by Mark Curtis
8 Robert Verkaik, 'Ministers attempt to halt US human rights cases against British firms', Independent, ir February 2004.
9 Commonwealth Office to High Commission, Lagos, 5 November 1966. PREM13/1661.
10 F. dimming-Bruce to Commonwealth Office, 30 January 1967, PREMr3/i66i.
11 FO and Commonwealth Office to Certain missions, Guidance no. 118, 25 May 1967, PREM13/1661.
12 G. Thomas to PM, 18 August 1967, PREM13/166T.
13 G. Thomas to PM, 8 August 1967, PREM13/1661.
14 Record of conversation between George Thomas and Nigerian High Commissioner, 28 April 1967, PREM13/1661; High Commission, Lagos to Commonwealth Office, 29 May 1967, PREM13/1661.
15 D. Hunt to Commonwealth Office, 12 June 1967, PREM13/1661.
16 O. Forster to M. Palliser, 7 July 1967, PREM13/1661.
17 Parker to Commonwealth Office, 22 July 1967, PREM13/1661; Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 24 July 1967, ibid; Lagos to Commonwealth Office, 21 July 1967, ibid.
18 Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 16 July 1967, PREM13/1661; Gowon to H. Wilson, 29 July 1967, ibid.
19 G. Thomas to PM, 18 August 1967, PREM13/1661; G. Thomas, 'Nigeria', August 1967, ibid.
20 Frederick Forsyth, The Biafra Story: The making of an. African legend, Leo Cooper, London, 2001, p. 166.
21 FO and Commonwealth Office to Certain missions, 1 November 1967, PREM13/1661; G. Thomas to PM, 8 November 1967, ibid.
22 G. Thomson to D. Healey, 4 December 1967, PREM13/1661.
23 Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 12 December 1967, PREM13/1661; D. Healey to G. Thomson, 13 December 1967, ibid; Papers for Commonwealth Secretary, 12 June 1968, PREM13/2258.
24 Papers for Commonwealth Secretary, 12 June 1968, PREM13/2258; H. Wilson to Gowon in Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 5 April 1968, PREM13/1661.
25 Forsyth, The Biafra Story, p. 258.
26 Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 30 May 1968, PREM13/2258.
27 House of Commons, Hansard, 16 May 1968, Cols. 1397– 8.
28 Papers for Commonwealth Secretary, 12 June 1968, PREM13/2258; FO and Commonwealth Office to Certain missions, 21 June 1968, ibid.
29 For example, Commonwealth Office to Lagos, 20 May 1968, PREM13/2258.
30 Commonwealth Office, 'Nigeria', 21 May 1968; G. Thomson to PM, 16 June 1968, PREM13/2258.
31 D. Hunt to Commonwealth Office, 6 June 1968, PREM13/2258; C. Godden to M. Palliser, 10 June 1968, ibid; Record of a meeting between Prime Minister and the Nigerian Commissioner for Information and Labour, 12 June 1968, ibid.
32 Record of a meeting between Prime Minister and the Nigerian Commissioner for Information and Labour, 12 June 1968, PREM13/2258.
33 Lord Shepherd to PM, 6 August 1968, PREM13/2259.
34 Record of meeting with Lord Hunt and Dr Lindt, 14 August 1968, PREM13/2260.
35 H. Wilson to Gowon, 24 September 1968, PREM13/2260.
36 FO, 'Nigeria', 7 December 1968, PREM13/2261.
37 Note of a meeting between the Prime Minister and the Committee for Peace, 6 November 1968, PREM13/2260,
38 Record of a meeting at Downing Street, 8 November 1968, PREM13/2260; Record of a meeting between Lord Shepherd and Chief Enahoro, 8 November 1968, ibid.
39 M. Stewart to Lagos, 23 October 1968, PREMJ3/2260.
40 Record of conversation between Lord Shepherd and Chief Enahoro, 13 November 1968, PREM13/2260; Mr Morris to Lord Shepherd, 13 November 1968, ibid; Record of meeting between Lord Shepherd and General Gowon, 11 December 1968, PREM13/2261
41 FCO to Certain missions, 22 November 1968, PREM13/2260.
42 JIC, 'Nigeria', 26 March 1969, PREMJ3/2S18.
43 FCO to Lagos, TO December 1968, PREM13/2261; M. Stewart to Lagos, 12 December 1968, ibid.
44 Forsyth, The Biajra Story, p. 185.
45 See, e.g., M. Pailiser to PM, 23 January 1969, PREM13/2263 and FCO, 'Relief for the Biafran enclave', 30 December 1969, PREM13/3374.
46 Text of interview by Prime Minister, 27 March T969, PREM13/2819; FCO to Lagos, 27 March 1969, ibid.
47 J. Wilson to L. Monson, 26 March 1969, PREM13/2819.
48 Gowon to H. Wilson, 19 April 1969, PREM13/2820.
49 J. Gibbon to H. Wilson, 14 August 1969, DEFE24/589; D. Evans, Report on visit to Nigeria by RAF officers, 25 August 1969, ibid; A. Heskett to MoD, 24 July 1969, ibid.
50 M. Stewart to D. Healey, 8 December 1969, PREM13/2823.
51 Wilson to Gowon in FCO to Lagos, 12 January 1970, PREM13/3375.
52 I. Lucas, 'Random Reflections on the Northern states of Nigeria', 30 January 1970, DEFE31/27.
53 Lagos to FCO, 31 January 1970, FCO65/801.
11 Indonesians: Tools of covert action
1 Tapol, 'Backgrounder on Aceh', Indonesia, January 2002, www.tapol.gn.apc.org.
2 HRW, 'Aceh under martial law', 5 June 2002.
3 John Aglionby and Richard Norton-Taylor, 'British tanks used in Aceh', Guardian, 26 June 2003; John Aglionby, 'Battered people of Aceh take time out to party as Jakarta's crackdown drags on', Guardian, 20 August 2003; Tapol, 'High Court to hear arms to Indonesia case against UK government', 26 March 2004,
4 Tapol, 'Dismay as British armoured vehicles join war in Aceh', 28 November 2003; HRW, 'Indonesia: refugees reveal widespread abuses in Aceh', 18 December 2003,
5 Sam Zafiri, 'A valid election in Aceh: Test-case for Indonesia's democracy'. Jakarta Post, 3 July 2004, www.hrw.org
6 John Aglionby, 'Indonesia uses UK Hawks in Aceh offensive'. Guardian, 20 May 2003; Tapol, "The use of British military equipment in Aceh', 2 July 2003.
7 John Aglionby, 'Military chief defends use of British jets', Guardian, 22 May 2003.
8 David Hencke and Rob Evans, 'UK warning to Indonesia over export licences for jets', Guardian, 21 June 2003.
9 Matthew Moore, 'Army defends use of British tanks in Aceh', Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 2003; Tapol, 'Dismay as British armoured vehicles join war in Aceh', 28 November 2003.
10 John Aglionby, 'Indonesia ends use of British tanks', Guardian, 20 January 2004.
11 Richard Norton-Taylor, 'Protests after UK drops Indonesia arms demand', Guardian, 11 February 2004.
12 FCO, 'UK and Australia joint statement on Aceh, Indonesia', 20 May 2003, www.biitainusa.com.
13 British embassy. Jakarta, Trade and Investment summary, October 2003, www. Britain-in-indonesia.org.id.
14 Tapol, 'Military operations will never solve the Aceh conflict', 10 May 2003.
15 Tapol letter to Mike O'Brien, to July 2003; Tapol, 'High Court to hear arms to Indonesia case against UK government', 26 March 2004.
16 Pranjal Tiwari, 'All in the timing', 26 May 2003, Znet; Aceh offensive intensifies', BBC news, 21 May 2003.
17 Katliy Marks, 'Summary executions become routine in Aceh', Independent, 27 May 2003.
18 Pranjal Tiwari, 'All in the timing', 26 May 2003, Znet; HRW, 'Aceh under martial law', 5 June 2002.
19 Pranja! Tiwari, 'All in the timing', 26 May 2003. Znet; Lesley McCulloch, 'Aceh, the more things change', Asia Times, 13 May 2003.
20 F. Tomlinson, 'Indonesia', 11 March 1958, FO371/135849.
21 Ibid.
22 D. MacDermot, 'Annual report for the year 1958', 12 January 1959, FO371/144065,
23 H. Caccia to FO, 14 May 1:958, PREM11/2730.
24 Audrey Kahin and George Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy: The secret Eisenhower and Dulles debacle in Indonesia, New Press, New York, 1995.
25 R. Scott to FO, 12 December 1957, FO371/129531.
26 O. Morland, Minute, 13 December 1957, FO371/129531.
27 FO, 'Notes for discussion of Indonesia in Cabinet', 5 February 1958, FO371/135847.
28 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p. 156.
29 John Prados, President's Secret Wars, Elephant, Chicago, 1996, p. 140; Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p. 120; D. MacDermot to FO, 2 May 1958, FO371/135851.
30 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, pp. 120, 169, 121; Colonial Secretary to Var
ious Governors, 28 February 1958, FO371/135848.
31 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p. 126.
32 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, pp. 134, 148; Prados, President's Secret Wars, p. 144.
33 D. MacDermot to FO, 24 February 1958, FO371/135848.
34 FO to Washington, 27 June 1958, PREMn/2730.
35 Embassy, Washington to FO, 15 May 1958, PREMn/2730; FO to Washington, 14 May 1958, ibid.
36 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p. 205.
37 D. MacDermot to FO, 30 May 1958, FO371/135852.
38 Kahin and Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy, p. 211.
39 Commonwealth Relations Office to Various High Commissions, 22 April 1958; D. MacDermot to S. Lloyd, 4 July 1958, FO371/135853.
40 David Easter, 'British and Malaysian covert support for rebel movements in Indonesia during the Confrontation, 1963–1966', in Richard Aldrich (ed.), The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65, London, Frank Cass, 2000.
12 Vietnamese: Secret support for US aggression
1 The Pentagon's final estimate of killed and wounded civilians from 1965 to 1972 ran from 700,000 to 1,225,000 while Senate numbers for the same period were 1,350,000. Deaths in these two assessments ranged from 195,000 to 415,000; 'enemy' killed were 850,000 minimum, a substantial proportion of which were civilians. This was in a country of 18 million people. Gabriel Kolko, Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the United States and the modem historical experience, Phoenix, London, 1994, p. 200.
2 See, for example, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism, South End Press, Boston, 1979; Chomsky, Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam war and US political culture, South End Press, Boston, 1993; Kolko, Anatomy of a War.
3 Kolko, Anatomy of a War, p. 107.
4 Ibid, pp. 92–3, 65.
5 Ibid, pp. 93,130, 75–6.
6 FO, 'The possibility of a negotiated solution of the conflict in Viet- Nam', 26 August 1965, FO371/180544/DV103145/218.
7 J. Cable to N. Trench, 4 June 1965, FO371/180541/ DV103145/117; FO, 'The possibility of a negotiated solution of the conflict in Viet-Nam', 26 August 1965, FO371/180544/ DV103145/218.
8 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 29 August 1962, FO371/166707/ DV1015/181; E. Peck, Minute, October 1962, ibid.
9 Military Attaché, 'Summary for January 1963', 26 February 1963, FO371/170132/ DV1201/36.
10 British embassy, Saigon to FO, 30 May 1961, FO371/160111/ DV1015/70; H. Hohler to Earl Home, 28 February 1962, FO371/166701/ DV1015/64; H. Hohler to Earl Home, 16 May 1962, FO371/166704/ DV1015/129.
11 E. Peck, Note, 14 June 1961, FO371/160112/ DV1015/83; J. Cable, Note, 19 June 1961, ibid.
12 E. Peck, Note, 10 November 1961, FO371/160118/ DV1015/203.
13 FO draft, 'Vietnam background', 13 June 1962, FO371/166705/ DV1015/141.
14 FO, minute, 31 July 1961, FO371/160114/ DV1015/129; F. Warner, Note, 26 July 1962, FO371/166706/ DV1015/173; FO brief, 4 November 1961, FO371/160117/ DV1015/192; H. Hohler to Earl Home, 5 June 1962, FO371/166704/ DV1015/140; C. Stewart to Earl Home, 2 June 1961, FO371/160112/ DV1015/87.
15 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 30 January 1963, FO371/170100/ DV1017/3; FO brief, 'Vietnam: The current situation', September 1963, PREMn/4759.
16 H. Hohler to FO, 12 April 1961, FO371/160109/ DV1015/29; Military Attaché, 'Summary for December 1962', 22 January 1963, FO371/170132/ DV1201/23; C. Stewart to G. Etherington-Smith, 26 May 1961, FO371/160111/ DV1015/73.
17 See Chomsky, Rethinking Camelot, p. 49.
18 C. Stewart to F. Warner, 3 July 1961, FO371/160113/ DV1015/116.
19 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 20 December 1961, FC371/16o0121/ DV1015/295; R. Seconde, Note, 3 January 1962, ibid; J. McGhie, Note, 29 December 1961, ibid.
20 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 3 January 1962, FO371/1666698/ DV1015/6.
21 Foreign Secretary to Washington, 16 November 1961, PREM11/3736; D. Ormsby-Gore to FO, 13 November 1961, ibid.
22 FO, 'Vietnam", 16 January 1962, FO371/1666698/ DV1015/20; Earl Home to D. Rusk, 2 November 1961, PREM11/3736; E. Peck to H. Hohler, 22 February 1962, FO371/166700/ DV1015/49.
23 H. Hohler to FO, 14 July 1961, FO371/160114/ DV1015/133.
24 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 28 February 1962, FO371/166701/ DV1015/64; H. Hohler to E. Peck, 15 February 1962, FO371/166700/ DV1015/49.
25 R. Burrows to F. Warner, 4 July 1962, FO371/166705/ DV1015/148; FO, 'Vietnam', 16 January 1962, FO371/1666698/ DV1015/20.
26 Earl Home to Washington, 16 November 1961, PREMn/3736.
27 FO to Various embassies, 28 December 1961, FO371/1666698/ DV1015/9.
28 H. Macmillan to President Diem, 7 May 1962, PREMn/3736.
29 See. FO371/166702, file DV1015/83.
30 H. Hohler to FO, 24 November 1961, FO371/160118/ DV1015/237; F. Warner to H. Hohler, 1 December 1961, ibid.
31 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 2 January 1963, FO371/1700088/ DV1011/1; FO, 'Vietnam', 4 April 1963, FO371/170090/ DV1015/23.
32 H. Hohler to Earl Home, 18 February 1963, FO371/170089/ DV1015/16.
33 H. Hohler to F. Warner, 12 December 1962, FO371/166708/ DV1015/215.
34 Cited in Chomsky, Rethinking Camelot, p. 51.
35 R. Burrows to R. Seconde, 25 January 1962, FO371/166699/ DV1015/31; F. Warner, Minute, 25 March 1963, FO371/170129/ DV1192/5.
36 Kolko, Anatomy of a War, p. 145.
37 H. Hohler to E. Peck, 6 March 1963, FO371/170129/ DV1192/1.
38 FCO Research Department, 'The British Advisory Administrative Mission to Vietnam (BRIAM), 1961–1971', 30 December 1971, FC05r/i97; Peter Busch, All the Way with JFK?: Britain, the US and the Vietnam war, OUP, Oxford, 2003, p. 201.
39 FO, 'UK assistance to South Vietnam: Proposals by the Foreign Office', 21 July 1961, PREMn/3736; H. Hohler to Earl Home, 5 June 1962, FO371/166704/ DV1015/140; FCO Research Department; R. Thompson to A. Williams, 22 August 1963, FO371/170101/ DV1017/38.
40 Col. Lee to C. Jones, 17 September 1962, FO371/166751/ DV1201/71; H. Hohler to FO, 14 November 1962, ibid, DV1201/82; Chiefs of Staff meeting, COS(62) 72nd meeting, November 1962, ibid, DV1201/83; C. Howells, Minute, 14 November 1962, ibid, DV1201/89.
41 J. Denson to J. Petersen, 20 February 1961, FO37T/160108/ DV1015/10G.
42 H. Hohler to FO, 6 November 1961, PREMn/3716; FO, 'Vietnam', 16 January 1962, FO371/1666698/ DV1015/20.
43 FCO Research Department.