Iraq’s attack on the Kurds, 1963-65

Iraq’s attack on the Kurds, 1963-65 By Mark Curtis An edited extract from Unpeople: Britain’s Secret Human Rights Abuses On 10 June 1963, the Iraqi military began a vicious campaign against the Kurds, whose struggle for autonomy against Baghdad had been stepped up when the first Kurdish war broke out in 1961. The Kurds were […]

Unpeople: Britain’s Secret Human Rights Abuses

Britain complicit in the deaths of ten million people since 1945. Those are Unpeople – those whose lives are seen as expendable in the pursuit of Britain’s economic and political goals. Historian Mark Curtis pieces together the Blair government’s “public deception campaign” on Iraq and reveals government plans to increase “information operations” directed towards the […]

Psychological warfare against the public: Iraq and beyond

by Mark Curtis – Tell me lies, 2003 Since late 2002 the British public has been subject to a government propaganda campaign of perhaps unprecedented heights in the postwar world. Clare Short, after resigning her position as International Development Secretary, told a parliamentary enquiry of ‘a series of half-truths, exaggerations and reassurances that were not […]

As British as Afternoon Tea

by Mark Curtis,  Guardian, 21 May 2003 Iraqis facing an uncertain future in the wake of forcible “regime change” have every reason to fear not only US but also British policy. While past American behaviour in the region is widely criticised, contributing to fears of real US intentions, Britain’s role is often regarded as more […]

Partners in Imperialism – Britain’s support for US intervention

by Mark Curtis Frontline (India), 26 April 2003 Recent months clearly show that the British government of Tony Blair sees itself as the junior partner in a new phase of US imperialism. Blair’s Britain is a systematic violator of international law and ethical standards in its foreign policy – an outlaw state of its own. It […]

Britain’s Defiance of the UN: The long history

by Mark Curtis March 2003 The Blair government’s abandonment of the UN route over Iraq is its seventh violation of the UN and international law and confirms Britain’s role as an outlaw state. In fact, Whitehall has been disregarding the will of the UN for decades. Let us consider the evidence. The military interventions against […]

Iraq, the media and the reality of British foreign policy

Transcript of a talk by Mark Curtis at ‘Stop the War’ conference, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, 12 October 2002 My view is that the mainstream media plays an ideological role that supports the policies of the state. This has been long understood and there are many academic analyses examining it. There are […]

Blair’s Jaw Jaw means War War

By Mark Curtis Red Pepper, October 2002 Poised for war over Iraq in a new phase of the supposed “war against terrorism”, the states that profess their commitment to the highest values continue to resort to the basest of policies in practice. Current British policy towards Iraq is a microcosm of foreign policy over the […]

Web of Deceit

Britain’s Real Role in the World. In his explosive new book, Mark Curtis reveals a new picture of Britain’s role in the world since 1945 and in the “war against terrorism” by offering a comprehensive critique of the Blair government’s foreign policy. Curtis argues that Britain is an “outlaw state”, often a violator of international […]

The colonial precedent

by Mark Curtis Guardian, 26 October 2004 The redeployment of British forces in Iraq to support a US assault on Falluja marks another stage in a creeping return to the colonial era, when popular revolts against occupation were routinely suppressed by overwhelming force. These past episodes, revealed in declassified British government files, provide numerous parallels with […]