In this issue:

British Military Historian on Prime Minister Blair

Hutton Inquiry Must Probe Blair's Argument for Iraq War

MI6 Head Takes Early Retirement

'Old Labour' MP Pointed Inquiries on 'Yellow Cake'

Bush Administration Neo-Cons and Blair Discredited

Germany's Die Welt Discovers 'Children of Satan' Dossier

Der Spiegel and German Financial Times Jump To Defense of Leo Strauss

German Media Should Take Another Look at Von Buelow Book

Dutch Paper Flags Cheney as Liability for Bush Re-Election

From Volume 2, Issue Number 32 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Aug. 12, 2003

Western European News Digest

British Military Historian on Prime Minister Blair

The most devastating demolition of the "image" of British Prime Minister Tony Blair seen to date in the British press, was published in the July 23 Daily Mail, by one of Britain's most distinguished military historians, Correlli Barnett.

Barnett charges that Blair is effectively acting as a tool of the Cheney-Wolfowitz crowd in the United States. After lambasting Blair's speech to the combined Houses of the U.S. Congress as a "rant" and as "high-minded waffle," Barnett writes: "Does he actually share the dangerous vision of doctrinaire hawks such as Paul Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney, of a world re-shaped on America's model, through the exercise of sheer military and economic power? And did he really mean to publicly commit the United Kingdom in principle to taking part, in future pre-emptive American attacks, on the members of the 'axis of evil'?"

The core of the rest of the article, is a merciless attack on Blair — from the standpoint of Barnett's detailed study of history and leadership in times of crisis — as a play-actor on the world stage, a would-be "king of the world," who manages to filter out the reality of what is happening to him in the U.K. and elsewhere.

"Does this colossal contrast between Blair the actor of the part of a great prime minister, and the reality of an incompetent and emotional man, account for his all-too-evident mood swings?" writes Barnett. "When things have gone wrong for him before, during, and since the Iraq war, whenever his critics have pressed him hard, we have seen him haggard-faced, hollow-eyed, shrunken within his suit. Yet a day later, he will appear pink and well-fleshed, and perform his role masterfully, whether it be in the House of Commons, or in some carefully arranged cosy photo opportunity. You might almost think that dear Carole Caplin [Cherie Blair's New Age guru—ed.] was supplying him with a miraculous herbal potion.

"But to me, as a military historian who has studied top commanders under stress, Tony Blair's emotional nature, his love of role playing, his intellectual rambling, and his rapid mood-swings from deep anxiety to euphoric certainty are all truly disquieting. He is, after all, our Prime Minister — at present."

Barnett describes Blair's recent Asia diplomacy as "sickening," and "a charade," especially as he and Cherie clowned around, showing little respect or emotion, after the death of David Kelly. As for Blair's trip to Basra, Iraq, and speech to British troops, Barnett contemptuously calls it "pure Laurence Olivier as Henry V."

Hutton Inquiry Must Probe Blair's Argument for Iraq War

"A Government in the dock," is the banner, front-page headline of the Aug. 2 London Independent, which notes that Lord Hutton has said that his inquiry into the death of scientist Dr. David Kelly would be wide-ranging; the paper adds that this makes it "inevitable that the Government's case for war in Iraq will be scrutinised."

The top of the page features three mugshot photos. Left-most, is that of Prime Minister Tony Blair, with the question underneath, "What was your role in the handling of the David Kelly affair?" In the middle is Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, with the question, "Were there threats to strip Dr. Kelly of security clearance?" The right-most is Alastair Campbell ("Spinocchio"), Blair's media czar, with the question, "Did Downing Street facilitate the leaking of Dr. Kelly's name?"

MI6 Head Takes Early Retirement

The London Guardian reported in its lead story of Aug. 3 that MI6 Intelligence chief Sir Richard Dearlove announced his retirement because of differences with the Blair government over Iraq. According to the Guardian, "Britain's top spymaster has decided to retire early, dealing a damaging new blow to the Government's credibility over its presentation of intelligence on Iraq. Sir Richard Dearlove ... is thought to be dismayed by the visible rift between his organisation and Downing Street.... The move is likely to worsen MI6's crisis of confidence over Downing Street's alleged manipulation of information over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction...."

The Guardian says that there is a fight over the MI6 successor, with Dearlove preferring a professional known to him, and Blair reportedly wanting Sir John Scarlett, the pliable Blair ally, who heads the Joint Intelligence Committee and who helped skew intelligence, to serve Blair's war purposes.

'Old Labour' MP Pointed Inquiries on 'Yellow Cake'

Labour MP Llew Smith, from Blaenau Gwent in Wales, writes in the Aug. 2 Guardian, on his queries to the Prime Minister's office (somewhat of a parallel to what U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has done):

"On June 26, I wrote to the Prime Minister with a series of questions. Despite many subsequent calls to Tony Blair's office, he has made no response, for reasons only known to himself."

Smith writes that among his questions, were:

"1: In light of the situation arising from the evidence given by Alastair Campbell to the Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26, whereby we are still being asked to rely upon assertions of fact based on unpublished sources obtained by British intelligence, would you ask the head of the Joint Intelligence Committee to make public the source used to underpin allegations about attempted uranium procurement by Iraq from Africa?

"2: Can you also confirm that Dr. El-Baradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Authority and head nuclear inspector, has been provided with all British sources on Iraq's attempts to covertly obtain uranium from Africa, and can you make public the date(s) on which this information was provided to the IAEA?"

Smith documents how he and Labour colleague Glenda Jackson received substanceless obfuscations from Blair's office, in response. A parliamentary ally of Smith informs EIR, that Smith is very much to be trusted, and has a position of high respect among "Old Labour" figures, as he holds the seat in Parliament formerly held by Labour prominents Aneuran Bevan and Michael Foot.

Bush Administration Neo-Cons and Blair Discredited

Both the Cheney-Wolfowitz neo-cons and Tony Blair are massively discredited, and this creates a highly "unpredictable" political situation, in which context, the potentials for Lyndon LaRouche's Presidential campaign in the U.S. to have a big effect, must be taken very seriously. So declared a well-connected British strategist on Aug. 5—an individual who, until quite recently, was skeptical about the LaRouche campaign being able to affect matters very much.

In a discussion with EIR, he said: "What particularly fascinated me, was how Wolfowitz was savaged in the U.S. Senate last week. The guy is now being exposed, very publicly, as a liar. What such events signify to me, is that something is now happening also in the States, that is more advanced here in Britain, namely the realization by the Establishment in the U.S., that it has been conned. You are seeing a response from the American institutions, the security establishment, straightforward non-neo-con conservatives, nationalists, and Democrats, who were willing to go along with the President on the Iraq war, but who now see all the justifications for that war coming unstuck."

"There have not been found any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction of any importance, and there is no al-Qaeda link.... Worse, the actual operation in Iraq is a mess, it is becoming unstuck, it's horrendous. Bush has had to eat humble pie, and seek help from the United Nations, and is getting a tough time, from the Russians, the French, and the Germans. And there is another factor, the doing-nothing in Liberia.... And imagine the reaction in the black communities in the U.S., who make a very unfavorable contrast, between what has been done in Iraq, and what is not being done in Liberia."

The source stated that "faced with all this, Cheney, Wolfowitz, and friends are trying to tough it out. But they are now exposed as liars. In my view, they are punctured balloons, much like Blair has become over here.... On both sides of the Atlantic, the economic situation has become unpredictable, the political side volatile; here in Britain, the depth of disbelief in what this government is doing, among Labour Party members, is phenomenal. The reality is, for both Cheney and his people, and for Blair, credibility is blown .... they are in trouble."

Germany's Die Welt Discovers 'Children of Satan' Dossier

Die Welt is the first German newspaper to mention the "Children of Satan" dossier, which was issued by Lyndon LaRouche's Presidential campaign in April 2003, in an attack on the neo-conservative cabal of followers of the late Leo Strauss in and around the Bush Administration.

In an Aug. 5 editorial under the headline, "Strauss Is To Blame for Everything," the main intent of which is to discredit critics of the Leo-cons, columnist Mariam Lau writes that "it is not just the campaign of Presidential candidate LaRouche, which talks about the neo-cons as Children of Satan," which is causing problems for Straussians like Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz. Fraudulently implying that there is nothing to these charges, Lau claims that one does not have to pay attention to "most of these conspiracy theories." That she mentions LaRouche, demonstrates she, and other neo-con defenders are paying very close attention.

Der Spiegel and German Financial Times Jump To Defense of Leo Strauss

In a four-page article on the "Leo-Conservatives," in its Aug. 4 issue, the German weekly Der Spiegel tries to defend philosopher Leo Strauss by underplaying his role, compared to other gurus at the University of Chicago. It does acknowledge that Strauss's lectures and writings have cult status among his students, and reports that in July, the Washington, D.C.-based Straussians, including the Defense Department's Paul Wolfowitz and Abram Shulsky, met for their annual barbecue, toasting Strauss.

Der Spiegel says that Strauss—a German Jew who emigrated to the U.S. in 1938, thanks to top Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, who helped him secure a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship in 1932—never was a string-puller behind the neo-con movement, although he had many followers. Spiegel says that the real breakthrough for Strauss came only in 1948, with his promotion by Robert M. Hutchins of Chicago University. Hutchins was the man who promoted the careers of three professors who had a big impact on the United States during the 1950s and 1960s: Hans J. Morgenthau, who allegedly also recruited Henry Kissinger among his followers; Milton Friedman, a recruit of Friedrich von Hayek; and Leo Strauss.

But whereas many prominent figures are among the Straussians, the two "Pax Americana" Pentagon officials Wolfowitz and Perle are more under the influence of Albert Wohlstetter's lectures, than those of Strauss, says Der Spiegel.

On Aug. 5, Financial Times Deutschland also jumps to defend the neo-cons in power in Washington, admitting their "Straussian impact" on the Bush Administration.

The article, headlined, "Neocons around Wolfowitz determine U.S. diplomacy," reports that every year, about 60 Straussians gather in Washington, D.C. for a barbecue. Wolfowitz is, maybe, the most prominent name among them at present, but there are others with influence in the Bush Administration, such as Doug Feith, Abram Shulsky, Richard Perle, John Walters, and Leon Krass, the article says.

Conceding that many Straussians occupy administration posts and that the neo-con think-tank, Project for a New American Century, developed the scripts for the policies that have been introduced since 9/11, the article claims, however, that the neo-cons only had success when "arch-conservatives" like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld switched over to their side. The neo-cons have, for the time being, passed the peak of their power, FTD claims, because Bush won't risk more U.S. power projections before the elections of 2004. Only with a Bush re-election, would they have a chance of gaining control also of foreign policy, by occupying key posts at the State Department, the FTD writes.

The FTD is the third leading German publication, after Der Spiegel and Die Welt, to comment prominently on the Straussians since Aug. 3.

German Media Should Take Another Look at Von Buelow Book

Leading German media, including Der Spiegel in its Aug. 4 issue, and the Aug. 4 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, have reacted to the latest book by Andreas von Buelow on The CIA and the 11th of September—International Terrorism and the Role of Secret Agencies.

Der Spiegel dismisses the book as "conspiracy theory" and "intelligence fiction," but the review in the FAZ by Wilfried von Bredow deserves more attention. Although he to some extent classes it as a "conspiracy theory," he lists von Buelow's theses that attempt to address yet-unanswered questions, such as: 1) The four crashed airliners of 9/11 were neither hijacked nor flown by those 19 Arabs, whose mission it was only to lay a false track that day; 2) the two towers of the World Trade Center were blown up, not by the crashing airliners, but by explosives placed inside the Trade Center ahead of time; 3) the attack on the Pentagon was carried out by a cruise missile, not by an airliner; 4) all of that was done by American specialists, Von Buelow charges, who wanted to prepare the ground for geopolitical conquests, based on the ideology of Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations."

Dutch Paper Flags Cheney as Liability for Bush Re-Election

In the July 26 issue of the Dutch weekly, De Groene Amsterdammer, Washington, D.C. correspondent Tom Ronse, uses a discussion about the chances of George Bush's re-election, to target Dick Cheney as one of the sources of disinformation in the Administration.

The article says that without 9/11 and the Iraq war, Bush would likely be one of the most unpopular Presidents of all time. Ronse mentions some reasons: the lies about weapons of mass destruction used to justify the Iraq invasion; the 3 million unemployed who have been added since the beginning of the Bush Administration; the worst fiscal crisis in 50 years.

Ronse then focusses on exposing the neo-conservatives and the Office of Special Plans. He says, for example "Undersecretary of State John Bolton [sic]* was forced to curtail his testimony to a Congressional Committee ... he was planning to assert that Syria's program for the development of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, had progressed so far that it threatened the stability of the region, which according to the CIA, is false. This same Bolton ... in May of 2002 accused the Cubans of trying to make biological weapons. Nonsense, said the CIA. The source of this assertion was the OSP, Office of Special Plans, a kind of shadow-CIA which was set up by Rumsfeld and Cheney. Because it was Cheney, according to insiders, who insisted on keeping the false information in the Bush speech, the VIPS, an association of former intelligence officers, demanded his resignation."

[* Bolton's actual position is Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control.—EIW]

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