Former British diplomat Craig Murray has been a thorn in the side of the establishment for some time. After he stepped down as an Ambassador Murray, who was appalled by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, became an anti -war campaigner and human rights activist (serious human rights like the right to not be bombed). Now, as the governments of the USA, United Kingdom and France plan another regime change bombing campsign, this time in Syria, Murray blows the whistle on drone warfare.
Exclusive: I Can Reveal the Legal Advice on Drone Strikes, and How the Establishment Works
September 09, 2015 “Information Clearing House” – This may be the most important article I have ever posted, because it reveals perfectly how the Establishment works and how the Red Tories and Blue Tories contrive to give a false impression of democracy. It is information I can only give you because of my experience as an insider.
It is a definitive proof of the validity of the Chomskian propaganda model. It needs a fair bit of detail to do this, but please try and read through it because it really is very, very important. After you have finished, if you agree with me about the significance, please repost, (you are free to copy), retweet, add to news aggregators (Reddit etc) and do anything you can to get other people to pay attention.
The government based its decision to execute by drone two British men in Syria on Legal Opinion from the Attorney-General for England and Wales, Jeremy Wright, a politician, MP and Cabinet Minister. But Wrights legal knowledge comes from an undistinguished first degree from Exeter and a short career as a criminal defence barrister in Birmingham. His knowledge of public international law is virtually nil.
I pause briefly to note that there is no pretence of consulting the Scottish legal system. The only legal opinion is from the Attorney General for England and Wales who is also Honorary Advocate General for Northern Ireland.
So Jeremy Wrights role is as a cypher. He performs a charade. The government employs in the FCO a dozen of the most distinguished public international lawyers in the world. When the Attorney-Generals office needs an Opinion on public international law, they ask the FCO to provide it for him to sign.
The only known occasion when this did not happen was the Iraq War. Then the FCO Legal Advisers unanimously advised the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, that to invade Iraq was illegal. Jack Straw asked the Attorney General to dismiss the FCO chief Legal Adviser, Sir Michael Wood (Goldsmith refused). Blair sent Goldsmith to Washington where the Opinion was written for him to sign by George Bushs lawyers. [I know this sounds incredible, but it is absolutely true]. Sir Michael Woods deputy, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, resigned in protest.
In consequence Blair and Straw decided that, again for the first time ever, the FCOs chief legal adviser had to be appointed not from within the FCO legal advisers, who had all declared the war on Iraq to be illegal, but from outside. They had to find a distinguished public international lawyer who was prepared to argue that the war on Iraq was legal. That was a very small field. Blair and Straw thus turned to Benjamin Netanyahus favourite lawyer, Daniel Bethlehem.
Read more at Information Clearing House