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Coughlin has been consistently criticized for writing highly controversial unsubstantiated articles that provide justification for [[United Kingdom|British]] [[foreign policy]], which have subsequently been proven false<ref name='Trial by spin'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Trial by spin machine | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1730270,00.html | work =The Guardian | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. He has a history of accepting phoney stories from [[MI6]] and then publishing articles in the name of fabricated [[Source text|sources]]. He was accused of publishing [[Black Propaganda]]<ref name='Propaganda'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title= Gaddafi's son set up by MI6, libel jury told | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/17/ngad17.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/04/17/ixhome.html | work =The Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-19 | language = }}</ref> during the infamous [[libel]] proceedings brought against [[Daily Telegraph]] for the allegations he made about Libya's [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]] ([[Muammar al-Gaddafi|Colonel Gaddafi’s]] son) |
Coughlin has been consistently criticized for writing highly controversial unsubstantiated articles that provide justification for [[United Kingdom|British]] [[foreign policy]], which have subsequently been proven false<ref name='Trial by spin'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Trial by spin machine | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1730270,00.html | work =The Guardian | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. He has a history of accepting phoney stories from [[MI6]] and then publishing articles in the name of fabricated [[Source text|sources]]. He was accused of publishing [[Black Propaganda]]<ref name='Propaganda'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title= Gaddafi's son set up by MI6, libel jury told | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/04/17/ngad17.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/04/17/ixhome.html | work =The Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-19 | language = }}</ref> during the infamous [[libel]] proceedings brought against [[Daily Telegraph]] for the allegations he made about Libya's [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]] ([[Muammar al-Gaddafi|Colonel Gaddafi’s]] son) |
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===Libel Scandal=== |
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In November 1995 Coughlin, then the Sunday Telegraph’s senior correspondent, published an article alleging that [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]] was involved in a massive criminal operation involving [[counterfeit]] notes and money laundering in Europe based on information received by imaginary British intelligence and banking officials<ref name='hidden hand'>{{cite news | first=Mark | last=Hollingsworth | coauthors= | title=The hidden hand | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,178092,00.html | work =The Guardian | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. |
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There was a reaction to this article in this British press , followed by a British court case in 2002, which turned out to be a great scandal for the [[Telegraph Group]]<ref name='GvC'>. Allegations on the true origins of that article were first disclosed by Mark Hollingsworth, the biographer of the notorious [[MI5]] [[whistleblower]] [[David Shayler]]. Shayler working on MI5's Libya desk at the time, in liaison with his counterparts in the foreign espionage service ([[MI6]]), had come away with a detailed knowledge of events, including secret documents. Coughlin had falsely attributed the source to a "British banking official”, however it had been [[MI6]] officials, who had been supplying Coughlin with material for years<ref name='Tinker'>{{cite news | first=David | last=Leigh | coauthors= | title=Tinker, tailor, soldier, journalist | date=June 12, 2000 | publisher= | url =http://www.guardian.co.uk/shayler/article/0,2763,339990,00.html | work =The Guardian | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. |
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The allegations against Coughlin were confirmed when the Sunday Telegraph was served with a [[libel]] writ by [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]]. The paper was unable to back up its allegations but pleaded, that it had been supplied with the material by a government security agency. In October 28 1998 a statement made by the paper described how, under [[Charles Moore (journalist)|Charles Moore's]] editorship, a lunch had been arranged with the then [[Conservative]] [[Foreign Secretary]], [[Malcolm Rifkind]], at which Coughlin had been present. Told by Rifkind that countries such as [[Iran]] were trying to get hold of hard currency to beat [[sanctions]], Coughlin was later briefed by an MI6 man - his regular contact. Some weeks later, he was introduced to a second MI6 man, who spent several hours with him and handed over extensive details of the story about [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]]. Although Coughlin asked for evidence, and was shown purported bank statements, the pleadings make clear that he was dependent on MI6 for the discreditable details about the alleged counterfeiting scam. |
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Throughout the formal pleadings, the Telegraph preserved the full identity of its sources by referring to a "Western government security agency". But this was exposed by solicitor David Hooper in his book on libel “Reputations Under Fire”, in which he says: "In reality [they were] members of MI6". In 2002 [[Geoffrey Robertson]] QC made a statement on behalf of the [[Telegraph Group]] stating “there was no truth in the allegation that [[Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi|Saif Qaddafi]] participated in any currency sting”<ref name='BBC'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Paper apologises to Gaddafi's son | date= | publisher= | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1937740.stm | work =BBC | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref> |
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===False Saddam link to Al-Qaeda=== |
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15 December 2003 Coughlin claimed in an article that there was a link between the Al-Qaeda member, [[Mohammed Atta]], one of the [[September 11]] collaborators and the Iraqi intelligence at the time of Saddam Hussein<ref name='Atta'>{{cite news | first=Con | last=Coughlin | coauthors= | title=Does this link Saddam to 9/11? | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/14/wterr114.xml | work =The Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. The report was subsequently proven entirely false<ref name='Uranium'>{{cite news | first=Gary | last=Leupp | coauthors= | title=The Niger Uranium Forgery of December 2003 | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.wussu.com/current/leupp.htm | work =Professor of History at Tufts University | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>, while American officials also reiterated that there was no such link<ref name='Dubious'>{{cite news | first=Michael | last=Isikoff | coauthors= Mark Hosenball | title=Dubious Link Between Atta and Saddam | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3741646/ | work =MSNBC | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. Despite this the story was extremely influential in British Politics, as was used as psychological and propagandistic justification for the military intervention in Iraq |
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===False 45 Minute WMD Claim=== |
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Coughlin provided the fabricated document at the beginning of the military attack against Iraq that that country’s army could access its weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes<ref name='45 Telegraph'>{{cite news | first=Con | last=Coughlin | coauthors= | title=How the 45-minute claim got from Baghdad to No 10 | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/07/wirq107.xml | work =The Telegraph | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>. This was the same document that was used in the infamous [[Iraq Dossier]] produced by the British intelligence service. It was then referred to by Tony Blair<ref name='PARLIAMENT'>{{cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020924/debtext/20924-01.htm#20924-01_spmin0 | work =House of commons | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-19 | language = }}</ref> and eventually led to the disgrace of the BBC correspondent, Andrew Gilligan, who had interviewed the British defence expert Dr David Kelly, who died shortly after that interview<ref name='casmii'>{{cite news | first=Majid | last=Tafreshi | coauthors= | title=Con Coughlin, the Daily Telegraph & the ongoing business of conning the British | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/12/357870.html | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-17 | language = }}</ref>.. |
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===Iran=== |
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'''Coughlin''' has a been specifically criticized for writing various allegations against [[Iran]], using unknown and untraceable sources, many of which have turned out to be false. Coughlin has made various allegations in recent years, including that Iran is producing [[nerve gas]] and [[chemical weapons]]. Also in an article published on 27 June 2004 in [[Daily Telegraph]], Coughlin claimed that the temporary closure of the newly built Imam Khomeini Airport in the suburbs of Tehran was the result of a nuclear incident. |
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[[Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran]] have compiled based on the research carried out by Majid Tafreshi, an Iranian-British historian and journalist. That research was focouced on the list of the anti [[Iranian]] articles written by Coughlin between 29/10/2005 and 10/10/2006 and relevant sources: |
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*10/10/2006: “The West woke up too late to the nuclear threat of rogue states” Source: none. |
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*04/08/2006: “Teheran fund pays war compensation to Hizbollah families” Source: “A senior security official”. |
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*21/07/2006: “Meanwhile, Iran gets on with its bomb” Source: none. |
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*14/07/2006: “Israeli crisis is a smoke screen for Iran's nuclear ambitions” Source: none. |
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*13/07/2006: “Cat and mouse games on border that is 'our front line with Iran’” Source: An Israeli soldier. |
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*12/06/2006: “Iran accused of hiding secret nuclear weapons site” Source: A senior western diplomat” |
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*11/04/2006: “The West can't let Iran have the bomb” Source: “An official closely involved in the IAEA's negotiations with Iran” |
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*07/04/2006: “Iran has missiles to carry nuclear warheads” Source: “A senior US official” |
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*07/04/2006: “UN officials find evidence of secret uranium enrichment plant” Sources: “A diplomat closely involved in the IAEA's negotiations with Teheran” and “A senior diplomat attached to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna”. |
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*04/04/2006: “Iran's spies watching us, says Israel” Sources: “A senior Israeli military commander” and “an officer with Israel's northern command”. |
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*06/03/2006: “Teheran park 'cleansed' of traces from nuclear site” Source: “A senior western official” |
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*11/02/2006: “Iran plant has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment” Source: “A senior Western intelligence official” |
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*30/01/2006: “Iran sets up secret team to infiltrate UN nuclear watchdog, say officials” Source: “a senior western intelligence official” |
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*16/01/2006: “Iran could go nuclear within three years” Sources: “A senior western intelligence officer” and “an intelligence official” |
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*27/11/2005: “Teheran secretly trains Chechens to fight in Russia” Source: “a senior intelligence official” |
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*29/10/2005: “Smuggling route [from Iran] opened to supply Iraqi insurgents” Source: “The National Council of Resistance of Iran” |
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The only traceable source in Coughlin's anti-Iranian writings within this year, is The [[National Council of Resistance of Iran]]’ (NCRI), the political branch of the group [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] (IPMO/MKO) which is in the banned terrorist lists both in the [[EU]] and the [[USA]]. |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 18:56, 14 September 2007
Con Coughlin is a British journalist and author. He is currently the executive foreign editor of the Daily Telegraph[1] and is the author of various non-fiction books relating to the Middle East, and the War on Terror. He is considered one of the world's leading right wing authorities on the Middle East.[2]
He is the son of the Daily Telegraph's former legal affairs correspondent. After his education at public school and Oxford University, he joined the Daily Telegraph in 1980, and spent time in Beirut, Jerusalem and the US[3]. He has held various positions within the Telegraph Group, including Defense and Intelligence Editor and Managing Editor of Sunday Telegraph. He has written for various right wing publications such as the Daily Mail, The Spectator and in America; The New York Sun, Washington Times and National Review, and has had certain articles reprinted in various newspapers around the world. He frequently appears on NBC and CNN as a reporter on the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Books
Coughlin has authored a few books on issues relating to the War on Terror, most of which are about the life and era of the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein:
- Saddam: The Secret Life (A New York Times bestseller)
- Hostage: Complete Story of the Lebanon Captives
- American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror
- Saddam: His Rise and Fall
- Saddam: King of Terror
- A Golden Basin Full of Scorpions: The Quest for Modern Jerusalem
Criticism
Coughlin has been consistently criticized for writing highly controversial unsubstantiated articles that provide justification for British foreign policy, which have subsequently been proven false[4]. He has a history of accepting phoney stories from MI6 and then publishing articles in the name of fabricated sources. He was accused of publishing Black Propaganda[5] during the infamous libel proceedings brought against Daily Telegraph for the allegations he made about Libya's Saif Qaddafi (Colonel Gaddafi’s son)
Libel Scandal
In November 1995 Coughlin, then the Sunday Telegraph’s senior correspondent, published an article alleging that Saif Qaddafi was involved in a massive criminal operation involving counterfeit notes and money laundering in Europe based on information received by imaginary British intelligence and banking officials[6].
There was a reaction to this article in this British press , followed by a British court case in 2002, which turned out to be a great scandal for the Telegraph GroupCite error: A <ref>
tag is missing the closing </ref>
(see the help page)..
The allegations against Coughlin were confirmed when the Sunday Telegraph was served with a libel writ by Saif Qaddafi. The paper was unable to back up its allegations but pleaded, that it had been supplied with the material by a government security agency. In October 28 1998 a statement made by the paper described how, under Charles Moore's editorship, a lunch had been arranged with the then Conservative Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, at which Coughlin had been present. Told by Rifkind that countries such as Iran were trying to get hold of hard currency to beat sanctions, Coughlin was later briefed by an MI6 man - his regular contact. Some weeks later, he was introduced to a second MI6 man, who spent several hours with him and handed over extensive details of the story about Saif Qaddafi. Although Coughlin asked for evidence, and was shown purported bank statements, the pleadings make clear that he was dependent on MI6 for the discreditable details about the alleged counterfeiting scam.
Throughout the formal pleadings, the Telegraph preserved the full identity of its sources by referring to a "Western government security agency". But this was exposed by solicitor David Hooper in his book on libel “Reputations Under Fire”, in which he says: "In reality [they were] members of MI6". In 2002 Geoffrey Robertson QC made a statement on behalf of the Telegraph Group stating “there was no truth in the allegation that Saif Qaddafi participated in any currency sting”[7]
False Saddam link to Al-Qaeda
15 December 2003 Coughlin claimed in an article that there was a link between the Al-Qaeda member, Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 collaborators and the Iraqi intelligence at the time of Saddam Hussein[8]. The report was subsequently proven entirely false[9], while American officials also reiterated that there was no such link[10]. Despite this the story was extremely influential in British Politics, as was used as psychological and propagandistic justification for the military intervention in Iraq
False 45 Minute WMD Claim
Coughlin provided the fabricated document at the beginning of the military attack against Iraq that that country’s army could access its weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes[11]. This was the same document that was used in the infamous Iraq Dossier produced by the British intelligence service. It was then referred to by Tony Blair[12] and eventually led to the disgrace of the BBC correspondent, Andrew Gilligan, who had interviewed the British defence expert Dr David Kelly, who died shortly after that interview[13]..
Iran
Coughlin has a been specifically criticized for writing various allegations against Iran, using unknown and untraceable sources, many of which have turned out to be false. Coughlin has made various allegations in recent years, including that Iran is producing nerve gas and chemical weapons. Also in an article published on 27 June 2004 in Daily Telegraph, Coughlin claimed that the temporary closure of the newly built Imam Khomeini Airport in the suburbs of Tehran was the result of a nuclear incident.
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran have compiled based on the research carried out by Majid Tafreshi, an Iranian-British historian and journalist. That research was focouced on the list of the anti Iranian articles written by Coughlin between 29/10/2005 and 10/10/2006 and relevant sources:
- 10/10/2006: “The West woke up too late to the nuclear threat of rogue states” Source: none.
- 04/08/2006: “Teheran fund pays war compensation to Hizbollah families” Source: “A senior security official”.
- 21/07/2006: “Meanwhile, Iran gets on with its bomb” Source: none.
- 14/07/2006: “Israeli crisis is a smoke screen for Iran's nuclear ambitions” Source: none.
- 13/07/2006: “Cat and mouse games on border that is 'our front line with Iran’” Source: An Israeli soldier.
- 12/06/2006: “Iran accused of hiding secret nuclear weapons site” Source: A senior western diplomat”
- 11/04/2006: “The West can't let Iran have the bomb” Source: “An official closely involved in the IAEA's negotiations with Iran”
- 07/04/2006: “Iran has missiles to carry nuclear warheads” Source: “A senior US official”
- 07/04/2006: “UN officials find evidence of secret uranium enrichment plant” Sources: “A diplomat closely involved in the IAEA's negotiations with Teheran” and “A senior diplomat attached to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna”.
- 04/04/2006: “Iran's spies watching us, says Israel” Sources: “A senior Israeli military commander” and “an officer with Israel's northern command”.
- 06/03/2006: “Teheran park 'cleansed' of traces from nuclear site” Source: “A senior western official”
- 11/02/2006: “Iran plant has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment” Source: “A senior Western intelligence official”
- 30/01/2006: “Iran sets up secret team to infiltrate UN nuclear watchdog, say officials” Source: “a senior western intelligence official”
- 16/01/2006: “Iran could go nuclear within three years” Sources: “A senior western intelligence officer” and “an intelligence official”
- 27/11/2005: “Teheran secretly trains Chechens to fight in Russia” Source: “a senior intelligence official”
- 29/10/2005: “Smuggling route [from Iran] opened to supply Iraqi insurgents” Source: “The National Council of Resistance of Iran”
The only traceable source in Coughlin's anti-Iranian writings within this year, is The National Council of Resistance of Iran’ (NCRI), the political branch of the group People's Mujahedin of Iran (IPMO/MKO) which is in the banned terrorist lists both in the EU and the USA.
References
- ^ "Con Coughlin". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
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"Author Description". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
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"Profiles: Saif Gadafy vs Con Coughlin". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
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(help) - ^ "Trial by spin machine". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Gaddafi's son set up by MI6, libel jury told". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "Paper apologises to Gaddafi's son". BBC. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Coughlin, Con. "Does this link Saddam to 9/11?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Leupp, Gary. "The Niger Uranium Forgery of December 2003". Professor of History at Tufts University. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Isikoff, Michael. "Dubious Link Between Atta and Saddam". MSNBC. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Coughlin, Con. "How the 45-minute claim got from Baghdad to No 10". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
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(help) - ^ "PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES". House of commons. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
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(help) - ^ Tafreshi, Majid. "Con Coughlin, the Daily Telegraph & the ongoing business of conning the British". Retrieved 2007-06-17.
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