Wednesday, September 17, 2008
New Omagh intelligence inquiry must unlock a chain reaction of truth
It seems to have come as a surprise to at least one minister. “We are not immediately attracted to the idea of a public inquiry,” security minister Paul Goggins said for publication only this morning. Sure enough, the inquiry by retired Appeal Court judge Sir Peter Gibson the Intelligence Services Commissioner announced by the Prime Minister after yesterday’s visit to Belfast isn’t to be held in “public:”
“to review the intercepted intelligence material available to the security and intelligence agencies in relation to the Omagh bombing and how it was shared.”
But it’s right on the button of the Panorama report, it’s time-limited to three months and the Prime Minister has promised to report to Parliament. On the face of it, this is a significant move, but there are plenty of caveats.
There are two principal linked questions emerging from the RUC account given to Panorama:: Why didn’t GCHQ pass on their monitoring to the police immediately to cut off the bombers – if they were listening live? And two, why did they not share, promptly and in full, the results of their monitoring to the police, if not for use in court which was banned, then to help in the hunt for the bombers while it was still hot? This is a top secret area. Sir Peter Gibson has not been one for pushing out the envelope. In his annual report last year he “declined to reveal the number of bugs these agencies had planted, on the grounds that to do so would “assist those hostile to the UK”. In other words, he could submit his report under secrecy.
But Gordon Brown can hardly get on his feet in the Commons a couple of weeks before Christmas and say “ the guys done ok, I can tell you no more.” He has to explain in full was meant by GCHQ’s alleged deadly, terse admission: “ We missed it”
For a decade, the Omagh families have been given a horrible run- around by the celebrity bit players in the tragedy, the presidents, princes and prime ministers who by their hurried visits to inconveniently sealed off Omagh streets lent credence to the view that “no stone would be left unturned.” Their torment is all the more exquisite for the truth allegedly lying just out of reach. This particular inquiry is about one link in the evidential chain. Yet if truth emerges about this one, pressure will inevitably mount for a chain reaction of truth to run right along the length of this terribly botched disconnected investigation, through the old SB, the CID, Sir Ronnie Flanagan and the Gardai. The police and security establishment will be expecting no less. They must be prevented from exploiting this inquiry just to settle old scores. Under revised rules, intercept evidence can now be used in court but only with the permission of the agency involved. If GCHQ has such evidence it is their bounden duty to reveal it. Either way the time has come - is long overdue - for telling the real story either in court prosecutions if possible or if not, as much of it as the law allows in public. Anything less would be the most hollow of mockeries. Gordon Brown cautious champion of openness, has a chance here to do himself proud. He could leave a much worse legacy.
Brian Walker @ 01:51 PM
“There are two principal linked questions emerging from the RUC account given to Panorama:: Why didn’t GCHQ pass on their monitoring to the police immediately to cut off the bombers – if they were listening live?”
Maybe GCHQ were breaking rules by listening in while the bombers were in the Republic? Maybe GCHQ were relying upon the Garda to provide them with information before the switchover?
”And two, why did they not share, promptly and in full, the results of their monitoring to the police, if not for use in court which was banned, then to help in the hunt for the bombers while it was still hot? ”
isn’t this really the same leading question as the first one, just with more clarity?
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 02:52 PMIt’s a bit more complicated than that, Brian.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 02:55 PM“The Irish government was in secret indirect negotiations with the Real IRA in the weeks immediately preceding the Omagh bombing on August 15. The Belfast Redemptorist priest, Fr Alex Reid acted as an intermediary and documents from the Office of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, were handed over.”
There’s that Pan Nationalist front priest Reid again. I heard tell of certain Priests being in demand for civic functions and the like, but this priest seems to be the chosen one by both the PIRA and the Real IRA.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:05 PM....Will Father Reid make it a quartet and become the chosen Father to meet with the CIRA and the INLA too?
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:08 PMUMH, I suspect web is a more relevant metaphor than chain in this tragic affair. There are so many cross-links that it may well be impossible to link cause and effect, even if everyone revealed what they knew - which they won’t.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:16 PMNevin, so....???
Are we supposed to fall down and worship at some secret contacts? Have we never heard of these before? I think people like these angles because they can go ho hum, stroke their chins and feel all-knowing and superior ( not you of course nevin). I doubt if there was a chain of suppression running from Dublin to Cheltenham. If there was and it makes GHHQ look bad, the odds are we’ll get to hear of it somehow, now that the words “inquiry” and GCHQ” have been linked. That’s why there’s a chance of chain reaction.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:21 PMI find this assignment by the PM to the Security Services Commissioner bogus in the extreme.
Brown would never have done what he did if it had not be for the most uncalled statement by the Security Minister Paul Goggins, stating that there was little official interest in a public inquiry.
And what kind of position does Sir Peter Gibson have if he has to be instructed by the Prime Minister what clearly he should have done on his own.
Gibson sounds like another Whitehall flunkey who does whatever Downing Street tells him - like Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, who was given the assignment of determineíng if Mike Todd’s womanizing interfered with his job performance after he mysterious died. Any word on this yet? Flanagan got the position after the Omagh screwup to keep the coverup going.
And how can anyone have any confidence in what the beleaguered PM may volunteer to the Commans in December? He might not even be PM by then.
This is just more posturing by the British government over its incredible performance in this tragedy, from its beginning to end.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:27 PMYou’re quite right, Brian, I’m not the ‘ho hum’ sort. However, I think you’ve opted for the wrong metaphor.
Also, it may be necessary to widen the focus and look not just at the Omagh bomb but also at the related attacks and events which preceded it.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:50 PM“British government over its incredible performance in this tragedy, from its beginning to end.”
I love it when people refer to republican atrocities like this as a “tragedy” - much like the tidal wave in Thailand or the earthquake in Pakistan...those were a tragedy...the Omagh bomb and its like were terrorism pure and simple or if you are of the “legitimate struggle” mentality then substitute terrorism for war crime....Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 03:56 PMBrian, you might also want to look at the political stalemate of the time. We’re all old enough to remember what happens when IRA/Sinn Fein don’t get what they want. They bomb the hell out of the place, creating an environment where they dominate the leverage in negotiations. The year of 1993 tells us how they worked on multiple fronts, bombing and negotiating until they got what they wanted.
Why should we think IRA/Sinn Fein planned their route to the table any different in 1998, Omagh?
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:01 PMthe tragedy in all this is the omagh relatives will NEVER get access to the truth. if british intelligence is somehow tied in with what happened at omagh they will guard their role and the relatives of the dead will endure with the knowledge that nobody will be held culpable because there is official government involvement somewhere along the chain, and the government can never admit to that!
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:01 PMThe Omagh bombing became a tragedy, Democratic, like the 9/11 attacks, when the government in charge not only aided and abetted it, but also covered up everything as best it could despite the pleas and anguish of the survivors.
You have another think coming if you think I justify in even the slightest way what the RIRA did. I am just appalled the the Britsh government was in bed with it all along.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:04 PM”I am just appalled the the Britsh government was in bed with it all along.”
You don’t know how much or little the Britsh government knew or how soon they knew it or who they depended upon to know it, yet you’re willing (like the rest of the media reports so far) in blaming everything on the British intelligence.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:09 PMYou have another think coming if you think I justify in even the slightest way what the RIRA did. I am just appalled the the Britsh government was in bed with it all along.
Never said that Trowbridge - just wanted a spade called a spade that’s all…
I would also be horrified IF my own govenment was in bed with the bombers as you put it - what exactly do you mean by this? - that the British helped build, plan and place this murderous device or that they helped the RIRA murderers cover their escape for longterm politcal expediency or simply that they covered up their own shortcomings in their preventative procedures on the day?
Which of these would you regard as deeming the B.G. as equally culpable as the RIRA terrorists?
For me only the first two would hold any water whatsoever and only the first one would truly show them “in bed” with the RIRA...perhaps you have something more than distinctly dodgy comparisons with the 9/11 atrocity conspiracy theories to offer?Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:24 PMPanorama report on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNeisHN7hUc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W8uH1DSjTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvsJNGeXsw
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:28 PM“......yet you’re willing (like the rest of the media reports so far) in blaming everything on the British intelligence.”
Unlike yourself of course UMH, who would never express an inquisitive interest let alone critical opinion of British intelligence or MI5/MI6/GCHQ/ etc.. covert operations in Ireland (and indeed the world over) past and present!
For they can do no wrong in Ireland, says you! For queen and country and the defence of the realm, says you!Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:33 PM‘John, we are going to let this one go through.’ Observer
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:49 PM“John, we are going to let this one go through”
Oh -dear time to add the garda/Govt of the ROI to the list of defendants?
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 04:56 PM‘......yet you’re willing (like the rest of the media reports so far) in blaming everything on the British intelligence.’
“Unlike yourself of course UMH, who would never express an inquisitive interest let alone critical opinion of British intelligence or MI5/MI6/GCHQ/”
Bla, Bla, Bla. When do I join your gang? Is it when I first oppose British things/people or when truth wins?
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 05:09 PM“Oh -dear time to add the garda/Govt of the ROI to the list of defendants?”
True, but it’s really time to realize that ye can’t believe in the integrity of governments and their cohorts.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 05:17 PM“Bla, Bla, Bla. When do I join your gang? Is it when I first oppose British things/people or when truth wins?”
Is that all ye can muster verbally?
....having a bad day are ye? LOL
:-)
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 05:22 PMPerhaps he should have joined one of Kitsons pseudo gangs.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 05:26 PMThis will be a far-reaching enquiry and heads will roll. Oh, yes.
UHM: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/local_idiot_to_post_comment_on
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 05:34 PM[aside]TMP has some interesting clients.
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 06:16 PMwere are all the unionists who claim the IRA was run by british intelligence? (ingram maybe)
maybe the reason the british let this happen is that it ended the rira campaign.
maybe there is a reason the call was’nt heard right.
cui bono (no not the singer) was the latin phrase to guess who was responsible
Posted by on Sep 17, 2008 @ 06:48 PM
