Pre 2001 Origins
⁸
BRITISH EMPIRE
"At the present moment agitation is intense in all Mohammedan countries … The reports of agents and others confirm … the extreme vitality of the movement [panIslamism] … It is … essential that the country to whom Mohammedans look shoul d not be Afghanistan. We should therefore create a state more convenient for ourselves, to whom the attention of Islam should be turned. We have an opportunity in Arabia" Captain Bray, ‘A Note on the Mohammedan Question’, March 1917, in J. Priestland (ed.), Islam: Political Impact, 1908–1972, British Documentary Sources ,Vol.2, Cambridge Archives
MCMAHON–HUSSEIN CORRESPONDENCE
"Firstly - England to acknowledge the independence of the Arab countries, hounded on the north by Mersina and Adana up to the 837° of latitude, on which degree fall Birijik, Urfa, Mardin, Midiat. Jozivat (Ibn ‘Umar), Amadia,(*) up to the border of Persia; on the east by the borders of Persia up to the Gulf of Basra; on the south by the Indian Ocean, with the exception of the position of Aden to remain as it is; on the west by the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea up to Mersina, Tingland to approve of the proclamation of an Arab Khalifate of Islam." letter from the Sherif of Mecca to Sir Henry McMahon, His Majesty’s High Commissioner at Cairo.(*) July 14, 1915.
"I risked the fraud on my conviction that Arab help was necessary to our cheap and speedy victory in the East, and that better we win and break our word, than lose" T E Lawrence The Seven of Wisdom
"The Arab inspiration was our main tool for winning the Eastern war. So I assured them that England kept her word in letter and spirit. In this comfort they performed their fine things; but of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed" T E Lawrence The Seven of Wisdom
TREATY Of DARIN
The Treaty of Darin, or the Darin Pact, of 1915 was between Britain and Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (sometimes called Ibn Saud) ruler of the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, who would go on to found the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.
SYKES-PICOT
"I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's note of the 9th instant, stating that the French Government accept the limits of a future Arab State, or Confederation of States, and of those parts of Syria where French interests predominate, together with certain conditions attached thereto, such as they result from recent discussions in London and Petrograd on the subject." Sykes-Picot Agreement - Britain and Frances Agreement to Carve up the World. Russia and Italy also were awarded concessions. Original Document, Lord Grey To Paul Cambon May 1916
"That in the blue area France, and in the red area Great Britain, shall be allowed to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they desire and as they may think fit to arrange with the Arab State or Confederation of Arab State" Sykes-Picot Agreement - Britain and Frances Agreement to Carve up the World. Russia and Italy also were awarded concessions. Original Document, Lord Grey To Paul Cambon May 1916
BALFOUR DECLARATION
"Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet: ‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours for the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.’ I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. Yours sincerely, Arthur James Balfour " The Balfour Declaration To Lord Walter Rothschild November 2nd 1917
DIVIDE And CONQUER
"should so plan the educational textbooks that the differences between community and community are further strengthened … If we could break educated Indians into two sections holding widely different views, we should, by such a division, strengthen our position against the subtle and continuous attack which the spread of education must make upon our system of government" George Francis Hamilton, the secretary of state for India, once wrote to Lord Curzon, B. Pande, ‘History in the Service of Imperialism' (Couldn't Find Primary Sources)
"we have maintained our power in India by playing off one part against the other and we must continue to do so. Do all you can, therefore, to prevent all having a common feeling" Secretary of State Wood wrote in a letter to Lord Elgin, B. Pande, ‘History in the Service of Imperialism’ (Couldn't Find Primary Sources)
AFGHAN SOVIET WAR 1980s
"Question: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs that the American intelligence services began to aid the Mujahideen in Afghanistan six months before the Soviet intervention. Is this period, you were the national security advisor to President Carter. You therefore played a key role in this affair. Is this correct?
Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahideen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. But the reality, closely guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention [emphasis added throughout].
Q: Despite this risk, you were an advocate of this covert action. But perhaps you yourself desired this Soviet entry into the war and looked for a way to provoke it?
B: It wasn’t quite like that. We didn’t push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would.
Q : When the Soviets justified their intervention by asserting that they intended to fight against secret US involvement in Afghanistan , nobody believed them . However, there was an element of truth in this. You don’t regret any of this today?
B: Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, essentially: “We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war." Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war that was unsustainable for the regime , a conflict that bought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.
Q: And neither do you regret having supported Islamic fundamentalism, which has given arms and advice to future terrorists?
B : What is more important in world history? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some agitated Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?
Q : “Some agitated Moslems”? But it has been said and repeated: Islamic fundamentalism represents a world menace today...
B: Nonsense! It is said that the West has a global policy in regard to Islam. That is stupid: There isn’t a global Islam. Look at Islam in a rational manner, without demagoguery or emotionalism. It is the leading religion of the world with 1.5 billion followers. But what is t h ere in com m on among fundamentalist Saudi Arabia , moderate Morocco, militarist Pakistan, pro-Western Egypt, or secularist Central Asia? Nothing more than what unites the Christian countries…" The Brzezinski Interview with Le Nouvel Observateur (1998), University Of Arizona (Quote not in book, similar reference)
"A Soviet Vietnam?
However, we should not be too sanguine about Afghanistan becoming a Soviet Vietnam" Memo from Z. Brzezinski to President Carter, 26 December 1979, Type in and download from national archives
"We should concert with Islamic countries both in a propaganda campaign and in a covert action campaign to help the rebels" Memo from Z. Brzezinski to President Carter, 26 December 1979, Type in and download from national archives
"explore with the Pakistanis and British the possibility of improving the financing, arming and communications of the rebel forces to make it as expensive as possible for the Soviets to continue their efforts" SCC Meeting on Afghanistan (CIA appreciation of Soviet Intentions)’, 17 December 1979
" Third, we will attempt to increase our propaganda campaign on the Soviets worldwide. We will recommend to our European allies that they encourage their press to pay more attention to the subject... to cast the Soviets as opposing Moslem religious and nationalist expressions" SCC Meeting on Afghanistan (CIA appreciation of Soviet Intentions)’, 17 December 1979 (Extended quote)
"We helped create the mujahideen, fired them with religious zeal in seminaries, armed them, paid them, fed them, and sent them to a jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan" Pervez Musharraf, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir Page 208, Ex SSG and Pakistani President
British Training of the Mujahedeen in Scotland and other bases in the UK in the 1980s. Ken Connor (Ex SAS) The Ghost Force; The Secret History Of The SAS, Page 278
"They were well-armed and ferocious fighters, but they lacked battlefield organisation" Ken Connor (Ex SAS) The Ghost Force; The Secret History Of The SAS, Page 312
"planning of operations, the use of explosives and the fire control of heavy weapons – mortars and artillery" Ken Connor (Ex SAS) The Ghost Force; The Secret History Of The SAS, Page 312
"They were very grateful for the help and relations between the two groups were very friendly on a personal level but that did not translate into a corresponding warmth between the British government and the leaders of the Mujahideen. It was strictly an anti-Communist marriage of convenience between two organisations that had nothing else in common." Ken Connor (Ex SAS) The Ghost Force; The Secret History Of The SAS, Page 313
"These cross-border strikes were at their peak during 1986. Scores of attacks were made across the Amu from Jozjan to Badakshan Provinces. Sometimes Soviet citizens joined in these operations, or came back into Afghanistan to join the Mujahideen" Afghanistan The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower By Mohammed Yousaf, Mark Adkin Page 230 (extended quote)
"Thus it was the US that put in train a major escalation of the war which, over the next three years, culminated in numerous cross-border raids and sabotage missions north of the Amu. During this period we were specifically to train and despatch hundreds of Mujahideen up to 25 kilometres deep inside the Soviet Union. They were probably the most secret and sensitive operations of the war. They only occurred during my time with ISI as in 1987" Afghanistan The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower By Mohammed Yousaf, Mark Adkin Page 216-17 (extended quote)
"Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally "the database", was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians" Robin Cook, ‘The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means’, Guardian , 8 July 2005 (Extended quote), Mar Curtis remarks "and, he forgot to say, MI6"
"We trained in all types of guerrilla warfare. We trained on weapons, tactics, enemy engagement techniques and survival in hostile environments. All weapons training was with live ammunition, which was available everywhere. Indeed, there were a number of casualties during these training sessions. There were ex-military people amongst the Mujahideen, but no formal state forces participated. We were also trained by the elite units of the Mujahideen who had themselves been trained by Pakistani Special Forces, the CIA and the SAS … We had our own specially designed manuals, but we also made extensive use of manuals from the American and British military" From Mujahid to Activist: An Interview with a Libyan Veteran of the Afghan Jihad’, 25 March 2005, Jamestown Foundation
"The intelligence agencies of the US and the UK went along with Zia's policy of Arabising/Wahabising the Muslims of Pakistan because this contributed to an increase in the flow of jihadi terrorists to fight against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan." B. Raman, ‘Home-Grown Jihadis (Jundullah) in UK and US’, 6 May 2007
"This covert operation was a great idea. It had the effect of luring the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, in essence: “We now have the opportunity to give the USSR its Vietnam War." The Brzezinski Interview with Le Nouvel Observateur (1998), University Of Arizona
"What is more important in world history? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some agitated Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?" The Brzezinski Interview with Le Nouvel Observateur (1998), University Of Arizona
WESTERN MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES ROLES 1990-2000
"designed both to publicise Bin Laden’s statements and to provide cover for activity in support for Al Qaeda’s “military” activities, including the recruitment of trainees, the disbursement of funds and the procurement of equipment and services." US Vs Bin Laden, Usama et al. S7 indictment Page 8
"Bin Laden had his advice and reform committee in Britain in 1994 and lived here before he gained notoriety" House of Common, Hansard Debates 19 November 2001, Col 97 (similar to in book different source)
" al-Fawwaz would tell his handlers, one of whom he names, what he was up to. The meetings often lasted three hours or more, he says. MI5 would have made its own discreet checks. Al-Fawwaz's phone was probably tapped, his correspondence intercepted." Nick Hopkins and Richard Norton-Taylor, ‘Faulty intelligence’, Guardian, 29 November 2001
"Perhaps MI5 thought it was better to monitor al-Fawwaz and the two others for intelligence." Nick Hopkins and Richard Norton-Taylor, ‘Faulty intelligence’, Guardian, 29 November 2001
"On two separate occasions, they were given an opportunity to extradite or interview key bin Laden operatives who had been arrested in Africa because they appeared to be planning terrorist atrocities." David Rose, ‘Resentful west spurned Sudan’s key terror files’, Observer, 30 September 2001
"He said the blame for the failure lay in the 'irrational hatred' the Clinton administration felt for the source of the proffered intelligence - Sudan" David Rose, ‘Resentful west spurned Sudan’s key terror files’, Observer, 30 September 2001
"We know them in detail,' said one Sudanese source. 'We know their leaders, how they implement their policies, how they plan for the future. We have tried to feed this information to American and British intelligence so they can learn how this thing can be tackled." David Rose, ‘Resentful west spurned Sudan’s key terror files’, Observer, 30 September 2001
"They have however been disguised under the cover of dozens of "humanitarian" agencies spread throughout Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. Funding has come from now-defunct banks such as the Albanian-Arab Islamic Bank and from bin Laden's so-called Advisory and Reformation Committee. One of his largest Islamist front agencies, it was established in London in 1994" Marcia Kurop, ‘Al Qaeda’s Balkan links’, Wall Street Journal Europe, 1 November 2001
"sending them back into Kosovo to assassinate Serbian mayors, ambush Serbian policemen and intimidate hesitant Kosovo Albanians" James Bissett (Former Canadian Diplomat and ambassador to Yugoslavia and Albania), ‘We created a monster’, Toronto Star , 31 July 2001, published on Deltax
"The Hope was that with Kosovo in flames NATO could intervene and in so doing, not only overthrow Milosevic the Serbian strongman, but, more importantly, provide the aging and increasingly irrelevant military organisation [NATO] with a reason for its continued existence" James Bissett,(Former Canadian Diplomat and ambassador to Yugoslavia and Albania), ‘We created a monster’, Toronto Star , 31 July 2001, published on Deltax
"The war in Bosnia was America’s war in every sense of the word. The United States
administration helped start it, kept it going, and prevented its early end. Indeed, all
indications are that it intends to allow the war to continue in the near future, as soon as its
Muslim protégés are fully armed and trained." Alfred Sherman, Chairman, The Lord Byron Foundation For Balkan Studies, America’s intervention in the Balkans, 1997, third annual conference devoted to Us policy in southeast Europe held in Chicago Page 6
Iraq 1991-2002
Air strikes on Iraq rise sharply, Julian Borger in Washington Fri 6 Sep 2002, Blair says UK must pay US ‘blood price’Patrick Wintour, Nicholas Watt and Kevin Maguire Fri 6 Sep 2002, Richard Norton-Taylor, 'Britain and US step up bombing in Iraq', Guardian, 4 December 2002
"Since patrolling of the northern and southern Iraqi No-Fly-Zones began (in 1991 and 1992 respectively), the RAF have flown a total of some 15,500 sorties in the zones" Mr. George Robertson, House of Commons, Hansard, 17 December 1998, Col. 652
"Leslie Stahl: "We have heard that a half million children have died (as a result of sanctions against Iraq). I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?"
Madeleine Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price, we think the price is worth it." 60 minutes Interview with Madeline Albright 1996 Clinton's secretary of state, commenting on the sanctions on Iraq
"this policy constitutes genocide and Washington and London are responsible ... It... is a deliberate policy to destroy the people of Iraq . . . We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is illegal and immoral." Dennis Halliday, Cornell Chronicle, October 1st 1999, other sources, Gandhi peace award 2003 acceptance speech
"The UK and the US, as permanent members of the [UN security] council, are fully aware that the UN embargo operates in breach of the UN covenants on human rights, the Geneva and Hague conventions and other international laws . . . The two governments have consistently opposed allowing the UN security council to carry out its mandated responsibilities to assess the impact of sanctions policies on civilians. We know about this first hand because the governments repeatedly tried to prevent us from briefing the security council about it" Hans von Sponeck and Dennis Halliday, 'The hostage nation', Guardian, 29 November 2001
"The most recent report of the UN secretary-general, in October 2001, says that the US and UK governments' blocking of $4bn of humanitarian supplies is by far the greatest constraint on the implementation of the oil-for-food programme. The report says that, in contrast, the Iraqi government's distribution of humanitarian supplies is fully satisfactory (as it was when we headed this programme). The death of some 5-6,000 children a month is mostly due to contaminated water, lack of medicines and malnutrition. The US and UK governments' delayed clearance of equipment and materials is responsible for this tragedy, not Baghdad." Hans von Sponeck and Dennis Halliday, 'The hostage nation', Guardian, 29 November 2001
SAUDIA, PAKISTANI, TURKISH, QATAR AND OTHER MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES ROLES
"[It described the HUA as an] Islamic extremist organisation that Pakistan supports in its proxy war against Indian forces in Kashmir’, and was ‘increasingly … using terrorist tactics against Westerners and random attacks on civilians" CIA, ‘Harkat ul-Ansar: Increasing Threat to Western and Pakistani Interests’, August 1996
"Indian claims, and Pakistani denials, that Kashmiri extremists are receiving support from Pakistan with training and supply of weapons" House of Commons Hansard, 25 July 1991, Col.1354
"Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was able to expand under the safe sanctuary extended by Taliban following Pakistan Directives" Defence Intelligence Agency, ‘Veteran Afghanistan Traveler’s Analysis of Al Qaeda and Taliban Exploitable Weaknesses’, 2 October 2001, National Security Archive, ‘The September 11th Sourcebooks – Volume VII: The Taliban File
"The Tadjik commander from southern Afghantstan), Pakistan also encouraged, facilitated and often escorted arabs from the middle east into Afghanistan. Eventually A special facility was constructed in Zarwa (CRA), in Paktia province, with Pakistan Inter-services Intelligence directorate (ISI) Funding." Defence Intelligence Agency, ‘Veteran Afghanistan Traveler’s Analysis of Al Qaeda and Taliban Exploitable Weaknesses’, 2 October 2001, National Security Archive, ‘The September 11th Sourcebooks – Volume VII: The Taliban File
"there is still far too much evidence… over the past year to 18 months … that cross-border terrorism is actively encouraged and, indeed, at times sponsored by agencies and elements closely aligned with the Pakistani authorities" House of Commons, Hansard , 12 December 2000
"A number of terrorist organisations – including Laskhare-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat Mujahideen … have been at the forefront of violent activity in the region [Kashmir] … Her Majesty’s government accept that there is a clear link between the ISID [ISI] and those groups … The fact cannot be avoided that over a period of years, successive governments of Pakistan have, through their Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, encouraged and funded terrorists – otherwise known as freedom fighters – to make incursions across the line of control as outsiders in that dispute, and to engage in mayhem and terrorism" House of Commons, Hansard, 10 June 2002, Cols .595–6, 605
"The extent to which the 7 July attacks were externally planned, directed or controlled by contacts in Pakistan or elsewhere remains unclear. The Agencies believe that some form of operational training is likely to have taken place while Khan and Tanweer were in Pakistan. Contacts in the run-up to the attacks suggest they may have had advice or direction from individuals there" Intelligence and Security Committee, Report into the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005, Page 12, 38
"Between April and July 2005, the group was in contact with an individual or individuals in Pakistan… it is not clear when the group decided on a UK attack but they appear to
have begun planning it shortly after their return from Pakistan in February 2005;" Home Office, Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7th July 2005, Pages 21, 27
"Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, LeT, and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during Hajj and Ramadan" US embassy cables: Hillary Clinton says Saudi Arabia “a critical source of terrorist funding”’, Guardian, 5 December 2010, WIKI Leaks
"While the GOK has demonstrated a willingness to take action when attacks target Kuwait, it has been less inclined to take action against Kuwait-based financiers and facilitators plotting attacks outside of Kuwait. Al-Qa'ida and other groups continue to exploit Kuwait both as a source of funds and as a key transit point." US embassy cables: Hillary Clinton says Saudi Arabia “a critical source of terrorist funding”’, Guardian, 5 December 2010, WIKI Leaks
"Qatar has adopted a largely passive approach to cooperating with the U.S. against terrorist financing. Qatar's overall level of CT cooperation with the U.S. is considered the worst in the region." a critical source of terrorist funding”’, Guardian, 5 December 2010, WIKI Leaks
"assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region." Wiki Leaks, From:john.podesta@gmail.com To: hrod17@clintonemail.com, 2014-09-27
"While having little real sympathy for ISIS, Erdoğan (Turkish President) has nonetheless tolerated it. In the end, he preferred strengthening ISIS against Damascus than deepening Turkish ties with the Kurds" Graham Fuller (Ex CIA) , ‘Here’s What’s Behind Erdoğan’s New Airstrikes — And Why They Could Backfire 07/28/ 2015
"Saudi Arabia has been a major source of financing to rebel and terrorist organisations since the 1970s." European Parliament, The Involvement of Salafism/Wahhabism in the Support and Supply of Arms to Rebel Groups Around the World , 2013, Page 5
"The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said." C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition, Eric Schmitt June 21, 2012
The War On Terror 2001
"Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon adopted a plan to topple the governments of seven countries Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Iran) within five years, according to a memorandum disclosed by US General Wesley Clark." General Wesley Clark, not exact quote
"the need to confront international terrorism
abroad rather than waiting for attacks
within the UK" Delivering Security in a Changing World, Defence White Paper, December 2003, Page 7 1.5
"Fourth, we need to make clear to Syria and Iran that there is a choice: come in to the international community and play by the same rules as the rest of us; or be confronted" Tony Blair Speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles 1 August 2006
"The West does not actually hand the weapons to al Qaeda, let alone ISIS, but the system that they have constructed leads precisely to that end … The weapons conduit that the West directly has been giving to groups such as the Syrian Free Army [sic] have been understood to be a sort of ‘Walmart’ from which the more radical groups would be able to take their weapons and pursue the jihad." The Report: Al Qaeda in Syria’, BBC Radio 4, 17 December 2015, Alastair Crooke (Ex MI6) Min 3:30
Afghanistan 2001- Present
"Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October" US 'planned attack on Taliban 18th September 2001, BBC
“Dr. Rice has stated that she asked the National Security Council staff in her first week in office for a new presidential initiative on al Qaeda. In early March, the staff was directed to craft a more aggressive strategy aimed at eliminating the al Qaeda threat. The first draft of that approach, in the form of a presidential directive, was circulated by the NSC staff in June of 2001, and a number of meetings were held that summer at the deputy secretary level to address the policy questions involved, such as relating an aggressive strategy against Taliban to U.S.-Pakistan relations. By the first week of September, the process had arrived at a strategy that was presented to principals and later became NSPD-9, the President’s first major substantive national security decision directive. It was presented for a decision by principals on September 4th, 2001, seven days before the 11th, and later signed by the President, with minor changes and a preamble to reflect the events of September 11th, in October.” RUMSFELD 9/11 COMMISSION TESTIMONY MARCH 23, 2004
"Many of the people in the village then ran out of their homes, afraid that the bombs would fall on the homes. All witnesses stated that aircraft then returned to the area and began firing from guns. Many of the civilians were killed from the firing. The bombing and firing lasted for about one hour." HRW, 'Afghanistan; New civilian deaths due to US bombing', 30 October 2001 (At least twenty-five, and possibly as many as thirty-five, Afghan civilians died when U.S. bombs and gunfire hit their village, Chowkar-Karez)
Iraq 2003- Present
"There is a clear consensus within the UK extremist community that Iraq is a legitimate jihad and should be supported. Iraq has re-energised and refocused a wide range of networks in the UK … The conflict in Iraq has exacerbated the threat from international terrorism and will continue to have an impact in the long term. It has reinforced the determination of terrorists who were already committed to attacking the West and motivated others who were not" David Leppard, ‘Iraq terror backlash in UK “for years”, Times, 2 April 2006
Brown said: "We hope to sign an agreement with the Iraqi government about the future role that we can play in training and in protecting the oil supplies of Iraq." Richard Norton-Taylor and Matthew Taylor, ‘British troops officially end combat operation in southern Iraq’, Guardian, 30 April 2009
"Two things: one is, Isis is a direct outgrowth of al-Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion. Which is an example of unintended consequences" Heather Saul, ‘President Obama claims rise of Isis is “unintended consequence” of George W. Bush’s invasion in Iraq’, 18 March 2015
Libya 2011
"According to sensitive information available to this these individuals, Qaddafi's government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver… This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French.franc (CFA). (Source Comment: According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the
factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to commit France to the attack on Libya. According to these individuals Sarkozy's plans are driven by the following issues:
a. A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production,
b. Increase French influence in North Africa,
c. Improve his intemai political situation in France,
d. Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world,
e. Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi's long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa)" U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05779612 Date: 12/31/2015, Email Between Hillary Clinton And Sidney Blumenthal, April 2, 2011
"British planes and attack helicopters have flown some 3,000 sorties across Libya and have damaged or destroyed some 1,000 former regime targets." Foreign Secretary updates Parliament on the Middle East and North Africa’, 13 October 2011
Ian Birrell, ‘MI6 role in Libyan rebels’ rendition “helped to strengthen al-Qaida’, Guardian , 24 October 2011, Martin Chulov, ‘Libyan commander demands apology over MI6 and CIA plot’, Guardian, 4 September 2011
"Documents obtained by the Observer show ministers and senior civil servants met Shell to discuss the company's oil interests in Libya on at least 11 occasions and perhaps as many as 26 times in less than four years." Terry Macalister, ‘Secret documents uncover UK’s interest in Libyan oil’, Observer, 30 August 2009
Syria 2014 - Present
"The reason Russia came in is because ISIL was getting stronger, Daesh was threatening the possibility of going to Damascus and so forth. And that’s why Russia went in. Because they didn’t want a Daesh government and they supported Assad.... And we know that this was growing. We were watching. We saw that Daesh was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened. We thought, however, we could probably manage, that Assad would then negotiate. Instead of negotiating, he got Putin to support him.” John Kerry Leaked meeting with Syrian revolutionaries, Min 26:30
“I am going to tell you something. I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business. I met with top British officials, who confessed to me, that they were preparing something in Syria… This was in Britain not in America. Britain was organizing an invasion of rebels into Syria. They even asked me, although I was no longer Minister of Foreign Affairs, if I would like to participate. Naturally, I refused, I said I am French, that does not interest me… This operation goes way back. It was prepared, preconceived and planned… in the region it is important to know that this Syrian regime has a very anti-Israeli stance” Roland Dumas (Ex French Minister), “Top British Officials Confessed to Syria War Plans Two Years before Arab Spring”’,16 June 2013, video
But in practice, as Murphy states bluntly: “distinguishing between the FSA and al-Nusra is impossible, because they are virtually the same organization. As early as 2013, FSA commanders were defecting with their entire units to join al-Nusra. There, they still retain the FSA monicker, but it is merely for show, to give the appearance of secularism so they can maintain access to weaponry provided by the CIA and Saudi intelligence services. The reality is that the FSA is little more than a cover for the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra" Alastair Crooke (Ex MI6), ‘How the US Armed-up Syrian Jihadists’, 29 September 2016
"A good 95 percent of them were either working in terrorist organizations or were sympathetic to them,’ a Green Beret associated with the program said" Alastair Crooke (Ex MI6), ‘How the US Armed-up Syrian Jihadists’, 29 September 2016
"use jihadists to weaken the government in Damascus and to drive it to its knees at the negotiating table" The Report: Al Qaeda in Syria’, BBC Radio 4, 17 December 2015, Alastair Crooke (Ex MI6) Min 4:15
"I know where those weapons are coming from. They are the weapons left over from the Bosnian war. They are being shipped out in large measure through Croatian ports and airports and I can tell you they are making vast sums for corrupt forces in the Balkans" Robert Winnett, ‘Syria: 3,500 tons of weapons already sent to rebels, says Lord Ashdown’, 1 July 2013
"Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria went further. He described the
existence of moderate opposition groups in Syria as “largely a figment of the imagination" House of Commons, Defence Committee, UK Military Operations in Syria and Iraq , 13 September 2016, para 90
Ian Cobain et al, ‘How Britain funds the “propaganda war” against Isis in Syria’, 3 May 2016, David Blair, ‘Britain sends 85 troops to train Syria rebels’, 16 May 2015,Syria air strikes conducted by UK military pilots’, 17 July 2015, Dropped bombs after Parliament voted no to military action in Syria in 2013
"The UK has conducted the 2nd highest number of strikes - 1,318 in Iraq and 196 in Syria" Ministry of Defence, UK Defence in Numbers , 2017
Londonistan
"I told them [MI5] Hamza was brainwashing people and sending them to al-Qaeda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, that he was preaching jihad and murder and that he was involved in the provision of false passports. I told them he was a chief terrorist… His MI5 handler did not appear unduly worried "
Richard Woods and David Leppard, ‘Focus: How liberal Britain let hate flourish’, Sunday Times , 12 February 2006, Reda Hassaine ( Ex MI5)
"told The Observer that MI5 approached intermediaries to offer him a passport and an Iranian visa so he could leave the country."
Antony Barnett, Martin Bright and Nick Paton-Walsh, ‘MI5 wanted me to escape, claims cleric’, Observer, 21 October 2001
Ian Cobain et al, ‘MI5 decided to stop watching two suicide bombers’, Guardian, 1 May 2007, David Leppard, ‘MI5 knew of bomber’s plan for holy war’, Sunday Times, 22 January 2006
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