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Neocon Nuttery See other Neocon Nuttery Articles Title: Secret Iraq memo leaked by civil servant A secret Downing Street memo detailing talks between US President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair was leaked by a civil servant, the Old Bailey has heard. David Keogh passed the memo to a friend, Leo O'Connor, at a local dining club in Northampton. But police were called in when political researcher O'Connor placed it in papers for his boss, Anthony Clarke, Labour MP for Northampton South, to see, the jury was told. David Perry QC, prosecuting, said the reason the memo was leaked was to bring its contents into the public domain. But the record of the April 16, 2004, meeting in Washington was sensitive and was concerned with the US and UK policy towards Iraq. "The discussions ranged over a number of issues of a sensitive nature," said Mr Perry. "This document contained information about this nation's defence interests and this nation's international relations." The judge told the jury that parts of the case relating to sensitive material and matters of national security would be held in camera away from the public. The contents of the memo were not read out in open court. Keogh, 50, and O'Connor, 44, both from Northampton, are charged under the Official Secrets Act of 1989. Keogh, who was a communications officer at the Cabinet Office, was alleged to have passed the memo to O'Connor between April 15 and May 29, 2004. Keogh denies two charges of making a damaging disclosure of part of a Government document in his possession as a Crown servant without lawful authority. O'Connor denies a charge of making a damaging disclosure of a document passed to him illegally. Mr Perry said the Washington meeting had been attended by the President and Prime Minister, together with "highly placed" individuals from both sides. A record of the discussions was compiled by Matthew Rycroft, Mr Blair's private secretary for foreign affairs, on the same day. It was written on Downing Street headed paper at the British Ambassador's residence in Washington and was addressed to Geoffrey Adams, of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said Mr Perry. "The letter was marked 'secret and personal' at the bottom of each page," he added. It was to be sent to specific people in the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office, the British Ambassador in Washington, the United Nations in New York and the British representative in Iraq. Mr Perry said the letter emphasised that it must not be copied further and must only be seen by people who needed to know. It was then sent on a secure fax machine to 10 Downing Street. Part of the distribution system involved the memo going to the Cabinet Office communications centre in Whitehall, where Keogh was on duty, said Mr Perry. Keogh allegedly took the faxed copy or parts of it "in order to disclose its contents". Mr Perry added: "His intention was to make the contents public or put them into the public domain." Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Poster Comment: This will rise above the din in the UK only...
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#1. To: Eoghan (#0)
The leak and the memo have been in the news for some time. What's happening now is the trial of one of the accused leakers.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
Treason, treason, that's what it is...exposing the criminals in government is illegal.
"First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win." --Mahatma K. Gandhi
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