Chris Burford wrote:
Once again this Scottish source is so good, it makes you wonder if it is
being used to leak informed briefings into the British media.
But why? Is it to keep the flag flying for Britain in the skirmishing
with
US intelligence services, but discretely through a Scottish rather than
an
English outlet?
=====
There is a very murky para-world in journalism, featuring some very
ambiguous links between the intelligence community and ex-Leftists
(mostly CP), just as in academia, where some former die-hard opponents
of capitalism have suddenly been rehabilitated as "experts" on economies
in transition, etc. I believe that those journalists with democratic
leanings who are not "irredeemable" like John Pilger, e.g., are, at the
very least, used by "liberal" and other mischief-making intelligence
officers for whatever ends they deem suitable. "Liberal" -- in the sense
of pursuing a line distinct from "my state, right or wrong" a la George
Kennedy Young; mischief-making -- in the sense of MI6 officers (e.g.)
feeding information to the press in order to embarrass their MI5 rivals,
such as with the recent revelations regarding the Home Office inquiry
headed by David Spedding, former MI6 chief, into criminal intelligence
gathering in the UK, effectively sidelining MI5's hitherto supposedly
high-profile role. The fact that a chief of MI6 would be asked to head
up such an inquiry by the Home Office at all is itself remarkable.
Another reason why "provincial" newspapers may be privy to harder
information is a variation on the old trick of "surfacing", where
sensitive information (factual, smear, whatever) is published in a
relatively obscure outlet (possibly overseas) and allowed to filter back
via the initiative (or manipulation) of hacks at home.
The Herald is interesting, given its regular access to apparently strong
sources. Proximity to Northern Ireland may explain some of that.
Intelligence angst at potential Scottish separatism may also have a role
to play.
Michael K.
