by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 31 October 2023 Conservative and Labour governments supported Baghdad’s brutal attack on the Kurds 60 years ago, knowing it may have constituted genocide, declassified files show. In October 1963, the British government approved the export to Iraq of high explosive demolition slabs, on the understanding that these “will probably be […]
Topic: DECLASSIFIED UK
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 10 October 2023 In October 1953 the UK overthrew a democratically-elected government in British Guiana. UK officials knew deposed leader Cheddi Jagan was benefiting the impoverished local population but acted to protect its business interests, declassified files show. In October 1953, Britain sent three warships and 700 troops to its […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 9 October 2023 The British government says it ‘stands by Israel’ and condemns Hamas ‘terrorism’ against it. But Hamas is being funded by Qatar, with whom the Royal Air Force operates two joint squadrons, allowing the Gulf regime to have a military base in northern England. As Gaza continues to […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 5 October 2023 The Ukraine conflict is but the most recent case where UK policy-makers and weapons manufacturers seek commercial opportunities from devastating wars – often by arming both sides. When my colleagues Phil Miller and Matt Kennard visited the world’s largest arms fair in London last month, they found weapons manufacturers […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 4 September 2023 When the Chilean military overthrew Salvador Allende’s democratically elected government in September 1973, UK officials supported and worked with the new junta as it indulged in widespread atrocities, declassified files show. On 11 September 1973, a democratically-elected Chilean government under President Salvador Allende was overthrown in a […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 1 August 2023 Declassified British files highlight a little known aspect of the joint MI6/CIA coup against Iran’s democratically elected government in August 1953 – UK covert action in support of leading radical Shia Islamists, the predecessors of Ayatollah Khomeini. In many accounts the CIA is regarded as the prime […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 19 July 2023 The Foreign Office is largely captured by global climate polluter BP. From Iran to Azerbaijan, Iraq to Nigeria, Russia to Venezuela, the UK prioritises the corporation’s profits over a decent foreign policy. Declassified recently revealed that BP has pumped Iraqi oil worth £15bn since the UK and US militaries invaded […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 16 June 2023 Jonathan Swift, the High Court judge who has just rejected Julian Assange’s attempt to halt his extradition to the US, is the government’s former top lawyer and previously defended the Defence and Home Secretaries. Jonathan Swift, the High Court judge who has rejected Julian Assange’s appeal against […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 15 June 2023 The British press has quoted the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) hundreds of times in the past two years without informing readers it is funded by the UK military, US government and arms corporations, and that it’s a bastion of establishment interests. RUSI has been cited in […]
by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 14 June 2023 When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996, UK officials knew Pakistan was directly aiding it, but continued to arm the government in Islamabad. British policy aided Osama Bin Laden who was then setting up his terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan. In October 1996, UK prime minister John […]