Sunday, July 16, 2006

All He Is Saying Is Act Like M15 Doesn't Exist

The Lennon movie, which opens in US cinemas in September, will embarrass the agencies which unsuccessfully tried to block his stay. Not only does it portray the full extent of the plotting against him, it also exposes the amateurish incompetence with which it was conducted. At one stage, secret FBI files compiled to demonstrate the threat he represented did not even record his correct address, despite the claim that he had been under "constant surveillance".
The film-makers say the movie, The US vs John Lennon, "will also show that this was not just an isolated episode in American history, but that the issues and struggles of that era remain relevant today".
Lennon had long been outspoken during his days with the Beatles, but never a radical. His views about peace and pacifism developed after he met Yoko Ono in 1968, and he became a focus for dissent as he held his "bed-ins" and recorded anthems such as "Give Peace a Chance".


The above is from Anthony Barnes' "The US vs John Lennon" and we have to ask, what's up with that wacky Independent of London these days? As C.I. noted, they gave Bono so much coverage to hide under that they were practically spooning him. Now they write of the upcoming documentary The US vs. John Lennon (again, to be released in September) and seem completely unaware of several basic facts.

We could walk you through what's wrong with what made it into print but what really caused our jaws to drop was what didn't.

How do you write of government spying on John Lennon, write for a British publication, and not note that M15 spied on him? Or that Tony Blair who came into office promising greater openess (yeah, that's funny today) and claimed to be a Lennon fan allowed pages to be shredded and, when FIOA requests to the American FBI meant turning over M15 papers on Lennon that were in the FBI's custody, the Blair government nixed their release?

How much does Barnes know of the subject he's writing on because everyone participating in this is American and we appear to know a great deal more about British spying than Barnes.
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