John SawersA curious, clumsy, and perhaps dangerous intervention by the head of Britain's foreign intelligence service....
Speaking at a public event in London, MI6 chief John Sawers declared that Iran is “two years away” from becoming a “nuclear weapons state” and that, “when that moment came”, Israel and/or the US would have to decide whether to launch a military strike.
Some Iranians inside and outside the country have tried to highlight the immorality and ineffectiveness of the Iranian intelligence service, which displays outmost strength in interrogating and imprisoning Iranian citizens for their political views and peaceful activities but has proved powerless in securing the country against acts of terrorism. In the current international climate, however, it is not hard to understand why these voices have gone unheard.
I am not sure the main story is in the first paragraph of this article by Richard Norton-Taylor of The Guardian of London: the real stunner would have been if the head of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, had announced that his officers were regularly waterboarding and breaking kneecaps.
In lieu of that, I think the real take-away here --- in the first public speech by an MI6 head in the agency's century of existence --- is the levels of barricades that Joh Sawer set up to prevent any exposure of MI6 activities.
In short, the unprecedented appearance was to push back against the pressure, as in the legal case of Binyam Mohamed, the UK resident abused on three continents, for British intelligence to comply with demands for information. That includes placing MI6 above the legal process: no court can be allowed, in Sawers' view, to have access to documents or testimony.
2030 GMT: Full Service Tomorrow. I have just gotten back from Holland --- apologies for limited updates today.
We will be back from 0600 GMT with complete coverage of latest developments.
1415 GMT: The Nuclear Dance. Another step in the diplomatic tango towards talks on uranium enrichment between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China, Germany)....
Friday, July 13, 2012 at 10:26