UK to request CIA interrogation material

Intelligence committee requests CIA material on UK role in interrogation

14 December 2014 - A committee of MPs is to request that the US hands over any material documenting the UK's role in the CIA's post-9/11 interrogation programme.

A US Senate report found "brutal" treatment of al-Qaeda suspects in the wake of 9/11.

Downing Street has said some material was removed from the report at the UK's request, for national security reasons.

But it said no redactions related to British involvement in the mistreatment of prisoners.

The House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee is conducting an inquiry into the treatment of detainees by British intelligence agencies in the decade following 9/11.

'Brutal interrogations'

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who heads the intelligence committee, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show it would ask the US government if it could see the redacted material.

He said that if British intelligence officials were present when people were being tortured then they were complicit in that torture.

"That would be quite against all the standards of this country, it would be something that ought to be brought into the public domain," Sir Malcolm added. read more>>>

Iraq torture claims: New allegations against British soldiers to go to the International Criminal Court

14 December 2014 - Hundreds of new cases accusing British soldiers of abusing – in many cases torturing – Iraqi men, women and children, aged from 13 to 101, are to be considered by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Britain is already under scrutiny for alleged war crimes committed by its forces in Iraq. The ICC is currently examining a dossier of claims presented by lawyers and human rights campaigners earlier this year that could lead to a full investigation.

The fresh details come on the eve of the publication of an official report into allegations that British soldiers mistreated and unlawfully killed Iraqis in 2004. The report, to be released on Wednesday, is expected to criticise the abuse of Iraqi prisoners captured after a battle. A number of "warning letters" have been sent to individuals believed to face criticism in the report. read more>>>

CIA torture: Tony Blair and Jack Straw 'must account for what they knew'

In an interview with The Telegraph, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, intensifies the pressure on Tony Blair and Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy

13 Dec 2014 - Tony Blair should give a full account of what he knew about the CIA’s torture and rendition programme during his time in Downing Street, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, has said.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Fallon intensified the pressure on Mr Blair and the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy.

In a further swipe at Mr Blair and his support for President George Bush, Mr Fallon also called for the urgent publication of the findings of the Chilcot Inquiry into the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Following the publication last week of the US Senate’s damning inquiry into the CIA’s torture programme, a Telegraph investigation can also disclose: read more>>>

Full inquiry into UK's role in rendition demanded

14/12/2014 - The SNP has today called for a full judicial inquiry to examine the UK Government’s role in extraordinary rendition and for the findings of the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war to be made public.

Earlier this week Angus Robertson MP called for immediate answers on whether US ‘intelligence flights’ which passed through Scotland involved rendition and what knowledge the UK Government had of the practices detailed in the report. The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has since said that he has an “open mind” on whether a full judicial inquiry will be needed to get to the truth.

However, we are still waiting on the conclusions of the judicial inquiry into the Iraq war. The Chilcot Inquiry report has now been delayed for four years and senior Tory MPs have now said that it may be “delayed until after the general election”.

Commenting SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesperson Angus Robertson MP said: read more>>>

* * * CIA Torture: Read the Senate Intelligence Committee report * * *

In a Democracy: 'Citizens must know what is done in their name'

* * * Seeds of ISIL Planted By Bush/Cheney and Conservative Congresses * * *

* * * The British Iraq War Inquiry * * * Released will carry private communications between GWBush and TBlair, like this already released: TB said there was a danger the Tories would see this as their chance to get rid of him … Bush said they would make it clear to the Tories that if they moved to get rid of TB "we will get rid of them".

* * * Iraq War Promoted Terrorism Rather Than Reducing It * * * 24 April 2014 - Britain’s involvement in the Iraq War promoted terrorism rather than reducing it and was a “strategic failure”, according to a major new report which estimated the cost of all UK conflicts since the end of the Cold War.
The Royal United Services Institute said the UK could face a bill of nearly £65bn, once the cost of long-term care for injured veterans was factored in, with most of the money was spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The study, called Wars in Peace, said both conflicts were largely “strategic failures” for the UK, The Guardian reported."

Facts: Matthew Hoh {former Marine and foreign service officer in Afghanistan}: "We spend a trillion dollars a year on national security in this country."
"And when you add up to the Department of Defense, Department of State, CIA, Veterans Affairs, interest on debt, the number that strikes me the most about how much we're committed financially to these wars and to our current policies is we have spent $250 billion already just on interest payments on the debt we've incurred for the Iraq and Afghan wars." 26 September 2014

Bob Herbert "Losing Our Way" : "And then the staggering costs of these wars, which are borne by the taxpayers. I mean, one of the things that was insane was that, as we're at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush administration cut taxes. This has never been done in American history. The idea of cutting taxes while you're going to war is just crazy. I mean, it's madness." Bill 'Moyers and Company': Restoring an America That Has Lost its Way 10 Oct. 2014

Chris Hayes MSNBC: "If you can run a deficit to go to war, you can run a deficit to take care of the people who fought it" In response to Republican opposition to expanding Veterans' benefits on fiscal grounds

Neither of these recent wars have yet been paid for, let alone the results from, including the long ignored or outright denied existence of, till this Administrations Cabinet and Gen Shinseki, only Government branch consistent for the past six years, issues! As well as under deficits most of the, grossly under funded, VA budget is still borrowed thus added, problem creating, costs that shouldn't exist!