{"id":77069,"date":"2018-05-02T16:04:26","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T23:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=77069"},"modified":"2018-05-02T16:04:26","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T23:04:26","slug":"the-skripal-case-and-bombing-syria-six-things-we-learned-about-modern-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/05\/02\/the-skripal-case-and-bombing-syria-six-things-we-learned-about-modern-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"The Skripal Case and Bombing Syria: Six Things We Learned About Modern Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Clark\u00a0Courtesy RT<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
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To have been in \u2018democratic\u2019 Britain for the past eight weeks has been quite an educational experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We’ve seen how the NeoCon Establishment works, how dissent is policed, and how ‘gas-lighting’ techniques are used to\u00a0try and make us think we’re going crazy for\u00a0questioning the ‘official narrative’\u00a0\u2014 a narrative which we know just by\u00a0employing simple logic, doesn’t make sense.<\/p>\n

Here’s a list of\u00a0the most important things we’ve learnt- that’s if you weren’t aware of\u00a0them already.<\/p>\n

1. The presumption of\u00a0innocence doesn’t apply to\u00a0NeoCon targets.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Laboratories<\/div>\n
\u00a9 SPUTNIK \/ NOUR MOLHEM<\/div>\n
The Skripal and Douma Incidents Are Parts of One Plan to Bring Russia Down \u2013 Chemist<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Innocent until\u00a0proven guilty? Not if you’re in\u00a0the line of\u00a0fire of\u00a0the Endless War Lobby, comrade. Russia was accused of\u00a0trying to\u00a0poison the Skripals before\u00a0a proper criminal investigation had even begun. The Syrian government was blamed for\u00a0a chemical weapons attack, before\u00a0we had independently verification that a chemical weapons attack had even taken place. The \u2018Official Narrative’ on\u00a0both cases has unravelled spectacularly. No ‘smoking gun’ evidence of\u00a0either Russian involvement in\u00a0the Skripal case or of\u00a0the Douma CW attack has been produced. On the contrary, witnesses testified last week at\u00a0The Hague that the Douma attack didn’t happen.READ MORE:\u00a0Douma Doctors, Witnesses Reveal Lies Behind White Helmets’ Provocation (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

But we’re \u00a0expected not to\u00a0notice\u00a0\u2014 as\u00a0the news cycle\u00a0\u2014 conveniently for\u00a0the accusers- moves on\u00a0to other stories.<\/p>\n

\u200b2. Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper plays an utterly pernicious role in\u00a0British public life.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the Times which demanded action from\u00a0Theresa May against\u00a0Russia. It was the Times which \u00a0has demanded (repeatedly, and again after\u00a0the Skripal incident) that \u00a0Ofcom acted against\u00a0Russian media in\u00a0the UK, such as\u00a0RT. It was the Times, which accuses Russian media of\u00a0peddling ‘fake news’, which reported Sergei Skripal as\u00a0dead on\u00a0its\u00a012th March front page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was The Times which, on\u00a014th March, falsely reported that ‘almost 40’ people had needed treatment in\u00a0Salisbury, prompting Dr Stephen Davies, Comsultant in\u00a0Emergency Medicine to\u00a0write to\u00a0the paper stating ‘May I clarify that no patients have experienced symptoms of\u00a0nerve agent poisoning in\u00a0Salisbury and there have only ever been three patients with\u00a0significant poisoning.’<\/p>\n

\u200bIt was The Times, which on\u00a0the day the US\/UK and France launched illegal attacks on\u00a0Syria in\u00a0response to\u00a0the unverified chemical weapons attack at\u00a0Douma, carried a front page attack on\u00a0British academics who dare to\u00a0challenge the War Party line on\u00a0Syria. It was The Times which smeared other critics of\u00a0western foreign policy as ‘Russian trolls’, including a peace campaigner from\u00a0Finland who had been battling cancer.<\/p>\n

\u200bJohn Wight has called the Times, the in-house organ of\u00a0the neocon Henry Jackson Society. Its days as\u00a0Britain’s respected newspaper of\u00a0record have certainly long gone.<\/p>\n

\u200b3. Britain is only what is called a ‘Democracy’.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Britain's<\/div>\n
\u00a9 REUTERS \/ FRANCOIS LENOIR<\/div>\n
Labour Leader Under Fire From Party MPs for Stance on Skripal Poisoning<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Just think back to\u00a0that Parliamentary debate on\u00a014th March. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was attacked from\u00a0his own side, for\u00a0his cautious approach towards\u00a0the government’s unproven claims about\u00a0the Skripal case. To add insult to\u00a0injury a number of\u00a0Labour MPs then signed\u00a0Early Day Motion 1071<\/a>– which stated ‘This House unequivocally accepts the Russian state’s culpability for\u00a0the poisoning of\u00a0Yulia and Sergei Skripal’. Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith showed her support for\u00a0Theresa May by\u00a0saying ‘We very much accept what the Prime Minister said.’Corbyn, coming under\u00a0enormous Establishment pressure did buckle, saying the Russian authorities \u2018needed to\u00a0be held to\u00a0account’, even though later he still quite rightly insisted that ‘absolute evidence’ was needed.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0UK Shouldn’t ‘Rush Ahead of\u00a0Evidence’ in\u00a0Skripal Investigation\u00a0\u2014 Jeremy Corbyn<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In bombing Syria on\u00a014th April, Theresa May not only refused to\u00a0recall Parliament, she also ignored public opinion which showed only 20% in\u00a0favour of\u00a0air strikes. \u00a0In a genuine democracy that would have \u00a0ruled out\u00a0action. But May treated public opinion with\u00a0utter contempt. That wonderful passage from \u2018The Comments of\u00a0Moung Ka’ by\u00a0the Edwardian comic writer Saki springs readily to\u00a0mind.<\/p>\n

‘The people of\u00a0Britain are what is called a Democracy’ said Moung Ka. \u2018A Democracy?’ questioned Moung Thwa. What is that?’<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018A Democracy’ broke in\u00a0Moung Shooglay eagerly, \u2018is a community that governs itself according to\u00a0its own wishes and \u00a0interests by\u00a0electing accredited representatives who enact its laws and supervise and control their administration. It’s aim and object is government of\u00a0the community in\u00a0the interests of\u00a0the community’.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Then’, said Moung Thwa, turning to\u00a0his neighbour, \u2018If the people of\u00a0Britain are a Democracy-\u2018<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018I never said they were a Democracy’, interrupted Moung Ka placidly.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Surely we both heard you!’, exclaimed Moung Thwa.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Not correctly, said Moung Ka; \u2018I said they are what is called a Democracy’.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. The \u2018free press’ doesn’t act as\u00a0you’d expect a \u2018free press’ to\u00a0act.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The striking thing about\u00a0the Skripal case and Syria bombings from\u00a0a journalist’s point of\u00a0view has been the uniformity of\u00a0the media coverage.<\/p>\n

Right-wing papers like\u00a0the Telegraph and liberal ones like\u00a0The Guardian have taken exactly the same stance ie anti-Russian and anti-Syrian government. Whether its because of\u00a0DSMA-Notices (see 6, below), or not, there’s been no proper questioning of\u00a0the UK government’s claims about\u00a0Salisbury\u00a0\u2014 and not much on\u00a0Syria either. Investigative journalism? What’s that?<\/p>\n

The mainstream media is actually less diverse in\u00a0its opinions now (on the things that really matter) than\u00a0at the time of\u00a0the Iraq war where publications like\u00a0the New Statesman (now a ‘centrist’ Blairite organ), spoke out\u00a0strongly against\u00a0intervention. If you want a different perspective on\u00a0Skripals and Syria you have had to\u00a0tune in\u00a0to Russian media, such as\u00a0Sputnik and RT, and that of\u00a0course is threatened by\u00a0the NeoCon Thought Police, who want everyone to\u00a0be singing from\u00a0the same pro-war hymn sheet.<\/p>\n

5. The role of\u00a0the security services in\u00a0the promotion of ‘official narratives’ is very important.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every time a wheel has come off\u00a0the Skripal narrative, we’ve been fed information to\u00a0bolster it from ‘official sources’. After the head of\u00a0Porton Down said that the \u00a0laboratory there was unable to\u00a0confirm that the nerve agent allegedly used to\u00a0poison the Skripals came from\u00a0Russia, the line was pushed that \u2018intelligence-led assessments’ pointed to\u00a0Russian guilt. Could we see these \u2018assessments’? Of course not! We just have to\u00a0believe that they’re there. Then as\u00a0the \u2018nerve handle placed on\u00a0the door\u2018 theory began to\u00a0gain a head of\u00a0steam we were told that ‘British Intelligence’ had \u2018evidence’ that Russia had been\u00a0testing the nerve agent on\u00a0door<\/a>\u00a0handles prior to\u00a03rd March. Could we see this \u2018evidence’? No, of\u00a0course not.<\/p>\n

Alex Thomson of\u00a0C4 News reported on\u00a012th March that a \u2018D-Notice’ had issued by\u00a0the UK authorities to\u00a0stop the media from\u00a0fully identifying Sergei Skripal’s MI6 handler who lived nearby.<\/p>\n

\u200bWere other\u00a0DSMA-Notices<\/a>\u00a0issued too regarding the reporting of\u00a0Salisbury? \u00a0If it was so clear that Russia did it, why would they bother?<\/p>\n

6. The British public aren’t mugs (or sheep).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u200bDespite all the propaganda, all the hysterical headlines, all the blatantly biased coverage, the British haven’t bought it. Literally or metaphorically. Inside the Tent gatekeepers have relentlessly attacked those brave individuals who have questioned the official narratives, but\u00a0its these<\/p>\n

individuals- smeared as \u2018crackpots’ and \u2018conspiracy theorists’ who the public are turning to\u00a0for their analysis. Compare the number of\u00a0retweets the former UK Ambassador to\u00a0Uzbekistan Craig Murray gets when he publishes on\u00a0the Skripal case, with\u00a0those who try and denigrate him. My own Twitter following\u00a0has increased by\u00a0several thousands since\u00a0early March. Citizen Halo got a big boost in\u00a0followers after\u00a0she was smeared by\u00a0The Times. After the lies told about\u00a0Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya people no longer tamely accept what the NeoCon Establishment tells us. We’re at\u00a0an \u00a0\u2018Emperor’s New Clothes’ moment in\u00a0British politics where more and more people have found the courage to\u00a0say out\u00a0loud ‘The Emperor has no clothes!’. The elite have been lying to\u00a0us and they know that we know they’ve been lying. The question is: what are we going to\u00a0do about\u00a0it?<\/p>\n

Follow Neil Clark on\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Clark\u00a0Courtesy RT To have been in \u2018democratic\u2019 Britain for the past eight weeks has been quite an educational experience. We’ve seen how the NeoCon Establishment works, how dissent is policed, and how ‘gas-lighting’ techniques are used to\u00a0try and make us think we’re going crazy for\u00a0questioning the ‘official narrative’\u00a0\u2014 a narrative which we know just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}