INDEX Continued, click for first section.	Saturday July 16, 2022
Annie Machon: Spies, Lies & Whistleblowers (continued)
British judges do not appear to be interested in justice or the convictions of Jawad Botmeh, Samar Alami for conspiracy in relation to the bombing of the Israeli embassy in 1994, would have been quashed long before the book was published in 2005. "As we have seen in the Hutton Enquiry, they are rather more concerned with protecting the reputation of the intelligence services," Annie Machon wrote. Seven 'intelligence' or police officers at the trial of Botmeh and Alami failed to ensure a document vital to the defence was disclosed. "For one officer to mislay a document looks like 'misfortune'," she said. For seven to mislay the same document looks like deliberate carelessness or indeed a conscious attempt to corrupt the judicial process."		Page 241.
Gaddafi plot: 'intelligence' out of control Lives were lost when MI6 hatched a plot to use Al-Qaeda associates to murder Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. This was originally revealed by David Shayler, Annie Machon's partner. But the Labour Government of the time refused to look at his evidence, even privately briefing that he was a low grade MI5 operative who was a fantasist. This Government strategy fell apart when the Libyans provided a great deal of evidence to support Shayler's story."The Government has a duty to investigate exactly how British intelligence officers came to use taxpayers' money to fund terrorism and murder innocent civilians," David Shayler said.		Page 245.
Shayler says he took a legal route to expose "terrorism on the part of MI6" and he was sent to prison as a result. A BBC tv Panorama special about the case, presented by Mark Urban, concluded "Britain's intelligence service was operating completely out of control".		Page 248.
Failure to put the real spies behind bars In 1999 the publication of the Mitrokhin Archive revealed that a KGB spy called Melita Norwood passed Britain's nuclear secrets to Russia. This caused a public outcry but as is the usual story in these cases, Norwood was never prosecuted. "Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, John Cairncross, Donald Maclean and Anthony Blunt-- ex public schoolboys to a man-- all escaped proecution," said Annie Machon. "In the 1960s, George Blake was found guilty of three offences under the 1911 Official Secrets Act and sentenced to 42 years in prison-- three consecutive terms of 14 years, one year for every agent life lost as a result of his treachery-- but he escaped from a high secruity prison to Russia." Should MI5 have a purpose in the modern world, which is doubtful since spying is a thing of the past in this internet age when nearly all information is available either publicly or through hacking, then it is to make sure spies like these are behind bars.		Page 257.
"If we can only maintain our reputation for democracy through lying, cheating and obsessive secrecy, then I suggest we are not really a liberal democracy at all."		Page 287.
Real terrorists laugh at MI5 One of the problems is that despite causing massive disruption to the lives of innocent people (ie people who are not even suspected of committing a crime) the real terrorists laugh at the efforts made by MI5. In an article David Shayler wrote for Punch, he quotes the example of MI5 spending millions of pounds tracking Cyril "Jimmy" McGuinness and Damien "Redboy" McPhillips.
"Although MI5 had an abundance of information linking the two to car crime, it never gathered enough evidence to have them arrested and convicted in connection with terrorist offences,"David Shayler wrote. "At the same time, the two appeared not to give two hoots that MI5 was devoting almost around the clock surveillance to them. At one point, McGuinness led an MI5 surveillance team into a dead end street and then blocked its escape. The unarmed surveillance officers became alarmed as McGuinness edged his car towards theirs, fearing he would draw a revolver and shoot them. Instead, he observed their fear, laughed and then turned the car around and fled."		Page 298.
Obsessive secrecy MI5's obsessive secrecy makes no sense given that the work it does has changed (it rarely, if ever, catches spies). "As MI5 moves increasingly into evidential police work, such as organised crime and terrorism, they should be equally accountable," Annie Machon maintains. Police special branch officers give evidence in open court, So why can't MI5 officers do the same when they are doing the same sort of work?		Page 332/368.
Show trial protecting MI5 Annie Machon maintains that David Shayler's trial for whistle blowing (breaking the terms of the Official Secrets Act) had all the hallmarks for a show trial. "It was all about protecting the reputation of the incompetents and criminals within the services (MI5/MI6)," she said.		Page 335.
Dodgy dossier The dodgy dossier otherwise known as the infamous report on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction was the first intelligence report ever to be published by the government. "It may turn out to be the last, not because it harmed national security but because it amply demonstrated how usless MI5 and MI6 are," said Annie Machon. Not one element of the report about the Iraqi threat, turned out to be true. "Just because intelligence is secret does not make it reliable," Annie Machon said.		Page 349/350.
Beware PM An out of control intelligence service can not be brought to heel by a Prime Minister alone. "The situation requires cross party action so that the lawless elements of the intelligence establishment do not single out and smear any brave party leader who stands up to them, " she said. Party leaders who get on the wrong side of the security services, as Thatcher did when she pushed the 1989 Security Service Act through Parliament, do not stay in office long. "Thatcher barely lasted a year after the services she so praised turned on her for making them observe the minimum standards required in a democracy," said Annie Machon.		Page 367.
Four terrorist attacks MI5 could have stopped "MI5 is incapable of protecting us effectively," said Annie Machon, cataloguing four examples she had encountered while working for MI5. The Bishopsgate attack of April 1993. The McNulty attacks on two fuel installations in the Newcastle area in June 1993. The Israeli Embassy attack in July 1994.		Page 372/3.
This book is only the tip of the iceberg "It is clear that there are officers within MI5 and MI6 who are working to their own agenda rather than the protection of this country, its people and our democracy," she concludes. "What you have read in this book is only the tip of the iceberg."
INDEX Jonathan Brind		Saturday July 16, 2022