Selling Integrity

David Macilwain

Ever since Dud and Pete put a price on “Integrity” in their Welsh music teacher sketch of the ‘60s, the word has had suspicious undertones. Rebuffed by the teacher for thinking he can be bought, the rich industrialist says “- Integrity! – that’s a valuable thing and I’m willing to pay for it!” For a little light relief in these dark days I’d recommend listening to this classic and timeless social comment.

It’s probably not just by chance that the “Integrity Initiative” was the title chosen to describe a program – or operation – that is the absolute antithesis of what it suggests. In fact the more that the activities of the organisation, and objectives of its overseer the Institute for Statecraft, are examined, the clearer this becomes; – the Initiative exists to spread disinformation about every action correctly perceived and acted upon by Russia.

But far worse than that, the focus of the “Statecraft” of Chris Donnelly’s Institute is in manipulating public perceptions so as to craft States suiting the interests of the NATO enterprise, and opposing the interests of Russia and her allies.

It seems as though the Integrity Initiative has been so successful in this manipulation – along with its horde of fellow agents and organisations – that it is not possible to interest people in this shock-horror show of the 21st century; they just don’t seem to get it!

Perhaps it’s not a true measure of the state of Australian media, but the lack of any reaction to a letter I had published this week in a regional daily paper – the “Border Mail” has rather stunned me. Over the years this rather independent newspaper has been prepared to publish similar dissenting opinion while all others stay silent, and at least generated local interest amongst ordinary folk who are not prejudiced by being “well-misinformed”.

(my letter, sadly behind a paywall, noted that true democracy depends on true information, as it is corrupted by disinformation; an issue with local relevance thanks to our Independent Federal MP Cathy McGowan – a woman who stands out for her personal integrity and dedication to representative democracy)

But “destroying democracy” failed to stir the swamp this time it seems, which is cause for great concern, and the need for this analysis. without labouring the issue, at least to the point of being tiresome, it’s necessary to spell out details of the most serious crimes of the Institute for Statecraft’s Initiative Strategy – ISIS – and of those in the UK and US state apparatus who have devised and commanded them.

While not forgetting that MH17 didn’t just fall out of the sky on the orders of one Ukrainian commander, or with the collaboration of the Ukie secret services alone, the connection of that atrocity to the IfS is barely proven, yet. Which leaves “Salisbury and Syria” as the areas where certifiable crimes have been committed – in contrast to simple ‘cyber-operations’ such as the targeting of Jeremy Corbyn, or false claims about Russian interference in European affairs.

Salisbury and Syria have in fact been identified already, not just as closely linked but as the key focal points of the Integrity Initiative AND the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. This particular document from the last cache of hacked documents spells out all the details we need, and from the horse’s mouth – the Head of Counter Disinformation and Media Development Programme at HMG’s Russia Unit, Andy Pryce, who sent this email to “engaged” partners:

Sunday 15/04/18 13.03pm

This e-mail focussed on the Russian disinformation campaigns surrounding the chemical attack in Douma, subsequent military action, the Salisbury incident and the subsequent investigation. It is not intended to cover Russian responses as a whole but deliberate distortions and obfuscation of the facts by the Russian state and its proxies.

Please use as background for your own work and only share it with trusted colleagues and partners.”

The “subsequent military action” Pryce refers to took place less than 24 hours earlier! Examining the activities of NATO officials and Intelligence agencies in the interregnum between the carefully timed White Helmets attack on Douma on April 6th and the joint missile strikes leads to more questions than I have already asked, as here.

Pryce goes on to detail “31 different disinformation narratives deployed by the Russian State on the bungled assassination attempt in Salisbury and the horrific chemical weapons attack in Douma.” He also concludes that: “The Russian State is claiming that there is a joint UK, US and French effort on information warfare from Salisbury to Syria.”

This is also a particularly interesting statement to make, as the conclusion that there was a linkage between the Salisbury Operation and Russia’s actions in Syria was not yet made – by the Russian State. It was only being suspected at that time, and a link claimed by myself a week later. From my close attention to the statements of UK officials, I actually became suspicious that they were cleverly avoiding making any connection between the two “Chemical Weapons” operations publicly, while using every dog whistle they had to make the connection in the public’s mind. Boris Johnson was I think the first to chuck “and in Syria” into one of his public utterances.

This was despite the constant stream of propaganda in the Western media about the impending humanitarian disaster for the people of Eastern Ghouta, accompanied by nightly White Helmets child rescues. Looking back also, it appears that there were other “chemical attacks” staged by the White Helmets, but never picked upon –as if waiting till the timing was just right in the UK. We shouldn’t overlook the time of the Russian Presidential election either – March 18th – as the FCO certainly didn’t.

Looking at the “timeline” of events since before “Operation Nina” (or was it “Iris”?) has become something of an obsession for many of us, because there are so many incomprehensible discrepancies, both in Salisbury and Syria; the time lapse between the Skripals’ admission to hospital and that of Det. Inspector Nick Bailey is certainly one. As Rob Slane has pointed out, Bailey seems to have had some indecision on which time he went to Salisbury Hospital, with a delay before any antidote might be administered of up to 48 hours.

What is more astounding is that Nick Bailey’s very own testimony, given in detail to Jane Corbin in the BBC Salisbury special, destroys any claim that he ever came into contact with a lethal nerve agent. Without the slightest apparent recognition of its meaning, Bailey described how he “remained conscious throughout the treatment” – which involved a variety of injections and drugs. Bailey does however appear to have been another innocent victim of “friendly fire”, like Yulia, accepting the lies told to him about both the cause of his condition and its treatment.

As before, in the end it comes down to “who knew” that they were involved in the most devious and dangerous campaign of disinformation and criminal provocations in history, and who simply acted as “useful idiots” or helpless victims of their own states’ propaganda? And who knows now, that the need to conceal their complicity and collusion in these dastardly deceptions may also necessitate some further extreme measures, including lethal operations?

But perhaps those who do know are worse than we imagine; perhaps they are willing combatants in this war to rescue the West’s collapsing empire and its towers of Babel? In the light of our new knowledge – that what were conspiracy “theories” are now conspiracy studies, every new move by the NATO camp comes under suspicion, while all previous actions must be reviewed.

For example I recollect how the Australian PM at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, turned up in London only three days after the 14th April missile strike on Syria, and was involved in Five Eyes discussions on cyber security. What then seemed meerly suspect now appears revelatory, as Turnbull’s remarks mirror those written only four days earlier by Andy Pryce:

Whether it is a chemical attack in Syria, the use of a nerve agent on British soil, or the expanding cyber attacks across the internet… these must be resisted, they must be protected, they must be identified,” Mr Turnbull told the meeting in London on Thursday morning.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Russia has also been trying to distort the truth of what happened in chemical weapons attacks in Salisbury and in Syria.

Now it appears that Australia’s favoured solidarity with the Five Eyes also extends to life after Brexit – a deal or no deal Brexit evidently planned for and welcomed by Liam Fox, the UK’s International Trade and Development Minister. Following the Brexit crisis in Parliament, Liam Fox had a special meeting with Australia’s new High Commissioner in London, George Brandis, with mutual reassurance that trade and political links between the UK and its former colony would survive and blossom.

Just as “Honorary Colonel” Chris Donnelly wanted.