by Mark Curtis<\/p>\n
I completely support the protests and opposition to Trump. At the same time, the British government in its foreign policy is now operating outside of any serious democratic control, and is:<\/p>\n
In this situation, we cannot focus attention solely or overwhelmingly on the US.<\/p>\n
Covert wars<\/strong><\/p>\n Britain is fighting at least seven covert wars in the Middle East and North Africa, outside of democratic oversight or control. Documented here[1]<\/a>, the countries are: Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia. UK covert forces are reportedly operating in and around these countries and there is UK involvement in covert drone strikes in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia.<\/p>\n Whitehall has in effect gone underground, with neither parliament nor the public being allowed to debate, scrutinise or even know about these wars.<\/p>\n Lying to parliament<\/strong><\/p>\n To cover themselves, Ministerial answers to parliamentary questions are regularly resorting to lying and\/or giving misleading responses to the country\u2019s elected representatives, about what the government is authorising. To cite just some examples:<\/p>\n Violating international law<\/strong><\/p>\n The UK is violating and\/or facilitating the violation of international law in various situations, rendering it a rogue state. (See here for references [8]<\/a>)<\/p>\n Alliances with repressive states<\/strong><\/p>\n The deepening of relations with highly repressive states abusing human rights has been widely commented on, notably Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, and Israel. In these cases, the UK has often been signing new trade deals, agreeing new arms exports, and apologising for the regimes. While these repressive states are traditional British allies, there is no doubt that relations have deepened in recent months. The government is even seeking new trade opportunities with Sudan[10]<\/a>, whose regime has perpetrated genocidal mass murder and whose President is subject to an international arrest warrant[11]<\/a>.<\/p>\n Where usually very mild public statements of concern have been given about some of these countries\u2019 human rights abuses, for example Israel, Egypt and Bahrain, they have not been followed by any noticeable pressure by the UK government to bring about change. Indeed, the UK is not seriously interested in change, it supports those regimes and issues fake criticisms of them surely designed to placate public opinion.<\/p>\n REFERENCES<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/10\/14\/britains-seven-covert-wars\/<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> See http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/10\/14\/britains-seven-covert-wars\/<\/a>; http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/publications\/written-questions-answers-statements\/written-question\/Commons\/2017-01-06\/58670\/<\/a>;<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/publications\/written-questions-answers-statements\/written-question\/Commons\/2017-01-06\/58697\/<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> http:\/\/www.parliament.uk\/business\/publications\/written-questions-answers-statements\/written-question\/Commons\/2016-12-15\/57862\/<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> See http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/10\/14\/britains-seven-covert-wars\/<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/08\/22\/we-know-about-the-lies-over-iraq-but-what-about-syria\/<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/08\/22\/we-know-about-the-lies-over-iraq-but-what-about-syria\/<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2017\/01\/23\/britains-violations-of-international-law\/<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> http:\/\/markcurtis.info\/2016\/10\/14\/britains-seven-covert-wars\/<\/p>\n\n
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