Review: Defending The Realm – MI5 and The Shayler Affair – by Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding

This is just another one of the many books I’ve read on the security services / spies / intelligence agencies in general. I guess I have a morbid fascination. Non-fiction throws up some pretty weird stuff – Life itself is a lot stranger than fiction. This tale from a turncoat ex MI5 employee David Shayler, comes from a time of great change in the world, Security Services in general and it interests me in particular as I was living down in London at that specific time and had what I believe to be my own brush with Shayler’s employers. It was at a time (in history) when people still bought and read daily newspapers and not just get all their news information off Donald Trump’s twitter feed. I can distinctly remember all the controversial headlines about the whole affair.

The book is written by some Daily Mail journalists, a sort of hive for some of the smelliest sort of flies that the tabloid journalist industry attracts so automatically I was on my guard as to the agenda and the sort of bias, provocation, and fascist ideology of the book. Also, let’s get one thing straight. David Shayler is not a hero like they might try to portray him as, he’s not even an anti-hero. He’s just a sort of bo standard below-average MI5 officer, a disgruntled employee, a whistleblower. He knows what he’s signed up to by applying for the job in the first place, by successfully passing the vetting and by being offered a position. I think the Official Secrets Act as much as anyone may find it repulsive and disagree with it is pretty clear and explicit in what it states. Basically Shayler is a criminal and this book is evidence of his crime. He’s broken the Official Secrets Act, he’s also clearly committed treason and although he perhaps lacks the glamour of those that have gone before him such a Kim Philby, he’s certainly nothing more than traitor scum acting against the interests of this country which is exactly what MI5 or their employees are not supposed to be doing. Mi5 is their to protect the nation and yes, the job is difficult but I think the outset that Shayler has failed totally to appreciate the patriotic element of the work. It may have changed since the cold War and be [perhaps a little more boring, but it will adapt like many other industries and indeed since the time of publication MI5 has adapted, facing a new enemy is Islamic terror and the end of the Cold War has proven only really to be a brief ceasefire as the Russians are now back on the scene added to which a growing threat from China makes MI5 an even more critiical organization in the contemporary (and future) world.

I hold the whole message that Shayler and the writers are trying to present as completely invalid and very easy to discount. Zero sympathy for him. Nobody should be reading his revelations. Yes maybe a private letter to the MI5 boss would have been OK. But selling your story to the Daily Mail and anyone else with a chequebook? At least Kim Philby was sort of driven by ideology and is therefore it’s much more easy to identify with him. Shayler just basically wanted a nice comfy hug payout so he didn’t have to worry about his mortgage. Selfish capitalist. Thatcherist, blinkered self-aggrandisement and totally free of ethics and morality. About as close as we get to James Bond his little escape to France where his greed catches up with him and he eventually gets raided and arrested by the French authorities He was probably given a nice comfie bed and a constant supply of fresh croissants out there, just in case and It wasn’t corruption or anything like injustice. He was a serious wanted criminal and that is what INTERPOL etc is set up to sort out. Cheered me up when he finally got to Belmarsh. I’m tempted to look up his wiki but to see where he is now but it will just annoy me further.

He’s an anonymous dot in a big blob and the secrecy of the work, yes it’s underpaid, difficult and the whole system and organization is frankly sh*t but so is everything else in #brokenbritain and has been for a long time. It’s reality. You don’t get to cut corners in life. Just a buy a lottery ticket like anyone else – I’m glad the sort of celebrity tabloid culture has removed a lot of power from the redtops with their lottery payout bribes to corrupt people and deliver huge sales. The British Press is by far the biggest threat to National Security we have. Greed and capitalism has turned them into the most sinister devious body of enemies ever produced on this island. They will stop at nothing to subvert Britain, the Commonwealth or the Empire. Just examining a tiny of fraction of Prince Harry’s valiant quest against them seeking justice is total proof of their treachery. Shame Murdoch didn’t holiday with Maxwell and the rest really as Davy Jones’ locker seems the best place for them all.

Well, looking directly at the book, Shayler claims MI5 cocked up IRA city of London attacks, He claims through word-of-mouth secondary information about an assassination plot by the British government on Colonel Gaddafi – Yes, well, Mr Shayler, Gadaffi (now dead of course), may have certain human rights etc but after Lockerbie he’s pretty much clear as an enemy of the British people and State. That’s who MI5 and MI6 and GCHQ are supposed to be targeting really. I was gutted that you didn’t take the offer by the Libyan intelligence service to clear off to Tripoli, would have made a much more exciting tale, one way or the other.

It’s no recruitment manual for MI5, further justification that the actual job is absolutely nothing at all like a James Bond film. The appendix 2 of Shayler’s recommendations for organizational change, probably the most boring tract of text I’ve ever read, but is great in clarifying just what a hideous corporate body of bureaucratic bungling the MI5 security service is. I can see why MI5 officers can be so deadly effective and dangerous if they are spending 23 and half hours chained up to a desk under a pile of paperwork and government forms then I guess that for the half hour allocated break where they get to do the glamorous work in high speed car chases, staking the State’s budget on roulette spins and copping off with foreign birds etc, they are going to be so angry and wound up and pissed off that they’ll pretty much take out all their frustrations on any target and cause serious destructive damage.

Some of the revelations were significant like how much financial wastage there is. An example is the £25 million spent on an amateur computer system that didn’t work and that they had to go out and buy an off the shelf version of Microsoft Windows 95 to sort out the IT in this critical department of National Security shows clearly that mismanagement is very possible and real.

I think that it does clarify the need for change and that there are serious inadequacies and probably worse than a standard government civil service department I think that we could maybe look to other countries and the way they handle their intelligence services. The CIA and Mossad, for example, are vastly different. In many ways they have more liberty and power and more open and more effective. Our secrecy laws are a bit archaic. There is most certainly a lack of balances and checks in place for our intelligence services that would limit abuses, enable necessary change and improve efficiency and productivity and better achieve the desired goal of national security. I think that for this country James Bond is quite a double-edged sword. Whereas on the one hand it is a very positive and successful (fictional) brand, I would argue it is the very epitome of global espionage propaganda achievement, par excellence. Equally it is quite old now and it must entangle the intelligence services in manacles really and be very frustrating. Deception works to a point but needs to be balanced a bit with reality, openness and honesty.

I think looking back that even though it was pretty damned boring, that Dame Stella Rimington, as head of MI5 who released a boo, that this book was actually a watershed moment and an historic change in methodology for MI5. Yes, Ok we end up with the sort of Shayler trash a s a result. But is signals that change is happening.

I feel like a nosey idiot myself for contributing to the obvious treason of Shayler et all by purchasing the book. But it is an interesting read and I think might, if used properly, be useful to enact change. It must be a very popular text out in the Kremlin in Moscow or Pyongyang or Beijing or the Afghan Cave complex. It demonstrates weakness to our enemies, possible exploits and perhaps encourages hostile attacks on out nation. But it’s subject an idiot who I highly doubt had much access at all to any form of high-level security information. Vetting system is broken obviously. What to do about it aside from the recommended changes – well, really push the death penalty for treason to properly discourage future Shaylers – Hanging, drawing and quartering must have a value aside from public entertainment. I discount most of the so-called scandal and I’m pretty confident that although there have been mishaps and errors that MI5 in fact do actually run an effective security service with regard to domestic issues. The lack of serious security incidents on British soil is testament to their work being efficient.

Review: The Assault On Truth – Boris Johnson and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism – by Peter Oborne

I think everyone that has ever heard of Boris Johnson associates him with lies. Oborne, who is an established veteran political journalist, in this relatively brief text, exposes the extent of the former Conservative Prime Minister’s almost total aversion to the truth. He reckons Johnson has told over thousands of lies and although the scope of the book is not to document every single lie and prove it is a lie, it just gives a brief overview of some of the worst and most notorious of these lies, especially those told in Parliament. Oborne believes and I think quite justly that by undermining the integrity of Parliament where under the Ministerial Code of Conduct it clearly states the rules with regard to any false information being given by an MP to be a serious breach. The problem of policing this is brought into question and the lack of proper discipline seems to have only encouraged Johnson to continue to bring the whole institution of government into disrepute.

In an act of political neutrality Oborne compares Boris’ lies with those told my Tony Blair, especially regarding the second Iraq war. He also mentions that Bill Clinton was a proven liar. Angela Merkel fairs more favourably with her poor East German background, hard-working ethics, and scientific rigour contrasting with Johnson’s privileged, elitist Etonian, comedy gaff brush-offs and aloofness. Donald Trump is seen as a mentor and the Atlantic relationship seems to have been convenient for both in their endless quest for omnipotent control of media and disregard for traditional political values, even those values inherent in their own parties. Oborne acknowledges the extremism of Trump but equates Boris’ vile lies to be on a par, if somewhat disguised within the bounds of British society.  

When illustrating an example of a lie, Oborne is careful with regard to defamation laws, to provide footnote examples and often internet links with proof of the lie. He often refers to his own extensive website that documents more fully the comprehensive voluminous curriculum vitae of Boris Johnson’s lies.

I won’t spoil the book for the reader in this review to give examples of the many lies. Suffice it to say there are the obvious ones you probably know already plus some that escaped the radar of many including me. I don’t think it’s anything for Boris to be proud of and it will most probably be a long time before the integrity of Parliament and trust of the voting public is regained. A shameful legacy for a Prime Minister.

Review: The Dragons and the Snakes – How The Rest Learned to Fight The West – by David Kilcullen

This is one of the very best books I have ever read. It is up to date material and full of cutting edge military theory and ideas and I believe is critical essential reading for any politician or military personnel, especially those who conduct their employment in the NATO led West. I am no stranger to Australian soldier-scholar David Kilcullen’s work. This is the fourth book of his that I have read. This work surpasses the previous books and it is genuinely a masterpiece. What are the dragons and snakes? The dragons are the main, most powerful nation-state enemies. Russia and China are the main dragons and additionally we have Iran and North Korea who pose significant military threat and who are ideologically opposed to the West. The snakes are state and non-state actors. Less powerful nation states such as Iraq or Afghanistan and terrorist organisations and quasi nation jihadist states and their peripherals such as ISIS. Al Qaeda is a big snake, as is the Taliban as is Hezbollah and it is these snakes that have predominated active warfare measures from the USA and her allies in the post Cold War world. On the whole Kilcullen criticises Western military action in the recent past citing little evidence of genuine success. Traditional warfare and indeed highly technological modern military fighting that reached its zenith in the first Iraqi conflict of 1991 has been made redundant by adaptive enemies who have learnt how to successfully withstand dominance by coalition forces and have adapted techniques and tactics that have in effect neutralised our methods. While the world witnesses this stalemate between snakes and our armies the dragons have been sat watching, taking notes and suitably adapting their own military philosophies to take advantage of the new global environment. The way in which these dragons have re-emerged into active roles demonstrates new confidence and their upward projection into the future looks very daunting a positive to a fading Western democratic dominant imperialism. The main message of this book is that if we do not adjust ourselves and realign our military strategy we will ultimately face defeat and the political and economic collapse of our societies. When analysing the snakes we look in detail at various different organisations. ‘Combat Darwinism’ is an interesting scientific look at the decapitation of the snake that is Al Qaeda. Our strategic focus was to target leadership of this jihadist monster and every time a key leader was successfully culled a new hydra head on the snake was born and the enemy’s success in adaptation, even though its movement may have come close to complete annihilation, meant that natural selection allowed the foe to fight again with even more strength and resurge. Often our own militaries pulled back from the precipice due to economic and political factors, allowing the necessary reformation space for the enemy. This has been a key part of analysis for the War on Terror. After 9/11 We succeeded in killing the likes of Osama Bin Laden and most of the rest of the leadership but ‘The Base’ movement just became a self-perpetuating force unto itself without traditional vanguard leadership and it morphed into other jihadist factions such as AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq) and ISIS, producing further problems. The very fact that today, The Taliban are back in government in Afghanistan demonstrates Combat Darwinism in effect and the future of global jihad seems to be a lasting phenomenon that will continue to plague the Western World for the foreseeable future. I found the case study of Hezbollah as it fights against Israel and later in Syria to have been very illuminating. Their adaptation and growth have demonstrated how a tactically weaker military force can survive, grow more powerful and be effective in the face of complicated battle odds. Looking at the snakes we see a new Russia under the autocratic reins of Vladimir Putin who is becoming ever more military active as his increasing hostility and delusion grows especially with the latest invasion of Ukraine. Liminal warfare tactics used by Russia introduce new elements to modern warfare against the West. Operating just below the detectable surface a combination of economic warfare, information warfare and cyberwarfare does just enough damage to Russian enemies without provoking military response. From cyberwarfare attacks in Estonia through to democratic election social media disinformation warfare during Trump election in USA or Brexit in the UK, Russia is undermining the West. Often it is different sides’ different perceptions of what constitutes hostile actions or warfare that our polarised views can fail to distinguish. In the last days of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev received promises that NATO would not expand any further to the East yet Western leaders lied in these reassurances. Putin and the Russian military rightfully are concerned by any move that threatens their territorial integrity. Post communist oligarch capitalism and an easing of traditional espionage has allowed a traditionally focussed long term enemy to rebuild and rekindle its old hostilities to the West. The study of China illustrates again how economic and computer technologies can be used liminally to fight out societies. The Chinese military has slowly been rebuilding and modernising. Its Navy has emerged from nowhere and it has been encroaching on island chains in the South China Sea, building barriers that can be used as both defensive and offensive bases against any future major conflict. I was particularly pleased to see Kilcullen reveal the importance of the military theory work of PLA strategists, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. I have only recently read the ‘Unrestricted Warfare’ book that since its publication at the turn of the millennium, has been a core component of the People’s Liberation Army’s development. Although he sees some of the authors’ ideas as pure paranoia and delusion this also demonstrates how perception on different sides can be very different. China has undoubtedly focussed very heavily on economic warfare and the fact the renminbi now underwrites the whole US economy and the globalisation of Chinese capital investment in key infrastructure such as ports or via tech firms such as Huawei is forecast by Qiao and Wang. The question is asked in that with China being so overexposed economically could mean that direct traditional military conflict could be less likely. The analyses of our enemies is concise and precise and unsettling. What are Kilcullen’s answers to the posed dilemma? He admits that there are no obvious solutions and although it is clear that change has to occur and is likely to come on both sides, The West and the Dragons and Snakes, it is felt that a Byzantine approach to preservation of Empire is the best path forward. Acceptance of our fading power and influence yet also a pragmatic and sustaining approach to preserving and development our military, political and economic futures.

Review: Russians Among Us – Sleeper Cells & The Hunt for Putin’s Agents – by Gordon Correra

I’ve read Gordon Correra’s previous work in espionage literature and for this reason I was drawn to seek out this new offering. In the current climate of the Russian invasion of Ukraine under ex KGB spy, Vladimir Putin, I felt that this relatively recent work would highlight some of the ongoing dangers of Russian spies that have infiltrated our societies in the West. I did enjoy watching the TV series ‘The Americans’ that presented a fictional version of what Correra exposes as a fait accompli, the reality of embedded Russian illegals, sleeper cells inside the USA. The story skips between the lives of several of these trained Russian agents who take on fake identities of dead people in the West with a view to setting up ‘normal’ lives in the country of the Cold War enemy state. These illegals get normal jobs, buy houses, live in suburbia and slowly but surely are always looking for ways of undermining their host nation, seeking out potential contacts in their business and social lives who might be able to prove advantageous to Russia. They could be within powerful political circles or in technology or finance. These identified potential real people could be approached to become KGB / FSB / GRU agents or could be blackmailed. Obviously the game of espionage is cat and mouse and played equally voraciously by both sides. The CIA and FBI counter-intelligence in the case of many of the more recent illegals manoeuvred the whole expensive operation. A very valuable CIA source, Alexander Poteyev was head of the illegals program in the FSB and for over a decade was revealing all the critical information of the whole affair. Thus, the FBI maintained close surveillance on the spies for over a decade, watching their every move from their marital lives, their children growing up to any movements towards vital US targets in their operational activity. Putin has a twisted logic about the West and is an avid supporter of covert intelligence operations against his Cold War adversaries. His absolute detestation of treason and spy turncoats led him to attacking two ex-KGB comrades on U.K. soil. Alexander Litvinenko was murdered in London by radioactive poisoning (Polonium) and later, Sergei Skripal, who had been granted an official pardon by Putin, and had been part of a Vienna exchange by for the arrested Russian illegals, was attacked in Salisbury by a Novichok biological nerve agent but survived the assassination attempt. He had been an active MI6 agent and was released from Russian prison. It was interesting seeing how technology change and the post Soviet Union era redefined the illegals program and how Russian agents were just masquerading in the West using their real identities. The internet and social media brought a new dimension to espionage with active political meddling in the US election leading to the Donald Trump Presidential election of 2016. The book details shocking secrets of the clandestine world of international espionage and is an entertaining tale. One can only wonder how little we actually know and just how many illegals actually are still active and who successfully evaded the capture net.

Review: Putin’s People – How the KGB took back Russia and then took on The West – by Catherine Belton

The author of this, the best study of Vladimir Putin that I have read to date, is Catherine Belton, a Financial Times journalist that was based in Moscow. It is a comprehensive study of the rise of Putin and how he has cemented a Tsar-like power as head of the New Russia. We go from a relatively humble career as a KGB agent in East Germany through to a man who has consolidated vast amounts of wealth and power in an insurmountable concrete position of power as head of State. The anarchic conditions of Yeltsin’s post Soviet Union capitalist experimentation left opportunities for many and was very disruptive both globally and within Russia. Putin enters politics as deputy mayor of St Petersburg where he begins a steady ascent to supreme power. So much of his rise is based on total corruption and dodgy dealings with organised crime such as the Tambov group. Putin’s main allies who have accompanied his meteoric success have been the Siloviki or former KGB and FSB agents. Systematically towards the ed of the Cold War as perestroika and glasnost opened doors, money and large sums of it were being funnelled out to the West by KGB agents planning the post Soviet reality of Russia. Putin challenged the new wave of super wealthy oligarchs who were the revolutionary Russian cowboys who seized State assets during the anarchic capitalism. Boris Berezovsky and Mikhail Khodorkhovsky were the most high profile victims of the new Putin state facts that oligarchs had to comply and were subservient to the Kremlin. Roman Abramovich was more lucky and has a cosier more complaint relationship with the régime. Londongrad and siphoning of cash to Panama Papers offshore banks enriched Putin and a web of total corruption of all, the judiciary, the opposition politicians, rogue regions of the former USSR, all have been forced to submit to Putin aggression and domination. Some of the links are so discrete and conniving and the journalistic excellence of the author brings to light a lot of the hidden deceit. Espionage has had a lot of psychological resonance within the Kremlin with democratic foreign politics being subjected to Russian meddling and interference. It is interesting to note the evidence of Putin’s role in Brexit and the Trump presidency. There has been massive financial input into the British Conservative Party and frankly the Russian impact on Donald Trump is totally blatant and obvious. He was farming out Trump Towers franchises across the world entirely to dodgy Russian businessmen and gangsters while pocketing a healthy 18% return cushion on all investments without touching his own unscrupulous dollar bank accounts. The reality of this non-fiction real life account is so far-fetched and shocking that it could never possibly have been invented by a modern day Dostoyevsky as for sure, the true story of Vladimir Putin is stranger than fiction. This book has obvious relevance with this odd man’s decision to invade Ukraine and its international and domestic dangerous consequences. A great book.