"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear" - George Orwell
 

Iraq gets ready for Armageddon
 
Iraq is desperately seeking new conventional weapons from Eastern Europe, China and North Korea,while at the same time pushing ahead with its Weapons of Mass Destruction program. The United States talks in terms of a War with Iraq much later this year or even in 2003, however recent developments might suggest that Washington does not have that amount of time before Saddam Hussein becomes a genuine threat not only to the Middle Eastern but to much of Europe and US forces deployed throughout the region.
 
It is reported that on April 15th 2002 crates of highly sensitive material were loaded onto an Iraqi Air Force IL-76 at a Ukrainian air field in Odessa. The Ukraine has since denied that they have supplied new radars to Iraq and indeed this was apparently the cover story at the base, however the possibility that the crates in fact contained the final ingredients needed to give Saddam Hussein the ultimate weapon cannot be ruled out. The time to a major confrontation with Iraq is short and the risk of a nuclear conflict may now be growing rapidly.
 
Contact Richard Bennett Media if you require this exclusive story in more detail.
 
Change at the top at MI5, same as before?
 
Supporters of Eliza Manningham-Buller the present Deputy Director-General of MI5 are doing their very best to influence the British Government on the appointment of a new Director General. The present incumbent, Sir Stephen Lander retires in October 2002 and is believed to want his deputy to succeed him. A veritable snowstorm of press leaks and confident predictions that Ms Manningham-Buller is the strongest internal-candidate and likely to get the seal of approval ahead of the three over main candidates leaves little doubt that the Lander camp are doing their best to ensure a smooth hand over later this year.
 
It was reported that both Stephen Lander and Ms Manningham-Buller had threatened to resign in 1996 as part of a skilfully organized campaign to ensure that Lander succeeded the since disgraced Dame Stella Rimington and it has been evident that Ms Manningham-Buller has been seen by many as the likely successor to Sir Stephen Lander, particularly since her appointment as Deputy Director- General five years ago when she was leapfrogged over an experienced male colleague to become Sir Stephen's number two with responsibility for operations and administration. Ms Manningham-Buller had been responsible for 'A' Branch which handles surveillance operations and is believed to have developed considerable knowledge of the covert world of telephone monitoring, 'bugging', burglary and the 'watchers'. In the 1990s she spent time at British Embassy in Washington as MI5 liaison officer to the FBI where she gained respect for her abilities if not becoming well liked by her US colleagues.
 
Still just a change of a fresh face in MI5
 
However, not everyone in the present Labour Government is so enamoured of an Officer who is not well liked in MI5 where she is widely considered as 'charmless', lacking in real man-management skills, and rather more aggressive than Dame Stella. Her apparently well earned nickname is 'bullying manner' and amongst the more irreverent members of MI5's chattering class the present DG and his DDG are known as 'Batman & Robin'. There remains the outside possibility that the Government may listen to the insider dissidents who believe the task of modernising MI5 might be better done by an outsider with fresh eyes rather than a career security officer. The final recommendation comes through a high-powered Civil Service selection board, and it is the Home Secretary, David Blunkett who makes the key decision which has to be approved by the Prime Minister.
 
However, whoever is appointed as the new Director-General next month will face expanding and modernizing the service to meet the challenges posed by the September 11th terrorist attacks and particularly 'G' Branch which deals with international terrorism. While it will remain important that 'T' Branch and the threat of renewed attacks by the Real IRA and doubts about the long-term commitment of the Provisionals to peace should not be neglected, organized crime and a growth in far right wing and neo-fascist groups are also causing growing concern in MI5 and will again feature prominently in the new DG's diary. After the end of the cold war the leadership of security and intelligence services throughout the West were left scratching around for new roles to play in order to maintain their staffing levels, budget and in some cases their very existence. Osama Bin-Laden has ensured that MI5 and the other services are back where they feel they belong, at the centre of the secret Government where they retain great influence without a shred of meaningful responsibility to the electorate.
 
Richard M. Bennett (author of ESPIONAGE, published by Virgin June 6th 2002)  
 

AFI Research, The Ground Floor, 27 The Avenue, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2BZ, UK.
afi@supanet.com   contact:  tel:  +44(0)1626 33 50 40   fax:  +44(0)1626 33 50 40

US Office c/o Alan Simpson, National Press Building, Suite 1059, Washington DC 20045, USA
news@comlinks.com   contact:  tel: +001(202) 662 7109   fax: +001(202) 662 7127

Richard M. Bennett is the author of FIGHTING FORCES a review of the worlds leading Armies, including many in the Middle East, published in September 2001 and is available from Barrons of New York  www.barronseduc.com  ISBN 0-7641-5343-9  and the forthcoming ESPIONAGE An encyclopedia of Spies and Secrets, which will be available from Virgin Books later this year.

Richard Bennett Media also provides coverage of specialist domestic Political, Social, and Law & Order issues and acts as consultants for international Film and TV Companies on military and espionage history. If quoting from this Media Briefing in anyway, please ensure that you credit Richard Bennett Media at all times

The AFI Research website lists many of our Associates and Contributors including  'America goes to War' at Orbat.com  and the defence coverage of Milnet.com.

************************************************************ADVERTISEMENT - FREE NEWS SERVICE! **********************************************************************
The war on terrorism means defense news has become vital; that's why for the foreseeable future PERISCOPE will provide you ABSOLUTELY FREE its Daily Defense News Capsules. Every morning our experienced editors deliver to your email box the most important defense-related stories from press sources worldwide. To receive this FREE SERVICE send an empty email to mailto:ddnc@ucg.com. There's no obligation; act now so you won't miss a single issue! mailto:ddnc@ucg.com.

************************************************************ADVERTISEMENT - FREE NEWS SERVICE!  **********************************************************************