people who lived under Islamist rule many times before and their accounts were never flattering. He’s also spoken to prisoners held by the government, SAA commanders, soldiers, residents of towns just liberated from ISIS and many other people besides. I’m surprised it has taken so long for people following the ”wrong side” of the Syrian war to notice his work. He also criticizes the Syrian government when he thinks it is warranted so maybe that is why 😉
Labour MPs attacking Jeremy Corbyn on anti-semitism yesterday include:
Ruth Smeeth, former employee of BICOM — http://powerbase.info/index.php/Ruth_Smeeth – and whose claim to have received 20,000 abusive online messages in 12 hours is challenged here – http://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/antisemitism/searching-truth-line-abuse-allegations/
Luciana Berger, former director of Labour Friends of Israel — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciana_Berger
John Mann, criticised for his evidence in unsuccessful “antisemitism” Employment Tribunal case — https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tribunal-slams-academic-for-bringing-anti-semitism-case/2002841.article
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/Judgments/eemployment-trib-fraser-v-uni-college-union-judgment.pdf
Now, now Craig. You know better than most how the British political establishment works and the use of doublespeak to get through a situation sometimes. Are you possibly, denouncing Nicola Sturgeon and Co. from the comfort of your armchair ?
I was told he composes articles while standing on his head on the bathroom floor.
Are they giving this kind of statements by submission or by stupidity ?
I agree that Chulov and Shaheen’s article in the Grauniad – from Beirut and Istanbul respectively – on the “intimidation” of Douma medics appears to be a direct damage-limitation response to Robert Fisk’s Independent article. I pointed out in the comments section of Fisk’s article that the “Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations” is advised by none other than Hamish de Bretton Gordon, the well-known NATO propagandist and “chemical weapons expert”. Several other commentators made related points.
This morning, the Fisk article is still on the Independent’s website, but all the comments seem to have disappeared . . .
The Independent’s approach to censorship, in my experience, is less systematic than the Grauniad’s – more sweeping and crude, as if they haven’t quite perfected the propaganda game yet . . .
That’s sad. The comments section has been entirely removed from the article.
It’s also rather ironic since the majority of comments were congratulating Fisk and/or “The Independent” for such a great piece of journalism.
I was under the impression that MPs with financial interests had to declare them and desist from involvement.
There is no question now that May must recuse herself and has in fact been working knowingly to enrich her family without declaration
It must be a resigning matter and she should be out of politics altogether for not being open about her families financial – huge financial interests..
https://www.rt.com/uk/424392-may-husbands-capital-group/
This is blatant.
This massive financial interest should have been noted to the House and its standards.
How much lower can this globalist treasonous shrill sink – not much?
There are 367 comments on that RT piece.
Wonder what investments Rees-Mogg’s investment vehicle, Somerset Capital, has in armaments manufacture. All investigative journalism has been squelched in the mainstream media.
I agree,
And how many more of that disgusting braying pack posing as MPs.
I would like to know if this financial investment in war and mass murder has been declared by May in the Commons financial register – if not why not?
The public should know of it urgently – that she has a personal financial interest on promoting war.
If its not there Corbyn has a duty to expose it and a right to demand her resignation.
This is a very serious matter.
Craig – I trust the SNP will take this up.
Its no longer supposition.
RT spells it out.
I completely agree with Craig on this,I have been banging the drum”not the Lambeg one” I might add about the SNP being the “enemy within” they are after all politicians so it follows self interest.
I don’t think anyone is saying the SNP is the enemy within as far as the goal of independence is concerned. Criticism surrounds their toothless, uninspiring, and non-confrontational approach. It is my guess that this approach was decided on and put in place when Sturgeon took over in 2014 and it might have made more sense then than it does now.
But times and conditions have changed since then. It simply doesn’t make sense to be so conservative on a ship that is sinking and sinking fast. And let’s be clear, the UK is a sinking ship. I’m not just referring to Brexit which by itself is possibly going to do untold damage to lives, livelihoods, and prospects in Scotland.
The UK is firmly in the grip of a gang of right-wing monsters who don’t just disregard the poor and disadvantaged, they seem to actively enjoy torturing them. Look at the cuts to key services for the disabled and Grenfell. Reliance on food-banks, and I still can’t believe they even exist, is growing massively — that’s the welfare system now, basically soup kitchens.
Look at the illegal wars and the way everything is papered over to allow them to involve us in unending wars in places like Libya. It’s extremely dangerous. But it isn’t just the tories. The Liberals and Labour have consented to all of the above and more, from Iraq to cuts and Grenfell, playing key roles in containing public feeling and channelling it into areas harmless to the grand plan which is to turn the UK into a deregulated low-tax sewer.
These things should be like gifts from heaven for the SNP and the case of independence. All of it and more. Craig Murray rightly pointed out that the SNP basically stopped arguing for independence after the defeat of 2014. I think they stopped — possibly never even started — talking about a lot of things, some of them I have mentioned here.
Seriously, when you stand back and look at the mess the UK is in and where it is going, a 5 year old could make a better case for independence than the SNP has managed to come up with since Sturgeon took over. Nobody really even disputes that. They call you a “concern troll” and accuse you of causing division. Division of what exactly? Fuck all.