Knocking Down swimming pools to pay for Drone bombers

WikiLeaks cables: Conservatives promised to run 'pro-American regime'

Leaked dispatch reveals how US diplomats are amused by Britain's 'paranoid' fears about so-called special relationship

• David Leigh
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 December 2010 23.00 GMT
• Article history



 

David Cameron with Barack Obama at a press conference at the White House earlier this year. The incoming Conservatives appear to have made some wide-ranging offers of political co-operation with the US. Photograph: Rod Lamkey Jr/AFP/Getty Images Conservative party politicians lined up before the general election to promise that they would run a "pro-American regime" and buy more arms from the US if they came to power this year, the leaked American embassy cables show. Despite British leaders' supportive stance, the dispatches also reveal – in what some will see as humiliating detail – how US diplomats in London are amused by what they call Britain's "paranoid" fears about the so-called special relationship. One said the anxious British attitude "would often be humorous if it were not so corrosive" and that it was tempting to take advantage of this neurosis to "make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance". The UK was said to offer "unparalleled" help in promoting America's aims. The incoming Conservatives appear to have made some wide-ranging offers of political co-operation with the US. The cables detail a series of private meetings with Tory frontbenchers, many of whom are now in the cabinet. Liam Fox, now the defence secretary, promised to buy American military equipment, while the current foreign secretary, William Hague, offered the ambassador a "pro-American" government. Hague also said the entire Conservative leadership were, like him, "staunchly Atlanticist" and "children of Thatcher". Fox met the US ambassador, Louis Susman, a year ago. In a 10 December 2009 cable marked "confidential", Susman recorded: "Liam Fox affirmed his desire to work closely with the US if the Conservative party wins power … adding that 'we (Conservatives) intend to follow a much more pro-American profile in procurement'." He reportedly went on: "Increasing US-UK 'interoperability is the key' since the US and UK will continue to fight together in the future" and "expressed confidence regarding US leadership in Afghanistan and optimism about the way forward". The frontbencher admitted that there was an opposed faction within Tory ranks. "Fox asserted that some within the Conservative party are less enthusiastic, asserting that 'we're supposed to be partners with, not supplicants to, the United States'. Fox said he rebuffed these assertions, and he welcomed the ambassador's reassurance that senior US leaders value the UK as an equal partner." Hague pledged his own loyalty in an earlier meeting with the US deputy chief of mission, Richard LeBaron. A confidential cable marked "no foreigners" from 1 April 2008 records: "The deputy chief of mission asked Hague whether the relationship between the UK and the US was 'still special'. Hague said he, David Cameron and George Osborne were 'children of Thatcher' and staunch Atlanticists … For his part, said Hague, he has a sister who is American, spends his own vacations in America and, like many similar to him, considers America the 'other country to turn to'. "Asking his senior adviser her views, [Arminka] Helic (who is Bosnian), said: 'America is the essential country.' "Hague said whoever enters 10 Downing Street as prime minister soon learns of the essential nature of the relationship with America. He went on: 'We want a pro-American regime. We need it. The world needs it.' " These enthusiastic approaches came against a backdrop of what American officials termed British "paranoia" following the arrival of Barack Obama as an unknown presidential quantity. In a lengthy classified dispatch in February 2009 headed "The British ask, is our special relationship still special in Washington?" LeBaron wrote: "More than one HMG senior official asked embassy officers whether President Obama meant to send a signal in his inaugural address about US-UK relations by quoting Washington during the revolutionary war [against Britain], while the removal of the Churchill bust from the Oval office consumed much UK newsprint." The Times had written, allegedly quoting British embassy sources in Washington, about the distress caused by the removal of the bust, lent to George Bush by Tony Blair from the UK government art collection, in happier times. It was headlined: "Churchill bust casts shadow over special relationship". LeBaron noted dryly: "This period of excessive UK speculation about the relationship is more paranoid than usual … This over-reading would often be humorous, if it were not so corrosive." He advised against taking advantage of British neuroses and said the UK remained highly useful to the US because of its "unparalleled" help in promoting America's aims. "Though tempting to argue that keeping HMG off balance about its current standing with us might make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance, in the long run it is not in US interests to have the UK public concluding the relationship is weakening, on either side. "The UK's commitment of resources – financial, military, diplomatic – in support of US global priorities remains unparalleled; a UK public confident that the USG values those contributions and our relationship, matters to US national security." Britain's willingness to invest in expensive weaponry is a key part of the so-called special relationship. The UK's annual military budget is running at £37bn a year. Fox's reference to more procurement from the US shows his zest for heavy spending on two future big-ticket items – the joint strike fighter [JSF], and the £20bn replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system. The largely US-built JSF will be formidably expensive, and the original scheme was for Britain to buy up to 138 of them at £150m each, to go on giant aircraft carriers. Fox is having an uphill fight: the recent defence review promised only to buy a cheaper version, and to cut the numbers of planes. Some are urging the purchase of US-made drones instead: the Ministry of Defence recently announced the purchase of 100 small Desert Hawk III drones and five extra Reaper killer drones. Other US purchases may be in the pipeline. Frustratingly perhaps for Fox, decisions on the Trident replacement scheme, which will rely on submarine-launched ballistic missiles leased from the US, have been delayed until after the next election. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-cables-us-special-relationship

The Cannabis Diaries Part 3

Cannabis Britannica: Empire, Trade, and Prohibition 1800-1928 By James H. Mills


Got up, had tea and granola. Checked email. Washed and went to the toilet for a number two. Smoked a small roll-up with a thin lacing of Indica. Found the Cannabis Diaries by Debra Bell linked into Google news articles and started to read them. Chatted with friends about the issue of Cannabis and cannabis propaganda in the form of books that are promoted by the newspress, due to the overblown sensationalism and perfect media frenzy about them. Had a cup of coffee and talked a little of the war on some people who use some drugs.

Read a news item about Alister Campbell's defence of Tony Blair that gave me a slight headache after reading. I typed 'Cannabis' into my google news window and found hundreds of articles showing the law enforcement at work, jailing kids, kicking down doors and panicking about a few plants that tend to produce thinking in those that consume them.

I ate a waffle, and then started to write about faith-based drug policy and the correspondence with faith-based political policy, leading to the illegal wars and world banking crash. I played some music by the Meters and turned the volume up a little. Then, my phone rang and my mum told me sad news. I wept a little, gathered myself and continued where I had left off with an article about Cannabis and 'Faith-based' drug policy and the horrors of prohibition and the war on some people who use some drugs. It starts like this:

"Faith-based drug policy and faith-based war policy are responsible for the untold deaths of Millions of people and the suffering of Billions more around the world today.

Add to the physical damage inflicted upon cities, homes and people the dramatic effects upon global finance, global climate change and geo-politics. The mind boggles at what humanity might achieve if it were to plough money and resources currently spent on warfare and drug prohibition, two of the most obvious failures and weak points of human civilization.

Bertrand Russell, the brilliant Philosopher, once said that the greatest accomplishment of the 20th century is 'suspended judgement' and inversely, I might add that 'blind faith-based judgements' have led to the worse atrocities of the 20th & 21st centuries.

In the 21st century, George W. Bush and Tony Blair, both confessed practicing religious followers have been responsible for the worst faith-based judgements possible: the decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq leading to the global mess described above."

Next thing I know I'm rolling another joint, my second of the day as I felt a creative surge coming on, to try to write this stuff out and bring some balance here to this madness. Especially after reading the Cannabis Diaries by Ms. Bell and the rapid spread of the book and the far-right conservative views within it, throughout the media sphere, as if it were supported by the Government and the Newspress in a way that any other book about cannabis, would not. Unless a celebrity was involved somehow.

In fact, in my experience living in the UK for 24 years, the British Government and the British press suppress any positive drug research, or anything presenting an alternative to prohibition and zero tolerance. Professor David Nutt however, seems to me to be a special case, where the public get a small taste of how Governments really operate when it comes to drugs and changing human consciousness through using lies.

The British Institute of Psychiatry has a disgusting history of misuse and abuse of drugs, especially during and shortly after the second world war, paralleled only by the deranged CIA' MK-Ultra programme where drugs were administered to people without their knowledge and combined with torture and horrific surgical procedures. Meanwhile, both the US and UK governments continue a prohibitionist stance on some of these drugs that they use in clandestine operations and often as bait, to lure in more potential criminals to keep the crooked criminal (in)justice system turning. I think.

So, here's what I wrote about two hours ago, based upon the so called 'Cannabis Diaries' by Debra Bell.

"I would place Debra Bell, with Jacqui Smith, who some might say look alike (as police detectives?) with a common faith-based war against scientific research ever taking a foothold in the creation of responsible British drug policy. The word 'responsible' is suspiciously missing from the words 'Drug Policy'

I might replace the word 'responsible' with faith-based in the UK and US models. (although America is making some progress with responsible Cannabis drug policy)

Jacqui and Debra both exhibit a similar faith based psychological condition, sending them on a faith based mission to fight a medicinal plant, a plant that can be of great benefit to humanity, if used in the right set and setting, like all other media that interact with human consciousness. Not to mention the infinite benefits of Hemp.



AN OPEN LETTER TO DEBRA BELL, author of the Cannabis Diaries.

HI Debra, debra @ talking about cannabis.com

Hi, I live and work in Amsterdam within the Cannabis Culture/industry.

I notice that you have a new book and a multimedia campaign to forward your views on Cannabis, but alas, I don't yet see a public forum for proper debate and feedback, which is strange to me as you seem to want to talk' about cannabis, according to your books title. So...

I would like to invite your son, William, your husband and yourself, plus anybody else who would like join to me here in Amsterdam, to possibly talk about your new book and cannabis at an open forum. We'll even record the events and/or stream them live on internet if you like.

My personal view is that the United Kingdom spearheads the war on some people who use some drugs, along with the United States, and who coincidentally, spearheaded the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Do you see a link between these two phenomena? because I do, and it makes a mockery of the law, fairness, equality and every principle of what humanity stands for.

Also would you comment on the sacking of the independent drugs advisor David Nutt by the British Government, possibly due to his intelligent comments about Cannabis and other drugs, and also maybe on the Governments bigoted inability to accept scientific research in favour of faith-based policy, precisely as they ignored international law and intelligent legal advise concerning invading another country.

Just out of curiosity Debra, do you support the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan by British forces? I apologise if you see this as a digression, but for most Cannabis users and supporters I have found that they also oppose the war, another strange coincidence you might say. As a supporter of prohibition, I wonder if you support the war too? Maybe you do not support these wars?

I understand that your book is anecdotal, and that your simply writing a diary of your experiences. But, due to your further pronouncements on Cannabis and outreaching programme (talking about cannabis) I feel that you want to get involved in the bigger picture with politics, law and policy making, psychology, sociology, neuro-science etc. Yet, as simply a writer of diaries, I can't see any reason why others should pay any attention to what your saying in the sense of good scientific research, good clear and balanced information and the broader question of (responsible) drug policy? Why does the FRANK website not have a free response forum? or a free comments page, to increase the ability for first responders?

I'll counter every story of a mother or parent you mention, that feels happy that they have found your Cannabis Diaries, due to similar nightmare experiences, or bad fallout from the war on some people who use some drugs, with a story of parent who has thanked me, personally for giving their son or daughter Cannabis in a safe and responsible setting, here in Amsterdam, and left happy, together, as a family. This reinforces my view, contrary to prohibition, that some drugs in the right set and setting can help build family bonds, and help diffuse the build up of some tensions, bringing relaxation, humor and a greater ability to suspend judgement.

Finally I would like to address William, your son: 'Like what you like, enjoy what you enjoy and don't take crap from anybody' I implore you to write back. Start writing and publishing, maybe attempt some poetry, make a small movie and post it on youtube, Yes, you can, love Steven"

SOME SOURCES:
Drugs and the future: brain science, addiction and society. By David J. Nutt


The Beatles Diary: The Beatles years / Barry Miles
By Barry Miles, Keith Badman


Cannabis and cannabinoids: pharmacology, toxicology, and therapeutic potential. By Franjo Grotenhermen, Ethan Russo


Cannabis in medical practice. By Mary Lynn Mathre


America's Longest War. By Steven B. Duke, Albert C. Gross


Cannabinoids. By Mary Ellen Abood, Roger G. Pertwee


Conversations with Tennessee Williams. By Tennessee Williams, Albert J. Devlin