Tuesday, August 05, 2008

the US-UK "special relationship" . . . . or- more precisely- the trans-Atlantic fuckover

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So, Diego Garcia is being used by the yanks as an interrogation base as well as a transit point for extraordinary rendition. Who knew?! Well, the CIA, obviously, and some retired general and a few other people. The big question is who knew in the UK government? Because, as the article observes, such beastliness is slightly more illegal in our barely-more-civilised little country than it is in the US.

Several attempts were made by the UK government- forced into action by the mounting rumours and even open admissions of such attrocities by US military sources- to elucidate what exactly the US military was doing out there were predictably met with smooth denials. Quite what the US is going to say now that similar accusations have been published in Time magazine remains to be seen but its not going to be pretty.

The awesomeness of Reprieve put it succinctly by commenting that:

"This remains a transatlantic cover-up of epic proportions. While the British government seems content to accept whatever nonsense it is fed by its U.S. allies, the sordid truth about Diego Garcia’s central role in the unjust rendition and detention of prisoners in the so-called ‘War on Terror’ cannot be hidden forever."

The UK, of course, had the considerable dishonour of purging the island of its previous inhabitants, as Rossinisbird explains, so I suppose the US are really just following our lead. So much for the moral high ground.

2 comments:

  1. Cheers dude! I chucked your badnesss in there too.

    I just re-read that and it made hardly any sense. I must start reading posts before I publish them!

    John Pilger reported that the Chagossian ex-pats are going to the European High Court now after a 2000 High COurt ruling in their favour was instantly turned over by a government decree which was later backed up by use of the same "Royal Perogative" Blair used to initiate the Iraqi genocide.

    "Article 7 of the statute of the international criminal court describes the "deportation or forcible transfer of population ... by expulsion or other coercive acts" as a crime against humanity.

    http://antiwar.com/orig/pilger.php?articleid=3702

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