SMEARS, MOLES AND DIRTY TRICKS by Stewart Home

I might break the habits of a life-time and actually watch this year's Dimbleby Lecture. It's entitled Security and Democracy - Is There A conflict? and will be given by Stella Rimington, whose position as head of MI5 was a state secret until very recently. So why the hell is she suddenly appearing on prime time TV? That's easy to answer, in this 'post-communist' world the role of the intelligence services is being redefined, as the guardians of the state identify new enemies to justify their existence. After all, these are the people who are least likely to say 'we don't need a budget increase this year, thank you very much.'

In any case, spookery is clearly a growth area because all sorts of 'radical' groups and publications are busy accusing each other of fronting for the state. Among those involved in this game are Searchlight (the anti-fascist magazine), Lobster (a left-wing conspiracy magazine), Green Anarchist and Class War. So far, none of these groups have produced anything more than circumstantial evidence to 'prove' that one of their rivals is working for British intelligence. While it may be the case that all of these publications are run by the security services, it's just as likely that none of them are branches of the secret state.

Regardless of whether these allegations have any factual basis, the mudslinging that accompanies them diverts attention away from another publication with an obsessive interest in the world of smears, moles, assets, disinformation and dirty tricks. The latest issue of Open Eye contains articles 'exposing' the secret testing of frequency and microwave weapons on the civilian population. The idea behind this military programme is to use unusual sound frequencies to cause illness and death. At the end of a piece detailing the alleged targeting of a couple in their retirement cottage by Ministry of Defence officials experimenting with this technology, the editors run an advert offering recordings of frequency weapons to interested parties.

Individuals who've listened to these tapes report that they cause headaches and stress. With readers of fringe publications paying for the privilege of being exposed to frequency assaults, it would seem there is little need for the military to test these weapons on an unsuspecting civilian population. In view of this situation, the allegations of illegal weapons experiments are probably untrue, leaving the British state looking like the victim of a disinformation campaign. Unless, as a few cynics have suggested, Open Eye turns out to be an MI5 front!

The world of intelligence is a hall of mirrors. Personally, I'm not in a position to judge exactly how much truth there is in the various rumours about the security services that have been circulating recently. The suggestion that the Wacco massacre was organised by British intelligence as a means of wiping out victims of mind control experiments appears plausible given the ways in which English spies work and the fact that many of those caught up in this tragedy were British nationals. However, I find the idea that German spooks assassinated Ian Stuart, and several other neo-Nazi 'musicians' who died in car crashes last year, ludicrous. Such assertions are the product of a paranoid mind set common among right-wing nutcases. Likewise, the traditional left is in a condition of terminal decline and it seems unlikely that the secret state would waste its time infiltrating groups of this type. By accusing rival organisations of being security fronts, the 'hard' left is simply bolstering its own sense of importance. And, of course, simultaneously serving the interests of the secret state by diverting attention away from genuine intelligence operations.

If you wish to expose yourself to frequency assault, top quality Sony tapes of noise weapons are available at the highly subsidised price of £1.50 including postage from: BM Open Eye, London, WC1N 3XX. (Note added: I understand this address is now out of date). Help the military-industrial-complex, become an unpaid volunteer in the testing of new technological weapons.

First published in Non Obedio 1 Summer 1994.

How Open Eye dealt with this light-hearted criticism

Feuds