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147/Stephen Dorril
Stephen Dorril reviews a book which provides a ‘devastating insight’ into the mindset of MI5 : Annie Machon, Spies, Lies & Whistleblowers: MI5, MI6 and The Shayler Affair (Book Guild) £17.95
15/8/05: At one level this is not a very good book. It is badly edited, too large print size, too many acronyms, pages of material which stray into areas the author is not an authority on, and a largely tedious read for the average reader. However…..With bombs going off in London, there can be no more important book at this moment in time. This is an absolutely devastating insight into the mindset of MI5 and its inability to deal with terrorism. A middle-ranking officer (and they are officers not agents) at the heart of the counter-terror campaign against the IRA and middle east terrorism, Ms Machon details in mind-numbing detail the processes and modes of operation used by MI5.
Here is an agency crippled by bureaucratic fixtures of a Kafkaesque nature; staffed by disillusioned and largely inexperienced young people - the best leave early or turn to drink; unable to respond to new technology (there were no computers ten years ago - intelligence was sent by post); ruled over by what seem incompetent time-servers; and lost in a maze of factional infighting and non-co-operation with other agencies.
If this all sounds like yesterday’s news, readers should be aware that the police are currently scathing about MI5’s huge intelligence failure (not the media spin ‘intelligence gap’) which surrounds the latest bombings. The same structures which operated against the IRA are still in place. The same lack of co-operation still exists.
Some of us were waiting to see what Ms Machon would reveal. She stood behind David Shayler and never said a word. But we were aware that she probably knew more than David did. There are no great revelations here, but she does add considerable detail to David’s various accusations, and provides the evidence that MI5 was obsessed with ‘subversion’ and built up thousands of files on people, whose worst crime was to write to the local paper.
If this seems, again, like yesterday’s news, people should be aware that MI5 has simply changed the labels - ‘subversive’ becomes ‘Muslim fundamentalist’.
Machon’s great virtue, however, is to have written a highly detailed account of the inner workings of a security agency. This is an agency laid bare. Every journalist should read this book in order to rectify the myths and misunderstandings even the most experienced writers on this area perpetrate every day on screens and in our newspapers. All the so-called security experts (and I include myself) barely rise above the level of speculation.
The only ones who appear to have the details at their fingertips are nothing more than, as Ms Machon details, stooges of the intelligence services, dependent on secret briefings, which are more often than not, deliberate disinformation.
Again, this may seem like some arcane subject of interest to anoraks and the media, intent on dealing with intelligence either as a mysterious science which no ordinary person can understand, or a jokey subject which must always have a James Bond angle. However, as the Iraq/WMD debacle and the recent bombings illustrate, ‘intelligence’ has become, with the demise of ideologies and voter apathy, one of the few means by which governments can reach the people. Its elusive nature and lack of accountability enables politicians to hide behind the flag of ‘national security’. Ms Machon has blown away those kinds of excuses and puts forward a good case that more democratic accountability would lead to an agency better equipped to deal with terrorism.
Terrorism can only be defeated by good intelligence or by politics. Tony Blair has dismissed the latter (the Iraq war connection) and exonerated the recent performance of MI5. Reading Ms Machon’s book leaves one pessimistic about the future. The alternative left is the security route beloved by MI5 (and rightly attacked by Machon as being counter-productive) - the abuse of civil liberties, increased staff and resources, and increased powers under new counter-terrorism laws. It is a route which has already failed.
Stephen Dorril is the author of Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism To be published by Viking in October 2005
Last modified: Monday, August 15, 2005
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Previous stories
Miscellany
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Not so public launch
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Without Comment: FA hires from DCMS
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Making the important interesting: Grade speaks!
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