US double standards - spineless UK government
News24
A British government minister has criticized the US military for failing to co-operate with inquests into the deaths of British soldiers in Iraq.
Constitutional affairs minister Harriet Harman said US authorities' failure to send troops or experts as witnesses was "not acceptable."
"We have got an expectation that they should come, so that the bereaved relatives of the deceased servicemen can actually ask questions of what happened," she said in comments broadcast on British television's "GMTV Sunday" program.
"When they don't come that's not acceptable and we are prepared to say that's not acceptable."
Harman said she was seeking a meeting with senior US officials to discuss the issue.
"We are their ally but if they don't do anything that we think is necessary for the British interest then we are prepared to say so and say it is not acceptable," Harman said.
Last month, a coroner investigating the death of British television journalist Terry Lloyd - shot by US troops in Iraq in March 2003 - criticised US authorities for failing to name or provide access to the marines involved in the incident.
Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker ruled that Lloyd had been unlawfully killed and asked the attorney general to take steps to bring those responsible to justice. Link
db: The 'constitutional affairs' minister, Harriet Harman, 'slams' the US - which must be like a savaging from a dead sheep. And Blair - what does he have to say? Probably "it's clearly a matter for the United States".
The US - with the apparent cooperation of our spineless government has a different way of dealing with these issues - when the boot is on the other foot:
A British government minister has criticized the US military for failing to co-operate with inquests into the deaths of British soldiers in Iraq.
Constitutional affairs minister Harriet Harman said US authorities' failure to send troops or experts as witnesses was "not acceptable."
"We have got an expectation that they should come, so that the bereaved relatives of the deceased servicemen can actually ask questions of what happened," she said in comments broadcast on British television's "GMTV Sunday" program.
"When they don't come that's not acceptable and we are prepared to say that's not acceptable."
Harman said she was seeking a meeting with senior US officials to discuss the issue.
"We are their ally but if they don't do anything that we think is necessary for the British interest then we are prepared to say so and say it is not acceptable," Harman said.
Last month, a coroner investigating the death of British television journalist Terry Lloyd - shot by US troops in Iraq in March 2003 - criticised US authorities for failing to name or provide access to the marines involved in the incident.
Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker ruled that Lloyd had been unlawfully killed and asked the attorney general to take steps to bring those responsible to justice. Link
db: The 'constitutional affairs' minister, Harriet Harman, 'slams' the US - which must be like a savaging from a dead sheep. And Blair - what does he have to say? Probably "it's clearly a matter for the United States".
The US - with the apparent cooperation of our spineless government has a different way of dealing with these issues - when the boot is on the other foot:
Undercover American agents are staging secret 'sting' operations in Britain against criminal and terrorist suspects they want to extradite to the US.
In a recent operation, agents from America's Department of Homeland Security set up a suspect by posing as dealers wanting to illegally sell night-vision goggles for export to Iran.
The spies arranged a series of clandestine meetings in London hotels, which they secretly filmed as evidence. It is thought to be the first time American agents have been caught using such sting tactics in Britain.
Urgent questions were being asked about whether the British Government had been aware of the operation. If so, it raises issues of the State collaborating with foreign agencies to entrap suspects - and if not it raises the spectre of American spies working unchecked on British soil. Link
posted by exoplanet at 3:42 PM
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