The Illegal Arms Trade Iraq Iran War 1980 1988 Rtf

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    The Illegal Arms Trade IraqIran War 1980 1988

    It is broadly known that the west frequently change sides as and when it suits their

    economic goals or foreign policy. One also has to understand that the build up to such a

    conflict starts well before the war begins and can be in the planning stages up to around

    five years beforehand. The other issue that frequently stops such action going ahead is

    the justification or the reasons for going to war, which we have all observed prior to the

    Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan.

    One can clearly see how Geo Politics plays a major role in all conflicts and how

    governments become greedy in order to place themselves as major players in a given

    region. This can involve forced regime changes, disputes over borders, attempts to

    obtain the resources belonging to another country or by creating false flag incidents to

    encourage conflict etc.

    The United States and Britain have become experts at this sort of activity as a direct

    result of their experience at Empire Building. Unfortunately it was Saddam Hussain

    who decided that he should also improve his status in the region and at the same time

    hopefully acquire more land that was rich in natural resources. He had the full support of

    the west who played a major role in the war and who at the same time attempted to

    prolong it. The west, in particular the US, are well aware of the financial returns in

    keeping the war effort going. So lets now look into this unnecessary war, how greed

    played a major role, the aftermath and the heavy loss of life on both sides. The war in

    actual fact achieved absolutely nothing.

    The war began on the 22ndof September 1980 when Iraq invaded Iran and carried out

    an air and land assault. There had, in the past, been many border disputes with

    additional concern by the Iraqs of Shia insurgency. It was Saddam Hussain who hoped

    to replace Iran as the dominant Gulf State. The attack was a failure in many respects as

    the forward progress was somewhat limited and was repelled by the Iranians within

    several months, who had regained most of the lost territory by June of 1982. The war

    continue on until the UN intervened and then stopped on the 20th of August 1988.

    One very important aspect of this war was who controlled the Shatt al-Arab waterway

    which to the Iranians is known as the Arvand Rud. This vital oil export channel in the far

    north of the Persian Gulf is so important to both countries.

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    The objectives of Iraqs invasion of Iran were:

    The control of the Shatt al-Arad waterway by the Iraqis

    The acquisition of the three islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs ofbehalf of the UAE

    Annexation of Khuzestan to Iraq

    To prevent the spread of the Islamic Revolution in the region in the region

    The war cost many lives on both sides amounting to around half a million military

    personal and many civilians. The economic impact was also heavy on both sides. What

    was one of the most heroic events in this war was when a boy-soldiers of Iran,

    volunteered to run into the minefields in order to clear the way for the Iranian soldiers

    behind him. The Iranians were also hard-hit by the employment of chemical weapons

    and mustard gas by the Iraqis.

    What this war did reveal was the extensive use of chemical weapons including mustard

    gas against Iranian troops and civilians. We may also recall that Iraq also used chemical

    weapons on the Kurds. It was ironic that the UN had stated that such weapons had been

    used but very carefully did not mention Iraq as the instigators.

    The border disputes between the two countries goes back decades but the real issue

    from my perspective is the way in which the US and UK governments wanted to

    elongate this war for an indefinite duration. After all war is good business and feeds the

    military hardware and software industries of both countries extremely well. There is no

    doubt that the export of such products is one of the most single lucrative industries in the

    world.

    It was during this war that President Ronald Reagan said that the US could not afford to

    allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran, and that the United States would do whatever was

    necessary to prevent Iraq from losing the war with Iran. It was President Reagan who

    pushed for a policy issuing a National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) to this effect in

    June, 1982. The Security Council passed Resolution 552 condemning attacks on

    commercial ships in the region. No doubt this would allow the west to continue its illegal

    arms trade which is was doing anyway.

    It was obvious as to who was supporting who. The US as usual being the centre ofattraction with only one mission in mind, to increase arms sales or get their hands on the

    huge reserves of natural resource.in actual fact is was both. Maybe we can all

    remember the role the US played during this war and how they attempted to isolate Iran.

    The US attacked Iranian oil platforms in retaliation for an Iranian attack on a US flagged

    Kuwaiti tanker. Later a USS warship hit and Iranian mine and then again the US Navy

    responded with surface attacks on many targets.

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    It was during 1987 when the USS Vincennes, who was apparently on exercise? Shot

    down Iran Air 655 with the loss of all 290 passengers and crew on 3 July 1988. The US

    Government claimed that the airliner had been mistaken for an Iranian F-14 Tomcat

    fighter whilst she was operating in international waters. The USS Vincennes feared that

    it was under attack, which later appeared to be untrue. It is clearly evident to me, as an

    ex radar operator, that the size of contact and the approaching speed could not havecaused such an assumption. One can again clearly see double standards at work..the

    US were very critical of attacks on civilian shipping targets but it was ok to shoot down

    an international flight.

    In July 1988 Iraqi airplanes dropped chemical cyanide bombs on the Iranian Kurdish

    village of Zardan (as they had done four months earlier on their own Kurdish village of

    Halabja). Hundreds were killed at once, and the survivors are still suffering from a variety

    of physical and mental disorders. It has since been proven that the agent used on the

    Kurds and later on Iran was the deadly VX Gas.

    The down side of such conflicts and the illegal arms trading is the final death toll andthose involved and more importantly the deaths of many of thousands of innocent

    civilians. What made this war more horrific was the use of chemical weapons. So one

    should now focus on who provided the hardware, the munitions and the chemicals that

    were in total violation of the Geneva Convention and how do they get away with it when

    in most cases such conflicts create blockades or sanctions.

    Prior too and during the Iraq Iran war many illegal arms shipments were made along

    with some very high profile visits. That notorious villain Donald Rumsfeld was the US

    special envoy to the Middle East and met with Saddam in December 1983. As we know

    he later became the US Defense Secretary during the 2003 Iraqi war when everything

    suddenly turned 180 degrees and the US wanted Saddam out.

    The US and the UK in particular considered Iraq as an ally in stopping the Iranians from

    spreading their revolution. The US and the UK therefore supported Iraq with technology,

    intelligence and the sale of illegal arms, WMDs and Chemical and Biological Warfare

    (CBW), military equipment and satellite support. It was also another powerful man, by

    the name of Henry Kissinger, who stated Its a pity they both cant lose. Iraq, in

    particular, had a complex clandestine procurement network to obtain munitions and

    critical materials, which, in some transactions, involved 10-12 countries.

    This rather complex web of deceit went by unnoticed. Iraq made extensive use of front

    companies, middlemen, secret ownership of all or part of companies all over the world,forged documents, concealed what it was receiving, the methods and the source of its

    supply chain. The procurement infrastructure was established in different countries.

    Some transactions may have involved people, shipping, and manufacturing in as many

    as 10 countries.

    Some rather startling news also emerged prior to this war when it was disclosed that the

    US Secretary of State, Alexander Haig Jnr wrote a secret memo to President Reagan

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    about the Previous President Jimmy Carter approving Saddam Husseins attack on Iran

    with assistance from Saudi Arabia. British support for this war was also paramount,

    especially when the British allowed the Iraqis to purchase a British company to bypass

    the export control. This company was TMG engineering, later to be called Matrix

    Churchill who had operations in both the US and UK. The US Company with the same

    name was also purchased by the Iraqis. The Chairman of the group, which consisted ofTDG, TMG, and Matrix Churchill was Safa al Habobi. Another member of the board was

    Fadel Jawad Khadhum. They were described as follows:

    The Iraqi members of the boards of directors of companies in the group were in firm

    control of the companies day-to-day activities and sometimes authoritarian in their

    actions, one statement said.

    The British government decided to allow most of Matrix Churchills sales to Iraq. As a

    result, a scandal erupted after the Persian Gulf War about the role of the British

    government in arming Iraq. Naturally much more had been going on before this event

    which never reached the public domain to any degree.

    Iraq had a very strong tie with both France and the Soviet Union who were major

    suppliers of actual weapons and Iraq frequently put one up against the other for

    competition.

    Singapore also supported Iraq during the Iran Iraq War in discussions for land mines

    assembled there, as well as chemical warfare precursors shipped from Singapore,

    possibly by an Iraqi front company.

    Italy also played an important role in arming Iraq through a US branch of the state

    owned largest bank in Italy. There were so many complex arrangements that allowed

    Iraq and its supporters to bypass the embargo. Moving land and sea mines production to

    Singapore was a typical example. Yugoslavia also sold weapons for the entire duration

    of the conflict as did Portugal. Spain sold 172 Million Euros of weapons. Spain also sold

    4X4 vehicles, BO-105 helicopters, explosives and ammunitions. It should also be noted

    that an unexploded chemical Iraqi warhead found in Iran was also manufactured in

    Spain. Turkey also supplied civilian help during the conflict. Turkeys export jumped from

    $200 million in 1981 to $2 billion in 1985, which made up 25% of Turkeys export.

    Turkish construction projects in Iraq totaled $2.5 billion between 1974 1990.

    Iraqs main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, mainly Saudi Arabia

    ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates($8 billion).

    The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italys largest bank, Banca

    Nazionale del Lavoro, relying partially on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5

    billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989. These clandestine and illegal loans to Iraq were used

    to part fund the purchase of arms and weapons technology.

    It also became clear that the US was funding Iraqi chemical and nuclear research

    programme. It was stated that during the 1980s Iraq had received around $35 billion in

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    loans from the west and between $30-40 billion from the Persian Gulf states.

    Many victims in Iran were innocent civilians and it is believed that more than 100,000

    were victims of chemical weapons during the length of the war. The final figure is hard to

    calculate owing to the long term illnesses that followed the war. Reports show that Nerve

    Gas killed about 20,000 Iranian soldiers and many thousands continue to seek medical

    treatment on a regular basis with many more critical cases being hospitalised.

    What is totally unacceptable to me is the fact that the UN knew of these breaches of the

    Geneva Convention and did nothing apart from condemning its usage. Needless to say

    that once again the US was right in there and refused to accept the condemnation. It

    was not until 1988 that the UN Security Council passed Resolution 612 condemning the

    use of chemicals. I guess you would ask Well so what.

    It became apparent that President Reagan was certainly not too concerned as to what

    Weapons of Mass Destruction were being used as the US were more concerned that the

    Iraqis did not lose the war. Even after the Iraqi had used chemical weapons on the

    Kurds the US continued its support of Iraq

    Maybe it is time to reflect on the bitter pill that Iran has had to swallow both during and

    after this terrible event. Perhaps we can all see now why Iran could never trust the US,

    UK and to some degree other EU countries with such a two faced policy. We have to

    understand that nothing that is done by the west is anything to do with democracy or

    because of peoples suffering. This is a power game that comes under the title of Geo

    Politics. It is Imperialism at its best, an urge to take control of the worlds resources,

    their markets and the transit corridors that deliver them.

    What we see is a western foreign policy that is extremely aggressive with the US as the

    instigator, a world full of almost daily False Flags that are well orchestrated in order to

    justify action or to point fingers at some innocent country they want to rape.such is the

    world of today. The US uses its relations with other countries like hot and cold

    taps.they turn them off and on whenever it suits them and certainly when this spoilt

    child doesnt get its way it unleashes it so called Shock and Awe policy.

    The Hands of Victory arch in Baghdad is a bitter pill to swallow for the Iranians. The arch

    was manufactured in Germany and shipped to Iraq. To celebrate his victory over Iran,

    Saddam decided to build a Triumphal Arch. The colossal Hands of Victory monument

    has dominated Baghdads skyline since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The triumphal arch

    is shaped as two pairs of crossed swords, made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers that

    were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. Captured Iranian helmets

    are in a net held between the swords (now since removed). And surrounding the base of

    the arms are another 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battle field. This arch was

    built to celebrate his victory over Iran which is far from the truth and is of very bad taste.

    As with all wars the human cost was extremely high. The economic cost amounted to

    around $1.2 trillion and one could ask for what? Iraq achieved absolutely nothing in their

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    failed attempt to take over more territory and Irans natural resources.

    What I did find out was the fact that the UN did to some extent support Iran when the

    Secretary General made the following statement to the UN Security Council:

    Even if before the outbreak of the conflict there had been some encroachment by Iran

    on Iraqi territory, such encroachment did not justify Iraqs aggression against Iranwhich

    was followed by Iraqs continuous occupation of Iranian territory during the conflictin

    violation of the prohibition of the use of force, which is regarded as one of the rules of jus

    cogens (compelling law or of the highest law). On one occasion I had to note with deep

    regret the experts conclusion that chemical weapons had been used against Iranian

    civilians in an area adjacent to an urban center lacking any protection against that kind

    of attack

    I will now continue with exactly what was supplied to Iraq during the war with Iran and by

    whom and to give some insight and meaning to the term What goes around comes

    around.

    Firstly one has to look at the money trail and see which countries were propping up Iraq.

    The main contributors were: US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Japan and in the

    Middle East were Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan. Basically it all

    amounted to more than $130 billion debt for Iraq.the largest portion of this money

    came from the Gulf States.

    As we have already discussed the Iraqs also took advantage of the competition

    between the supply of military equipment from both the French and the Russian and

    tactfully used this to manipulate supply. Russia provided most of the equipment with

    France running a close second. The French military equipment was considered to be

    more high tech. Russia was sort of piggy in the middle during this conflict and they

    proffered Iran over Iraq and yet needed to maintain ties with both, such is the role that

    Geo-Politics plays in any conflict.

    It would be relevant at this point to reveal a list of Iraq Purchased Weapons that was

    provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for the period

    1973-2002.

    Country

    $M (1990) % Total

    USSR

    25145 57.26%

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    France

    5595 12.74%

    China

    5192 11.82%

    Czechoslovakia

    2880 6.56%

    Poland

    1681 3.83%

    Brazil

    724 1.65%

    Egypt

    568 1.29%

    Romania

    524 1.19%

    Denmark

    226 0.51%

    Libya

    200 0.46%

    USA

    200 0.46%

    South Africa

    192 0.44%

    Austria

    190 0.43%

    Switzerland

    151 0.34%

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    Yugoslavia

    107 0.24%

    Germany (FRG)

    84 0.19%

    Italy

    84 0.19%

    UK

    79 0.18%

    Hungary

    30 0.07%

    Spain

    29 0.07%

    East Germany (GDR)

    25 0.06%

    Canada

    7 0.02%

    Jordan

    2 0.005%

    Total

    43915 100.0%

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    The next big issue to debate was who provided Iraq with Chemical and Biological

    Warfare (CBW) know how? The main players here were both the US, UK and Spain.

    One has to fully understand that what has been revealed does not give a true account as

    to the total supply of CBW or of the total supply of military hardware and software.

    Everything was so cleverly concealed via offshore front companies that it almost became

    impossible to know it original source. I am sure your imagination can run wild in this

    respect and realise that the trade in illegal arms is a very profitable business. The deceit

    and corruption that was linked to supply went right to the top of the political ladder. It is

    rather ironic that to this day the same policy prevails and war is good for business!

    So lets just look at one typical consignment as shown in the Riegle Report which was

    obtained under the freedom of information and you will see just how generous western

    government were with Iraq:

    The list in Figure 1 is merely one extract from the invoice details supplied to Senator

    Riegle by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). One item is particularly notable

    in this list, for it is the strain of anthrax which will be shown to be the exclusive strain of

    anthrax used in the Iraqi biological weapons programme. Before focusing on anthrax,

    however, consider the range of materials exported to Iraq. The Riegle Report confirms

    that from 1985:

    Pathogenic (meaning disease producing), toxigenic (meaning poisonous), and other

    biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing

    by the U.S. Department of Commerce.These exported biological materials were not

    attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. According to the Department

    of Defences own Report to Congress on the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War, released

    in April 1992: By the time of the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had developed biological

    weapons. Its advanced and aggressive biological warfare program was the most

    advanced in the Arab world The program probably began late in the 1970s and

    concentrated on the development of two agents, botulinum toxin and anthrax bacteria

    Large-scale production of these agents began in 1989 at four facilities near Baghdad.

    Delivery means for biological agents ranged from simple aerial bombs and artillery

    rockets to surface-to-surface missiles.

    It is at this point we can reveal the effects of these CBW the Report finds that among the

    US exports to Iraq were the following and it notes their associated disease symptoms:

    Bacillus Anthracis: anthrax is a disease producing bacteria identified by the Department

    of Defense in the Conduct of the Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, as being a

    major component in the Iraqi biological warfare program. Anthrax is an often-fatal

    infectious disease due to ingestion of spores. It begins abruptly with high fever, difficulty

    in breathing, and chest pain. The disease eventually results in septicaemia (blood

    poisoning), and the mortality is high. Once septicaemia is advanced, antibiotic therapy

    may prove useless, probably because the exotoxins remain, despite the death of the

    bacteria.

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    Clostridium Botulinum: a bacterial source of botulinum toxin, which causes vomiting,

    constipation, thirst, general weakness, headache, fever, dizziness, double vision, dilation

    of the pupils and paralysis of the muscles involving swallowing. It is often fatal.

    Histoplasma Capsulatum: causes a disease superficially resembling tuberculosis that

    may cause pneumonia, enlargement of the liver and spleen, anemia, an influenza-like

    illness and an acute inflammatory skin disease marked by tender red nodules, usually on

    the shins. Reactivated infection usually involves the lungs, the brain, spinal membranes,

    heart, peritoneum, and the adrenals.

    Brucella Melitensis: a bacteria which can cause chronic fatigue, loss of appetite, profuse

    sweating when at rest, pain in joints and muscles, insomnia, nausea, and damage to

    major organs.

    Clostridium Perfringens: highly toxic bacteria, which cause gas gangrene. The bacteria

    produce toxins that move along muscle bundles in the body killing cells and producing

    necrotic tissue that is then favourable for further growth of the bacteria itself. Eventually,

    these toxins and bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause a systemic illness.

    Figure 1 provides details of a single shipment sent on 2 May 1986. Note the emboldened

    entry for Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 14578), which the Iraq Survey Group has since

    determined was the exclusive strain of anthrax used in the Iraqi biological weapons

    programme. This, then, is the source of the anthrax threat which was repeatedly

    promoted both inside Parliament and through the news media to the British People, prior

    to the decision being made for Britain to take part in the invasion of Iraq.

    Because Iraq was removed from antiterrorism controls and because controls on missile

    technology and chemical and biological warfare were not in place until the late 1980s,

    few foreign policy controls were placed on exports to Iraq during the 1980sthis, along

    with the lack of national security controls, resulted in a long list of high technology items

    being sold to Iraq during the 1980s.

    Below is a list (Figure 1) of one such consignment sent from the US to Iraq. I would also

    like to point out that the UK also participated in such exports, which I will cover later.

    Bacillus Anthracis Cohn (ATCC 10)

    Batch # 08-20-82 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen.

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    Bacillus Subtitles (Ehrenberg) Con (ATCC 82)

    Batch # 06-20-84 (2 each)

    Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 3502)

    Batch# 07-07-81 (3 each)

    Class III Pathogen

    Clostridium perfringens (Weillon and Zuber)

    Hauduroy, et al (ATCC 3624)

    Batch# 10-85SV (2 each)

    Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051)

    Batch# 12-06-84 (2 each)

    Francisella tularensis var. tularensis Olsufiev

    (ATCC 6223)

    Batch# 05-14-79 (2 each)

    Avirulent; suitable for preparations of diagnostic antigens.

    Clostridium tetani (ATCC 9441)

    Batch 03-94 (3 each)

    Highly toxigenic.

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    Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC

    9564) Batch# 03-02-79 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Clostridium tetani (ATCC 10779)

    Batch# 04-24-84S (3 each)

    Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 12916)

    Batch# 08-14-80 (2 each)

    Agglutinating Type 2.

    Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 13124)

    Batch# 08-14-80 (3 each)

    Type A, alpha-toxigenic, produces lecithinase C.J. Appl,

    Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185)

    Batch# 01-14-80 (3 each) G.G. Wright (Fort Detrick) V770-NPI-R.

    Bovine anthrax, Class III pathogen

    Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578)

    Batch# 01-06-78 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen.

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    Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14581)

    Batch# 04-18-85 (2 each)

    Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14945)

    Batch# 06-21-81 (2 each)

    Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 17855)

    Batch# 06-21-71

    Class III pathogen.

    Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 19213)

    Batch# 3-84 (2 each)

    Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 19397)

    Batch# 08-18-81 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Brucella abortus Biotype 3 (ATCC 23450)

    Batch# 08-02-84 (3 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Brucella abortus Biotype 9 (ATCC 23455)

    Batch# 02-05-68 (3 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Brucella melitensis Biotype I (ATCC 23456)

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    Batch# 03-08-78 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Brucella melitensis Biotype 3 (ATCC 23458)

    Batch# 01-29-68 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 25763)

    Batch# 8-83 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    Clostridium botulinum Type F (ATCC 35415)

    Batch# 02-02-84 (2 each)

    Class III pathogen

    The United States did not believe that they would be used for anything other than

    legitimate research purposes and therefore did not knowingly export the materials toassist a biological weapons programme.How naive can you get?

    The United States secretly supported Iraq in its eight-year war with Iran, and that in

    February 1982 the US Administration removed Iraq from its list of terrorist states in

    order to do so. Furthermore, there is the astonishing fact that, among the various

    agencies of the Government of Iraq listed in the Riegle Report, one repeated recipient of

    these deadly materials was no less than the Iraqi nuclear weapons research facility, the

    Iraq Atomic Energy Commission. One could ask the US how could the conclusion

    possibly be reached that between 1985 and 1989 anthrax and other warfare-related

    biological materials were exported from the US to Iraq for legitimate research

    purposes?

    One also needs to look at the fact that the UK supplied Biological and Chemical agents

    to Iraq, unfortunately documentation on this is well hidden but evidence does exist that

    the UK certainly did supply such agents.

    Back in the 1970s Iraq had approached the USSR to buy a plant to manufacture

    chemical weapons, but his request was refused. Saddam then began courting the West,

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    and received a much more favourable response.

    An American company, Pfaulder Corporation of Rochester, New York, supplied the Iraqis

    with a blueprint in 1975, enabling them to construct their first chemical warfare plant. The

    plant was purchased in sections from Italy, West Germany and East Germany and

    assembled in Iraq. It was located at Akhashat in north-western Iraq, and the cost was

    around $50 million for the plant and $30 million for the safety equipment.

    In the late 1970s, it was actually the German firm Karl Kobe that sold Iraq the

    ingredients for its first chemical weapons. Karl Kobe and others sold Iraq over 1,027 tons

    of the chemicals needed to produce mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and various tear gasses

    including CS and CN. The chemical weapons program was operational by late

    1983/early 1984. Iraq then bought botulin toxin and mycotoxin from a total of 5 other

    German firms to begin a germ/biological weapons program.

    The United States CDC (Center for Disease Control) provided Iraq with biological

    samples up until 1989 for Medical research and other purposes. The US supplied

    anthrax, West Nile virus, botulism, and Brucella melitensis to Iraq for little or no charge.

    (that was very nice of them).

    The United Kingdom paid, in full, for the Iraqi chlorine plant where mustard gas was

    manufactured.

    Brazil provided around 100 tons of mustard gas in the early 80s before the British

    funded plant was up and running.

    Singapore and India provided the ingredients for VX nerve agent and yet still more

    Tabun.

    Egypt and Spain both provided the majority of Iraqs munitions that were designed to

    carry and disperse the chemical weapons.

    As you can clearly see it was truly a very international affair, a sort of United Nations!

    It should also be made clear that the US. UK and other countries assisted Iraq in its

    development into nuclear research which did not reach a successful conclusion.

    We can now look into the illegal arms trade to Iraq which in itself became very

    sophisticated with its concealed web of distribution. The UK played a major role in

    support for Saddam Hussein with one company that really did stand out from the rest.

    A Scottish Company called Allivane was at the heart of this activity and did so over a

    period of six years during the Iraq-Iran War. Needless to say this also involved the US

    who used the backyard of Britain to promote this joint effort.

    It was back in 1976 when George Bush Snr, who was then Nixons Envoy in China,

    came across James Guerin, the founder of International Signal and Control (ISC), a US

    Defense Contractor. After a long discussion they decided that they could do business

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    together.

    Soon after this time there were many investigations carried out by US Congress

    regarding covert arms shipments and the workings of the CIA. A clean up of the CIA took

    place plus a complete shutdown of covert arms routes that involved many countries.

    However, by this time George Bush Snr himself was running the CIA and realised that

    with the help of James Guerin, together they could re establish this covert business but

    not out of the USA. It became obvious that their ally Britain could now become the

    staging post for such an operation. Britain at the time was on an economical low and so

    the Prime Minister, James Callaghan, jumped at the idea. Callaghan was later to

    become an advisor to the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) who would

    soon have a track record of drugs and illegal arms running as their backboneone

    could add many more major banks to this list.

    The down side to the BCCI was the fact that when it was closed down on 5 July 1991, a

    million people throughout the world lost their deposits. Many of the losers were from the

    Third World; small businessmen who had struggled to make a living in countries other

    than their own, and who had been impressed by BCCIs multilingual staff and its often-

    trumpeted concern for the starving millionsno doubt we have all heard this

    before.a sort of Pandoras Box!

    The formation of this covert Bush Guerin Callaghan led to the resurrection of

    Allivance and the start of one of the biggest cover weapons supply and destabilization

    operations in the world..nothing new hey?..it goes on all the time with the

    same key players, Heads of State, CIA, MI5 and Mossad etc. The formation and working

    of this scam did not only involve the British Labour Party but also followed on with the

    Conservative Party. By this time it was well and truly out of control.

    Back in the US meantime (In 1974) the ISC with the knowledge and assistance of US

    agencies, advanced radar-controlled anti-aircraft systems were shipped to South Africa.

    South Africa, together with ISC, also developed a sophisticated ground-to-air missiles for

    its own use and for export. All this equipment was restricted US technology requiring

    export licenses, which were not obtained. James Guerin claimed the companys

    activities were sanctioned by the US government. Mr. Guerin set up a front company

    with the South African authorities for the US Nnational Security Agency, , as part of a US

    covert in 1974. This involved shipping advanced electronic sensors, optics and related

    equipment to South Africa without licenses so as to set up listening posts to track Soviet

    submarines off the Cape of Good Hope. The company, Gamma Systems Associates,ordered restricted equipment from ISC, then shipped it on to South Africa on board

    airliners. The equipment was repackaged and the airline companies given false

    descriptions of the equipment. The operation ceased to have official sanction in 1977

    and the activities were dismantled.

    From 1984 to 1988, ISC sentSouth Africa more than $30 million in military-related

    equipment, including telemetry tracking antennae to collect data from missiles in flight,

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    gyroscopes for guidance systems, and photo-imaging film readers, all of which would

    form the backbone of a medium-range missile system. Some of this technology was

    reportedly transferred to Iraq. Another link to Iraq was the supply of the specifications for

    the MK-20 Rockeye cluster bombthrough Chilean defence company Carlos Cardoen,

    which was able to build an almost identical weapon that was subsequently used against

    coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War of January-February 1991. These activitiesallegedly happened with the knowledge and assistance of U.S. intelligence agencies

    (including the CIA) and in violation of United States and United Natonssanctions.

    Allivanes contribution to Iraq certainly allowed both the US and UK to benefit from the

    exercise and to elongate the war effort between Iraq and Iran which was always

    paramount in the minds of our leaders. One has to remember that Geo-Politics does not

    possess any ethics or moralityjust simply greed!

    There were many other issues behind these covert arms shipments on the political front

    and none other than Donald Rumsfeld was right in the middle of it all. No doubt his

    partner in crime Dick Cheney was sitting in the sidelines. Perhaps this account throwsmore light of events:

    Middle East envoy Donald Rumsfeld to Baghdad in 1983, stated:

    While a Staff Member to the National Security Council, I was responsible for the Middle

    East and for Political-Military Affairs. During my five year tenure on the National Security

    Council, I had regular contact with both CIA Director William Casey and Deputy Director

    Robert GatesCIA Director Casey personally spearheaded the effort to ensure that Iraqhad sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq

    war. Pursuant to the secret NSDD (National Security Decision Directive), the United

    States actively supported the Iraqi war effort by supplying the Iraqis with billions of

    dollars of credits, by providing U.S. military intelligence and advice to the Iraqis, and by

    closely monitoring third country arms sales to Iraq to make sure that Iraq had the military

    weaponry required. The United States also provided strategic operational advice to the

    Iraqis to better use their assets in combat. For example, in 1986, President Reagan sent

    a secret message to Saddam Hussein telling him that Iraq should step up its air war and

    bombing of Iran. This message was delivered by Vice President Bush who

    communicated it to Egyptian President Mubarak, who in turn passed the message to

    Saddam Hussein. Similar strategic operational military advice was passed to Saddam

    Hussein throughvarious meetings with European and Middle Eastern heads of state. I

    authored Bushs talking points for the 1986 meeting with Mubarak and personally

    attended numerous meetings with European and Middle East heads of state where the

    strategic operational advice was communicated.

    One can clearly see the double standards that existed and the means of delivery a

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    message from one country to another by way of a third party (Egypt). No doubt the CIA

    had their own stock of carrier pigeons to spread the word..one would have to ask the

    question how did they manage to deliver the messages amidst all the nerve gas and

    mustard gas etc?

    Anthrax strain 14578 may be found listed in past ATCC catalogues, in which the

    companys ordering procedures explain that any request for it (and other pathogenic

    agents) should be made on the institutions official stationery (purchase order) and

    signed by the director of the institution, the chairman of the department concerned, or

    the scientist in charge of the project. So, presumably, ATCC files will hold copies of

    Iraqs original purchase orders. Such back-up documents do not appear to have been

    supplied to Senator Riegle in 1994, but should now be produced during a proper

    investigation under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council.

    Each strain in the ATCC catalogue is listed together with its known history or rather the

    individuals who have maintained the strain over the years are named in succession.

    Anthrax strain 14578 appears to have been deposited with ATCC after being held by P HA Sneath, H M Darlow, P Fildes, R L Vollum, and originally Dunkin. So, who are these

    people through whose hands this anthrax apparently passed en-route to the ATCC and

    thence to Saddam Husseins Iraq, from where it became the principal element in the

    widely trumpeted forty-five minute threat which provided the pretext for the invasion of

    Iraq in 2003?

    Prof P H A Sneath, now of Leicester University, has recently stated (by e-mail) that he

    was never in charge of the strain, or a collection that included it. Instead, he suggests

    that it was probably sent to ATCC by the National Collection of Type Cultures, Central

    Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London. However, the ATCC catalogue

    entry references a paper co-authored by Prof Sneath, which was published in 1964 inthe Journal of General Microbiology. The article discusses the anthrax strain and notes

    that it was isolated from bovine anthrax, has retained its virulence, and was previously in

    the care of the Microbiological Research Establishment (MRE), Porton Down, Wiltshire.

    According to the article, Prof Sneath was then at the National Institute for Medical

    Research, Mill Hill, London NW7.

    A conclusion was draw up which gave a very accurate assessment as follows:

    This paper rests its case on the following principal points:

    1. That it is known that a range of pathogenic (disease producing) and toxigenic

    (poisonous) biological materials were exported to Iraq from the United States between

    1985 and 1989, and that, among other warfare-related materials, these included a strain

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    of anthrax utilized and tested over many years as a weapon, including during well

    documented WW2 and post-WW2 trials, to which the US was a party.

    2. That the US Government was fully aware of the dangers vested in the biological

    materials exported to Iraq by the American Type Culture Collection between 1985 and

    1989, and was, at the least, grossly negligent in failing to prohibit these exports to a

    state which was known by the US Administration at that time to be actively utilizing

    chemical weapons of mass destruction, and suspected if not known to also be

    developing a biological weapons programme.

    3. That with knowledge of the US biological exports, the British Government, being

    bound to act according to the law, and having stated as much in the UK Parliament in

    the name of Her Majesty the Queen, has a responsibility to formally report this matter to

    the UN Security Council for investigation. Furthermore, that failure to do so effectively

    renders the BTWC meaningless, and, thereby, compromises the very concept of

    international law.

    Beyond the case made in this paper, the following appears to be the disturbing

    international political reality: The invasion of Iraq by the United States and Britain in 2003

    was predicated upon Iraqs possession of weapons of mass destruction the primary

    threat presented both to Parliament and the People being anthrax. This anthrax was

    exported to Iraq from the US, having previously been exported from Britain, where it had

    been tested as a biological weapon because its capability to produce infection and

    death after the inhalation of spores had been demonstrated in the laboratory. This

    information is well known to the US, Britain, and Canada, due to a trilateral agreement

    concerning biological research between the three nations. Meanwhile, more than 20% of

    Britains MP representing approximately 12 million people have twice called for a UN

    investigation into the US exports, a call which has been dismissed by the BritishGovernment by means of flimsy responses and a refusal to answer questions properly.

    The United States with Great Britain blocked all Security Council resolutions

    condemning Iraqs use of chemical weapons, and on March 21 the US becomes the only

    country refusing to sign a Security Council statement condemning Iraqs use of these

    weapons

    The US Department of Commerce licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq between May of

    1985 and 1989, including at least 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax

    May, 1986. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade botulin

    poison to Iraq.

    April, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of chemicals used in

    manufacture of mustard gas.

    September, 1988. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade

    anthrax and botulinum to Iraq.

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    It should also be noted that the MK-84 bomb that was stockpiled in Saudi Arabia also

    formed part of the support for Saddam when hundreds of these U.S.-made general-

    purpose dumb bombs were transferred to Iraq.

    What was even more surprising was when Saddams elite troops received instruction in

    unconventional warfare at Fort Bragg , North Carolina USA. The idea was that, in the

    event of an Iranian victory, the Iraqi soldiers would be able to wage a guerrilla struggle

    against the occupying Iranian force

    On May 25, 1994, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee released a report in which it was

    stated that pathogenic (meaning disease producing), toxigenic (meaning poisonous),

    and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and

    licensing by the U:S: Department of Commerce. It added: These exported biological

    materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction.

    The report then detailed 70 shipments (including Bacillus Anthracis) from the United

    States to Iraqi government agencies over three years, concluding It was later learned

    that these microorganisms exported by the United States were identical to those the UN

    inspectors found and recovered from the Iraqi biological warfare program.

    Iraq purchased 8 strains of anthrax from the United States in 1985, according to British

    biological weapons expert David Kelly. The Iraqi military settled on the American Type

    Culture Collection strain 14578 as the exclusive strain for use as a biological weapon.

    Donald Riegle, Chairman of the Senate Committee that authored the aforementioned

    Riegle Report. said: U.N. inspectors had identified many United States manufactured

    items that had been exported from the United States to Iraq under licenses issued by the

    Department of Commerce, and [established] that these items were used to further Iraqs

    chemical and nuclear weapons development and its missile delivery system

    development programs. The executive branch of our government approved 771

    different export licenses for sale of dual-use technology to Iraq. I think that is a

    devastating record.

    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control sent Iraq 14 separate agents with biological

    warfare significance, according to Riegles investigators.

    It is now known that a vast network of companies, based in the U.S. and elsewhere, fed

    Iraqs warring capabilities right up until August 1990, when Saddam invaded Kuwait.

    On the military hardware front, MD 500 Defender helicopters were also part of the dealwith the US when Iraq acquired 60 multi-role military helicopters directly from the United

    States in 1983. Additional helicopter sales prompted congressional opposition, forcing

    the Reagan administration to explore alternative ways of assisting Saddam.

    Alan Friedman wrote that Sarkis Soghanalian, one of the most notorious arms dealers

    during the Cold War, procured Eastern Bloc and French origin weaponry, and brokered

    vast deals with Iraq, with the tacit approval of the Central Intelligence Agency.

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    This most prominent arms merchant, Sarkis Soghanalian, was a Miami-based former

    CIA contractor who brokered tens of billions of dollars worth of military hardware for Iraq

    during the 1980s, reporting many of his transactions to officials in Washington.

    Soghanalian was close to the Iraqi leadership and to intelligence officers and others in

    the Reagan administration. He played a vital role serving as a go between for the CIA

    and other US government operations.

    In an interview with William Kistner, Soghanalian stated that he was working closely

    with the U.S. government. Soghanalian also helped the Iraqis obtain TOW Anti Tank

    Missile , for which he was later prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice.

    What is so upsetting was the fact that almost 150 foreign companies supported Saddam

    Husseins WMD program. Twenty-four U.S. firms were involved in exporting materials to

    Baghdad. Add to this an even longer list of American companies, UK, many EU

    countries, South Africa, South East Asian countries, including Singapore and Japan.

    On a personal note I would like to share a story about the madness of war. Just prior to

    the Falklands War I went to stay at a friends house in Portsmouth, England whos son

    served in the Royal Navy onboard HMS Sheffield. The father took me down to visit the

    ship and his wonderful son took me around on a tour. The ship eventually sailed for the

    Falklands and was hit by a French made Exocet missile which killed my friends son. The

    purpose of this story is to show that when your allies sell weapons to your enemy they

    can be used against you.such was the case here.

    As they say what goes around comes around and its only a matter of time before you fall

    victim to your own greed, as was the case when Iraq fired Scud Missiles that contained

    Chemical and Biological ingredients at US bases and also Israel during the following

    Gulf War. Many soldiers were exposed to these CBW during this conflict which basically

    meant that they died at the hand of their own country. It is Ironic that the media in the UK

    were not given information about these attacks and the British Government who knew

    what was going on remained tight lipped.

    The whole episode is rather sickening when one believes that one day those responsible

    would be put before the International Court System. Every inquiry to reveal this broad

    based corruption and illegal arms trading has failed..The Matrix Churchill Inquiry, The

    Scott Inquiry and now the Chilcott Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) all totally rigged.

    Basically business as usual prevails whilst the unscrupulous offenders, Heads of State,

    Senior Politicians, Government Departments and Company Executives get away with

    murder. If one adds to this the massive fraud that exists we find ourselves living amongst

    a den of thievesbut do not worry our governments know how to rob the poor to feed

    the rich!

    We certainly live in a highly corrupt society with those that lead us leading the way!!

    Maybe now you can better understand as to why people like David Kelly were

    assasinated and even possibly politicians such as Sir John Biggs Davison and Robin

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    Cook.

    Maybe you have never questioned as to why leaders of countries that have fallen victim

    to the greed of the west have never been tried in the Hague for war crimes etcthe

    answer is simplethe likes of Saddam, Mubarek and Ghadaffi all knew too much and

    if they were presented to the Hague they could well spill the beans of exactly what the

    US, UK and other EU countries gave them.you will see that Mubarek will end up

    the same way and no doubt the President of Yemen will follow..such is the Axis of

    Evil that exists here in the west.

    I have decided to print an entire speech given by Gerald James, former Chairman of

    Astra, on his experiences with the British Government, the Secret Service, key political

    figures and notorious illegal arms dealers.

    You will note that there was also to have been another inquiry known as the Matrix

    Churchill Inquiry regarding the Super Gun and the transfer of high technology such asWMDs and CBWs to Iraq as well as the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) both of

    which have turned out to be another gross cover-up.

    Gerald James knew all the wheelings and dealings of the DTI, MoD,MI5/6,CIA and

    eventually fell victim to the fact that he knew too much which resulted in the demise of

    his company. He was witness to the inner workings of the illegal arms trade, extortionate

    salaries and overpriced contracts. He held one vital document which was page 6 of his

    companies spread sheet which revealed how the money was distributed around the

    inner circle and the involvement of the DTI, MI5/6, CIA and the British Government who

    eventually placed one of their own operatives to take control of Astrathat person

    was Stepahnus Adolphus Kock.

    His speech may appear to be rather complex but if one studies each and every

    paragraph you will see just how involved the British Government, the US and many other

    countries were in promoting war and in supplying Iraq with extremely illegal weapons.

    The speech was made at a Conference in the Environmental Law Centre:

    "My experiences, the Scott Inquiry, the British Legal System"

    By Gerald Reaveley James

    I am reminded of the very appropriate quote from Edmund Burke (1729-97) It is

    necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph.

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    I am most grateful to Dr Badsha for inviting me and honoured to make this address at

    this Conference of the Environmental Law Centre.

    he Astra case and my case reflect much that has been to the fore in recent years in not

    only scandals around arms companies like Astra, Matrix Churchill, Ordtec,

    Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Ferranti and other companies like Polly Peck, BCCI and

    Maxwell but also in the Scott Inquiry, the BSE Inquiry and the Lloyds of London affair

    and other scandals. The underlying problem is secret unaccountable government which

    bypasses Parliament and how the law is administered in the UK, gives aid and succour

    to such a state of affairs. The most common device is the concealment of evidence and

    manipulation of cases. There is a tendency when challenged for those in authority to talk

    of conspiracy theories. My experience is that those who do so are usually part of the

    conspiracy.

    My company Astra gave rise to much of the circumstances which created the Scott

    Inquiry, the Supergun revelations (we reported it first), the Aitken affair, the murder of

    Gerald Bull in Brussels in March 1990 and much else.

    Background note:

    My name is Gerald Reaveley James. Until March 1990 and between 1980 and 1990 I

    was chairman of Astra Holdings PLC (Astra) which became a leading ammunition and

    weapons manufacturer. By the late 1980s Astra had factories in the United States (9),

    Canada (2), Belgium (5), United Kingdom (5) and administrative headquarters in

    Washington Dc, Brussels and London and employed 4,000 personnel. The story of Astrais too long to recount here but a summary is contained in my book, In the Public

    Interest published by Little Brown UK hardback 1995, Warner paperback 1996, London.

    Astra became involved in covert weapons and ammunitions operations organised by MI5

    and MI6 and the CIA, the MOD, DOD, FCO and the State Department and the DTI. To

    such an extent was Astra involved with its pricipal subsidiaries, Walters, Accudyne,

    Kilgore USA PRB Belgium, BMARC UK; in the covert trade manipulations of Foreign

    Policy.

    In 1989/90, following a reappraisal of Foreign Policy in the light of the demise of the ColdWar and changing circumstances in the Middle East, where it became apparent the US,

    UK and EEC had transferred Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons technology as

    well as conventional weapons to countries like Iran and Iraq, and the discovery Pakistan

    had the atomic bomb, the whole covert network was reorganised. This involved the

    collapsing of companies like Astra, Ferranti/ISC, Polly Peck, BCCI, Maxwell Group etc

    and the prosecution of lesser fry Companies and their directors companies like Matrix

    Churchill, BNJ, Ordtec, Euromac, SRC, Forgemasters, Walter Somers are examples.

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    The directors of Astra were to a large extent ignorant of the full range of covert activities

    carried out in their name but aware of some of these activities and the likely destination

    of their goods. As however all operations were sanctioned by the DTI, MOD, FCO, and

    in the US by the DOD and the State Department and in Belgium by the Belgian

    Government, not too many questions were raised initially.

    However, in late 1988 and 1989 it became clear to me as Chairmen that the clandestine

    operations far exceeded anything remotely sanctioned by the full Board and I set out to

    investigate in depth. I became aware that certain plants were used to secretly store and

    ship goods; that monies were being transferred to other operations without book records

    or board approval in secret commission payments; that our paper work and parallel bank

    accounts were being used to process arms shipments from major UK defence

    companies like British Aerospace, Royal Ordnance, GEC Marconi, Thorn EMI etc. A

    leading British Defence Journalist wrote a report which was largely kept secret which

    indicated 100m was stolen from the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) ina fictitious subcontract for propellant which BMARC, an Astra subsidiary, had secretly

    obtained in 1998 from Royal Ordnance.

    I also became concerned about payments to and business with MI6/CIA front company

    Allivane which had occurred between 1983 and 1988 via Astra. Is also became clear that

    all our main operations were involved in covert operations in the USA Belgium and the

    UK, and that Astra, when it acquired these companies, had inherited a hard core of MI6,

    MI5, DIA agents who operated behind the back of the original directors and who treated

    them as useful idiots. All our main companies were involved with Space Research

    Corporation (SRC) and the late Dr Gerald Bull who was behind the Supergun and other

    secret projects which Astra companies were also involved in. In 1989 I realised we had a

    hugely dangerous individual on our main Board and the BMARC Board who was an MI6

    agent.

    This individual, Stepahnus Adolphus Kock had high level political connections to

    Thatcher, Hesletine, Younger, Hanley, etc as well as MI5 and MI6 connections. It is now

    clear to me that he was involved in the murder of Dr Gerald Bull in Brussels on 22nd

    march 1990 and Jonathan Moyle in Santiago, Chile on 31st March 1990. BMARC was

    the only company outside the Atomic Weapons research Establishment and Government

    Arms depots with the capability to store nuclear bombs like Redbeard and WE177.

    By early 1990 my probing had become a major problem and a plot was hatched to

    remove me as Chairman shortly before the Supergun and other revelations and Bulls

    murder. A new dummy board ld in reality by Kock with two MI6/MI5 stooges ran the

    company into the ground over the next two years. In order to explain away the

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    destruction of the company with a 350m order book and a market capitalisation of

    120m desperate attempts were made to find evidence of malpractice by the original

    directors. Gumbley, my Managing Director, who had been with Bull until an hour before

    he was shot had discussed with Bull suing UK Government and senior civil servants

    using Bulls extensive knowledge of high level corruption and illegal operations. It had

    been agreed I would return with Gumbley to agree with lawyers how to proceed a weeklater. I had discussed such matters with Bull some six months previous but no further

    action had been taken. Gumbley was immediately framed up for corrupting an MOD

    official and jailed for 9 months and after desperately trying to find something on me and

    failing, Kock and MI6/MI5 decided to institute through Peter Lilley and the DTI a DTI

    Inquiry. Lilley was Secretary of state at the DTI at the time.

    The DTI Inquiry lasted three years and cost 2.5m plus (as much as the Scott Inquiry).

    The announcement of the Inquiry and the misleading press statements issued by the

    DTI and Government ensured the downfall of Astra. Crooks and MI5, MI6, agents or

    informers were put in chare of Astra Kock, Roy Barber FCA and Tony McCann. Barber

    and McCann whose managerial and industrial competence and experience werenegligible paid themselves 330,000 and 280,000 pa respectively. Barber took

    100,000 in the first month. Barbers annual payment was more than I received in salary

    and expenses as Chairman over ten years while I built the company. PRB was sold off

    immediately for 3m to avoid embarrassing revelations. MI5, MI6 and MOD police and

    Customs launched 17 raids on Astra premises in order to steal any sales and other

    documentation incriminating Government. No new orders were obtained in spite of the

    Gulf War and the company ran on the 350m order book we had left for two years,

    before it was put into receivership on 2nd February 1992 on the eve of me giving

    evidence to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee re Supergun,

    Project Babylon and arms to Iraq (and Iran etc).

    Press coverage was hue and adverse. This facilitated, as clearly city interests like Banks

    and Astras main shareholders 3i, Prudential and Clerical and medical cooperated with

    Government for their own interest and purposes against the interests of smaller

    shareholders ( a parallel with Lloyds techniques). Kock had a cover as a consultant in

    Midland Banks secret arms department, Midland and Industrial Trade Services (MITS).

    This was staffed by ex service officers, MI5, MI6, agents and intelligence affiliated

    bankers. Midland with the Bank of Boston were Astras main bankers and dominated by

    MI6 CIA agents. Kock was also said to be head of Group 13, the Governments

    assassination and dirty tricks squad according to Richard John Rainey Unwin, a close

    associate of Knock himself who was a contract MI6 agent and Consultant to Astra. Kockand Unwin, with Martin Laing Construction, negotiated the 2bn Malaysian defence deal

    before George Younger, the Defence Secretary even knew of it.

    The MOD police arrested several of my colleagues, framed Grumbley up. I was

    subjected to harassment, burglaries; I was arrested by Customs, investigated by the

    Inland Revenue, subjected to surveillance, threats, bugging, telephone tapping (all

    documented), a DTI Inquiry which lasted 3 years and a DTI prosecution which lasted 4

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    years. In addition I had to give copious evidence to the Scott Inquiry over 4 years, 2 DTI

    Select Committees, Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Defence Select Committee,

    Public Accounts Select Committee, Public Services Select committee, Police (SOI), a

    huge law suit in the United States (Dooley case). My family suffered considerably, my

    two eldest sons army careers suffered, my youngest sons education because of

    adverse publicity, my brother was killed in an accident never satisfactory explainedwhich could have been intended for me.

    This sequel will be the final part of this current series and clearly show just how

    hypocritical and two faced all our respective governments have been. It has shown the

    past and current illegal arms trade that existed and the involvement of our own current

    Prime Minister, David Cameron, Sir Kenneth Warren, Peter Lilley MP, Lord Hazeltine and

    many othersnot forgetting and the late Dr. David Kelly.

    Finally what is so ironic is the many illegal arms inquiries that have taken place i.e.

    Matrix Churchill, Scott Inquiry and the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq inquiry) all of which

    have been totally White Washed and all to no avail!!

    A continuation of the speech given by Gerald James, former Chairman of Astra, on his

    experiences with the British Government, the Secret Service, key political figures and

    notorious illegal arms dealers.

    You will note that there was also to have been another inquiry known as the Matrix

    Churchill Inquiry regarding the Super Gun and the transfer of high technology such as

    WMDs and CBWs to Iraq as well as the current Chilcot Inquiry (Iraq Inquiry) both of

    which have turned out to be another gross cover-up.

    Gerald James knew all the wheelings and dealings of the DTI, MoD,MI5/6,CIA and

    eventually fell victim to the fact that he knew too much which resulted in the demise of

    his company. He was witness to the inner workings of the illegal arms trade, extortionate

    salaries and overpriced contracts. He held one vital document which was page 6 of his

    companies spread sheet which revealed how the money was distributed around the

    inner circle and the involvement of the DTI, MI5/6, CIA and the British Government who

    eventually placed one of their own operatives to take control of Astrathat person

    was Stepahnus Adolphus Kock.

    His speech may appear to be rather complex but if one studies each and every

    paragraph you will see just how involved the British Government, the US and many other

    countries were in promoting war and in supplying Iraq with extremely illegal weapons.

    The speech was made at a Conference in the Environmental Law Centre

    Continuation of his speech:

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    In the course of my own experiences I took considerable note and interest in parallel

    cases like Matrix Churchill, Ordtec, Euromac, Atlantic Commercial, BNJ, SRC,

    Forgemasters, Walter Somers, Polly Peck, Foxley Ferranti/ISC, BCCI, Maxwell etc. All

    these cases and others and the Astra case involved the gross abuse of power by

    Government and its agencies and servants, concealment of key evidence, intimidation,

    threats, false and selective prosecutions, manipulation of evidence, perversion of the

    course of justice. It has also been clearly demonstrated that there is no separation of

    powers within the United Kingdom. Key legal appointments like Lord Chancellor and

    attorney General, Solicitor General are wholly political. It has also been clearly

    demonstrated that Parliament has no control of knowledge of events and that a vast

    apparatus of permanent unelected Government exists. This permanent Government

    consists of senior civil servants, intelligence and security officers, key figures in certain

    city and financial institutions (including Lloyds of London), key industrialists and directors

    of major monopolistic companies, senior politicians.

    The Lord Chancellors Office which is responsible for the appointment of Judges, Clerks

    of the House of Commons select Committees and approval of Chairmen of such

    committees and the approval of the Queens Counsel, holds a total control of the legal

    administrative framework and has strong connections to the security and intelligence

    services. The last Clerk to the Crown in Chancery was Sir Thomas Legg, KCB QC who

    had strong links to the intelligence and security establishment and who was responsible

    for allocating Judges to controversial trials of a political nature where the national

    interest and national security (those much abused phrases) were involved, ie the

    Ponting Case. Leggs successor will have a similar role. Sir Thomas was duly wheeled

    out to keep the lid on the Sandline Inquiry re the strange events surrounding the FCO,

    Sierra Leone and real foreign policy as opposed to the sham variety discussed atWestminster. He has been wheeled out again to keep the lid on an inquiry regarding the

    corruption in the hugely expensive building of new MPs offices opposite Big Ben.

    The companies involved in this case are Alvis, formerly United Scientific Holdings and its

    Germany partner in the installation of a 35m contract for copper cladding. United

    Scientific Holdings is the company where ex Chief of defence Procurement and ex Lord

    Mayor Sir Peter, now Lord Levene was Managing director (later a Director of N.M.

    Rothschild) was Chairman. An American competitor alleges irregularities and corruption

    as it offered to do the work for a much lower price.

    The real framework which secretly controls our lives is little understood or studies evenby those who work within its musty and murky depths. It has only recently emerged that

    Appeal Court Judges are secretly briefed making appearances before such luminaries a

    sham and a joke. The public can thank Mr Geoffrey Scriven for these revelations. Lloyds

    names can hardly have realised that legislation was secretly framed to prevent wrong

    doers being sued. (Times Magazine Article 21/2/00).

    The other area which is little understood is the Crown. To many the Crown represents

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    the Royal family but we now have a Constitutional Monarchy. The Crown in its

    constitutional sense is the last home of secret government. Much is done in the name of

    the Crown which is without the permission or knowledge of the Monarch. Token gestures

    are made by sending her despatch boxes of selected information. The Crown is

    represented by the Monarch but does not represent the on secret and major issues. The

    armed forces (the last bastion of institutional integrity) swear their allegiance to theMonarch not to Parliament as do Judges and the Intelligence and security services the

    latter are totally unaccountable as is the Lord Chancellors office which controls Courts

    and Judges. The Lord Chancellor is unelected as is the Attorney General who although

    chosen from the ranks of MPs is not elected, like the Solicitor General. The Attorney

    General holds sway over the Crown Prosecution service, serious Fraud Office, HM

    Customs (as revealed by the Scott Inquiry) and the Police in respect of sanctioning

    cases. The Law Officers, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General are the Chief

    Legal Advisors (assisted by the Solicitor General) has overall responsibility for the work

    of the Law Officers Departments:

    ie The Treasury Solicitors Department

    Crown Prosecution Service

    Serious Fraud Office

    Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers

    All the duties of the above departments (and HM Customs) are ultimately supervised bythe Attorney General.

    The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland is also responsible to the

    Attorney General for the performance of his functions. There are also additional

    responsibilities with regard to civil and criminal law.

    The other area which is key to overall secret control outside Parliament is the Privy

    Council. It is important to note that all main members of the Cabinet become members of

    the Privy Council as do leaders and sometimes the deputy leaders of the opposition

    parties.

    The Privy Council oath which all members take means they cannot freely discuss anymatter they are informed of or told of Under Privy Council terms. This means that the

    Cabinet and opposition leaders cannot discuss freely in Parliament or elsewhere any

    matter told to them on Privy Council terms. This means in practice that the key MPs

    cannot discharge their democratic duties. It is in effect a gagging system like Public

    Interest Immunity Certificates dispensed by Judges on application of Government and its

    agencies. All senior Judges and Appeal Judges are Privy Councillors as is the Lord

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    Chancellor, The Attorney and Solicitor General and other invited and key persons. This

    secret unelected body has a wide range of powers. On the surface other permanent

    secretaries, sometimes the Cabinet Secretary and certain members of the established

    aristocracy are Privy Councillors. The appointment is for life and Jonathon Aitken is one

    of the few members to resign.

    It should also be remembered Aitken was a Chairman of the Pinay Circle comprised of

    senior intelligence officers and world leaders who hold secret meeting around the world.

    It is widely and erroneously assumed the Cabinet is the Executive of the elected

    Government whereas in our unwritten ill defined constitution it is in reality the executive

    arm of the Privy Council.

    The Privy Council is responsible for the arrangements leading to the making of Royal

    Proclamations and Orders in Council for certain formalities connected with Ministerial

    Changes: for considering application for the grant or amendment of Royal Charters, for

    the security and approval of by laws and statutes of Chartered Institutions, of the

    governing instruments of universities and colleges, for the appointment of High Sheriffs

    and many Crown and Privy Council Nominees for governing bodies.

    Under the relevant Acts, the office of the Privy Council is responsible for the approval of

    certain regulations and rules made by the governing bodies of the medical and certain

    allied professions.

    The President of the Council has responsibility for the working of the Privy Council. A

    leader of the House of Commons he or she is responsible for supervising the

    Governments legislative programme. He or she allegedly upholds the right and

    privileges of the House as a whole and in its capacity it falls to him or her to move

    motions relating to the procedure of the House. In January 1994 the Privy Council

    assumed responsibility for the newly formed Central Drugs Coordination Unit. The

    Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest Court of Appeal for the

    Commonwealth except the United Kingdom and those countries which had abolished

    appeals to it. It still can confirm death sentences in certain territories and in the UK hears

    ecclesiastical cases and appeals against disciplinary decisions by disciplinary bodies of

    the medical professions and certain allied bodies. Its more secret and sinister workings

    are little known and in theory it is the advisory body to the monarch. It appears that the

    bulk of elected politicians do not penetrate its inner recesses yet can be influenced by it.

    The Privy Council allied with the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and the Cabinet and

    Cabinet Intelligence Unit which is the real control over the security and intelligence

    services are part of the secret permanent unaccountable Government.

    We have seen from the arms to Iran, Iraq affairs, the Sandline affair and other scandals

    that politicians and Parliament have little or no control and are more like players in a

    pantomime put on for the general public and gullible public.

    The roots of this sinister power are rooted in history, particularly that of the usurping

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    Tudors. The Privy Council and secret services have developed since then and it is wrong

    to regard MI5 and MI6 as the sole such bodies. As Douglas Hurd told a Commons Select

    Committee regarding nuclear proliferation they are but two tributaries of the main stream

    of intelligence. The communication and eavesdropping unit GCHQ works extensively

    with the intelligence and security services and with those of other countries including the

    intelligence services and National Security Agency of USA and with the Services ofAustralia, New Zealand and Canada. Each regularly circumvents domestic laws for the

    benefit of the others under programmes like echelon and agreements between UK and

    USA. Politicians and civil servants and other leading figures who get out of line can be

    surveyed or bugged and then threatened, blackmailed, framed up or worse.

    Secrecy breeds corruption, secrecy is power, information is power particularly

    confidential information. There is no accountability and the calibre of MP deteriorates

    with each Parliament. The young politician with no experience outside is nave and

    powerless and many now have a blind loyalty to their party. Ironically the hereditary

    peers of the House of Lords provided one of the last vestiges of honesty and

    independence now largely destroyed by self-important and self-deluding figures like Blairand Baroness Jay.

    This the background against which decisions affairs like Lloyds of London have been

    handled and decided.

    Secrecy has breed corruption and lack of accountability. Judicial Inquiries are cosmetic

    and carried out by the Judiciary who are key tools of the cover up and the status quo.

    (ie the Scott Inquiry). London is a key world money laundering centre (500 billion per

    annum). Damage to Lloyds credibility will damage London and its position as a money

    or financial centre.

    Much of the Uks traditional industry is gone. To deal with Lloyds from the point of view of

    justice, will rock the boat and damage the so called national interest. Privileged persons

    in politics and the judiciary etc have been protected and the rest do not matter. The

    policy is to protect Lloyds and cover up. The same arrogant and self serving attitude was

    evident in the arms trade and the related drugs trade. Those on the inside are only

    interested in concealment, cover up, and their own on going benefits protected by

    secrecy and privilege. Justice does not count. The scandals involving political parties,

    large companies, the intelligence and security services, and corruption in Germany

    (Kohl), France (Mitterand/Dumas,etc) Italy (Craxi) are pale shadows of what has gone

    on in the UK. We have what the late Roberto Clavi of Banco Amnrosiano in Italy as

    described potere occulto secret power.

    Ironically the main threat to this secret power is the European Convention of Human

    Rights (ECHR) Article 6 which overturns Uk legal decisions regularly and has already

    caused the sacking of deputy Judges, and Magistrates in Scotland while threatening

    Scottish Judges. Scotland under devolution adopted ECHR in 1999 and England did so

    in October 2000, although the Lord Chief Justice (Bingham) already recommended as a

    result of the Kebbilen case that the ECHR should be recognised in England before this.

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    It is significant that the Home Secretary Shaw is proposing the abolition of juries and

    magistrates in many and perhaps eventually all cases. This will put further power in the

    hands of secret and unaccountable Government and corrupt Judges. The ramifications

    are extremely sinister and serious. Already the rules of evidence have been perverted in

    favour of secret an unaccountable Government who routinely conceal evidence and

    pervert the course of justice.

    It has never been more vital for people to challenge the views of politicians and opinion

    formers. We live in an age where much if not most of the media is controlled. The legal

    mechanism and Judges and the court system need to be beyond reproach. Sadly they

    are not and the chronicle of abuse and manipulation of cases is appalling. Judges are

    not independent in most government related cases and are no different to salaried and

    pensioned civil servants. The independence of the Judiciary is an allusion fostered by

    the Judiciary. Too often a Judicial Inquiry is a system for cover up and concealment. Too

    often the courts are influenced by political considerations as in the Scott Inquiry and the

    recent Lloyds of London case. Perhaps with pressure this can be changed.

    "We do not want a society dominated by lawyers, accountants and monopoly

    commercial Interests with the courts administered by Judges who follow directions."

    "Thank you very much."

    (End of Gerald James speech )

    Before finally closing this current series on the UKs Illegal Arms Trade and the massive

    fraud and corruption that goes with it we must show how the British Government covered

    their tracks to protect those at the top.

    Senior figures in London that were known to the Asra Group and who were caught up inillegal arms trade and in particular the Iraqi Supergun scandal deliberately referred the

    case to the wrong police department to avoid further embarrassment for the

    Government.

    The DTI handed over a dossier on Astra to the Serious Fraud Office . However a very

    senior person in the know believes the case should have been referred to the

    Metropolitan Police fraud squad instead.

    It was a known fact at the time that the Prime Ministers Office, DTI, MoD, MI5/6 and

    many very senior politicians were all in bed together when it came to illegal arms

    dealingsthe list of those involved is endless but for sure involved decades ofPrime Ministers and Senior Cabinet Ministers all of whom should be behind bars for the

    wars and atrocities that they have been responsible for.

    Gerald Bulls Super Gun became the central point of investigation and the DTI in its

    cover up announced that there would be no criminal investigation into the events

    preceding the collapse of Astra, despite a highly critical DTI report, which found fault with

    the directors of the firm, its financial advisers, its accountants and the Stock Exchange,

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    not to mention the Astra subsidiary, PRB, which was involved in making the shells for the

    Iraqi supergun project.

    Super Gun Parts found on the dockside prior to shipment from the UK to Iraq!

    It was stated that the SFO was not investigating the case because the alleged fraud was

    too small, and that the DTI knew this when it passed on the file and that the file should

    have been passed to the Metropolitan Police fraud squad, which would have been more

    likely to investigate. There was a deliberate mistake made so that Gerald James did not

    get his day in court to make accusations about Supergun and to reveal Page 6 of

    company (Astra) spread sheets that would have revealed the massive fraud associated

    with this case and those involved..The SFO would not say why it chose not to

    investigate Astra, and the DTI categorically denied the charges.

    Two other major events occurred around the time of the Iraq War which not only

    revealed gross neglect by both the US and UK leaders and their governments but alsowould become a focal point in further conflict in the Middle East, not forgetting the

    assistance given to Iraq in their WMD/CBW programme. As a direct result of the west

    assisting Iraq, Saddam was able to use this western assistance to exterminate many

    thousands of innocent civilians both in Halabja (Kurdistan) and also on the Iranians

    during the Iraq-Iran War.

    The two major events that occurred was when a US B52 loaded with nuclear SRAM

    missiles had a full in-flight emergency and had to divert to the British owned Diego

    Garciaduring its flight further onboard electrical problems caused the crew to jettison

    its payload of fully operational nukes into the shallow waters off Somaliathe aircraft

    continued on to Diego Garcia but unfortunately was not able to make it and crashed into

    the sea.

    Dick Cheney who was fully aware of the implications of having these nukes sitting on the

    seabed did absolutely nothing about it and the weapons were eventually recovered by

    the notorious illegal arms dealer Billy Rautenbach who then sold them on the black

    market, for which he received a payment of around 8.5 tons of gold bullion. The British

    Government were fully aware of this incident and who also took part in another nuclear

    scam that went terribly wrong.

    Our own dear Prime Minister, David Cameron also so happened to go down

    to South Africa, on a sanction busting trip to acquire three battle field ready nuclear

    bombs that unfortunately were stolen from there insecure compound in Oman by John

    Bredenkamp, another shonky arms dealer who had only previously just sold them to the

    UK in an under the table deal with David Cameron and, Sir Kenneth Warren, many very

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    senior politicians were involved..these nukes were built by a joint venture between

    Israel and South Africa and the pay off for the Tory Party was 17.8 million pounds into

    their election fund.this payment is covered in Hansard and to this day is still

    unaccounted forone could possible ask those shown below what was their

    involvement in this deal or what knowledge did they share?

    One has to understand that the west thrives on wars and conflict as it is very

    good for business, especially in arms sales and in hiking up the price of oil, all of which

    makes such conflicts very lucrative.

    What must be made very clear is that there are no terrorist, no Al Qaeda and no threat to

    the streets of the UK or US.this is a war of propaganda that was created to allow the

    west to create its own Geo Political Plan in taking over the Worlds Natural Resources,

    to control the markets for those resources and to control the transit routes, sea lanes

    and pipeline route etc..this master plan is the creation of the New World Order and

    involved many false flag incidents to spread the current Islamaphobia fear around the

    worldthey themselves carried out the attack on the Twin Towers in 9/11 and they

    themselves blew up the London Tubes and the London Bus on 7/7.such is their evil

    way.

    On should take the time to see this wonderful interview with Aaron Russo who got very

    close to the Axis of Evil The New World Order and was able to explain in great detail

    their evil plans.the link is:

    http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9184FA8FD503C91136CFB967E93CF8CC

    If one adds up the total cost of all these illegal wars/conflicts and more importantly the

    millions of innocent victims that have fallen as a direct result of their greed one can see

    the true Axis of Evil.

    You can rest assured that the current Chilcott Inquiry will turn out into yet another cover-

    up and release all of those implicated in illegal arms dealingsI would even go a step

    further by saying many of these war criminals and major fraudsters will actually get off

    without charge and may even be given a Knighthood for their evil

    ways..unfortunately that is the state of British Politics Today..the images

    below show some of those that should be in prison for life and who currently enjoy the

    riches of their past!!

    Before closing I would like to pay tribute to three people in particular who became a

    victim of their greed and who certainly became an obstacle to their

    http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9184FA8FD503C91136CFB967E93CF8CChttp://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9184FA8FD503C91136CFB967E93CF8CC
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    future..hop