Fascinating fall-out recently following the publication of Ron Suskind's new book 'The Way of the World' (Simon & Schuster 2008) in which he argues two things of interest. Firstly, the the US regime leant on Iraqi informer (Tahir Habbush) to help manufacture evidence there were 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' in Iraq, when there weren't. No surprise there. Second in the course of writing the book Suskind interviewed (see pages 188-95) both Richard Dearlove (head of MI6 when war broke out with Iraq) and his then-deputy Nigel Inkster, who now works for the ruling-class think-tank the Institute for Strategic Studies. While Dearlove was slightly cagy, Suskind quotes Inkster (who liaised with the Iraqi defector Tahir Habbush, head of intelligence no less) as saying, quite clearly, that both the Bush and Blair regimes knew, before the invasion, that Iraq had no WMDs. Again, no surprise here, and backs up a point we at 9/11 Cultwatch have long made, that the fabrication of WMD evidence leading to a spurious war is in itself a sufficient reason, if you are so inclined, for both Blair & Bush to be arraigned as 'war criminals'--you don't need imaginary fairytales about 9/11, the War in Iraq is sufficient to make them (metaphorically) swing from the yard arm.
Like an Alice in Wonderland update, the man who met Habbush is named in the book as 'Shipster', but from the context (and lack of credible detail on him) it seems reasonable to surmise Habbush in fact met Inkster! If you are still with us...the whole tale gets even more interesting with the intervention of Guardian journalist Richard Norton-Taylor, a man whom, to put it politely, I have long regarded as MI6's 'representative on earth', regaling the naive fools who read the Guardian with 'hot poop' that is often disinformation of the most insidious kind. On the 6th August he wrote a piece pouring gentle scorn on Suskind's claims and reminding readers Suskind has (indeed) got it wrong once before (over one of the 7/7 bombers). In a breathless addition to the original story, Norton-Taylor quoted Inkster as denying he said what Suskind quotes him as saying, describing it as 'fiction'.
While spooks/ex-spooks may now be closing ranks on this one, there is a fascinating undercurrent to the story. For Inkster was, it is widely believed, Dearlove's chosen successor as MI6 chief, and was elbowed out of the way by none other than Blair lickspittle John Scarlett, infamous both for being complicit in the production of the 'dodgy dossier' justifying war with Iraq, and for being a man who knows rather a lot (to put it mildly) about the suspicious death of WMD expert Dr David Kelly. Hence, what a useful way to settle a score with Captain Scarlett than berating him to Suskind, a man whose work is influential on both sides of the Atlantic. This one will run and run, although it will, I am sure, little trouble the cultists as it doesn't involve Jews, beam-weapons, holograms, Controlled Demolitions & the like. Ah well....
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