The British on intelligence: a collection (SIS, MI5, GCHQ & more)

[davidbfpo]

Finally after a long procedure, gathering evidence and questioning in private; with some official hesitation over publication - plus a refusal to answer their urging that a criminal investigation was needed for one matter - the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has reported (usually referred to as the ISC).

The headline in 'The Daily Telegraph': 'Britain tolerated 'inexcusable' treatment of terror detainees by US after 9/11, report finds', which is a very short article and a longer one, no surprise, in 'The Guardian' entitled: 'True scale of UK role in torture and rendition after 9/11 revealed'. That reports starts with:

The reports published on Thursday amount to one of the most damning indictments of UK intelligence, revealing links to torture and rendition were much more widespread than previously reported.
While there was no evidence of officers directly carrying out physical mistreatment of detainees, the reports say the overseas agency MI6 and the domestic service MI5 were involved in hundreds of torture cases and scores of rendition cases.

Links:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...-detainees-us/ and https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...-911-revealed?

The ISC website has links to their short press releases and the fuller reports.
Link:http://isc.independent.gov.uk/news-archive/28june2018

There is a small, parallel thread on a related subject:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...hlight=torture

[davidbfpo]

A video (1h 15m) of a Policy Exchange event yesterday, where five who should know spoke: a former Australian Prime Minister, a former Canadian PM, a ret'd US diplomat and Deputy NSA, a former New Zealand Foreign Minister and a former UK Defence Secretary & NATO Sec-General.
Link:https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven...al-insecurity/

Yet to listen to it all, although one speaker was on BBC radio yesterday AM and oddly only referred to the relationship in CT terms.

[davidbfpo]

A very short article that ends with:

Examining the CIA in isolation does not give historians the full picture of American covert action during the Cold War. The prism of British secret history highlights the importance of alliances and audiences when planning and conducting covert action, but reveals competition and suspicion. It paints a picture of the CIA as a pragmatic operator, sometimes influenced by allies – sometimes played – but perhaps not always as bullish as critics like to maintain.
The old cliché that the Britain had the brains and America had the money can now be debunked.

Link:https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/169655

[davidbfpo]

A rare public speech by 'C', the head of SIS, at his old university this week and the BBC story does not reflect all he said. The BBC's headline was: 'Alex Younger: MI6 chief questions China's role in UK tech sector'.

Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46431810?

The full speech is here:https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...tion-espionage

[davidbfpo]

A rare public scripted Q&A of the Security Service's Director and the full title is:

‘I'm proud of how MI5 responded to the Salisbury attack – but it hasn't distracted us from other threats,’ says spy chief

Link:https://www.civilserviceworld.com/ar...80%93-it-hasnt