Hunt appears to be trying to increase Tory leadership appeal with hawkish u-turn, but exposes his own unprincipled u-turn
Jeremy Hunt has rushed to prop up the US narrative on events in the Strait of Hormuz, where the Trump administration has blamed attacks on oil tankers on Iran. Hunt immediately stated publicly that the attacks were ‘almost certainly’ carried out by Iran.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for caution and evidence before leaping to any conclusions – and was immediately attacked by a now-hawkish Hunt for not immediately agreeing with the US.
But Hunt’s own record shows that he warned only seven months ago, during a visit to Iran as Foreign Secretary, that any conflict with Iran could trigger a world war – as Tribune editor Ronan Burtenshaw succinctly pointed out:
Hunt’s sudden change of approach is very likely connected with his desire to be the next Tory Prime Minister – Tory members are rarely averse to some tub-thumping or to foreign interventions.
But his u-turn projects weakness, not strength. To go in such a short time from recognising the dangers of conflict to following in Trump’s wake suggests a weak mind and insufficient spine to stand up to the US president. To call for evidence and caution takes a strength of mind and character that Hunt all too plainly does not have.
Corbyn, in contrast, clearly has the presence of mind and the principle required to demand that any action in the Gulf be evidence-based and thoroughly considered – even though he will know that the Tories and their media allies will try to use it against him.
But both the Tories and the media are being wilfully disingenuous and simplistic. There is no conflict between believing that Iran is a despotic regime and still wanting evidence that it is guilty of the specific acts of which it is being accused. That’s how international law works.
Corbyn’s record – which will of course be ignored in the diatribes – show that he has been one of Parliament’s most consistent critics of the behaviour of Iran. In fact, he ranks second in the number of times he has officially condemned Iran – putting him ahead of the remaining 648 current MPs in the House of Commons.
Including, of course, Jeremy Hunt, who doesn’t even make the top ten:
To label Corbyn pro-Iran, or even to challenge his credentials as a critic of its government, is intentionally and demonstrably dishonest.
Corbyn stands in seventh place among the more than a thousand MPs who have sat in Parliament since 2005 for the number of times he condemned Iran’s Human Rights Abuses – fifty-one occasions. Those who use innuendo to suggest Corbyn has been soft on Iran because – like many MPs including Tories – he has appeared on Iran TV are equally disingenuous. Corbyn has also expressly condemned Iran TV in Parliament, too. In fact, he not only signed but sponsored a motion against the broadcaster for its behaviour.
Hunt shows all the hallmarks of a weak man attempting to look strong – trying too hard and embarrassing himself in the process. He also displays both the classic Tory lack of self-awareness and their absolute comfort with hypocrisy.
He shows the lack of judgment that has characterised the Tories for the past nine years, too. In drawing attention to Corbyn’s statesmanship and character, he has shone the most unflattering light on his own lack of either.
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WMD
I haven’t heard the US claim the video as its own – my suspicion is that it’s been handed to them by the Saudis or, possibly but less likely, the Israelis.
Either might maintain clones of Iranian vessels for just such clandestine activities but Israel would need a mother ship in the Gulf. Military drones capable of such range would likely be capable of more than just observation and helicopters certainly are so why no footage of the ‘Iranian’ vessel being strafed?
Removing a limpet mine in relatively calm conditions, even in darkness, would take only a few minutes so it’s stretching credibility to suggest the camera vehicle just happened to be in a perfect position to film the operation, so foreknowledge seems indicated.
A highly-placed spy in the Iranian camp? Possible but unlikely to risk discovery for such small beer.
I wouldn’t put money on whether it was the Saudis or one of the many semi-autonomous Iranian groups but on balance I think the Saudis have most to gain from dragging the Americans into another Middle East conflict.
Haven’t been following the news today so if events have disproved my assumptions so be it.
That’s a pretty good analysis, David. Taking anything at face value in the ME isn’t a clever option – bluff, then double and triple bluff are the norms. And there’s a marked absence of good guys in the mix.
… All resulting in large part from British imperialism and colonial rule.
Yes, the profiteering, murdering imperialist bastards and their Tory heirs carry global guilt for creating many of the causes of past and present conflict.
It’s a pot they continue to stir but, as the saying goes, “You can’t con an honest man.”
The Middle East has been fought over since the Sumerians fought the Elamites – but until the poor refuse to shoot the stranger and instead turn their guns on the warmongers nothing will change.
Well researched article.
Please produce a similarly informative piece showing the dangers and disadvantages of Britain leaving the EU.
It would lose 52/48 to an article on the dangers of not leaving
On this blog you are probably correct because of Skwawky’s obsession with Leaving. But in the wider country now that people are more aware of the lies that were told by Farage’s crowd, I doubt it.
We need investigative journalists such as Assange & Pilger to investigate, but the Labour Party are terrified of MSM criticism, so just sit back & suck it. Investigative journalism is a fiction contrived in 1940s ‘Film Noir’ films.
And coward Sajid Javid is continuing to act as America’s stooge by putting the ball in motion to have Assange extradited to the USA. I somehow doubt that Jeremy Corbyn would be so compliant.
It’s OK, citizen journalist Bellingcat Higgins (or Brown Moses as he used to call himself on the Guardian) has got our backs. He’s the new breed of journalist who gets his “evidence” directly from the security services.
Just like Luke Harding, occupant of The Guardian’s MI6 desk.
“Investigative journalism is a fiction contrived in 1940s ‘Film Noir’ films” – bullshit of the day.
You are either too young or too stupid to be posting here. You choose.
The establishment’s kowtowing to American foreign policy is expected, yet sickening. I will take Iranian/Japanese forthcoming relations as a measure of guilt over a photo of Iranian soldiers removing a limpet mine any day. If the Iranians are truly guilty, expect a quick reaction from Japan, if they aren’t, expect to hear nothing.
Not sure about that Linda. Relations between the USA and Israel didn’t deteriorate when Israel bombed the USS Liberty, to try and sink it, killing American servicemen in the process.
Ah but that was Israel and, as we all know, Israel’s special!
It really wouldn’t surprise me if it was a False Flag event. After all, it wouldn’t be the 1st time the yanks hd done that.
Yes, exactly, and why would the Iranians as good as give the US warmongers an excuse to attack them. It’s much more likely that it was the US itself or Israel, and no doubt the idea is that that’s twice now that the Iranians have attacked ships in the area blah blah blah, and NEXT time, well, we’re not gonna stand for this anymore. It’s just the same old machinations:
http://medialens.org/index.php
If you go to 3 minutes in the following video (don’t bother watching what went before) you will undoubtedly conclude that the people in the video were acting AND that it was all choreographed. Watch it a few times (the bit in question doesn’t last long) and focus on different participants each time, and you will see how they each start acting their parts just immediately after it starts:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-23892594/syria-crisis-incendiary-bomb-victims-like-the-walking-dead
Thankyou Allan, that footage is from Panorama ‘Saving Syria’s Children’ and was quickly removed from Iplayer and You Tube after complaints. bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com
I was gob smacked to see BBC’s Ian Pennell and Darren Conway being driven in a truck clearly marked with the emblem of a terrorist organisation.- ‘Scrutiny of scenes in Saving Syria’s Children reveal that reporter Ian Pannell and cameraman Darren Conway were embedded with jihadi group Ahrar al-Sham which, according to Human Rights Watch, had three weeks earlier worked alongside Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra as one of “the key fundraisers, organizers, planners, and executors” of an attack in which at least 190 civilians were killed.
A 2013 Foundation for Defense of Democracies report states that a “leading figure” in Ahrar al-Sham, Abu Khalid al-Suri – real name Mohamed Bahaiah – had been identified by Spanish investigators as “one of Osama bin Laden’s most trusted couriers”.
https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/
The other female doctor (with the headscarf) appeared often in BBC’s Trust Me, I’m a doctor. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3CyrhG6TX3gflJTNx29mtjp/are-smoothies-good-for-me
By her own account, she became inspired to become a doctor while she was in the army involved in applying make up to army personnel to realistically fake injuries to help army medics with training. The BBC seems to be littered with those who have no qwarms about bringing about rogeme change in other countries and, it seems can be trusted to stay silent for years after. Beenchecked out by MI6 I take it?
It’s the use of the phrase “almost certainly” that’s the giveaway. May used it regarding the Skripals. It’s the new stock phrase for “we couldn’t be bothered to construct a plausible narrative, but we reckon you’re that punch-drunk by now you’ll believe any old rubbish”!
Philip F. Nelson has written a book about this. I have purchased it but have not read it yet.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29501460-remember-the-liberty
His first book was LBJ:Mastermind of the JFK Assassination and is really good.
JC is right to question US “evidence.”
Are memories so short that we forget WMD in Iraq?
If Iran did this it would be such a stupid thing to do.
Guess when it comes to the right wing USA when they say Jump – the Tories say – How High?
Wonder if Right Wing Barbarian Trump will be tweeting “Fake News”?
Let us not forget that there is no real evidence, as Scott Ritter has pointed out, that Russia has violated the INF missile treaty.
And now comes the suggestion by William Nitze that the US might be violating the treaty. But this has not stopped Hunt from swallowing the Trump administration lies on this subject.
Nitze writes:
“The United States may be seeking to avoid scrutiny of our own possible noncompliance with the treaty. The Aegis ashore systems deployed in Romania and planned for Poland could be modified to have the ability to launch nuclear-tipped cruise missiles in excess of the range limitations set by the INF and could be armed with these missiles very quickly.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/trump-inf-treaty-russia-national-security/
If shit were brains Hunt would have enough to totally destroy his being, let alone those standing closeby!
His benign grin, that takes over everytime he’s in front of a camera!
Should be enough for anyone with a mediocre of intelligence that he’s not fit for any purpose!
Along with the rest of the motley crew vying for the top position!
The only place these drug takers should be is in “PRISON”!
They make these laws, they confessed, they should be arrested forthwith!
bbbarabas, that’s not a benign grin, it’s an “I’m an evil bastard and you don’t know what I’ve got planned for you” grin.
The NAME says it a Jeremy HUNT.Destroyed theNHS after 6 years and god knows how much blood he’ has got on his hands.What sort of morality does a person need to get into the modern day conservative party.? The answer is in the name Jeremy hunt,Corbyn does not wade in blood or advocate bombing innocent civilians into the stone age,so he must be the villain of the story in the media and the Tory party.How many of our PLP will join the HUNT in hounding our Leader.When will the Purge start?,time is of the essence,and we only get one chance of a socialist government.
It looks like Bernie agrees with Corbyn.
Trump Must Not Be Allowed to Use Gulf of Oman Incidents as ‘Pretext for Illegal War With Iran’: Bernie Sanders
“Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman are unacceptable and must be fully investigated,” the Vermont Independent and 2020 president hopeful said in a statement. “But this incident must not be used as a pretext for a war with Iran, a war which would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States, Iran, the region, and the world.”
“The time is now for the United States to exert international leadership,” Sanders continued, “and bring the countries in the region together to forge a diplomatic solution to the growing tensions.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/14/trump-must-not-be-allowed-use-gulf-oman-incidents-pretext-illegal-war-iran-bernie
Hunt thinkin’ he’s some sort of badass….I mean, come on ffs…Just look at the scrawny, pencil-necked toff. Coudldn’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag and he’s coming across like he’s the big ‘I am’?
What a total prick. We’ve got aircraft carriers without aircraft, destroyers that lose all power once their missile guidance systems are switched on, soldiers that are forced to buy their own equipment because the issue is useless crap; and nukes that we can’t be certain will even launch properly – and that GOBSHITE acts the way he does – as well as laying into Corbyn?
If I was the Iranian foreign minister I’d piss meself laughin in hunt’s face if he tried to become billy big bollocks with me. If I was Corbyn I’d pull hunt to one side in the commons and offer the weasel a straightener in private. Hunt’d shit himself.
Only good thing about the fixed term parliament act is that it seems to be allowing the Tories plenty of time in power to destroy themselves.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the British public (or decisive sections of it) in their voting habits.
Spot on
How do they get out of this shitfest, it’s been coming since 1979 when Thatcher destroyed one nation Tory party
The sky is black with the wings of chickens coming home to roost
I can remember watching the old movie’s depicting Dickensian morality and British life for the upper and lower classes.I was just a child living in 1950S Bolton ,and even then sorounded by mill chimneys and sometimes grim reality of life in a Lancashire mill town,,nothing in them old movie’s can match the future that life for my grandchildren face if we do NOT get rid of the Tory government and replace it with a Labour government.We only have one chance to rid this country of the Tory government.We are drinking in the lastchance saloon. .We must come together and ensure that our man Jeremy becomes the first socialist priminister in my lifetime.And we all know what that Tory Hunt can do. ?We need to move quickly to purge the… treacherous Poison from the councillors and the mps who if left inside the Labour party will destroy us from within .Every week that goes by I despair at the arguments entertained I might be,but time is running out.We have a future that only the Left can deliver,concentrate the weapons on the red torys and their friends in the establishment.
Is it possible to change rules for MP’s who leave party or who have whip removed, I have no clue