CIA accuse MI5 and MI6 of lying about need for secret justice to protect our security ties

April 6th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Tim Shipman, Deputy Political Editor

PUBLISHED:

14:09 EST, 5 April 2012

|

UPDATED:

01:37 EST, 6 April 2012

Former CIA officers have dismissed claims that the U.S. will not share information with British intelligence chiefs without secret hearings.

It had been alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency withheld details of a terror plot from British spies because of concerns that their sources could be exposed in our courts.

The claim was leaked by security sources in London to build support for holding terrorist hearings behind closed doors – but it has also been used by ministers as an excuse to demand secret hearings in a huge range of civil cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.

Enlarge

Spy row: The CIA has accused MI5 and MI6 of lying about the need for secret courts in Britain. Former officer Michael Scheuer (right) said the CIA would never hold back important information from British spies

However, officials with knowledge of intelligence in London and Washington have said the practice of passing information across the Atlantic remains as common as ever.

Former CIA officer Michael Scheuer claimed the organisation would ‘never hold back’ information from British spies that was ‘important to their domestic security’.

Asked if U.S. intelligence agencies had been nervous about sharing information with Britain, Mr Scheuer said: ‘I think less than with anyone else. There’s always a nervousness when you share a piece of intelligence with anyone, but the relationship between Britain and the United States, especially on the issue of terrorism, is exceedingly close and, more than that, important to the security of both countries.’

Mr Scheuer, who led the hunt for
Osama Bin Laden during his 22-year career with the CIA, admitted: ‘I
think that there’s a nervousness in the CIA about the use of our
information in American courts, so it would not be surprising that we
would be nervous about what’s going on in Britain and elsewhere in
Europe.’

However, he made clear that ties with
Britain remain extremely close. ‘There are certainly things, for
example, that we share with Britain, Canada and Australia and no one
else, because of the closeness and the duration of that relationship,’
he said.

MI6 Headquarters on River Thames: London leaked the claim that CIA bosses refused to pass to Britain full details of a ‘Mumbai-style’ terrorist plot targeting London

His views echoed those of a U.S.
government official authorised to speak to the Press on intelligence
matters, who said: ‘There has been no deterioration in the relationship,
which remains as strong as ever on a wide range of issues.’

A former CIA officer and
counter-terrorism expert who maintains close relationships with the
Obama administration added: ‘I am not aware of any problems at all.’

In London, a senior government source described allegations that co-operation has been damaged as ‘seriously overblown’.

They added: ‘There is an issue, but
it has all been greatly overdone. There are always sensitivities about
these sort of things but there’s no serious issue as far as I am aware.’

Embarrassment: MI5 and MI6 want secret court hearings to prevent a repeat of the Binyam Mohamed case

Another British source said: ‘The U.S.
has never given us all the information, down to the identity of sources.
But we work very closely with them.’ Tory MP David Davis, a former
shadow home secretary, accused Britain’s intelligence agencies of
engaging in a ‘smoke and mirrors’ PR campaign to restrict public
scrutiny of their activities, and effectively writing the Government’s
plans by dictating to ministers. ‘This was all designed in Vauxhall
Cross [MI6’s headquarters] and Thames House [MI5’s]. Providing
disinformation is what they do for a living,’ he said.

MI5 and MI6 want secret court hearings
to prevent a repeat of the Binyam Mohamed case, which saw two MI5
officers called to give evidence about what they knew of the former
Guantanamo Bay prisoner’s maltreatment when he sought to sue the
Government for complicity in torture.

‘Smoke and mirrors’: former shadow home secretary David Davis, accused Britain’s intelligence agencies of engaging in PR campaign to restrict public scrutiny of their activities

Ministers tried to conceal U.S. documents disclosing his alleged torture, but were overruled by the courts.

Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of the pressure group Reprieve, who has represented Guantanamo Bay inmates, said: ‘The security services need to remember that their very purpose is to help preserve our liberties, not dismantle them.’

Referring to recent proposals that would have granted British spies the power to pry on our internet use, he added: ‘They have been demanding the right to snoop on all of us secretly, while refusing any meaningful oversight of their own misconduct.

‘When they anonymously represent that the U.S. is curtailing intelligence, and current or former CIA officials say “that is nonsense”, that illustrates the need for greater transparency, rather than less.’

Tim Weiner, author of a highly respected history of the CIA, said: ‘The UK-U.S. intelligence relationship is so deep that a legal issue of this kind would not destroy it.’

Of the laws introduced in the U.S. following the 9/11 attacks, he said: ‘We went through a rather wrenching experience over the last 10 years, with secret law and secret prisons, and we don’t want to go back down that road.

‘Secret hearings lead to secret law and secret law is something that cannot be conscienced in a democracy. Secret trials are a star chamber.’

David Anderson QC, the Government’s terrorism watchdog, claimed there had been a ‘diminution’ of intelligence-sharing, but insisted that the Government’s ‘well-founded fears’ should not be used as a ‘scare tactic’ to introduce secret trials in ‘unrelated’ civil cases.

Security sources in London had leaked the claim that CIA bosses refused to pass on full details of a ‘Mumbai-style’ terrorist plot targeting London.

They said the CIA told MI6 about Al Qaeda plans against several cities in Europe, which suggested that the seizing and killing of hostages could be involved, 18 months ago – but stopped short of passing on everything they knew.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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Once again it is demonstrated….never, ever trust an american

– Steve, Winchester, 06/4/2012 10:19

Ah, that would be the alleged ‘intelligence’ within the CIA that couldn’t locate Osama bin Laden for a decade whilst he got married, had 4 children attending the birth of 2 in a public hospital. bought 2 homes and moved into a third that was not far short of a mansion! Oh yes, I’m sure MI5/MI6 will be reassured to know the CIA isn’t with-holding its ‘intelligence’ from them!

– tommi konttinen, kangasniemi, finalnd, 06/4/2012 10:04

Russ H,Bucks,
‘reputable and accountable European FBI’..my advice keep out of the sun.We have more in common with our US cousins and when it hits the fan they are the only friends we have apart from Australia and New Zealand.

– Andrew Niblock, Carrickfergus, 06/4/2012 10:02

Is this the same intelligence that prevented 9/11 from happening? Is this the same intelligence that said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The same intelligence that said bin laden was in Afghanistan? Not very good are they?

– jason, wales, 06/4/2012 09:56

I have just seen a low flying pig go past my window oink oink.
The Americans in common with all agencies only give out information they want you to have and then only if it is their interest.

– Alan, Birkenhead, 06/4/2012 09:41

At last : we are going to be told about Sep 11 01. ( We already know )

– Pat Rattigan , Chesterfield UK, 06/4/2012 09:26

We all know how much we can trust the Americans, don’t we?

– Steve (UK taxpayer), Turkey (not EU), 06/4/2012 09:05

And this useless shower will do nothing with the I intelligence until it is too late again!!!

– Joseph, Southport, 06/4/2012 08:43

I dont mind the government telling lies. I dont mind the government stiffing a few bad people. As long as it protects the majorities interests and keeps my family safe.
If you disagree, shake your head till it wobbles…there you feel better now.

– Terry Mac, Jarrow England, 06/4/2012 08:29

Considering hundreds of US/UK intelligence officers work side by side in the same rooms day after day the transfer of information will continue no matter what governments say publicly,the fact is the two are to closely linked ,The latest release out last week by the US national archives of secret cables between Reagan and thatcher over the Falklands which include CIA reports clearly show the mass of intelligence that was made available to the UK, without anyone having any idea of its content and the US government declared neutrality.At the end of the day British government officials have just made some terrible claims to support a bad bit of legislation and have been caught out because people questioned it and the US wasn’t in on it.next time just dont go over top with stupid claims,

– Bomber, Essex, 06/4/2012 08:29

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