Ricin plots and state control of the media
A couple of weeks ago five men were on trial in London accused of being the masterminds of a 'deadly' ricin plot to poison thousands of Brits. These 5 were the only people charged from the dozen or so initially arrested. The trial collapsed though as there was no real evidence against the men. In the event just one of the accused, already serving life for the murder of a policeman received a further sentence for 'plotting to use ricin and other poisons'. The other defendants were set free. No ricin was found.
There are two reasons why this story is of note. The first is that when Colin Powell and Jack 'man of' Straw made their case for war before the UN in February 2003, the London ricin ring was highlighted as proof that Bin Laden was funding terrorists in the UK. It was at best a massive exaggeration, at worst a bare faced lie like so much of, in fact all of the rest of Powell's presentation. Remember all those maps and diagrams which were presented showing weapons sites, all the phony crap about mobile chemical factories?
The second reason why the story is of note is that it shows Blair's paranoia as his lies come back to haunt him.
An expert witness at the ricin trial was the investigative journalist Duncan Campbell. The day after the trial collapsed he wrote a piece for The Guardian entitled "Fake Terror - Ricin Ring That Never Was". It quite simply exposed what a hollow web of lies the government's legal case against the accused had been and touched on how fear was being used as a political tool. The story appeared on The Guardian's website for a day or so then mysteriously disappeared. You can still read it here. Please do read it.
Why did the story disappear? Turns out the government issued a "D" Notice. A D Notice is a tool the government has at its disposal to prevent media organisations reporting stories which may harm the security of the nation. It was used during the Falklands war and no doubt during both Iraqi wars to prevent journalists giving away too much information on tactical matters. Fair enough in those circumstances as lives are at risk but why use it in this case? Does the fact that our leaders have been proven to be liars threaten national security? Or does it simply show how desperate Blair is to cling onto power?
While doing some research for this post I searched the BBC News website for the word "ricin". The fourth story down has the headline - Al-Qaeda suspect jailed over Ricin plot - but click the link and you are diverted to the news front page. Another story pulled to spare Tony's blushes? I've emailed the BBC to ask why the story isn't available. I'll let you know.
There are two reasons why this story is of note. The first is that when Colin Powell and Jack 'man of' Straw made their case for war before the UN in February 2003, the London ricin ring was highlighted as proof that Bin Laden was funding terrorists in the UK. It was at best a massive exaggeration, at worst a bare faced lie like so much of, in fact all of the rest of Powell's presentation. Remember all those maps and diagrams which were presented showing weapons sites, all the phony crap about mobile chemical factories?
The second reason why the story is of note is that it shows Blair's paranoia as his lies come back to haunt him.
An expert witness at the ricin trial was the investigative journalist Duncan Campbell. The day after the trial collapsed he wrote a piece for The Guardian entitled "Fake Terror - Ricin Ring That Never Was". It quite simply exposed what a hollow web of lies the government's legal case against the accused had been and touched on how fear was being used as a political tool. The story appeared on The Guardian's website for a day or so then mysteriously disappeared. You can still read it here. Please do read it.
Why did the story disappear? Turns out the government issued a "D" Notice. A D Notice is a tool the government has at its disposal to prevent media organisations reporting stories which may harm the security of the nation. It was used during the Falklands war and no doubt during both Iraqi wars to prevent journalists giving away too much information on tactical matters. Fair enough in those circumstances as lives are at risk but why use it in this case? Does the fact that our leaders have been proven to be liars threaten national security? Or does it simply show how desperate Blair is to cling onto power?
While doing some research for this post I searched the BBC News website for the word "ricin". The fourth story down has the headline - Al-Qaeda suspect jailed over Ricin plot - but click the link and you are diverted to the news front page. Another story pulled to spare Tony's blushes? I've emailed the BBC to ask why the story isn't available. I'll let you know.
posted by phylos @ 14:00
2 Comments:
In principle we have a totally free media. In reality though the 'rules' to which journalists play, especially political journalists, makes them open to all manner of manipulation.
You frequently see stories in the UK press saying "A senior minister said.." or "Sources close to the Prime Minister told me.." - it's all part of the 'lobby' system whereby journalists speak to their sources in the member's lobby of parliament. This is done on a strict no names basis so that nothing is attributable. On the plus side it gives the media good access to senior government figures and to some valuable stories but any journalist who breaks the rules will suddenly find him or herself out of favour and without any news to report. So they all play the game.
Add to that the fact we do not have a written constitution or a Bill of Rights, that our Freedom of Information Act (which only became law in January) is a toothless piece of crap; throw in a mixture of complacency and apathy amongst most members of the public and you have a system which is open to abuse. And abused it is.
http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001492.asp
*big smile*
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