It's late in the afternoon in a dusty, forgotten corner of the Middle East. For months the CIA and
British MI6 have pooled their resources to stop a terrorist plot already set into motion. Their
agents have scoured the world for the perpetrators of what could be one of the worst terrorist
incidents in history- if they don't stop it first. Now, in a forgotten corner of war-torn Syria,
a team of British spooks has finally found their marks.
Four men, all except one in their early twenties or late teens, brave and foolish
enough to sacrifice their lives for someone else's holy war. The leader is in his forties- he has no
intention of dying in the coming attack or even risking imprisonment, that's what the
ample pool of young fanatic recruits are for. There's no time to waste as the spies double
check their weapons and gear. There'll be no prisoners today, only corpses- legally murdered
in the name of preserving the peace and stability of the United Kingdom, and with the express
authorization of the British government, because these men have a real-life license to kill.
Today the MI6 insists that its intelligence operatives do not kill indiscriminately,
and only in self-defense. Perhaps in the past assassination may have been the name of the game,
but in today's squeaky-clean MI6 such shenanigans are illegal and
British spies no longer share James Bond's legendary 'license to kill'.
Except this isn't true at all. Turns out, despite MI6's claims that its
spies don't engage in assassinations, they very much are legally allowed to under British law,
and with shockingly little oversight. And it's not just killing that's legal for British spies,
everything from rendition to torture and just about anything else required of a spy in the
execution of their duties. That's thanks to a long overlooked law in Section 7 of the
1994 Intelligence Service Act, which basically gives British spies near carte blanche to do
whatever is necessary to carry out their duties. It's not a full-blown license to kill however.
Technically, British spies have to operate within the bounds of British law- no matter where in the
world they find themselves or what they're doing. It takes a lot to say that with a straight face,
but let's pretend that this is true. If a spy feels like they need to exceed the bounds of
the law in the performance of their duties, then they must get the permission in writing
from a secretary of state. This naturally will entail a review process by senior leadership
within the intelligence community, who must weigh the pros and cons of taking
what would normally be illegal actions. And it's a weighty decision indeed,
as a single fudged mission can have dramatic repercussions. Having a spy caught committing
illegal acts can not just be hugely embarrasing for MI6 and the nation, but can have disastrous
consequences diplomatically speaking. The United States is still feeling the fallout
of Edward Snowden's release of a treasure trove of classified materials, many of which detailed
ongoing intelligence operations against neutral and even friendly countries. Needless to say,
this left said nations feeling particularly miffed at the United States, which can make
diplomatic efforts difficult if not impossible. Even worse however would be the capture of a
British spy carrying out what would normally be something illegal. Let's look back at our earlier
scenario- a group of British spies exercises their authority to kill by eliminating a terror cell
that's ready to strike at the homeland. This is a textbook case of when these extraordinary measures
may be employed, and MI6 agents granted a license to kill. However, should the operation fail,
and a spy fall into enemy hands, this can be a massive propaganda victory for them,
and cause major loss of influence on the world stage as it's revealed Britain is
acting well outside the bounds of the law. But domestically, exercising a license to
kill or behave outside the bounds of the law can have seriously detrimental effects as well.
Currently both the United States and Britain face ongoing mistrust and protest from their
populations over the campaign of abductions and illegal imprisonments carried out during
the 2000s by both the CIA and MI6. MI6's loophole that allows it to
operate outside of the law came into public attention in 2012 with the discovery of MI6
rendition operations inside Libya. A batch of documents discovered in an abandoned Libyan
government office showed the involvement of British intelligence with Muammar Gaddafi's
government. Not only did the MI6 and MI5 provide intelligence to Gaddafi's regime on dissidents,
it actually helped interrogate and capture them. And what did Britain gain in exchange for
cooperation with one of the most brutal dictators of modern time? Access to oil inside of Libya.
The documents reveal that in 2004 the UK government met with Gaddafi's government in a bid
to better combat growing terrorism in the region. Days after an agreement was reached, Shell,
an Anglo-Dutch oil company, signed a 550 million pound gas exploration deal with the government
of Libya. Just three days after the deal, Libyan intelligence agents snatched Saami al-Saadi from
Hong Kong, stuffing him, his wife, and their four children onto a private plane headed for Libya.
Saadi was part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an organization of
veteran Mujahideen who had fought against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and were
now dedicated to toppling Gaddafi. Fleeing his home country, Saddi had sought asylum in Britain,
and lived there for years. With the help of MI6, Gaddafi's regime was able to track Saadi
down to Hong Kong, and then illegally kidnap him and his family to bring back to Libya.
Once in Libya, Saadi and his family were thrown in prison- even Saadi's young children. His wife
and children were held by the Gaddafi regime for two months, but Saadi would endure a six
year prison stay. Throughout his stay he was beaten and tortured repeatedly,
but perhaps most shocking of all, some of his interrogators were British agents. Upon his
release, Saadi sued the British government for its role in his illegal capture, claiming that he
was nothing more than a 'gift' served up to Gaddafi in exchange for the oil deal with Shell.
Abdul Hakim Belhaj, another member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group was also captured thanks
to MI6 help, who tipped the CIA off to his location which subsequently handed him over
to Libyan intelligence officers. Astonishingly, an MI6 officer known only by the name 'Mark' even
wrote a letter to Libya's intelligence chief congratulating him on the capture
of Belhaj, and remarking what a wonderful relationship Libya and Britain now shared.
But MI6 is not shy about doing the dirty work itself.
In 1960, Patrice Lumumba became Congo's first democratically elected prime minister- only to be
shot and killed barely a year later. According to David Lea, a member of the British House of Lords,
Lumumba's assassination was carried out with the express consent, and aid,
of the MI6. This shocking revelation came from legendary MI6 officer Daphne Park,
who was also known as the 'queen of spies' for her four decade career with British
intelligence- a real life M if you will. While on her deathbed, Lord Lea claimed that Park
admitted to him that the assassination was carried out under her instructions.
As the Congo freed itself from Belgian colonization, it was feared that Lumumba
would cozy up to the Soviets given the nation's resentment for western Europeans.
This would have given the Russians access to the Katangese uranium deposits, as well as free access
to the Congo's vast mineral and material wealth. This was an absolutely unacceptable proposition
for Britain, and within a year Lumumba was dead. Many have come forward to discredit the tale
however, as most who knew Park claim that this disclosure of information would have
been against her strict professionalism. However, whether the story is true or not,
Lumumba was in fact murdered with the involvement of Belgian troops, and any would-be cozying up to
the Soviets was prevented. Perhaps a happy coincidence for Britain, or the story is
true and MI6 helped plan and carry out the execution of an elected leader it did not like.
The story would hold some water it seems thanks to the admission of an MI6 insider.
In the 1950s and 60s, David Cornwell, writing today under the pen name John le Carre,
worked for both MI5 and MI6. During the early parts of the Cold War, he claimed,
British intelligence was up to some extraordinary unethical things. According to him, MI6 carried
out assassinations “at arms length”- this means that they carried out killings via proxies,
often by providing equipment, training, and vital intelligence. He did insist however
that Western intelligence still behaved far more ethically than their Soviet bloc counterparts.
MI6 ventures into assassinations however lasted well into the 90s.
In 1993 with violence breaking out in eastern Europe, MI6 briefly floated a proposal to
assassinate a key Serbian political figure, which still remains undisclosed. The hope was that a
single targeted killing would help prevent even greater violence. The proposal was not entirely
without merit- at the time Serbian forces were carrying out crimes against humanity nearly daily,
and killing one or more high-ranking Serbian leaders might make direct military intervention
unnecessary or at least curb its scope. In the end though the plan was abandoned,
allegedly for being contrary to British law, though perhaps we'll never know the full reason.
However, even if it's not carrying out assassinations, MI6 still operates well
outside of the bounds of British law, and perhaps never so famously as when it happily assisted
the American CIA in the illegal kidnapping, torture, and imprisonment of terror suspects
throughout the 2000s and even into the 2010s. MI6's role in these extraordinary rendition
operations would be revealed in 2016, with the head of the MI5 so disgusted by MI6's actions
that she actually banned any MI6 agents from working within MI5. According to Lady Eliza
Manningham-Buller, MI6's actions severely compromised Britain's ability to gather
intelligence and the safety and security of MI5 officers and their informants.
But how did these renditions play out? The CIA and MI6 famously pooled resources
during the War on Terror to identify potential terrorist leadership, financiers, and supporters.
Through extended intelligence gathering, often with the help of confidential informants and
hefty bribes, suspects would be identified. According to the American CIA, these suspects
were carefully vetted to make sure that they truly were threats to national security and
actual members of terrorist groups. In reality, these claims can be rather spurious- in several
cases individuals with no known terror connections found themselves the target of MI6 and the CIA.
Once approval has been granted though, the target is snatched up by an extraction team-
or sometimes simply taken into custody by local military or law enforcement. Then,
the individual is hurried to a waiting private plane, which immediately sets course for one
of several black sites operated by both the CIA and MI6. These sites are typically in countries
that are more than happy to look the other way when it comes to human rights issues,
but incredibly, some of these black sites are in the middle of perfectly 'civilized'
countries- much to the surprise of host countries after their discovery years later.
Typically, individuals are questioned for days, sometimes even for weeks at a time at these black
sites. What exactly went on at these sites is a matter of debate, though some information has
shown that while 'traditional' torture wasn't employed, so-called 'enhanced interrogation
techniques' were used instead. This involved putting individuals into forced stress positions,
cramped boxes which might be filled with insects or human waste, and even waterboarding- all things
that allegedly don't cause lasting physical harm, despite abundant evidence that they
are in fact psychological torture and can cause debilitating physical conditions.
While MI6 has tried to diminish its role in these extraordinary rendition operations,
it's well established that they had an active role in the kidnapping and torture of alleged terror
suspects, right alongside their CIA brethren. Despite reams of damning evidence though,
MI6 escaped any sort of prosecution- all thanks to that one section of the
1994 Intelligence Services Act. Allegedly, such activities are a
thing of the past for MI6, but given its highly secretive nature and near-immunity to the law,
it's anyone's guess as to what British spies are actually doing today- and if any of it is legal.
Now go check out CIA vs KGB- who was better during the cold war? Or click this other video instead!