The Illegal Arms Trade IraqIran War 1980 1988

It is broadly known that the west frequently change sides as and when it suits their economic goals or foreign policy. One also has to understand that the build up to such a conflict starts well before the war begins and can be in the planning stages up to around five years beforehand. The other issue that frequently stops such action going ahead is the justification or the reasons for going to war, which we have all observed prior to the Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan. One can clearly see how Geo Politics plays a major role in all conflicts and how governments become greedy in order to place themselves as major players in a given region. This can involve forced regime changes, disputes over borders, attempts to obtain the resources belonging to another country or by creating false flag incidents to encourage conflict etc. The United States and Britain have become experts at this sort of activity as a direct result of their experience at Empire Building. Unfortunately it was Saddam Hussain who decided that he should also improve his status in the region and at the same time hopefully acquire more land that was rich in natural resources. He had the full support of the west who played a major role in the war and who at the same time attempted to prolong it. The west, in particular the US, are well aware of the financial returns in keeping the war effort going. So lets now look into this unnecessary war, how greed played a major role, the aftermath and the heavy loss of life on both sides. The war in actual fact achieved absolutely nothing. The war began on the 22ndof September 1980 when Iraq invaded Iran and carried out an air and land assault. There had, in the past, been many border disputes with additional concern by the Iraqs of Shia insurgency. It was Saddam Hussain who hoped to replace Iran as the dominant Gulf State. The attack was a failure in many respects as the forward progress was somewhat limited and was repelled by the Iranians within several months, who had regained most of the lost territory by June of 1982. The war continue on until the UN intervened and then stopped on the 20th of August 1988. One very important aspect of this war was who controlled the Shatt al-Arab waterway which to the Iranians is known as the Arvand Rud. This vital oil export channel in the far north of the Persian Gulf is so important to both countries.

The objectives of Iraqs invasion of Iran were:

The control of the Shatt al-Arad waterway by the Iraqis The acquisition of the three islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs of behalf of the UAE Annexation of Khuzestan to Iraq To prevent the spread of the Islamic Revolution in the region in the region The war cost many lives on both sides amounting to around half a million military personal and many civilians. The economic impact was also heavy on both sides. What was one of the most heroic events in this war was when a boy-soldiers of Iran, volunteered to run into the minefields in order to clear the way for the Iranian soldiers behind him. The Iranians were also hard-hit by the employment of chemical weapons and mustard gas by the Iraqis. What this war did reveal was the extensive use of chemical weapons including mustard gas against Iranian troops and civilians. We may also recall that Iraq also used chemical weapons on the Kurds. It was ironic that the UN had stated that such weapons had been used but very carefully did not mention Iraq as the instigators. The border disputes between the two countries goes back decades but the real issue from my perspective is the way in which the US and UK governments wanted to elongate this war for an indefinite duration. After all war is good business and feeds the military hardware and software industries of both countries extremely well. There is no doubt that the export of such products is one of the most single lucrative industries in the world. It was during this war that President Ronald Reagan said that the US could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran, and that the United States would do whatever was necessary to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran. It was President Reagan who pushed for a policy issuing a National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) to this effect in June, 1982. The Security Council passed Resolution 552 condemning attacks on commercial ships in the region. No doubt this would allow the west to continue its illegal arms trade which is was doing anyway. It was obvious as to who was supporting who. The US as usual being the centre of attraction with only one mission in mind, to increase arms sales or get their hands on the huge reserves of natural resource.in actual fact is was both. Maybe we can all remember the role the US played during this war and how they attempted to isolate Iran. The US attacked Iranian oil platforms in retaliation for an Iranian attack on a US flagged Kuwaiti tanker. Later a USS warship hit and Iranian mine and then again the US Navy responded with surface attacks on many targets.

It was during 1987 when the USS Vincennes, who was apparently on exercise? Shot down Iran Air 655 with the loss of all 290 passengers and crew on 3 July 1988. The US Government claimed that the airliner had been mistaken for an Iranian F-14 Tomcat fighter whilst she was operating in international waters. The USS Vincennes feared that it was under attack, which later appeared to be untrue. It is clearly evident to me, as an ex radar operator, that the size of contact and the approaching speed could not have caused such an assumption. One can again clearly see double standards at work..the US were very critical of attacks on civilian shipping targets but it was ok to shoot down an international flight. In July 1988 Iraqi airplanes dropped chemical cyanide bombs on the Iranian Kurdish village of Zardan (as they had done four months earlier on their own Kurdish village of Halabja). Hundreds were killed at once, and the survivors are still suffering from a variety of physical and mental disorders. It has since been proven that the agent used on the Kurds and later on Iran was the deadly VX Gas. The down side of such conflicts and the illegal arms trading is the final death toll and those involved and more importantly the deaths of many of thousands of innocent civilians. What made this war more horrific was the use of chemical weapons. So one should now focus on who provided the hardware, the munitions and the chemicals that were in total violation of the Geneva Convention and how do they get away with it when in most cases such conflicts create blockades or sanctions. Prior too and during the Iraq Iran war many illegal arms shipments were made along with some very high profile visits. That notorious villain Donald Rumsfeld was the US special envoy to the Middle East and met with Saddam in December 1983. As we know he later became the US Defense Secretary during the 2003 Iraqi war when everything suddenly turned 180 degrees and the US wanted Saddam out. The US and the UK in particular considered Iraq as an ally in stopping the Iranians from spreading their revolution. The US and the UK therefore supported Iraq with technology, intelligence and the sale of illegal arms, WMDs and Chemical and Biological Warfare (CBW), military equipment and satellite support. It was also another powerful man, by the name of Henry Kissinger, who stated Its a pity they both cant lose. Iraq, in particular, had a complex clandestine procurement network to obtain munitions and critical materials, which, in some transactions, involved 10-12 countries. This rather complex web of deceit went by unnoticed. Iraq made extensive use of front companies, middlemen, secret ownership of all or part of companies all over the world, forged documents, concealed what it was receiving, the methods and the source of its supply chain. The procurement infrastructure was established in different countries. Some transactions may have involved people, shipping, and manufacturing in as many as 10 countries. Some rather startling news also emerged prior to this war when it was disclosed that the US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig Jnr wrote a secret memo to President Reagan

about the Previous President Jimmy Carter approving Saddam Husseins attack on Iran with assistance from Saudi Arabia. British support for this war was also paramount, especially when the British allowed the Iraqis to purchase a British company to bypass the export control. This company was TMG engineering, later to be called Matrix Churchill who had operations in both the US and UK. The US Company with the same name was also purchased by the Iraqis. The Chairman of the group, which consisted of TDG, TMG, and Matrix Churchill was Safa al Habobi. Another member of the board was Fadel Jawad Khadhum. They were described as follows: The Iraqi members of the boards of directors of companies in the group were in firm control of the companies day-to-day activities and sometimes authoritarian in their actions, one statement said. The British government decided to allow most of Matrix Churchills sales to Iraq. As a result, a scandal erupted after the Persian Gulf War about the role of the British government in arming Iraq. Naturally much more had been going on before this event which never reached the public domain to any degree. Iraq had a very strong tie with both France and the Soviet Union who were major suppliers of actual weapons and Iraq frequently put one up against the other for competition. Singapore also supported Iraq during the Iran Iraq War in discussions for land mines assembled there, as well as chemical warfare precursors shipped from Singapore, possibly by an Iraqi front company. Italy also played an important role in arming Iraq through a US branch of the state owned largest bank in Italy. There were so many complex arrangements that allowed Iraq and its supporters to bypass the embargo. Moving land and sea mines production to Singapore was a typical example. Yugoslavia also sold weapons for the entire duration of the conflict as did Portugal. Spain sold 172 Million Euros of weapons. Spain also sold 4X4 vehicles, BO-105 helicopters, explosives and ammunitions. It should also be noted that an unexploded chemical Iraqi warhead found in Iran was also manufactured in Spain. Turkey also supplied civilian help during the conflict. Turkeys export jumped from $200 million in 1981 to $2 billion in 1985, which made up 25% of Turkeys export. Turkish construction projects in Iraq totaled $2.5 billion between 1974 1990. Iraqs main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, mainly Saudi Arabia ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates($8 billion). The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italys largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, relying partially on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989. These clandestine and illegal loans to Iraq were used to part fund the purchase of arms and weapons technology. It also became clear that the US was funding Iraqi chemical and nuclear research programme. It was stated that during the 1980s Iraq had received around $35 billion in

loans from the west and between $30-40 billion from the Persian Gulf states. Many victims in Iran were innocent civilians and it is believed that more than 100,000 were victims of chemical weapons during the length of the war. The final figure is hard to calculate owing to the long term illnesses that followed the war. Reports show that Nerve Gas killed about 20,000 Iranian soldiers and many thousands continue to seek medical treatment on a regular basis with many more critical cases being hospitalised. What is totally unacceptable to me is the fact that the UN knew of these breaches of the Geneva Convention and did nothing apart from condemning its usage. Needless to say that once again the US was right in there and refused to accept the condemnation. It was not until 1988 that the UN Security Council passed Resolution 612 condemning the use of chemicals. I guess you would ask Well so what. It became apparent that President Reagan was certainly not too concerned as to what Weapons of Mass Destruction were being used as the US were more concerned that the Iraqis did not lose the war. Even after the Iraqi had used chemical weapons on the Kurds the US continued its support of Iraq Maybe it is time to reflect on the bitter pill that Iran has had to swallow both during and after this terrible event. Perhaps we can all see now why Iran could never trust the US, UK and to some degree other EU countries with such a two faced policy. We have to understand that nothing that is done by the west is anything to do with democracy or because of peoples suffering. This is a power game that comes under the title of Geo Politics. It is Imperialism at its best, an urge to take control of the worlds resources, their markets and the transit corridors that deliver them. What we see is a western foreign policy that is extremely aggressive with the US as the instigator, a world full of almost daily False Flags that are well orchestrated in order to justify action or to point fingers at some innocent country they want to rape.such is the world of today. The US uses its relations with other countries like hot and cold taps.they turn them off and on whenever it suits them and certainly when this spoilt child doesnt get its way it unleashes it so called Shock and Awe policy. The Hands of Victory arch in Baghdad is a bitter pill to swallow for the Iranians. The arch was manufactured in Germany and shipped to Iraq. To celebrate his victory over Iran, Saddam decided to build a Triumphal Arch. The colossal Hands of Victory monument has dominated Baghdads skyline since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The triumphal arch is shaped as two pairs of crossed swords, made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers that were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. Captured Iranian helmets are in a net held between the swords (now since removed). And surrounding the base of the arms are another 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battle field. This arch was built to celebrate his victory over Iran which is far from the truth and is of very bad taste. As with all wars the human cost was extremely high. The economic cost amounted to around $1.2 trillion and one could ask for what? Iraq achieved absolutely nothing in their

failed attempt to take over more territory and Irans natural resources. What I did find out was the fact that the UN did to some extent support Iran when the Secretary General made the following statement to the UN Security Council: Even if before the outbreak of the conflict there had been some encroachment by Iran on Iraqi territory, such encroachment did not justify Iraqs aggression against Iranwhich was followed by Iraqs continuous occupation of Iranian territory during the conflictin violation of the prohibition of the use of force, which is regarded as one of the rules of jus cogens (compelling law or of the highest law). On one occasion I had to note with deep regret the experts conclusion that chemical weapons had been used against Iranian civilians in an area adjacent to an urban center lacking any protection against that kind of attack I will now continue with exactly what was supplied to Iraq during the war with Iran and by whom and to give some insight and meaning to the term What goes around comes around. Firstly one has to look at the money trail and see which countries were propping up Iraq. The main contributors were: US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Japan and in the Middle East were Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan. Basically it all amounted to more than $130 billion debt for Iraq.the largest portion of this money came from the Gulf States. As we have already discussed the Iraqs also took advantage of the competition between the supply of military equipment from both the French and the Russian and tactfully used this to manipulate supply. Russia provided most of the equipment with France running a close second. The French military equipment was considered to be more high tech. Russia was sort of piggy in the middle during this conflict and they proffered Iran over Iraq and yet needed to maintain ties with both, such is the role that Geo-Politics plays in any conflict. It would be relevant at this point to reveal a list of Iraq Purchased Weapons that was provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for the period 1973-2002.

Country $M (1990) % Total

USSR 25145 57.26%

France 5595 China 5192 11.82% 12.74%

Czechoslovakia 2880 Poland 1681 Brazil 724 Egypt 568 Romania 524 Denmark 226 Libya 200 USA 200 0.46% 0.46% 0.51% 1.19% 1.29% 1.65% 3.83% 6.56%

South Africa 192 Austria 190 0.43% 0.44%

Switzerland 151 0.34%

Yugoslavia 107 0.24%

Germany (FRG) 84 Italy 84 UK 79 Hungary 30 Spain 29 0.07% 0.07% 0.18% 0.19% 0.19%

East Germany (GDR) 25 Canada 7 Jordan 2 Total 43915 100.0% 0.005% 0.02% 0.06%

The next big issue to debate was who provided Iraq with Chemical and Biological Warfare (CBW) know how? The main players here were both the US, UK and Spain. One has to fully understand that what has been revealed does not give a true account as to the total supply of CBW or of the total supply of military hardware and software. Everything was so cleverly concealed via offshore front companies that it almost became impossible to know it original source. I am sure your imagination can run wild in this respect and realise that the trade in illegal arms is a very profitable business. The deceit and corruption that was linked to supply went right to the top of the political ladder. It is rather ironic that to this day the same policy prevails and war is good for business! So lets just look at one typical consignment as shown in the Riegle Report which was obtained under the freedom of information and you will see just how generous western government were with Iraq: The list in Figure 1 is merely one extract from the invoice details supplied to Senator Riegle by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). One item is particularly notable in this list, for it is the strain of anthrax which will be shown to be the exclusive strain of anthrax used in the Iraqi biological weapons programme. Before focusing on anthrax, however, consider the range of materials exported to Iraq. The Riegle Report confirms that from 1985: Pathogenic (meaning disease producing), toxigenic (meaning poisonous), and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S. Department of Commerce.These exported biological materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. According to the Department of Defences own Report to Congress on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War, released in April 1992: By the time of the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had developed biological weapons. Its advanced and aggressive biological warfare program was the most advanced in the Arab world The program probably began late in the 1970s and concentrated on the development of two agents, botulinum toxin and anthrax bacteria Large-scale production of these agents began in 1989 at four facilities near Baghdad. Delivery means for biological agents ranged from simple aerial bombs and artillery rockets to surface-to-surface missiles. It is at this point we can reveal the effects of these CBW the Report finds that among the US exports to Iraq were the following and it notes their associated disease symptoms: Bacillus Anthracis: anthrax is a disease producing bacteria identified by the Department of Defense in the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, as being a major component in the Iraqi biological warfare program. Anthrax is an often-fatal infectious disease due to ingestion of spores. It begins abruptly with high fever, difficulty in breathing, and chest pain. The disease eventually results in septicaemia (blood poisoning), and the mortality is high. Once septicaemia is advanced, antibiotic therapy may prove useless, probably because the exotoxins remain, despite the death of the bacteria.

Clostridium Botulinum: a bacterial source of botulinum toxin, which causes vomiting, constipation, thirst, general weakness, headache, fever, dizziness, double vision, dilation of the pupils and paralysis of the muscles involving swallowing. It is often fatal. Histoplasma Capsulatum: causes a disease superficially resembling tuberculosis that may cause pneumonia, enlargement of the liver and spleen, anemia, an influenza-like illness and an acute inflammatory skin disease marked by tender red nodules, usually on the shins. Reactivated infection usually involves the lungs, the brain, spinal membranes, heart, peritoneum, and the adrenals. Brucella Melitensis: a bacteria which can cause chronic fatigue, loss of appetite, profuse sweating when at rest, pain in joints and muscles, insomnia, nausea, and damage to major organs. Clostridium Perfringens: highly toxic bacteria, which cause gas gangrene. The bacteria produce toxins that move along muscle bundles in the body killing cells and producing necrotic tissue that is then favourable for further growth of the bacteria itself. Eventually, these toxins and bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause a systemic illness. Figure 1 provides details of a single shipment sent on 2 May 1986. Note the emboldened entry for Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 14578), which the Iraq Survey Group has since determined was the exclusive strain of anthrax used in the Iraqi biological weapons programme. This, then, is the source of the anthrax threat which was repeatedly promoted both inside Parliament and through the news media to the British People, prior to the decision being made for Britain to take part in the invasion of Iraq. Because Iraq was removed from antiterrorism controls and because controls on missile technology and chemical and biological warfare were not in place until the late 1980s, few foreign policy controls were placed on exports to Iraq during the 1980sthis, along with the lack of national security controls, resulted in a long list of high technology items being sold to Iraq during the 1980s.

Below is a list (Figure 1) of one such consignment sent from the US to Iraq. I would also like to point out that the UK also participated in such exports, which I will cover later.

Bacillus Anthracis Cohn (ATCC 10) Batch # 08-20-82 (2 each) Class III pathogen.

Bacillus Subtitles (Ehrenberg) Con (ATCC 82) Batch # 06-20-84 (2 each)

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 3502) Batch# 07-07-81 (3 each) Class III Pathogen

Clostridium perfringens (Weillon and Zuber)

Hauduroy, et al (ATCC 3624) Batch# 10-85SV (2 each)

Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051) Batch# 12-06-84 (2 each)

Francisella tularensis var. tularensis Olsufiev

(ATCC 6223) Batch# 05-14-79 (2 each) Avirulent; suitable for preparations of diagnostic antigens.

Clostridium tetani (ATCC 9441) Batch 03-94 (3 each) Highly toxigenic.

Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC

9564) Batch# 03-02-79 (2 each) Class III pathogen

Clostridium tetani (ATCC 10779) Batch# 04-24-84S (3 each)

Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 12916) Batch# 08-14-80 (2 each) Agglutinating Type 2.

Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 13124) Batch# 08-14-80 (3 each) Type A, alpha-toxigenic, produces lecithinase C.J. Appl,

Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185)

Batch# 01-14-80 (3 each) G.G. Wright (Fort Detrick) V770-NPI-R.

Bovine anthrax, Class III pathogen

Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578) Batch# 01-06-78 (2 each) Class III pathogen.

Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14581) Batch# 04-18-85 (2 each)

Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14945) Batch# 06-21-81 (2 each)

Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 17855) Batch# 06-21-71 Class III pathogen.

Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 19213) Batch# 3-84 (2 each)

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 19397) Batch# 08-18-81 (2 each) Class III pathogen

Brucella abortus Biotype 3 (ATCC 23450) Batch# 08-02-84 (3 each) Class III pathogen

Brucella abortus Biotype 9 (ATCC 23455) Batch# 02-05-68 (3 each) Class III pathogen

Brucella melitensis Biotype I (ATCC 23456)

Batch# 03-08-78 (2 each) Class III pathogen

Brucella melitensis Biotype 3 (ATCC 23458) Batch# 01-29-68 (2 each) Class III pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 25763) Batch# 8-83 (2 each) Class III pathogen

Clostridium botulinum Type F (ATCC 35415) Batch# 02-02-84 (2 each) Class III pathogen

The United States did not believe that they would be used for anything other than legitimate research purposes and therefore did not knowingly export the materials to assist a biological weapons programme.How naive can you get? The United States secretly supported Iraq in its eight-year war with Iran, and that in February 1982 the US Administration removed Iraq from its list of terrorist states in order to do so. Furthermore, there is the astonishing fact that, among the various agencies of the Government of Iraq listed in the Riegle Report, one repeated recipient of these deadly materials was no less than the Iraqi nuclear weapons research facility, the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission. One could ask the US how could the conclusion possibly be reached that between 1985 and 1989 anthrax and other warfare-related biological materials were exported from the US to Iraq for legitimate research purposes? One also needs to look at the fact that the UK supplied Biological and Chemical agents to Iraq, unfortunately documentation on this is well hidden but evidence does exist that the UK certainly did supply such agents. Back in the 1970s Iraq had approached the USSR to buy a plant to manufacture chemical weapons, but his request was refused. Saddam then began courting the West,

and received a much more favourable response. An American company, Pfaulder Corporation of Rochester, New York, supplied the Iraqis with a blueprint in 1975, enabling them to construct their first chemical warfare plant. The plant was purchased in sections from Italy, West Germany and East Germany and assembled in Iraq. It was located at Akhashat in north-western Iraq, and the cost was around $50 million for the plant and $30 million for the safety equipment. In the late 1970s, it was actually the German firm Karl Kobe that sold Iraq the ingredients for its first chemical weapons. Karl Kobe and others sold Iraq over 1,027 tons of the chemicals needed to produce mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and various tear gasses including CS and CN. The chemical weapons program was operational by late 1983/early 1984. Iraq then bought botulin toxin and mycotoxin from a total of 5 other German firms to begin a germ/biological weapons program. The United States CDC (Center for Disease Control) provided Iraq with biological samples up until 1989 for Medical research and other purposes. The US supplied anthrax, West Nile virus, botulism, and Brucella melitensis to Iraq for little or no charge. (that was very nice of them). The United Kingdom paid, in full, for the Iraqi chlorine plant where mustard gas was manufactured. Brazil provided around 100 tons of mustard gas in the early 80s before the British funded plant was up and running. Singapore and India provided the ingredients for VX nerve agent and yet still more Tabun. Egypt and Spain both provided the majority of Iraqs munitions that were designed to carry and disperse the chemical weapons. As you can clearly see it was truly a very international affair, a sort of United Nations! It should also be made clear that the US. UK and other countries assisted Iraq in its development into nuclear research which did not reach a successful conclusion. We can now look into the illegal arms trade to Iraq which in itself became very sophisticated with its concealed web of distribution. The UK played a major role in support for Saddam Hussein with one company that really did stand out from the rest. A Scottish Company called Allivane was at the heart of this activity and did so over a period of six years during the Iraq-Iran War. Needless to say this also involved the US who used the backyard of Britain to promote this joint effort. It was back in 1976 when George Bush Snr, who was then Nixons Envoy in China, came across James Guerin, the founder of International Signal and Control (ISC), a US Defense Contractor. After a long discussion they decided that they could do business

together. Soon after this time there were many investigations carried out by US Congress regarding covert arms shipments and the workings of the CIA. A clean up of the CIA took place plus a complete shutdown of covert arms routes that involved many countries. However, by this time George Bush Snr himself was running the CIA and realised that with the help of James Guerin, together they could re establish this covert business but not out of the USA. It became obvious that their ally Britain could now become the staging post for such an operation. Britain at the time was on an economical low and so the Prime Minister, James Callaghan, jumped at the idea. Callaghan was later to become an advisor to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) who would soon have a track record of drugs and illegal arms running as their backboneone could add many more major banks to this list. The down side to the BCCI was the fact that when it was closed down on 5 July 1991, a million people throughout the world lost their deposits. Many of the losers were from the Third World; small businessmen who had struggled to make a living in countries other than their own, and who had been impressed by BCCIs multilingual staff and its oftentrumpeted concern for the starving millionsno doubt we have all heard this before.a sort of Pandoras Box! The formation of this covert Bush Guerin Callaghan led to the resurrection of Allivance and the start of one of the biggest cover weapons supply and destabilization operations in the world..nothing new hey?..it goes on all the time with the same key players, Heads of State, CIA, MI5 and Mossad etc. The formation and working of this scam did not only involve the British Labour Party but also followed on with the Conservative Party. By this time it was well and truly out of control. Back in the US meantime (In 1974) the ISC with the knowledge and assistance of US agencies, advanced radar-controlled anti-aircraft systems were shipped to South Africa. South Africa, together with ISC, also developed a sophisticated ground-to-air missiles for its own use and for export. All this equipment was restricted US technology requiring export licenses, which were not obtained. James Guerin claimed the companys activities were sanctioned by the US government. Mr. Guerin set up a front company with the South African authorities for the US Nnational Security Agency, , as part of a US covert in 1974. This involved shipping advanced electronic sensors, optics and related equipment to South Africa without licenses so as to set up listening posts to track Soviet submarines off the Cape of Good Hope. The company, Gamma Systems Associates, ordered restricted equipment from ISC, then shipped it on to South Africa on board airliners. The equipment was repackaged and the airline companies given false descriptions of the equipment. The operation ceased to have official sanction in 1977 and the activities were dismantled. From 1984 to 1988, ISC sentSouth Africa more than $30 million in military-related equipment, including telemetry tracking antennae to collect data from missiles in flight,

gyroscopes for guidance systems, and photo-imaging film readers, all of which would form the backbone of a medium-range missile system. Some of this technology was reportedly transferred to Iraq. Another link to Iraq was the supply of the specifications for the MK-20 Rockeye cluster bombthrough Chilean defence company Carlos Cardoen, which was able to build an almost identical weapon that was subsequently used against coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War of January-February 1991. These activities allegedly happened with the knowledge and assistance of U.S. intelligence agencies (including the CIA) and in violation of United States and United Natonssanctions. Allivanes contribution to Iraq certainly allowed both the US and UK to benefit from the exercise and to elongate the war effort between Iraq and Iran which was always paramount in the minds of our leaders. One has to remember that Geo-Politics does not possess any ethics or moralityjust simply greed! There were many other issues behind these covert arms shipments on the political front and none other than Donald Rumsfeld was right in the middle of it all. No doubt his partner in crime Dick Cheney was sitting in the sidelines. Perhaps this account throws more light of events:

Middle East envoy Donald Rumsfeld to Baghdad in 1983, stated:

While a Staff Member to the National Security Council, I was responsible for the Middle East and for Political-Military Affairs. During my five year tenure on the National Security Council, I had regular contact with both CIA Director William Casey and Deputy Director Robert GatesCIA Director Casey personally spearheaded the effort to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq war. Pursuant to the secret NSDD (National Security Decision Directive), the United States actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of dollars of credits, by providing U.S. military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure that Iraq had the military weaponry required. The United States also provided strategic operational advice to the Iraqis to better use their assets in combat. For example, in 1986, President Reagan sent a secret message to Saddam Hussein telling him that Iraq should step up its air war and bombing of Iran. This message was delivered by Vice President Bush who communicated it to Egyptian President Mubarak, who in turn passed the message to Saddam Hussein. Similar strategic operational military advice was passed to Saddam Hussein throughvarious meetings with European and Middle Eastern heads of state. I authored Bushs talking points for the 1986 meeting with Mubarak and personally attended numerous meetings with European and Middle East heads of state where the strategic operational advice was communicated. One can clearly see the double standards that existed and the means of delivery a

message from one country to another by way of a third party (Egypt). No doubt the CIA had their own stock of carrier pigeons to spread the word..one would have to ask the question how did they manage to deliver the messages amidst all the nerve gas and mustard gas etc? Anthrax strain 14578 may be found listed in past ATCC catalogues, in which the companys ordering procedures explain that any request for it (and other pathogenic agents) should be made on the institutions official stationery (purchase order) and signed by the director of the institution, the chairman of the department concerned, or the scientist in charge of the project. So, presumably, ATCC files will hold copies of Iraqs original purchase orders. Such back-up documents do not appear to have been supplied to Senator Riegle in 1994, but should now be produced during a proper investigation under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council. Each strain in the ATCC catalogue is listed together with its known history or rather the individuals who have maintained the strain over the years are named in succession. Anthrax strain 14578 appears to have been deposited with ATCC after being held by P H A Sneath, H M Darlow, P Fildes, R L Vollum, and originally Dunkin. So, who are these people through whose hands this anthrax apparently passed en-route to the ATCC and thence to Saddam Husseins Iraq, from where it became the principal element in the widely trumpeted forty-five minute threat which provided the pretext for the invasion of Iraq in 2003? Prof P H A Sneath, now of Leicester University, has recently stated (by e-mail) that he was never in charge of the strain, or a collection that included it. Instead, he suggests that it was probably sent to ATCC by the National Collection of Type Cultures, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London. However, the ATCC catalogue entry references a paper co-authored by Prof Sneath, which was published in 1964 in the Journal of General Microbiology. The article discusses the anthrax strain and notes that it was isolated from bovine anthrax, has retained its virulence, and was previously in the care of the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE), Porton Down, Wiltshire. According to the article, Prof Sneath was then at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7.

A conclusion was draw up which gave a very accurate assessment as follows:

This paper rests its case on the following principal points:

1. That it is known that a range of pathogenic (disease producing) and toxigenic (poisonous) biological materials were exported to Iraq from the United States between 1985 and 1989, and that, among other warfare-related materials, these included a strain

of anthrax utilized and tested over many years as a weapon, including during well documented WW2 and post-WW2 trials, to which the US was a party. 2. That the US Government was fully aware of the dangers vested in the biological materials exported to Iraq by the American Type Culture Collection between 1985 and 1989, and was, at the least, grossly negligent in failing to prohibit these exports to a state which was known by the US Administration at that time to be actively utilizing chemical weapons of mass destruction, and suspected if not known to also be developing a biological weapons programme. 3. That with knowledge of the US biological exports, the British Government, being bound to act according to the law, and having stated as much in the UK Parliament in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, has a responsibility to formally report this matter to the UN Security Council for investigation. Furthermore, that failure to do so effectively renders the BTWC meaningless, and, thereby, compromises the very concept of international law. Beyond the case made in this paper, the following appears to be the disturbing international political reality: The invasion of Iraq by the United States and Britain in 2003 was predicated upon Iraqs possession of weapons of mass destruction the primary threat presented both to Parliament and the People being anthrax. This anthrax was exported to Iraq from the US, having previously been exported from Britain, where it had been tested as a biological weapon because its capability to produce infection and death after the inhalation of spores had been demonstrated in the laboratory. This information is well known to the US, Britain, and Canada, due to a trilateral agreement concerning biological research between the three nations. Meanwhile, more than 20% of Britains MP representing approximately 12 million people have twice called for a UN investigation into the US exports, a call which has been dismissed by the British Government by means of flimsy responses and a refusal to answer questions properly. The United States with Great Britain blocked all Security Council resolutions condemning Iraqs use of chemical weapons, and on March 21 the US becomes the only country refusing to sign a Security Council statement condemning Iraqs use of these weapons The US Department of Commerce licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq between May of 1985 and 1989, including at least 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax May, 1986. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade botulin poison to Iraq. April, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of chemicals used in manufacture of mustard gas. September, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade anthrax and botulinum to Iraq.

It should also be noted that the MK-84 bomb that was stockpiled in Saudi Arabia also formed part of the support for Saddam when hundreds of these U.S.-made generalpurpose dumb bombs were transferred to Iraq. What was even more surprising was when Saddams elite troops received instruction in unconventional warfare at Fort Bragg , North Carolina USA. The idea was that, in the event of an Iranian victory, the Iraqi soldiers would be able to wage a guerrilla struggle against the occupying Iranian force On May 25, 1994, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee released a report in which it was stated that pathogenic (meaning disease producing), toxigenic (meaning poisonous), and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U:S: Department of Commerce. It added: These exported biological materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. The report then detailed 70 shipments (including Bacillus Anthracis) from the United States to Iraqi government agencies over three years, concluding It was later learned that these microorganisms exported by the United States were identical to those the UN inspectors found and recovered from the Iraqi biological warfare program. Iraq purchased 8 strains of anthrax from the United States in 1985, according to British biological weapons expert David Kelly. The Iraqi military settled on the American Type Culture Collection strain 14578 as the exclusive strain for use as a biological weapon. Donald Riegle, Chairman of the Senate Committee that authored the aforementioned Riegle Report. said: U.N. inspectors had identified many United States manufactured items that had been exported from the United States to Iraq under licenses issued by the Department of Commerce, and [established] that these items were used to further Iraqs chemical and nuclear weapons development and its missile delivery system development programs. The executive branch of our government approved 771 different export licenses for sale of dual-use technology to Iraq. I think that is a devastating record. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control sent Iraq 14 separate agents with biological warfare significance, according to Riegles investigators. It is now known that a vast network of companies, based in the U.S. and elsewhere, fed Iraqs warring capabilities right up until August 1990, when Saddam invaded Kuwait. On the military hardware front, MD 500 Defender helicopters were also part of the deal with the US when Iraq acquired 60 multi-role military helicopters directly from the United States in 1983. Additional helicopter sales prompted congressional opposition, forcing the Reagan administration to explore alternative ways of assisting Saddam. Alan Friedman wrote that Sarkis Soghanalian, one of the most notorious arms dealers during the Cold War, procured Eastern Bloc and French origin weaponry, and brokered vast deals with Iraq, with the tacit approval of the Central Intelligence Agency.

This most prominent arms merchant, Sarkis Soghanalian, was a Miami-based former CIA contractor who brokered tens of billions of dollars worth of military hardware for Iraq during the 1980s, reporting many of his transactions to officials in Washington. Soghanalian was close to the Iraqi leadership and to intelligence officers and others in the Reagan administration. He played a vital role serving as a go between for the CIA and other US government operations. In an interview with William Kistner, Soghanalian stated that he was working closely with the U.S. government. Soghanalian also helped the Iraqis obtain TOW Anti Tank Missile , for which he was later prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice. What is so upsetting was the fact that almost 150 foreign companies supported Saddam Husseins WMD program. Twenty-four U.S. firms were involved in exporting materials to Baghdad. Add to this an even longer list of American companies, UK, many EU countries, South Africa, South East Asian countries, including Singapore and Japan. On a personal note I would like to share a story about the madness of war. Just prior to the Falklands War I went to stay at a friends house in Portsmouth, England whos son served in the Royal Navy onboard HMS Sheffield. The father took me down to visit the ship and his wonderful son took me around on a tour. The ship eventually sailed for the Falklands and was hit by a French made Exocet missile which killed my friends son. The purpose of this story is to show that when your allies sell weapons to your enemy they can be used against you.such was the case here. As they say what goes around comes around and its only a matter of time before you fall victim to your own greed, as was the case when Iraq fired Scud Missiles that contained Chemical and Biological ingredients at US bases and also Israel during the following Gulf War. Many soldiers were exposed to these CBW during this conflict which basically meant that they died at the hand of their own country. It is Ironic that the media in the UK were not given information about these attacks and the British Government who knew what was going on remained tight lipped. The whole episode is rather sickening when one believes that one day those responsible would be put before the International Court System. Every inquiry to reveal this broad based corruption and illegal arms trading has failed..The Matrix Churchill Inquiry, The Scott Inquiry and now the Chilcott Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) all totally rigged. Basically business as usual prevails whilst the unscrupulous offenders, Heads of State, Senior Politicians, Government Departments and Company Executives get away with murder. If one adds to this the massive fraud that exists we find ourselves living amongst a den of thievesbut do not worry our governments know how to rob the poor to feed the rich! We certainly live in a highly corrupt society with those that lead us leading the way!! Maybe now you can better understand as to why people like David Kelly were assasinated and even possibly politicians such as Sir John Biggs Davison and Robin

Cook. Maybe you have never questioned as to why leaders of countries that have fallen victim to the greed of the west have never been tried in the Hague for war crimes etcthe answer is simplethe likes of Saddam, Mubarek and Ghadaffi all knew too much and if they were presented to the Hague they could well spill the beans of exactly what the US, UK and other EU countries gave them.you will see that Mubarek will end up the same way and no doubt the President of Yemen will follow..such is the Axis of Evil that exists here in the west.

I have decided to print an entire speech given by Gerald James, former Chairman of Astra, on his experiences with the British Government, the Secret Service, key political figures and notorious illegal arms dealers. You will note that there was also to have been another inquiry known as the Matrix Churchill Inquiry regarding the Super Gun and the transfer of high technology such as WMDs and CBWs to Iraq as well as the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) both of which have turned out to be another gross cover-up. Gerald James knew all the wheelings and dealings of the DTI, MoD,MI5/6,CIA and eventually fell victim to the fact that he knew too much which resulted in the demise of his company. He was witness to the inner workings of the illegal arms trade, extortionate salaries and overpriced contracts. He held one vital document which was page 6 of his companies spread sheet which revealed how the money was distributed around the inner circle and the involvement of the DTI, MI5/6, CIA and the British Government who eventually placed one of their own operatives to take control of Astrathat person was Stepahnus Adolphus Kock.

His speech may appear to be rather complex but if one studies each and every paragraph you will see just how involved the British Government, the US and many other countries were in promoting war and in supplying Iraq with extremely illegal weapons.

The speech was made at a Conference in the Environmental Law Centre: "My experiences, the Scott Inquiry, the British Legal System" By Gerald Reaveley James

I am reminded of the very appropriate quote from Edmund Burke (1729-97) It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph.

I am most grateful to Dr Badsha for inviting me and honoured to make this address at this Conference of the Environmental Law Centre. he Astra case and my case reflect much that has been to the fore in recent years in not only scandals around arms companies like Astra, Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Ferranti and other companies like Polly Peck, BCCI and Maxwell but also in the Scott Inquiry, the BSE Inquiry and the Lloyds of London affair and other scandals. The underlying problem is secret unaccountable government which bypasses Parliament and how the law is administered in the UK, gives aid and succour to such a state of affairs. The most common device is the concealment of evidence and manipulation of cases. There is a tendency when challenged for those in authority to talk of conspiracy theories. My experience is that those who do so are usually part of the conspiracy. My company Astra gave rise to much of the circumstances which created the Scott Inquiry, the Supergun revelations (we reported it first), the Aitken affair, the murder of Gerald Bull in Brussels in March 1990 and much else.

Background note:

My name is Gerald Reaveley James. Until March 1990 and between 1980 and 1990 I was chairman of Astra Holdings PLC (Astra) which became a leading ammunition and weapons manufacturer. By the late 1980s Astra had factories in the United States (9), Canada (2), Belgium (5), United Kingdom (5) and administrative headquarters in Washington Dc, Brussels and London and employed 4,000 personnel. The story of Astra is too long to recount here but a summary is contained in my book, In the Public Interest published by Little Brown UK hardback 1995, Warner paperback 1996, London. Astra became involved in covert weapons and ammunitions operations organised by MI5 and MI6 and the CIA, the MOD, DOD, FCO and the State Department and the DTI. To such an extent was Astra involved with its pricipal subsidiaries, Walters, Accudyne, Kilgore USA PRB Belgium, BMARC UK; in the covert trade manipulations of Foreign Policy.

In 1989/90, following a reappraisal of Foreign Policy in the light of the demise of the Cold War and changing circumstances in the Middle East, where it became apparent the US, UK and EEC had transferred Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons technology as well as conventional weapons to countries like Iran and Iraq, and the discovery Pakistan had the atomic bomb, the whole covert network was reorganised. This involved the collapsing of companies like Astra, Ferranti/ISC, Polly Peck, BCCI, Maxwell Group etc and the prosecution of lesser fry Companies and their directors companies like Matrix Churchill, BNJ, Ordtec, Euromac, SRC, Forgemasters, Walter Somers are examples.

The directors of Astra were to a large extent ignorant of the full range of covert activities carried out in their name but aware of some of these activities and the likely destination of their goods. As however all operations were sanctioned by the DTI, MOD, FCO, and in the US by the DOD and the State Department and in Belgium by the Belgian Government, not too many questions were raised initially.

However, in late 1988 and 1989 it became clear to me as Chairmen that the clandestine operations far exceeded anything remotely sanctioned by the full Board and I set out to investigate in depth. I became aware that certain plants were used to secretly store and ship goods; that monies were being transferred to other operations without book records or board approval in secret commission payments; that our paper work and parallel bank accounts were being used to process arms shipments from major UK defence companies like British Aerospace, Royal Ordnance, GEC Marconi, Thorn EMI etc. A leading British Defence Journalist wrote a report which was largely kept secret which indicated 100m was stolen from the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) in a fictitious subcontract for propellant which BMARC, an Astra subsidiary, had secretly obtained in 1998 from Royal Ordnance.

I also became concerned about payments to and business with MI6/CIA front company Allivane which had occurred between 1983 and 1988 via Astra. Is also became clear that all our main operations were involved in covert operations in the USA Belgium and the UK, and that Astra, when it acquired these companies, had inherited a hard core of MI6, MI5, DIA agents who operated behind the back of the original directors and who treated them as useful idiots. All our main companies were involved with Space Research Corporation (SRC) and the late Dr Gerald Bull who was behind the Supergun and other secret projects which Astra companies were also involved in. In 1989 I realised we had a hugely dangerous individual on our main Board and the BMARC Board who was an MI6 agent.

This individual, Stepahnus Adolphus Kock had high level political connections to Thatcher, Hesletine, Younger, Hanley, etc as well as MI5 and MI6 connections. It is now clear to me that he was involved in the murder of Dr Gerald Bull in Brussels on 22nd march 1990 and Jonathan Moyle in Santiago, Chile on 31st March 1990. BMARC was the only company outside the Atomic Weapons research Establishment and Government Arms depots with the capability to store nuclear bombs like Redbeard and WE177. By early 1990 my probing had become a major problem and a plot was hatched to remove me as Chairman shortly before the Supergun and other revelations and Bulls murder. A new dummy board ld in reality by Kock with two MI6/MI5 stooges ran the company into the ground over the next two years. In order to explain away the

destruction of the company with a 350m order book and a market capitalisation of 120m desperate attempts were made to find evidence of malpractice by the original directors. Gumbley, my Managing Director, who had been with Bull until an hour before he was shot had discussed with Bull suing UK Government and senior civil servants using Bulls extensive knowledge of high level corruption and illegal operations. It had been agreed I would return with Gumbley to agree with lawyers how to proceed a week later. I had discussed such matters with Bull some six months previous but no further action had been taken. Gumbley was immediately framed up for corrupting an MOD official and jailed for 9 months and after desperately trying to find something on me and failing, Kock and MI6/MI5 decided to institute through Peter Lilley and the DTI a DTI Inquiry. Lilley was Secretary of state at the DTI at the time. The DTI Inquiry lasted three years and cost 2.5m plus (as much as the Scott Inquiry). The announcement of the Inquiry and the misleading press statements issued by the DTI and Government ensured the downfall of Astra. Crooks and MI5, MI6, agents or informers were put in chare of Astra Kock, Roy Barber FCA and Tony McCann. Barber and McCann whose managerial and industrial competence and experience were negligible paid themselves 330,000 and 280,000 pa respectively. Barber took 100,000 in the first month. Barbers annual payment was more than I received in salary and expenses as Chairman over ten years while I built the company. PRB was sold off immediately for 3m to avoid embarrassing revelations. MI5, MI6 and MOD police and Customs launched 17 raids on Astra premises in order to steal any sales and other documentation incriminating Government. No new orders were obtained in spite of the Gulf War and the company ran on the 350m order book we had left for two years, before it was put into receivership on 2nd February 1992 on the eve of me giving evidence to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee re Supergun, Project Babylon and arms to Iraq (and Iran etc). Press coverage was hue and adverse. This facilitated, as clearly city interests like Banks and Astras main shareholders 3i, Prudential and Clerical and medical cooperated with Government for their own interest and purposes against the interests of smaller shareholders ( a parallel with Lloyds techniques). Kock had a cover as a consultant in Midland Banks secret arms department, Midland and Industrial Trade Services (MITS). This was staffed by ex service officers, MI5, MI6, agents and intelligence affiliated bankers. Midland with the Bank of Boston were Astras main bankers and dominated by MI6 CIA agents. Kock was also said to be head of Group 13, the Governments assassination and dirty tricks squad according to Richard John Rainey Unwin, a close associate of Knock himself who was a contract MI6 agent and Consultant to Astra. Kock and Unwin, with Martin Laing Construction, negotiated the 2bn Malaysian defence deal before George Younger, the Defence Secretary even knew of it. The MOD police arrested several of my colleagues, framed Grumbley up. I was subjected to harassment, burglaries; I was arrested by Customs, investigated by the Inland Revenue, subjected to surveillance, threats, bugging, telephone tapping (all documented), a DTI Inquiry which lasted 3 years and a DTI prosecution which lasted 4

years. In addition I had to give copious evidence to the Scott Inquiry over 4 years, 2 DTI Select Committees, Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Defence Select Committee, Public Accounts Select Committee, Public Services Select committee, Police (SOI), a huge law suit in the United States (Dooley case). My family suffered considerably, my two eldest sons army careers suffered, my youngest sons education because of adverse publicity, my brother was killed in an accident never satisfactory explained which could have been intended for me. This sequel will be the final part of this current series and clearly show just how hypocritical and two faced all our respective governments have been. It has shown the past and current illegal arms trade that existed and the involvement of our own current Prime Minister, David Cameron, Sir Kenneth Warren, Peter Lilley MP, Lord Hazeltine and many othersnot forgetting and the late Dr. David Kelly. Finally what is so ironic is the many illegal arms inquiries that have taken place i.e. Matrix Churchill, Scott Inquiry and the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq inquiry) all of which have been totally White Washed and all to no avail!! A continuation of the speech given by Gerald James, former Chairman of Astra, on his experiences with the British Government, the Secret Service, key political figures and notorious illegal arms dealers. You will note that there was also to have been another inquiry known as the Matrix Churchill Inquiry regarding the Super Gun and the transfer of high technology such as WMDs and CBWs to Iraq as well as the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) both of which have turned out to be another gross cover-up. Gerald James knew all the wheelings and dealings of the DTI, MoD,MI5/6,CIA and eventually fell victim to the fact that he knew too much which resulted in the demise of his company. He was witness to the inner workings of the illegal arms trade, extortionate salaries and overpriced contracts. He held one vital document which was page 6 of his companies spread sheet which revealed how the money was distributed around the inner circle and the involvement of the DTI, MI5/6, CIA and the British Government who eventually placed one of their own operatives to take control of Astrathat person was Stepahnus Adolphus Kock. His speech may appear to be rather complex but if one studies each and every paragraph you will see just how involved the British Government, the US and many other countries were in promoting war and in supplying Iraq with extremely illegal weapons.

The speech was made at a Conference in the Environmental Law Centre

Continuation of his speech:

In the course of my own experiences I took considerable note and interest in parallel cases like Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Euromac, Atlantic Commercial, BNJ, SRC, Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Polly Peck, Foxley Ferranti/ISC, BCCI, Maxwell etc. All these cases and others and the Astra case involved the gross abuse of power by Government and its agencies and servants, concealment of key evidence, intimidation, threats, false and selective prosecutions, manipulation of evidence, perversion of the course of justice. It has also been clearly demonstrated that there is no separation of powers within the United Kingdom. Key legal appointments like Lord Chancellor and attorney General, Solicitor General are wholly political. It has also been clearly demonstrated that Parliament has no control of knowledge of events and that a vast apparatus of permanent unelected Government exists. This permanent Government consists of senior civil servants, intelligence and security officers, key figures in certain city and financial institutions (including Lloyds of London), key industrialists and directors of major monopolistic companies, senior politicians. The Lord Chancellors Office which is responsible for the appointment of Judges, Clerks of the House of Commons select Committees and approval of Chairmen of such committees and the approval of the Queens Counsel, holds a total control of the legal administrative framework and has strong connections to the security and intelligence services. The last Clerk to the Crown in Chancery was Sir Thomas Legg, KCB QC who had strong links to the intelligence and security establishment and who was responsible for allocating Judges to controversial trials of a political nature where the national interest and national security (those much abused phrases) were involved, ie the Ponting Case. Leggs successor will have a similar role. Sir Thomas was duly wheeled out to keep the lid on the Sandline Inquiry re the strange events surrounding the FCO, Sierra Leone and real foreign policy as opposed to the sham variety discussed at Westminster. He has been wheeled out again to keep the lid on an inquiry regarding the corruption in the hugely expensive building of new MPs offices opposite Big Ben. The companies involved in this case are Alvis, formerly United Scientific Holdings and its Germany partner in the installation of a 35m contract for copper cladding. United Scientific Holdings is the company where ex Chief of defence Procurement and ex Lord Mayor Sir Peter, now Lord Levene was Managing director (later a Director of N.M. Rothschild) was Chairman. An American competitor alleges irregularities and corruption as it offered to do the work for a much lower price. The real framework which secretly controls our lives is little understood or studies even by those who work within its musty and murky depths. It has only recently emerged that Appeal Court Judges are secretly briefed making appearances before such luminaries a sham and a joke. The public can thank Mr Geoffrey Scriven for these revelations. Lloyds names can hardly have realised that legislation was secretly framed to prevent wrong doers being sued. (Times Magazine Article 21/2/00). The other area which is little understood is the Crown. To many the Crown represents

the Royal family but we now have a Constitutional Monarchy. The Crown in its constitutional sense is the last home of secret government. Much is done in the name of the Crown which is without the permission or knowledge of the Monarch. Token gestures are made by sending her despatch boxes of selected information. The Crown is represented by the Monarch but does not represent the on secret and major issues. The armed forces (the last bastion of institutional integrity) swear their allegiance to the Monarch not to Parliament as do Judges and the Intelligence and security services the latter are totally unaccountable as is the Lord Chancellors office which controls Courts and Judges. The Lord Chancellor is unelected as is the Attorney General who although chosen from the ranks of MPs is not elected, like the Solicitor General. The Attorney General holds sway over the Crown Prosecution service, serious Fraud Office, HM Customs (as revealed by the Scott Inquiry) and the Police in respect of sanctioning cases. The Law Officers, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General are the Chief Legal Advisors (assisted by the Solicitor General) has overall responsibility for the work of the Law Officers Departments:

ie The Treasury Solicitors Department Crown Prosecution Service Serious Fraud Office Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers

All the duties of the above departments (and HM Customs) are ultimately supervised by the Attorney General. The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland is also responsible to the Attorney General for the performance of his functions. There are also additional responsibilities with regard to civil and criminal law. The other area which is key to overall secret control outside Parliament is the Privy Council. It is important to note that all main members of the Cabinet become members of the Privy Council as do leaders and sometimes the deputy leaders of the opposition parties. The Privy Council oath which all members take means they cannot freely discuss any matter they are informed of or told of Under Privy Council terms. This means that the Cabinet and opposition leaders cannot discuss freely in Parliament or elsewhere any matter told to them on Privy Council terms. This means in practice that the key MPs cannot discharge their democratic duties. It is in effect a gagging system like Public Interest Immunity Certificates dispensed by Judges on application of Government and its agencies. All senior Judges and Appeal Judges are Privy Councillors as is the Lord

Chancellor, The Attorney and Solicitor General and other invited and key persons. This secret unelected body has a wide range of powers. On the surface other permanent secretaries, sometimes the Cabinet Secretary and certain members of the established aristocracy are Privy Councillors. The appointment is for life and Jonathon Aitken is one of the few members to resign. It should also be remembered Aitken was a Chairman of the Pinay Circle comprised of senior intelligence officers and world leaders who hold secret meeting around the world. It is widely and erroneously assumed the Cabinet is the Executive of the elected Government whereas in our unwritten ill defined constitution it is in reality the executive arm of the Privy Council. The Privy Council is responsible for the arrangements leading to the making of Royal Proclamations and Orders in Council for certain formalities connected with Ministerial Changes: for considering application for the grant or amendment of Royal Charters, for the security and approval of by laws and statutes of Chartered Institutions, of the governing instruments of universities and colleges, for the appointment of High Sheriffs and many Crown and Privy Council Nominees for governing bodies. Under the relevant Acts, the office of the Privy Council is responsible for the approval of certain regulations and rules made by the governing bodies of the medical and certain allied professions. The President of the Council has responsibility for the working of the Privy Council. A leader of the House of Commons he or she is responsible for supervising the Governments legislative programme. He or she allegedly upholds the right and privileges of the House as a whole and in its capacity it falls to him or her to move motions relating to the procedure of the House. In January 1994 the Privy Council assumed responsibility for the newly formed Central Drugs Coordination Unit. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest Court of Appeal for the Commonwealth except the United Kingdom and those countries which had abolished appeals to it. It still can confirm death sentences in certain territories and in the UK hears ecclesiastical cases and appeals against disciplinary decisions by disciplinary bodies of the medical professions and certain allied bodies. Its more secret and sinister workings are little known and in theory it is the advisory body to the monarch. It appears that the bulk of elected politicians do not penetrate its inner recesses yet can be influenced by it. The Privy Council allied with the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and the Cabinet and Cabinet Intelligence Unit which is the real control over the security and intelligence services are part of the secret permanent unaccountable Government. We have seen from the arms to Iran, Iraq affairs, the Sandline affair and other scandals that politicians and Parliament have little or no control and are more like players in a pantomime put on for the general public and gullible public. The roots of this sinister power are rooted in history, particularly that of the usurping

Tudors. The Privy Council and secret services have developed since then and it is wrong to regard MI5 and MI6 as the sole such bodies. As Douglas Hurd told a Commons Select Committee regarding nuclear proliferation they are but two tributaries of the main stream of intelligence. The communication and eavesdropping unit GCHQ works extensively with the intelligence and security services and with those of other countries including the intelligence services and National Security Agency of USA and with the Services of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Each regularly circumvents domestic laws for the benefit of the others under programmes like echelon and agreements between UK and USA. Politicians and civil servants and other leading figures who get out of line can be surveyed or bugged and then threatened, blackmailed, framed up or worse. Secrecy breeds corruption, secrecy is power, information is power particularly confidential information. There is no accountability and the calibre of MP deteriorates with each Parliament. The young politician with no experience outside is nave and powerless and many now have a blind loyalty to their party. Ironically the hereditary peers of the House of Lords provided one of the last vestiges of honesty and independence now largely destroyed by self-important and self-deluding figures like Blair and Baroness Jay. This the background against which decisions affairs like Lloyds of London have been handled and decided. Secrecy has breed corruption and lack of accountability. Judicial Inquiries are cosmetic and carried out by the Judiciary who are key tools of the cover up and the status quo. (ie the Scott Inquiry). London is a key world money laundering centre (500 billion per annum). Damage to Lloyds credibility will damage London and its position as a money or financial centre. Much of the Uks traditional industry is gone. To deal with Lloyds from the point of view of justice, will rock the boat and damage the so called national interest. Privileged persons in politics and the judiciary etc have been protected and the rest do not matter. The policy is to protect Lloyds and cover up. The same arrogant and self serving attitude was evident in the arms trade and the related drugs trade. Those on the inside are only interested in concealment, cover up, and their own on going benefits protected by secrecy and privilege. Justice does not count. The scandals involving political parties, large companies, the intelligence and security services, and corruption in Germany (Kohl), France (Mitterand/Dumas,etc) Italy (Craxi) are pale shadows of what has gone on in the UK. We have what the late Roberto Clavi of Banco Amnrosiano in Italy as described potere occulto secret power. Ironically the main threat to this secret power is the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) Article 6 which overturns Uk legal decisions regularly and has already caused the sacking of deputy Judges, and Magistrates in Scotland while threatening Scottish Judges. Scotland under devolution adopted ECHR in 1999 and England did so in October 2000, although the Lord Chief Justice (Bingham) already recommended as a result of the Kebbilen case that the ECHR should be recognised in England before this.

It is significant that the Home Secretary Shaw is proposing the abolition of juries and magistrates in many and perhaps eventually all cases. This will put further power in the hands of secret and unaccountable Government and corrupt Judges. The ramifications are extremely sinister and serious. Already the rules of evidence have been perverted in favour of secret an unaccountable Government who routinely conceal evidence and pervert the course of justice. It has never been more vital for people to challenge the views of politicians and opinion formers. We live in an age where much if not most of the media is controlled. The legal mechanism and Judges and the court system need to be beyond reproach. Sadly they are not and the chronicle of abuse and manipulation of cases is appalling. Judges are not independent in most government related cases and are no different to salaried and pensioned civil servants. The independence of the Judiciary is an allusion fostered by the Judiciary. Too often a Judicial Inquiry is a system for cover up and concealment. Too often the courts are influenced by political considerations as in the Scott Inquiry and the recent Lloyds of London case. Perhaps with pressure this can be changed. "We do not want a society dominated by lawyers, accountants and monopoly commercial Interests with the courts administered by Judges who follow directions." "Thank you very much." (End of Gerald James speech ) Before finally closing this current series on the UKs Illegal Arms Trade and the massive fraud and corruption that goes with it we must show how the British Government covered their tracks to protect those at the top. Senior figures in London that were known to the Asra Group and who were caught up in illegal arms trade and in particular the Iraqi Supergun scandal deliberately referred the case to the wrong police department to avoid further embarrassment for the Government. The DTI handed over a dossier on Astra to the Serious Fraud Office . However a very senior person in the know believes the case should have been referred to the Metropolitan Police fraud squad instead. It was a known fact at the time that the Prime Ministers Office, DTI, MoD, MI5/6 and many very senior politicians were all in bed together when it came to illegal arms dealingsthe list of those involved is endless but for sure involved decades of Prime Ministers and Senior Cabinet Ministers all of whom should be behind bars for the wars and atrocities that they have been responsible for. Gerald Bulls Super Gun became the central point of investigation and the DTI in its cover up announced that there would be no criminal investigation into the events preceding the collapse of Astra, despite a highly critical DTI report, which found fault with the directors of the firm, its financial advisers, its accountants and the Stock Exchange,

not to mention the Astra subsidiary, PRB, which was involved in making the shells for the Iraqi supergun project. Super Gun Parts found on the dockside prior to shipment from the UK to Iraq! It was stated that the SFO was not investigating the case because the alleged fraud was too small, and that the DTI knew this when it passed on the file and that the file should have been passed to the Metropolitan Police fraud squad, which would have been more likely to investigate. There was a deliberate mistake made so that Gerald James did not get his day in court to make accusations about Supergun and to reveal Page 6 of company (Astra) spread sheets that would have revealed the massive fraud associated with this case and those involved..The SFO would not say why it chose not to investigate Astra, and the DTI categorically denied the charges.

Two other major events occurred around the time of the Iraq War which not only revealed gross neglect by both the US and UK leaders and their governments but also would become a focal point in further conflict in the Middle East, not forgetting the assistance given to Iraq in their WMD/CBW programme. As a direct result of the west assisting Iraq, Saddam was able to use this western assistance to exterminate many thousands of innocent civilians both in Halabja (Kurdistan) and also on the Iranians during the Iraq-Iran War. The two major events that occurred was when a US B52 loaded with nuclear SRAM missiles had a full in-flight emergency and had to divert to the British owned Diego Garciaduring its flight further onboard electrical problems caused the crew to jettison its payload of fully operational nukes into the shallow waters off Somaliathe aircraft continued on to Diego Garcia but unfortunately was not able to make it and crashed into the sea.

Dick Cheney who was fully aware of the implications of having these nukes sitting on the seabed did absolutely nothing about it and the weapons were eventually recovered by the notorious illegal arms dealer Billy Rautenbach who then sold them on the black market, for which he received a payment of around 8.5 tons of gold bullion. The British Government were fully aware of this incident and who also took part in another nuclear scam that went terribly wrong.

Our own dear Prime Minister, David Cameron also so happened to go down to South Africa, on a sanction busting trip to acquire three battle field ready nuclear bombs that unfortunately were stolen from there insecure compound in Oman by John Bredenkamp, another shonky arms dealer who had only previously just sold them to the UK in an under the table deal with David Cameron and, Sir Kenneth Warren, many very

senior politicians were involved..these nukes were built by a joint venture between Israel and South Africa and the pay off for the Tory Party was 17.8 million pounds into their election fund.this payment is covered in Hansard and to this day is still unaccounted forone could possible ask those shown below what was their involvement in this deal or what knowledge did they share?

One has to understand that the west thrives on wars and conflict as it is very good for business, especially in arms sales and in hiking up the price of oil, all of which makes such conflicts very lucrative. What must be made very clear is that there are no terrorist, no Al Qaeda and no threat to the streets of the UK or US.this is a war of propaganda that was created to allow the west to create its own Geo Political Plan in taking over the Worlds Natural Resources, to control the markets for those resources and to control the transit routes, sea lanes and pipeline route etc..this master plan is the creation of the New World Order and involved many false flag incidents to spread the current Islamaphobia fear around the worldthey themselves carried out the attack on the Twin Towers in 9/11 and they themselves blew up the London Tubes and the London Bus on 7/7.such is their evil way. On should take the time to see this wonderful interview with Aaron Russo who got very close to the Axis of Evil The New World Order and was able to explain in great detail their evil plans.the link is:

http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9184FA8FD503C91136CFB967E93CF8CC

If one adds up the total cost of all these illegal wars/conflicts and more importantly the millions of innocent victims that have fallen as a direct result of their greed one can see the true Axis of Evil. You can rest assured that the current Chilcott Inquiry will turn out into yet another coverup and release all of those implicated in illegal arms dealingsI would even go a step further by saying many of these war criminals and major fraudsters will actually get off without charge and may even be given a Knighthood for their evil ways..unfortunately that is the state of British Politics Today..the images below show some of those that should be in prison for life and who currently enjoy the riches of their past!!

Before closing I would like to pay tribute to three people in particular who became a victim of their greed and who certainly became an obstacle to their

future..hopefully justice will prevail and one day we will see some if not all of these rogues behind bars.

A Peter Eyre Middle East Consultant 20/1/2012