Mark Curtis' 'Web of Deceit'

["Gilles d'Aymery" <aymery@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Morning Star
June 04, 2003
SECTION: Pg. 9
HEADLINE: Britain's shame;
BOOK: RICHARD BAGLEY is caught up in Britain's shameful history -
and nothing's changed. BYLINE: RICHARD BAGLEY

WEB OF DECEIT: BRITAIN'S REAL ROLE IN THE WORLD by Mark
Curtis (Vintage, GBP 7.99)

THESE are, indeed, gloomy times for democracy.

We have a puppet for Prime Minister, leading a government - and,
against their wishes, the British people - on a rollercoaster ride of
foreign policy which has been more homicidal than ethical.

With invasions of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq underhis belt, it is
surely just a matter of time before the next victim of the Blair
roadshow is beamed live into ourliving rooms.

But, if not a fervent belief in "humanitarianism" and an understandable
need to act on global terrorism, what is behind these actions? Mark
Curtis reckons that he's found the answer and, in this new release, he
turns the focus sharply on the last century of British foreign policy .

Layerby layer, Curtis strips away the lies, deceit, public relations
exercises and false motives to reveal Britain as one of the world's
greatest offenders.

He conjours up an image of a country which has a tradition of
breaking international law, a country which has never had any qualms
about flogging arms to whoeverwants them - when even the US has
refused to do the same deal - and one which operates systematically
for the good of Britain's "elite class."

C u rtis looks at the most recent attacks on Afghanistan and
Yugoslavia, charting the way in which Britain led the way in the field
of propaganda, with the public being given equal standing with the
enemy in the "battle forhearts and minds."

And what does it matterif the truth is twisted a little in orderto achieve
the ultimate aim - afterall, the government knows best.

"If we were honest, we would see Britain's role in the world. . . as a
story of crimes against humanity, " he writes and, in his opinion, these
latest foreign adventures are simply the same type of murderous
colonial romps that the British Empire inflicted on the world overthe
centuries.

The sad fact is that many people simply are not aware of the reality of
British interventionism and illegality and the lie that it operates as "a
force for good" in the world.

Through access to recently declassified documents, Curtis catalogues
Britain's terrible policies and complicity in the killing of thousands in
Kenya, Malaya, Oman, Iran and British Guiana, as well as the forced
and silent removal from Diego Garcia of the Illois people, who were
thrown from theirland in orderto hand it overto the US forthe current
military base. It has been used recently by Washington to hold
captives - beyond the eyes of the world - on their way to
incarceration at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Although these interventions and policies are now a part of history, the
thing that they have in common is the motive - to sustain British big
business and the friends of big business and, with this, the country's
"world power" role in any way possible.

Curtis argues that, although the buzz words may have changed, the
reality of foreign policy today is one in which little differs.

He sees new Labour's much-heralded "ethical foreign policy, " a term
coined by and repeated in the press, as little more than a continuation
of current policy - the lie exposed in many ways, not least by a certain
Robin Cook's assertion that the sanctions against Iraq were part of
this "humanitarian" ethic!

Weaving evidence throughout the text of the book, Curtis also proves
the acquiescence of an uncritical mainstream media in Britain's
shameful list of crimes.

He explodes the myth of a caring, sharing new Labour "liberalising"
world trade for the benefit of all - Curtis's quote from Elizabeth I's
standard message to the "eastern princes" provides a clever parallel to
new Labour's contemporary obsession with trade "liberalisation."

In all, this book is fascinating and extremely timely in this dangerous
world. It avoids the pitfall of stodgy style, the weight of information
being used to fire points home without bogging the readerdown.

Short sections, which, inevitably, are not - and do not claim to be -
entirely authoritative, mean that it should be accessible to many .

This is essential if the mass of young people at the fledgling stages of
political awareness are to be brought up to speed, despite relentless
media propaganda.

Star readers will be interested in Curtis's answers to the problem of
halting Britain's elite in its tracks.

They may well not agree, but this book is clearly a work motivated by
true humanitarianism, which fills in some of the glaring gaps created by
the mainstream media.