Broken Britain 43: The British state, not asylum-seekers, threatens our ‘way of life’ – Ben Chacko

In a recent editorial, Ben Chacko (below left) argues that the callousness of gangs extorting huge sums from desperate people to abandon them to dangerous sea crossings is beyond doubt but that – compared with the government – these are small-scale criminals.

Here are several of the points he made

British state policy guarantees that refugee numbers will continue to rise, he writes: “The political establishment, Labour as well as Tory, is a key driver of global instability : it  supports warmongering abroad, sending a “flood of armaments to and beyond war zones, causing outward ripples of violence as the fallout from the Libyan war has done across north-west Africa”.

He quotes ‘others on the left’ who have said: “The enemies of the British people arrive not in dinghies but on private jets” ( one reference found).

These include the spivs and speculators who have bought up our water and energy supplies, run our railways into the ground, sucked hundreds of millions out of our postal service and have their greedy eyes fixed on our NHS are the real threat to our “way of life.”

The Conservative government has exposed us to the highest energy prices anywhere on Earth, using inflation to force down living standards and planning legislation to outlaw effective strike action entirely.

Our problem is not a lack of resources but their hoarding by the privileged few.

The rising refugee numbers tell us about the unfolding human tragedies in their countries of origin. They speak to the ruination of entire countries through aggressive wars like those launched by our government against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

Our government shrugs its shoulders in the face of catastrophic climate change and is doing nothing to address the spreading famines caused by increasingly severe droughts and floods, the consequences of global warming.

The refugee crisis is just one symptom of a politically backed economic world order that damages the interests and environments of the vast majority of people worldwide

An increasing number of people are seeing this more clearly and – like Ben Chacko –  are calling for a new world order which will serve the interests of the 99%.

 

 

 

 

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Experienced players move to create stable non-aligned states in the space between NATO and Russia

Stuart Richardson (NEU & STWC) draws attention to a recent article by Lindsey German (below right) which opens:

“It’s a remarkable sight to see the British government in righteous mode about someone else going to war. This is after all a government grossly complicit in all the modern wars, most recently the failed interventions on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

“It sells arms and provides aircraft and personnel to help the Saudi-led coalition prosecute its war in Yemen, which has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, and which was responsible only last week for the bombing of a detention centre which killed nearly a hundred and injured hundreds more”.

She asks if Boris Johnson is trying to raise Britain’s profile in the warmongering stakes, in order to distract from his domestic travails:

“What could be better from his point of view than some flag waving and sabre rattling as an alternative to votes of no confidence, reports on parties, and stories of Tory whips blackmailing MPs?”

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is being portrayed as a plucky democratic David versus an evil totalitarian Goliath, despite the far larger combined power of NATO, UK, US and EU supporting Ukraine, writes German:

“ NATO was a product of the Cold War, as was its East European counterpart, the Warsaw Pact. the latter was disbanded, but NATO embarked on a process of military intervention in three major wars – Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya.

“Despite assurances given to Russian leaders after 1989 (see classified documents released from the National Security Archives in Washington) that NATO would not expand eastwards of the borders of what was then East Germany, NATO ls stationing troops and conducting military exercises on Russia’s borders”.

The claim made by MI6 over the weekend that Putin plans to install a puppet regime in Kyiv following a war has been treated with derision by the ‘puppet’, Yevhen Murayev, a former Ukrainian MP, who is the subject of Russian sanctions:

“My family’s assets there have been seized. How do the UK secret services and the Foreign Office square that with Russia supposedly wanting to make me the head of an occupation government — that’s a question for Mr Bean?”) Financial Times)

Lindsey German stresses that the risk of war is ever present and we must be clear that there is no justification for it and find a diplomatic solution which recognises reality on both sides. 

Experienced ‘players’ are doing just that: see February’s Briefing Paper No.90 by Dr. Ian Davis (below):

The answer lies in developing a European security architecture that includes a more prominent place for militarily non-aligned and neutral states and that promotes common security (as championed by the OSCE) rather than collective security (as championed by NATO) – the creation of stable and successful non-aligned states in the space between NATO and Russia—building on established thinking.

 

 

 

 

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Media 119: Belmarsh Tribunal charges U.S. with crimes against humanity – UK state media silent

Srecko Horvata (centre) addresses the Belmarsh Tribunal on Julian Assange

On Friday, the Tribunal held its first face-to-face session at the London Convocation Hall. Testimony was given about the consequences of wars in several countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and about the imprisonment of Julian Assange, who revealed such information.

The New York Times reports that the US Justice Department spent years examining whether Mr. Assange was working directly with the Russian government, but legal experts point out that what is known about his activities in 2016 — including publishing stolen emails — is not criminal, and therefore it would be difficult to bring charges against him related to the Russian interference campaign.

Court documents have confirmed that Russian intelligence provided Mr. Assange with thousands of emails hacked from the Democratic National Committee and the personal account of John D. Podesta, the chairman of the Clinton campaign. Read more here.

Assange’s greatest legal jeopardy remains WikiLeaks’ work in other areas, such as publishing U.S. Iraq War documents and diplomatic cables.

Telesur, a Latin American television network, reports that a range of expert speakers has given detailed testimony. Former US Justice Department chief spokesman Matthew Miller pointed out, “It is one thing to charge a government official who has sworn an oath not to disclose classified information. It’s another thing to charge someone outside the government who published information or solicited information, which is something that reporters do all the time.”

A measured overview of the British judicial system by Tariq Ali (right), We are witnessing a war against democracy – YouTube may be heard by following the above link. His testimony at the tribunal hearing may be seen and heard here (scroll down).

As MP Jeremy Corbyn told the hearing, Julian Assange, who is still imprisoned in Belmarsh, has already “paid a very, very high price for his lifelong determination to expose the truth” adding:

“The perpetrators of the crimes are free, and many of them remain prominent public figures in the United States”.

He considers that Assange is a hero for making public the evidence of these crimes, which included random killings of civilians, lies being told to justify the illegal invasion of Iraq, and tortures in Guantanamo Bay.

On Wednesday the US government is scheduled to appeal against Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s ruling that Assange cannot be extradited. Not only is Assange “outside” the US government, he is not even a US citizen.

To deport him to face prison in the US for publishing information on US war crimes would establish Washington’s right to jail problem journalists — anywhere in the world.

 

 

 

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Bad decisions by government 51: futile military manoeuvres, raising tensions & wasting taxpayers’ money

“Global Britain in Action”  – despite the need to address the NHS backlog, growing unemployment and climate change – is to send a ‘Carrier Strike Group’ on a four month American led exercise to India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

Readers who expressed concern about this should know that taxpayers are also helping to fund NATO’s Operation Defender Europe 2021 excursions (February-June).

As Derek Leebaert points out in the Financial Times, the US by now has failed at four wars in a row: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam and Korea, where its doomed counter-invasion to “liberate” the north in 1950-51 claimed 28,345 battle deaths out of a total of 33,739 American lives lost:

“Each war ended up unrecognisably, disastrously, far from the mission declared at the start. It’s an unnerving record  . . . Uniformed and civilian enthusiasts alike assured us there would be an easy victory in every case. Americans have no reason to believe outcomes will be different in a military clash over Taiwan or some other flashpoint billed by Washington as the next hinge moment of history”.

The USA’s Army Times reports that NATO’s Operation Defender Europe 2021 will include “nearly simultaneous operations across more than 30 training areas” on Russia’s western borders and on the territory of several former Soviet states.

It is only one of 19 NATO exercises this year- the grandiose titles (eg: DYNAMIC MASTERMIND and DRAGON READY) may be seen in this parliamentary answer. In another continent, African Lion — mid-May to mid-June – is the U.S. Africa Command annual training event using 5,000 troops from 24 nations primarily in Morocco, running large-scale live fire, medical readiness, air, maritime and forward command post training exercises.

Ben Chacko links the influence of Britain’s arms industry and banking investments to government’s willingness to spend taxpayers’ money in this way. He notes that between 400 and 500 British troops and civilians died in this latest Afghan war and getting on for 10,000 casualties are recorded. And ends:

“The human cost to the people whose land this is are, of course, in their uncounted thousands. This hopeless operation cost £15 million a day to sustain the hopeless Helmand operation. If each of that benighted province’s 1.5 million people had received their portion of that sum in a basic income supplement they would have been £25,000 better off . . .

“And nothing like that sum is available to help the 6,000 former soldiers now homeless in Britain”.

Secret State 29: Why doesn’t the MoD tell the whole truth about our military operations in Iraq?

As British forces aid death and destruction in several countries, the BBC and many other mainstream media outlets remain silent but report at length on trivia like the divorce of an American show business personality  

The MoD website states that Britain is not taking part in combat operations in Iraq: “British troops are not in a combat role in Iraq but are on the ground with coalition partners providing training and equipment to Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Kurdish Security Forces (KSF)”.

It fails to add that the Royal Air Force takes part in Operation Inherent Resolve – US-led coalition ‘combat operations’ – launching air strikes over Iraq and Syria  

 An airstrike on Mosul in Iraq

From the start of the operation in September 2014 to January 2019, the Ministry of Defence claimed that 1,700 British airstrikes had killed or injured 3,229 in Iraq.

Though figures from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) show that only one civilian has been killed by RAF airstrikes as part of the mission against IS, the US said at least 1,257 civilians had died as a result of 33,921 US-led coalition airstrikes between August 2014 and January 2019.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) also revealed – in response to an FoI request from Drone Wars UK –  that British Reaper drones are undertaking missions outside Operation Shader  the UK’s military operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The operation has cost £1.75 billion. The MoD has refused to say how many ‘non-Shader’ sorties there have been.

Forces Net video confirms that Iraq is the focus of the UK and other coalition nations targeting IS

Forces Net, which brings the latest news on the UK Armed Forces and the wider military world, features a video in which Air Commodore Justin Reuter (below left) confirmed that Iraq is the focus of the UK and other coalition nations targeting IS, otherwise known as Daesh. He said: “The last few targets we’ve struck have all been in Iraq, they’ve all been in support of Iraqi security forces, clearing Daesh areas, areas where they have insurgents.”

After a U.S. drone strike killed a senior Iraqi security official and an Iranian commander, the Iraqi Parliament passed a resolution demanding the government expel American forces from Iraq, though it has not yet been implemented.

An evacuation plan has been devised as fears of reprisal attacks on the US and its allies grow

A leaked draft letter written by Brigadier-General William Seely, head of the Military’s Task Force Iraq, said it would be “repositioning” troops to prepare for “movement out” of the country.

On 7th January, Forces Net reported that the United Kingdom sent a team to Iraq to help the British military contingency to plan for every eventuality, including if there is a need for soldiers, diplomats and other civilians to evacuate the country.

Days after a senior Iraqi security official was killed in a drone strike, the Iranian government launched missile attacks against U.S. forces at the Ain al Assad air base in Iraq’s Anbar Province, wounding more than 100 troops.

             US military personnel inspecting the damaged air-base

On 15th February the New York Times reported a rocket attack on the airport in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Monday which killed a civilian contractor with the American-led military coalition and wounded six others, including a U.S. service member, according to a coalition spokesman. Several other rockets landed in residential areas of the city, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including one close to the Chinese Consulate.

The MoD website confirms that the British Army has a military presence in 80 countries and recent research findings say that British troops are stationed in 145 overseas military bases located across 42 countries, but Covid-19 has been an important reminder that international relations, the health, wealth and prosperity of countries across the globe are intrinsically linked.

As MPs such as Richard Burgon and organisations including NATO Watch are stressing, Britain should reassess its priorities and focus on measures that tackle the real threats faced by our society – the climate crisis, global poverty and the Covid-19 pandemic — and end the military spending spree.

 

 

 

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‘Mercenaries Unleashed’? Hundreds of unregulated British companies are operating around the globe

Following concerns expressed about the use of private contractors by Britain’s Royal Air Force, summarised on the Airstrikes website, further searches have been made. 

Issues and questions that have arisen about the use of private forces in Iraq and the cost both morally and financially of doing business this way are not limited to the high-profile Blackwater company (above, company now renamed). Read more here: https://silentprofessionals.org/blackwater/

The UK is said to have become an important hub for the private military and security industry

War on Want’s report, Mercenaries Unleashed, records that, at the height of the post-Gulf War occupation, around 60 British companies operated in Iraq. Now there are hundreds of British PMSCs operating in areas of conflict around the globe, to secure governments and corporate presences against a range of ‘threats’.

Many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are not signatories to the 1989 United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries. Countries including Austria France, Germany and South Arica have banned citizens from such employment and may even revoke citizenship.

Defining a mercenary (see clauses a-f)

Alexandre Faite, Legal Advisor, International Committee of the Red Cross (left) has explored whether the personnel of private companies can be considered as mercenaries under the “International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries” adopted in 1989 by the United Nations General Assembly.

He concluded that under Article 47 of Protocol (clauses a-f) “from a strictly legal point of view” the answer is in the negative as these persons usually fall outside the conjunctive definition provided for in international instruments”.

Recruitment flourishes in countries with high levels of unemployment and poverty – a whole range of financial incentives, such as enlistment bonuses or promises of an education, is explored in Sprague’s 2013 book, The Financial Incentives of War: Poverty Draft, Mercenaries, and Volunteers in Foreign Armies.

A vast private industry of private military and security companies who profit from instability and conflict worth hundreds of billions of dollars has grown up since the declaration of a ‘war on terror’ and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many clients amongst the private sector, especially in the extractive industries, are said have sought out and exploited political instability in the wake of the Arab uprisings. Their floating armouries spread across the world’s oceans to protect commercial shipping interests (See Britain’s MNG Maritime).

MNG Resolution, a UK-run floating armoury moored in international waters of the Indian Ocean 

In all of this, UK companies are playing a leading role, reaping enormous profits, their conduct unregulated by successive British governments. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Media 99: Anti-semitism campaign a fabrication – Norman Finkelstein charges the British elite & its media

Richard House has drawn attention to the latest Media Lens report: ‘Suspending Chris Williamson – The Fury And The Fakery’ – which includes a comment in a forceful and eloquent video by American political scientist, activist, professor and author, Norman Finkelstein (right), whose mother survived the Warsaw Ghetto, the Majdanek concentration camp and two slave labour camps and whose father was a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Auschwitz concentration camp. He writes:

‘Corbyn . . . did not present a threat only to Israel and Israel’s supporters, he posed a threat to the whole British elite. Across the board, from the Guardian to the Daily Mail, they all joined in the new anti-semitism campaign . . . this whole completely contrived, fabricated, absurd and obscene assault on this alleged Labour anti-semitism, of which there is exactly zero evidence, zero.’ 

Media Lens points out that more than 150 Labour MPs and peers – the “infamously pro-war, Blairite section of the party have added to the propaganda blitz by protesting against the decision to readmit Williamson in a statement led by the bitterly anti-Corbyn deputy leader Tom Watson”. 

A recent blog on the Jewish Voices for Labour site also stated that a “hostile, personal campaign is being waged against Chris, who is a hard-working and diligent MP with great standing in his constituency and a strong record of anti-racist campaigning”.

It adds: “This country stands in desperate need of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, aiming to unite people around protection and promotion of hard won rights and services, the party needs the dedication and principled commitment of Chris Williamson and others like him”.

In 2018, Noam Chomsky commented on this campaign: ‘The charges of anti-Semitism against Corbyn are without merit, an underhanded contribution to the disgraceful efforts to fend off the threat that a political party might emerge that is led by an admirable and decent human being, a party that is actually committed to the interests and just demands of its popular constituency and the great majority of the population generally, while also authentically concerned with the rights of suffering and oppressed people throughout the world. Plainly an intolerable threat to order.’ (Chomsky, email to Media Lens, 9 September 2018).

He commented on these issues again this month in correspondence with journalist Matt Kennard:

‘The way charges of anti-Semitism are being used in Britain to undermine the Corbyn-led Labour Party is not only a disgrace, but also – to put it simply – an insult to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The charges against Chris Williamson (right) are a case in point. There is nothing even remotely anti-Semitic in his statement that Labour has “given too much ground” and “been too apologetic” in defending its record of addressing “the scourge of anti-Semitism” beyond that of any other party, as he himself had done, on public platforms and in the streets.’

Media Lens’ challenging conclusion asks what sanction the Labour Party should put on those politicians who personally voted to authorise illegal British and US wars in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria – acts which did not merely offend but killed, maimed and displaced millions of people, bringing whole countries to their knees.

 

 

 

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Secret State 25: why has there been no MoD information about RAF airstrikes this year?

Running amok?

Obviously horrifying is the news of the death and destruction caused by airstrikes carried out by countries including America, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Britain and Israel.

Recent news in the American press included a June report by VOA, part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government funded agency that oversees all non-military, U.S. international broadcasting, that at least 160 civilians have been killed and hundreds more wounded in fighting over recent weeks between Syrian forces and armed Saudi-backed ISIL rebels.

The United Nations is demanding an immediate end to indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in northwest Syria, warning the warring parties their actions might amount to war crimes.

Aleppo hospital bombed

Friendly fire kills in two incidents in Afghanistan

In March, a US-Afghan convoy came under fire from friendly forces positioned near an Afghan National Army check point in the Uruzgan province, US and coalition officials read more here. American forces launched two “self-defense” airstrikes near the checkpoint, mistakenly killing five Afghan soldiers and wounding 10 more, according to the Afghan government and coalition.

CNN also reported that Afghan security forces personnel were also killed by US airstrikes in the middle of May – read more here.

The American and Israeli press publish such news- rarely seen in British papers, unless Russia is involved. Searching for news about Britain’s activities, the writer looked at the government website which has given information about the RAF’s airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since 2015

28,670 people have now signed the following petition:

The Ministry of Defence has not updated its monthly list with information on RAF airstrikes this year – see snapshot from its site. We are therefore no longer aware of the damage done to human beings, their hospitals homes and schools by the RAF in Iraq and Syria.

Is this the Secret State in action – or incompetence – or indifference?

 

 

 

 

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Secret State 20: Britain at war with more than 1600 airstrikes in Syria and Iraq

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Denials wear thin: Britain is at war with more than 1600 airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor of the Times reports the killing of a civilian by RAF drone in Syria.

The air strike was by a Reaper drone, remotely operated by pilots in the UK or an airbase in the United States.

Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, has admitted that on March 26^th, a British airstrike killed a motorcyclist who rode into its path in Syria by chance. It is the first confirmation of a civilian casualty by UK forces in the fight against Islamic State.

The unintentional death, described by Williamson as “deeply regrettable”, was confirmed during post-strike analyses of drone footage and other imagery.

The official position of the Ministry of Defence until yesterday’s announcement had been that it had seen no evidence of UK airstrikes causing civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria.

A source within the US-led coalition against Isis, however, told the BBC that he had seen evidence that British airstrikes had caused civilian casualties “on several occasions”. “To suggest they have not, as has been done, is nonsense,” the source added.

The coalition has begun an investigation and will issue a report. The airstrike was by a Reaper drone, remotely operated by pilots in the UK or at an airbase in the United States.

The defence secretary admits that RAF jets and drones have conducted more than 1,600 airstrikes in Syria and Iraq and Airwars, a group that has been monitoring civilian casualties, claimed it was likely that between 1,066 and 1,579 civilians had died in the fighting in Mosul. The US and Australia have accepted responsibility for civilian casualties. The coalition has admitted causing just over 350 civilian deaths in Mosul.

The deaths, in particular those of women and children, have helped to turn local populations against coalition forces and fuel insurgencies.

A Wimbledon reader sends news that Amnesty International has cited another civilian death: 68-year-old Mamana Bibi was picking vegetables in the family’s fields with her

grandchildren in Waziristan, northwest Pakistan. ’Out of nowhere’, she was hit during a double drone strike led by the US. Mamana is one of hundreds of civilians accidentally killed by US drone strikes. Strikes that the UK has been playing a crucial part in.

Despite the lack of coverage in many newspapers and on TV bulletins, a petition has been set up, calling for the UK government to launch a full public inquiry into its role in the US’s expanding drones programme:

To join this call for a full public inquiry into Britain’s role in the US’s expanding drones programme, go to https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/uk-stop-helping-deadly-and-secret-us-drone-strikes

 

 

 

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Salisburygate: “My old Home Office instincts tells me this was a political game that quickly got out of control”

 LINKED EXTRACTS:

“The diplomatic mess caused by Prime Minister Theresa May is embarrassing. Not that the wider British public would realise this thanks to pro-May coverage in the media”.

So says an article received from a Jamaican contact, about the political fallout from the alleged nerve agent Salisbury attack against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Accusing the Russian government and expelling diplomats thereafter – based on flimsy evidence – was incompetence of an amateurish level.

The fact that she was not willing to share any hard evidence with colleagues and Jeremy Corbyn was classic May. During her time as Home Secretary, senior staff would complain of May’s bunker-type mentality and withholding key information and decisions even from her own junior ministers and key relevant staff.

Classic May is – make a big statement then retreat into the background leaving others, such as her media friends, to spin information to crazy levels.

In Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader, was correct to challenge May’s assertions of the Russian government’s involvement.

Most of the British media, the government and Labour backbench MPs mocked his stance, labelling him a traitor, not fit to become PM and a Vladimir Putin stooge. But Corbyn – like many of us – has seen far too often where  governments and law enforcement officials have got their initial claims on high profile incidents so wrong. e.g. Hillsborough,  Manchester bombing, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Jean Charles de Menenez, Jill Dando, Rachel Nickell, Stephen Lawrence etc.

Given that the alleged foreign state sponsored incident happened on British soil, Home Secretary Rudd  – who has oversight over national security – has said very little. The last time Rudd directly accused the Russian government was early March. Ben Wallace is Rudd’s junior minister responsible for national security matters; he too has been  silent.

My old Home Office instincts tells me this was a political game that quickly got out of control. The fault lies not with Amber Rudd but Downing Street. Hence the silence from Rudd and Wallace: and why in recent days Rudd has deflected from Salisbury and promised to target wealthy Russians residing in the UK.

The reason why the May government is not receiving any flak for this diplomatic blunder is that the media would rather play down a diplomatic incident, than admit that Corbyn’s cautious instincts were correct.

Full marks to Corbyn and the Labour front bench for standing their ground and challenging Theresa May directly over Salisbury.

Paul Waugh: Jeremy Corbyn’s thoughtful approach vindicated

SEVEN POINTED QUESTIONS

After the Iraq lies the public has a right to question their government on any statements relating to serious national security issues:

1. How is it that over 125 countries did not join May and expel any Russian diplomats?
2. Why did May say that the Skripals’ health was in such danger that they might never fully recover? Only days later both came out of intensive care and are recovering well.
3. Why has the UK prevented Russian Embassy officials from visiting the Skripals in hospital? Why have they denied a visa to Yulia’s cousin Viktoria to visit them from Russia?
4. Why has May blocked international observers from inspecting the alleged nerve agent?
5. Why have May and Amber Rudd  said very little in Parliament over the past 14 days?
6. Why did Boris Johnson claim that he was told by government scientists at Porton Down that the source of the nerve agent used was Russian, only for the Chief Executive to deny such claims?
7. Why has there been no joint press conference held by May, Rudd and Johnson to answer media questions?

“The government will never admit to their error of judgment as that would be political suicide. So expect May, her ministers and media pals to play out this false narrative right up to the May local elections”.

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The full text: https://wingswithme.wordpress.com/2018/04/10/mays-russian-bluff-over-salisbury/

 

 

 

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