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kpete Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 04:29 PM
Original message
David Cameron widens inquiry on media regulation to include the BBC
Edited on Wed Jul-20-11 04:30 PM by kpete
Source: Guardian UK

David Cameron widens inquiry on media regulation to include the BBC
PM also wants takeover rulings taken out of politicians' hands and Ofcom given power to act at earlier stage

David Cameron has broadened the terms of the inquiry into the conduct of the media to include the BBC and social media.

The prime minister was setting out the formal terms of reference of the inquiry to be led by Lord Justice Leveson, an appeal court judge. The inquiry has become something of a behemoth, leading Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat media spokesman, to assert he could not see how it could be completed within its timetable of a year.

Cameron also announced in the Commons that he would like to see politicians taken out of all future decisions on media takeovers, and the media regulator, currently Ofcom, given powers to intervene not just at the point of a takeover but also when a paper or media group developed a more dominant position.

He gave details of a panel of advisers for Leveson including Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty; Sir Paul Scott-Lee, the former chief constable of the West Midlands police; Lord Currie, the former Ofcom chairman; Elinor Goodman, the former political editor of Channel 4 News; George Jones, the former political editor of the Daily Telegraph; and Sir David Bell, the former chairman of the Financial Times.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/jul/20/cameron-media-regulation-leveson-inquiry-bbc



???
"This suggests to me that Cameron is still doing Murdoch's bidding, and will soon have to resign."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/20/996641/-Murdoch-DELIBERATELY-Blocking-Hack-Investigation-UPDATED-x5?via=siderec
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Dawson Leery Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 04:35 PM
Response to Original message
1. Once a Tory, always a Tory.
Cameron played a dirty game to receive the "graces" of Rupert. If there is justice, both must pay for their misdeeds.
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Uncle Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 04:45 PM
Response to Original message
2. I imagine Cameron is doing this in the hopes, the BBC will back off any critical reporting
on this scandal for fear of their own goose being cooked.

I also agree with the diarist at Daily Kos re: this being a delay tactic, in short, Cameron is compromised.

Finally I have a queston when Cameron states he wants politicians taken out of the equation, who appoints the people of Ofcom?

Thanks for the thread, kpete.
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Uncle Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 04:54 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. I found some of my own answer, apparently in June of 2009 Cameron wanted to
"restructure" Ofcom.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom

Colette Bowe was appointed Ofcom Chairman with effect from 11 March 2009.<3><4> She is the founding chairman of the Telecoms Ombudsman Council, and chaired Ofcom’s Consumer Panel from its inception in 2003 to December 2007. The 2010 Chief Executive is Ed Richards, who previously was Chief Operating Officer, and is responsible for Strategy, Market Research, Finance, Human Resources and other functions. Richards was Senior Policy Advisor to the Labour party Prime Minister Tony Blair for Media, telecoms, the internet and e-govt and Controller of Corporate Strategy at the BBC.<5>

The first chairman of Ofcom was David Currie, Dean of Cass Business School at City University and a life peer under the title Lord Currie of Marylebone. The first chief executive was Stephen Carter, Baron Carter of Barnes, formerly a senior executive of JWT UK and NTL and now Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting.<6>

In June 2009, Conservative party leader, David Cameron said that if his party were elected, they would restructure Ofcom.<7>



Now I wonder if "conservative" means the same thing in Britain as it does here?
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #4
17. Same thing they did to PBS and NPR here in States ....
Both destroyed --

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mwooldri Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:48 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. Nope, BBC won't back down, because they are already "down".
Since the report on "sexing up" the intelligence on Iraqi WMD - and the "Hutton Inquiry" afterwards - the BBC are still guarded in their reporting.

The Guardian and The Independent are the only UK national newspapers that I tend to believe these days.
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Uncle Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. Cameron's approach does remind me of Bush; attacking everybody except Osama Bin Laden.
Or publicly holding the nation accountable from where over 75% of the hijackers came from.
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LeftishBrit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 04:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. Surprise surprise.
The Tories HATE the BBC. Some of this is the Murdoch influence; but some of it is that they hate having any influential media that is not right-wing.
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fascisthunter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:53 PM
Response to Original message
6. It becomes more and more obvious how corrupt Cameron is
he's not very smart
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:56 PM
Response to Original message
7. They went after the BBC on their goddamned WMD war lies--with downsizing, staff cuts
and defunding. Now they're going after the BBC on their goddamned spying, bribery, "revolving door" private, corpo-fascist media meltdown.

What will they do to them now? Shut 'em down entirely?

That's what Murdoch wants--the ENTIRE world media market--and if he can't have Sky News, maybe getting rid of the BBC will be compensation.

The BBC doesn't do tabloid journalism and doesn't tap phones. They don't need to. They do JOURNALISM. And though I object to the their reporting on the Latin American left--concerning which I think they've been influenced and corporatized--they still make an effort, despite the downsizing, drastic staff cuts, foreign office cuts and defunding--to actually report the real news on most subjects. They are therefore a threat to shits like Murdoch and he wants them gone, and his various "poodles" in government want them gone--and I'm sure the corpo-fascists in this country want them gone as well, because nobody who is looting the poor, war profiteering and destroying democracy, to the extent that our corporate rulers are doing, wants anybody reporting the news in the public interest.

WHAT is the BBC doing as a target of this inquiry? Somebody explain this to me.

-------------------

"Foster (Liberal Democrat media spokesman) expressed concern that one motive for the extension of the terms of reference, judging by the remarks of Tory MPs, may be to clip the BBC's wings." --from the OP

----

"Giving his most detailed thoughts so far on the future of media regulation, Cameron said media ownership rules could be changed to avoid any organisation holding too much sway. He said: "We need competition policy properly enforced. We need a sensible look at the relevance of plurality and cross-media ownership.

""Above all
we need to ensure that no one voice, not News Corporation, not the BBC, becomes too powerful'. --from the OP

--------

What the ~!@#$ is going on here?

This guy--Cameron--has the NERVE to preach about media monopolies?! He has the NERVE to set up this inquiry and choose its participants?! He has the NERVE to use this excuse to target the BBC?!

He needs to fold up his government and go back to his cozy little cottage in the countryside!

I haven't seen such incredible arrogance since Tony Blair appointed Lord Hutton to whitewash David Kelly's murder.

:puke:

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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #7
16. +1000% -- will the British demand he step down?
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glinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:56 PM
Response to Original message
8. Cameron needs to be stopped now. He is going to close everything down to save his hide.
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Hear, hear! So true! nt
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. +1 -- Any iota of truth is a threat to right wing myths ...!!
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glinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 06:26 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. No this is the Big ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They could crack all over the planet.,
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #13
18. "Could" ... but they're going to fight like hell ... you can be sure of that -- !!
One "suicide" already --

Btw, watched BBC's Hardtalk again this afternoon --

Three guests -- one female who made the most sense but don't know who she was --

but she did not bring up the subject of misogynist reporting as told by one of the

journalists working for Murdock --


Nor is it an issue for anyone here in US it seems -- when you turn on the TV it looks

like the "Hammer of Witches" -- !!!



:hi:
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glinda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 11:01 AM
Response to Reply #18
22. They are fighting this on all fronts but if this can be opened up it would
be massive I think.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 02:41 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Agree --
Edited on Thu Jul-21-11 02:51 PM by defendandprotect
Am going to tune into BBC now -- Cameron is really after them!

:hi:

Later --


PS: Looks like they've turned BBC into a branch of ESPN!!

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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
11. Cameron/Murdock has been pushing to cut BBC budget by 20%
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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jul-20-11 06:47 PM
Response to Original message
14. Get this--from Cameron on the BBC!
More on Cameron. I'm finding this mindboggling. He's going after the last shreds of BBC funding and he's using MURDOCH's crimes and his own crimes to do it! Incredible!

--

(Cameron) "'I think we should be frank: I think in this country sometimes the left overestimates the power of Murdoch, the right overdoes the left-leanings of the BBC.

"'But both of them have got a point and never again should we let a media group get too powerful.'"
--from the OP

--

"(Cameron) said there had come a time in recent years when the income of the BBC was 'so outstripping that of independent television, there was a danger of BBC News becoming rather dominant'.

"Cameron also said he had asked the cabinet secretary to write to all permanent secretaries to ask them to review the way contacts between the media and their staff and other professional groups that work with their departments are regulated and recorded.

"'We see there is a problem with the police and the media. We need, I think, to get ahead of there possibly being problems with other groups as well,' he said."


--from the OP

-----

And, believe me, this about David Kelly--and the BBC daring to publish criticism of Bush and Blair's lies about the Iraq War, and daring to try to protect their source--who nevertheless ended up murdered for what he knew (likely, in my opinion, for something he had not yet said*). The BBC was at the center of that controversy. They did their job--in the public interest. They acted honorably under extraordinary pressure. And they got attacked, re-organized and downsized because of it.

And that attack is still under way.


--------------------------------

*(Valerie Plame was outed 7/14/03. David Kelly was found dead, under highly suspicious circumstances, four days later, on 7/18/03. Plame's and the CIA's WMD counter-proliferation project was outed--and some of its agents/contacts around the world put in extreme danger (some likely murdered)--on 7/23/03. Plame was working on Iran WMDs. Kelly had been to Iraq as a UN weapons inspector and had contacts in Iraq. I think that her outing, his death and the Brewster-Jennings outings were not about bad publicity re the Iraq War (i.e., Wilson's op-ed, 7/6/03; Kelly's whistleblowing, late May '03) but rather about a plot to plant WMDs in Iraq traceable to Iran, to extend the war to Iran, then and there. Somebody foiled that plot. The outings and deaths were retaliation and coverup. The BBC fell victim to the fury with which the British government determined to identify Kelly (who had whistleblown anonymously) and put him under pressure (they interrogated him at a "safe house," outed him to the press and sent him home without protection and apparently without surveillance). And the British government's fury was only matched by the Bush Junta's fury that their plan for a Mideast-wide war, and control of the oil in both Iraq and Iran--for which they had thoroughly primed the media with the expectation that WMDs would be found in Iraq--was somehow prevented. None of this was about P.R. or politics. They DIDN'T CARE what the public thought. 60% of Americans were against the Iraq war (Feb '03, all polls) and something like 80% of the British were against the war. This did not concern them. But to invade Iran they had to keep their rag-tag collection of allies in tact. And thus there had to be a narrative that was plausible long enough to get the wider war under way. And they didn't give this goal up--taking over Iran--until Rumsfeld was ousted in late 2006--probably by Bush Sr in coalition with the CIA, the military brass and some others. (Leon Panetta was a member of Bush Sr's "Iraq Study Group"--he's "old CIA" in my opinion.)

Consider this fury. Outing CIA agents (treason). Murdering one of their own--David Kelly. There had to be more than P.R. behind it. And that fury is still in operation in this abominable, on-going attack on the BBC by Cameron. They cannot keep up this Oil War--recently extended to Libya--with a large and credible news organization like the BBC reporting real news and acting in the public interest. Look around! Even the New York Slimes caved on the Oil War--caved big time; lied through their teeth. There is hardly a credible, reliable news organization left in the entire world. On Latin America, even the BBC and the Guardian have caved. But they are hanging in there on most other issues. Cameron is using state power and this Murdoch scandal to crush the BBC, incredible as that is. This is way over the top and indicative of how deep the conflict went, between the BBC and the British government, the U.S. government and their oil bosses and war profiteers, back in 2003.)
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 12:07 AM
Response to Reply #14
15. BBC is obviously being targeted to be destroyed ... Cameron should be out --
This is the best explanation I've heard of WHY Kelly was murdered -- thanks!



*(Valerie Plame was outed 7/14/03. David Kelly was found dead, under highly suspicious circumstances, four days later, on 7/18/03. Plame's and the CIA's WMD counter-proliferation project was outed--and some of its agents/contacts around the world put in extreme danger (some likely murdered)--on 7/23/03. Plame was working on Iran WMDs. Kelly had been to Iraq as a UN weapons inspector and had contacts in Iraq. I think that her outing, his death and the Brewster-Jennings outings were not about bad publicity re the Iraq War (i.e., Wilson's op-ed, 7/6/03; Kelly's whistleblowing, late May '03) but rather about a plot to plant WMDs in Iraq traceable to Iran, to extend the war to Iran, then and there. Somebody foiled that plot. The outings and deaths were retaliation and coverup. The BBC fell victim to the fury with which the British government determined to identify Kelly (who had whistleblown anonymously) and put him under pressure (they interrogated him at a "safe house," outed him to the press and sent him home without protection and apparently without surveillance). And the British government's fury was only matched by the Bush Junta's fury that their plan for a Mideast-wide war, and control of the oil in both Iraq and Iran--for which they had thoroughly primed the media with the expectation that WMDs would be found in Iraq--was somehow prevented. None of this was about P.R. or politics. They DIDN'T CARE what the public thought. 60% of Americans were against the Iraq war (Feb '03, all polls) and something like 80% of the British were against the war. This did not concern them. But to invade Iran they had to keep their rag-tag collection of allies in tact. And thus there had to be a narrative that was plausible long enough to get the wider war under way. And they didn't give this goal up--taking over Iran--until Rumsfeld was ousted in late 2006--probably by Bush Sr in coalition with the CIA, the military brass and some others. (Leon Panetta was a member of Bush Sr's "Iraq Study Group"--he's "old CIA" in my opinion.)



In fact, there were reports that they had tried to plant WMD in Iraq --

trying to remember the details -- first party was destroyed -- think 75 people/1 survived?

There was then a later report of another attempt -- unsuccessful, as well.

This would have been Plame's balliwick --


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Peace Patriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 08:49 AM
Response to Reply #15
21. Thanks! Bear in mind that it's just a theory--but it's a pretty good one.
Yes, there were several reports of a foiled transport of WMDs in Iraq. One was that a group secretly transporting nukes TO Iran (from Iraq) suffered radiation burns. Another was that such a group got hit with "friendly fire." And another was that there were illicit WMDs in falsely (Red Cross) marked boxes at the port in Basra (controlled by the British). Of course these reports were not followed up on by the corpo-fascist, warmongering media and they slipped into oblivion--impossible to authenticate, then and now. But the events of July '03--the Plame/B-J outings and Kelly's murder--point to the good possibility that some such thing occurred, possibly more than once.

With our highly secretive government--and especially with the Democratic leadership covering up for the Bushwhacks--it's very difficult to know anything like this for sure. Also, Plame is CIA and thus pledged to secrecy for life. This may be one reason why she isn't dead and Kelly is. He may have been a B-J contact and there is some evidence that he may have had a USN intel handler, but he was a known whistleblower; thus, if he even just knew about the WMD Iraq/Iran plot, he would be a great danger to Bushites/Blairites, even if he had nothing to do with foiling their plan. (He told a friend, at one point, that, during the "safe house" interrogation, he had told them that he "was not about to divulge" any "big government secrets" (or some such wording)). And, when Tony Blair was informed about the interrogation (on 7/7/03 (the day after Wilson's op-ed appeared), he was told that, if they forced Kelly to testify before the Parliamentary defense committee, he "could say some uncomfortable things." Could say. Not had said. I think that was a British understatement ("uncomfortable things") and that he knew something more, that they were very worried about. What could that be? And what could have prompted this insider guy, who supported the Iraq war, to whistleblow in late May 03, several months after the invasion? I don't think it was just his unease, as a scientist, about having signed off on the pack of lies in the 'Dodgy Dossier.' And certainly his ending up dead--in those ludicrously smelly circumstances--points to a far greater danger to them than his exposure of their lies about WMDs in Iraq, after the fact.

Actually, I think they may have still had hope of pulling off the Iraq/Iran WMD plot (expanding the war) in July '03. As I said, they didn't give up the goal of invading Iran until late 2006. This would illuminate their fury at Plame and Kelly even more--and reckless, risky actions like outing CIA agents and assassinating insider white guys--that the plot was still active.

I also think it's possible the Bush/Blair criminals may have been so furious that they were acting in a scattershot fashion. They couldn't pinpoint who was foiling them, so they outed everybody--the entire Brewster-Jennings worldwide project. That second bigger outing (also by Novak) may be an important clue to their motives and to the real situation. If it had just been Wilson's op-ed (which was limited to the Niger forgeries), why out and endanger everybody in the world who was cooperating with the CIA on counter-proliferation?

There are other theories--and perhaps multiple motives--as to the Bushwhacks. For instance, the CIA's counter-proliferation project may have been interfering with Cheney illicit arms dealing around the world. Clearly, Cheney/Rumsfeld were very hostile to the CIA and Rumsfeld was trying to get around them by setting up his own intel shop--his "Office of Special Plans." The fundamental conflict may have been that people like Plame saw their job as preventing war, not manufacturing it. (True also of Kelly.) But I'm pretty sure--though Cheney arms dealing and other motives may have come into it--that something very specific prompted the outings and Kelly's murder, and my best guess, for that moment in time (July '03), is the Iraq/Iran WMD plot--whether their actions were retaliation for their plot having been foiled or their trying to eliminate whoever was foiling them, so they could go ahead with their plot (expanding the war to Iran).

In July '03, they had achieved their apparent goal. Iraq was prostrate--hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead from the "shock and awe" bombing, and Bushwhacks now in control of the country and its oil. Why would they bother to object to Wilson's op-ed or Kelly's anonymous grievances about the "sexed up" WMD intel--or take such drastic actions as CIA outings and assassination? Something MORE was going on--something specific--not just a general P.R. problem/suppressing dissent.

As it turns out, Cheney/Rumsfeld's persistence about invading Iran may have been their undoing. I think Daddy Bush thought it was very unwise. The military brass were balking. The CIA had balked. China and Russia may have been threatening to come into it, on Iran's side. And with those nuke powers involved, nukes in Pakistan, nukes in India, nukes in Israel--the situation was truly a tinder box that could well have resulted in Armageddon. Bush Sr formed his "Iraq Study Group" and soon Rumsfeld was out. (Cheney was issued a warning, with the Libby prosecution, and was curtailed in the final two years.) Leon Panetta (a member of Bush Sr's ISG) was then brought in, as CIA Director, to end the war between the Pentagon and the CIA that Cheney/Rumsfeld had started. He's apparently done the CIA side of it, and now he's been moved to the Pentagon to do the same thing--end this internal war. Internal wars among powerful parties are very bad for empires. His other job may be to cover up Bush Junta crimes (esp. as to keeping Jr out of jail , which means protecting his manipulators and handlers as well--with Cheney and Rumsfeld at the top of the list.) It is certainly a good thing that Armageddon was prevented--if that's what happened--but the rest is not good. Indeed, it's very bad. The American people have become completely irrelevant to our government and are regarded as an amorphous mass of yahoos to be manipulated with mechanisms like the corporate-controlled 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines. Such appalling, blatant control measures!--however, they do indicate that we are not, in truth, amorphous yahoos, but a danger to our corporate rulers and war profiteers--if we ever get ourselves together, as a democracy, again. They wouldn't need all this secrecy and manipulation if we were not, on the whole, a peace-minded, progressive people.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jul-22-11 11:00 PM
Response to Reply #21
25. Iran is still big on RW agenda ... in fact, on VP Joe Biden's agenda ....
Edited on Fri Jul-22-11 11:14 PM by defendandprotect
Biden has been calling for more than a year now for Israel to attack Iran!

Biden says "Israel would be JUSTIFIED in attacking Iran" -- !!

Further, it looks more to me like in arming RW Israel, Nixon gained a foothold for US

in ME to create mayhem and war -- and it worked.

I've read we also store nuclear weapons there --

How much of peace loving Israel is left -- and how much of Israel is now US/CIA/MIC -- ?

Evidently, US and Israeli weapons production are so intertwined you almost can't see any

difference between them.



. . . . but re your comments --


Yes, there were several reports of a foiled transport of WMDs in Iraq. One was that a group secretly transporting nukes TO Iran (from Iraq) suffered radiation burns. Another was that such a group got hit with "friendly fire." And another was that there were illicit WMDs in falsely (Red Cross) marked boxes at the port in Basra (controlled by the British). Of course these reports were not followed up on by the corpo-fascist, warmongering media and they slipped into oblivion--impossible to authenticate, then and now. But the events of July '03--the Plame/B-J outings and Kelly's murder--point to the good possibility that some such thing occurred, possibly more than once.

Close to what I heard -- and you have to recognize that US "enemies" like Russia and Iran

have to be constantly watching to see that US/CIA isn't playing another "false flag" operation

to blame on them.

That was why Russia after a year of warning the US of a coming terrorist attack and being met

by Operation Ignore from Bush administration and our intelligence services -- went to the

United Nations Security Council just before 9/11 to give them their info which included names

of pilots. United Nations then sent their own representatives to the White House and to our

intelligence agencies to WARN them -- this was August 2001!


With our highly secretive government--and especially with the Democratic leadership covering up for the Bushwhacks--it's very difficult to know anything like this for sure. Also, Plame is CIA and thus pledged to secrecy for life. This may be one reason why she isn't dead and Kelly is. He may have been a B-J contact and there is some evidence that he may have had a USN intel handler, but he was a known whistleblower; thus, if he even just knew about the WMD Iraq/Iran plot, he would be a great danger to Bushites/Blairites, even if he had nothing to do with foiling their plan. (He told a friend, at one point, that, during the "safe house" interrogation, he had told them that he "was not about to divulge" any "big government secrets" (or some such wording)). And, when Tony Blair was informed about the interrogation (on 7/7/03 (the day after Wilson's op-ed appeared), he was told that, if they forced Kelly to testify before the Parliamentary defense committee, he "could say some uncomfortable things." Could say. Not had said. I think that was a British understatement ("uncomfortable things") and that he knew something more, that they were very worried about. What could that be? And what could have prompted this insider guy, who supported the Iraq war, to whistleblow in late May 03, several months after the invasion? I don't think it was just his unease, as a scientist, about having signed off on the pack of lies in the 'Dodgy Dossier.' And certainly his ending up dead--in those ludicrously smelly circumstances--points to a far greater danger to them than his exposure of their lies about WMDs in Iraq, after the fact.


Plame/Wilson may have thought that his Letter to the NY Times would stop the administration.

After her team was hit -- and I don't know how big a hit that was or if they've ever revealed it --

I'm sure she understood it was too dangerous to try anything further. I do recall that they were

under severe threat -- and were moving out of the country at one point. Tho I think they returned?



Actually, I think they may have still had hope of pulling off the Iraq/Iran WMD plot (expanding the war) in July '03. As I said, they didn't give up the goal of invading Iran until late 2006. This would illuminate their fury at Plame and Kelly even more--and reckless, risky actions like outing CIA agents and assassinating insider white guys--that the plot was still active.

Think we are dealing with different degrees of fanatacism/fascism at play in government and CIA --

but Sy Hersh about two months ago in an interview with Amy Goodman said that much of the

structure that Cheney put in place is still standing!

Just as an aside and something to think about -- Murdock's players seem to have also been

hacking military phones -- and all of this seems to have been going on a long time!

I also think it's possible the Bush/Blair criminals may have been so furious that they were acting in a scattershot fashion. They couldn't pinpoint who was foiling them, so they outed everybody--the entire Brewster-Jennings worldwide project. That second bigger outing (also by Novak) may be an important clue to their motives and to the real situation. If it had just been Wilson's op-ed (which was limited to the Niger forgeries), why out and endanger everybody in the world who was cooperating with the CIA on counter-proliferation?

Don't know how deeply Blair was involved in the mechanics of this -- but if you saw my OP on

Prince Andrew the other day you see he is referring to "The Great Game" --

Nonethless, the major insanity and pushing seems to come from US -- where I would guess the

full force of the MIC is behind it --

There seems to still be a sane part of the military -- which is being dismissed.

In 2002 or 2004, the Pentagon sent a Secret Memo to Bush telling him that Global Warming was

a greater threat to the US than "terrorism" -- and that among the many increasing chaotic events

which would also be increasing in severity -- was earthquakes!

A few weeks ago, whatever that bloc is -- large or small - tried again --

But -- once Wilson tried to stop them, they understood immediately that Plame was the threat --

and anyone connected to her who may know about their attempts to plant WMD.

There are other theories--and perhaps multiple motives--as to the Bushwhacks. For instance, the CIA's counter-proliferation project may have been interfering with Cheney illicit arms dealing around the world. Clearly, Cheney/Rumsfeld were very hostile to the CIA and Rumsfeld was trying to get around them by setting up his own intel shop--his "Office of Special Plans." The fundamental conflict may have been that people like Plame saw their job as preventing war, not manufacturing it. (True also of Kelly.) But I'm pretty sure--though Cheney arms dealing and other motives may have come into it--that something very specific prompted the outings and Kelly's murder, and my best guess, for that moment in time (July '03), is the Iraq/Iran WMD plot--whether their actions were retaliation for their plot having been foiled or their trying to eliminate whoever was foiling them, so they could go ahead with their plot (expanding the war to Iran).

What I know of the arms deals isn't very much -- except that lots of rumors of that re Poppy Bush

and China -- Eagleburger, Kissinger -- etal.

In July '03, they had achieved their apparent goal. Iraq was prostrate--hundreds of thousands of innocent people dead from the "shock and awe" bombing, and Bushwhacks now in control of the country and its oil. Why would they bother to object to Wilson's op-ed or Kelly's anonymous grievances about the "sexed up" WMD intel--or take such drastic actions as CIA outings and assassination? Something MORE was going on--something specific--not just a general P.R. problem/suppressing dissent.

Think it was because behind Wilson was Plame -- and they were showing concern and had the info.

While Bush/Cheney had coverage of the corporate-press, truth is their enemy -- and they know it.

They have a house of cards to hold together, always. Look at the Downing Street Memo -- how

specific and yet how little was done about it, especially here in US.

United Nations was obviously against all of this -- and for inspections/diplomacy -- called

America a "terrorist" nation. Iraq an "illegal war" -- don't think Bush/Cheney wanted too many

of those singers to lump into one choir. They were always working to put the huge anti-war

movement to sleep - not wake it up. But, obviously, as you can see, this is amateur guessing

on my part and I have no real info.

Btw -- I'm copying this mainly for my JOURNAL --


As it turns out, Cheney/Rumsfeld's persistence about invading Iran may have been their undoing. I think Daddy Bush thought it was very unwise. The military brass were balking. The CIA had balked. China and Russia may have been threatening to come into it, on Iran's side. And with those nuke powers involved, nukes in Pakistan, nukes in India, nukes in Israel--the situation was truly a tinder box that could well have resulted in Armageddon. Bush Sr formed his "Iraq Study Group" and soon Rumsfeld was out. (Cheney was issued a warning, with the Libby prosecution, and was curtailed in the final two years.) Leon Panetta (a member of Bush Sr's ISG) was then brought in, as CIA Director, to end the war between the Pentagon and the CIA that Cheney/Rumsfeld had started. He's apparently done the CIA side of it, and now he's been moved to the Pentagon to do the same thing--end this internal war. Internal wars among powerful parties are very bad for empires. His other job may be to cover up Bush Junta crimes (esp. as to keeping Jr out of jail , which means protecting his manipulators and handlers as well--with Cheney and Rumsfeld at the top of the list.) It is certainly a good thing that Armageddon was prevented--if that's what happened--but the rest is not good. Indeed, it's very bad. The American people have become completely irrelevant to our government and are regarded as an amorphous mass of yahoos to be manipulated with mechanisms like the corporate-controlled 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines. Such appalling, blatant control measures!--however, they do indicate that we are not, in truth, amorphous yahoos, but a danger to our corporate rulers and war profiteers--if we ever get ourselves together, as a democracy, again. They wouldn't need all this secrecy and manipulation if we were not, on the whole, a peace-minded, progressive people.

---------

A lot of testosterone in that administration -- bullies -- belief in violence --

Think Poppy understands you can get overextended and lose cover --

while the big push comes from those who want to strike while they can -- shock and awe --

and I think these are the suicidal edge of the RW.

Cheney's war was on the lower echelon of the CIA - those actually gathering and analyzing

the info -- Tenet was protecting Cheney's bullying of them. Was present during much of it.

Evidently, Cheney was appearing at the CIA frequently --


Panetta is certainly CIA, but who knows all he's involved with -- wouldn't take for granted

that he nor any of them have given up on Iran. Look at Obama -- these wars should be over.

but we're headed into the second decade with them -- We're paying $1,000 a gallon for

gasoline in Afghanistan to KBR which would keep our helicopters in air for about a minute --

Pentagon can't account for funds -- $2.3 trillion --

and $18 or $23 billion in cash lost in Iraq --

and there's an article up at Common Dreams right now which says we're not going to be permitted

to investigate our mercenary troops in ME!! Will try to post that one later.


Agree re computers and stolen elections --

and as Americans come to recognize corporate control over our government and the need to

overturn all of Congress --

they may yet have to come to realize that corporations are nothing without protection of

MIC/CIA --


CIA destroyed the Carter administration, imo --

Some say Bush was president after the attack on Reagan --

Poppy Bush might have been our first CIA president -- ?

Bush/Cheney had very close ties -- though their manipulation of CIA seems to turn

the tables on the way I think of this control going -- with Cheney perhaps representing

the civilian elite control over it?

Elites/CIA will be back to claim the presidency -- imo --




Was late catching up with this -- :)





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Kaleko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 12:40 AM
Response to Reply #14
19. I could never make sense out of why the Bush junta
was unable to plant WMDs in Iraq and simply say they found them.

Your narrative goes a long way to explain that and connects a whole lot of other dots as well.

Excellent post, as usual.
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JackRiddler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 08:39 AM
Response to Original message
20. Classic maneuver, like when they tried to drown out "WMD" with the "Oil for Food" diversion.
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totodeinhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jul-21-11 02:50 PM
Response to Original message
24. The Liberal Party should withdraw their support from the coalition government and
force Cameron out. I suppose they don't have much of an appetite for a new election right now but this is serious.
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