| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Zizek!" |
| Date: |
20 Aug 2006 11:11:57 AM |
| Object: |
We should be sceptical |
The Timing is Political---
We should be sceptical about this alleged plot, and wary of
politicians who seek to benefit
by Craig Murray
Nine days on, nobody has been charged with any crime. For there to be
no clear evidence yet on something that was "imminent" and would bring "mass
murder on an unbelievable scale" is, to say the least, peculiar. A 24th
person, arrested amid much fanfare on Tuesday, was quietly released without
charge the following day.
Media analysis has been full of information from police and security
sources. By and large journalists are honourable in this kind of reporting.
Their sources, unfortunately, are not - viz the non-existent ricin, the
Forest Gate "chemical weapons vest", or Jean Charles de Menezes leaping the
barriers. Unlike the herd of security experts, I have had the highest
security clearance; I have done a huge amount of professional intelligence
analysis; and I have been inside the spin machine. And I am very sceptical
about the story that has been spun.
None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a
plane ticket. Many did not have passports. It could be pretty difficult to
convince a jury that these individuals were about to go through with suicide
bombings, whatever they bragged about on the net.
What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for
more than a year - like thousands of other British Muslims. And not just
Muslims. Like me. Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for
early arrests.
Then an interrogation in Pakistan revealed this amazing plot to blow
up multiple planes. Of course, the interrogators of the Pakistani dictator
have ways of making people sing like canaries. As I witnessed in Uzbekistan,
you can get the most extraordinary information from people desperate to stop
or avert torture. What you don't get is the truth.
We also have the extraordinary question of Bush and Blair discussing
arrests the weekend before they were made. Why? Both in domestic trouble,
they longed for a chance to change the story. The intelligence from
Pakistan, however dodgy, gave them a chance. Comparisons with 9/11 were all
over front pages.
And we have the appalling political propaganda of John Reid, the home
secretary, warning us all in advance of the evil that threatens us and
complaining that some people "don't get" why we have to abandon traditional
liberties.
We will now never know if any of those arrested would have gone on to
make a bomb or buy a plane ticket. Most do not fit the "loner" profile you
would expect. As they were all under surveillance, and on airport watch
lists, there could have been little danger in letting them proceed closer to
maturity: that is what we would have done with the IRA.
In all of this, the one thing of which I am certain is that the timing
is deeply political. This is more propaganda than plot. More than 1,000
British Muslims have been arrested under anti-terrorist legislation, but
only 12% have been charged. That is harassment on an appalling scale. Of
those charged, 80% were acquitted. Most of the few convictions - just over
2% of arrests - are nothing to do with terrorism, but some minor offence the
police happened upon while trawling through the lives they have wrecked.
Plainly, Islamist terrorism does exist. But its growth is encouraged
by our adherence to neocon foreign policy, by our support for appalling
regimes abroad, and by our trampling on the rights of Muslims in the UK. Now
David Cameron has joined Blair and Reid in the rush to benefit politically
from the fear thus engendered. Be very wary of politicians who seek to
benefit from terror.
Be sceptical. Be very, very sceptical.
Craig Murray, who was posted to Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2004, is the
author of Murder in Samarkand - A British Ambassador's Controversial
Defiance of Tyranny in the War on Terror.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
###
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| User: "B1ackwater" |
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| Title: Re: We should be sceptical |
20 Aug 2006 01:36:17 PM |
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On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:11:57 GMT, "Zizek!" <throwshit@bush.net> wrote:
The Timing is Political---
We should be sceptical about this alleged plot, and wary of
politicians who seek to benefit
Ya know ... it's ALWAYS something - some critical poll,
event, primary, legislative milestone, SOMETHING. Therefore
one can pick any news event, any expression of policy, and
say "See ! They did it NOW to influence such-and-such
poll/primary/legislation/<fill-in-blank> !".
Timing CAN seem suspicious, sometimes IS suspicious, but
more likely it's just random.
.
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| User: "2602 Dead" |
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| Title: Re: We should be sceptical |
20 Aug 2006 02:46:58 PM |
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On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:36:17 GMT, (B1ackwater) wrote:
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:11:57 GMT, "Zizek!" <throwshit@bush.net> wrote:
The Timing is Political---
We should be sceptical about this alleged plot, and wary of
politicians who seek to benefit
Ya know ... it's ALWAYS something - some critical poll,
event, primary, legislative milestone, SOMETHING. Therefore
one can pick any news event, any expression of policy, and
say "See ! They did it NOW to influence such-and-such
poll/primary/legislation/<fill-in-blank> !".
Timing CAN seem suspicious, sometimes IS suspicious, but
more likely it's just random.
Yeah, but in this case, there's plenty of other reasons to be
skeptical. Lack of material evidence, for one. The fact that Poodle
Blair didn't even break from vacation. The fact that even though the
admin supposedly knew of the plot three weeks earlier, it didn't warn
the airline. Or the fact that two of the supposed plotters have
already been released.
.
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| User: "B1ackwater" |
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| Title: Re: We should be sceptical |
21 Aug 2006 03:48:46 PM |
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On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 12:46:58 -0700, 2602 Dead
<zepp#22112602dead@nospamzeppscommentaries.com> wrote:
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:36:17 GMT, (B1ackwater) wrote:
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 16:11:57 GMT, "Zizek!" <throwshit@bush.net> wrote:
The Timing is Political---
We should be sceptical about this alleged plot, and wary of
politicians who seek to benefit
Ya know ... it's ALWAYS something - some critical poll,
event, primary, legislative milestone, SOMETHING. Therefore
one can pick any news event, any expression of policy, and
say "See ! They did it NOW to influence such-and-such
poll/primary/legislation/<fill-in-blank> !".
Timing CAN seem suspicious, sometimes IS suspicious, but
more likely it's just random.
Yeah, but in this case, there's plenty of other reasons to be
skeptical. Lack of material evidence, for one. The fact that Poodle
Blair didn't even break from vacation.
Why ? He has good people taking care of it and, thanks
to modern teleconferencing, he'd be just as in-charge
on the moon as at #10. Same goes for "W" ... Crawford
may be in the sticks but it's as well connected as AF-1
or the Oval Office.
Actually, it's almost a shame ... modern leaders CAN'T
really "get away from it all" even for an hour. Probably
drives 'em nuts ...
The fact that even though the
admin supposedly knew of the plot three weeks earlier, it didn't warn
the airline.
Loose lips sink (air)ships.
Too great a chance of loose lips at the airlines.
Tell 'em nothing until the last minute. Otherwise
the gossip quickly gets around ... until it finds
an islamist mole. Then the investigation is ruined,
indeed might be turned against us if we didn't KNOW
that they knew. More likely some low-level dink who
keeps his ear to the wall will run to the media.
Either way ...
Or the fact that two of the supposed plotters have
already been released.
I guess they weren't really "plotters". If they were
released THIS early in the investigation it suggests
they're SERIOUSLY innocent. Had probably dropped by
someones house to sell 'em Tupperware or something
and got put on the list ...
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