Menwith Hill is at the centre of a US network spying on the world. For half a century, British governments have connived to mislead the public about what purpose it is serving...
North Yorkshire, American style
WORKERS, SEPTEMBER 2008 ISSUE
US INDEPENDENCE Day, 4 July, this year saw a large-scale demonstration outside the largest spying base in the world, Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire. Organised by the "Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases", the "Independence FROM America" event has been for 20 years an annual feature in the calendar of those concerned with US belligerence around the globe and British acquiescence in it.
Menwith Hill has long been a focus for protest against American bases on British soil. It hosts dishes for the Echelon espionage system and is reportedly able to intercept two million telephone calls and emails an hour from around the world. It pinpointed Iraqi positions and guided troop movements during both Gulf wars, and has been implicated in commercial espionage.
It starts with a farm
The story starts over 50 years ago, with the purchase of a 250 acre farm by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Crown. Under the terms of an agreement between the US armed forces and the British War Office, the US Army operated a high frequency radio monitoring station on the site, called 13th USA Field Station. It was renamed RAF Menwith Hill in 1959, presumably to deflect attention from the fact that this is an American enclave serving American interests.
|
| Menwith Hill, North Yorkshire: once a 250 acre farm, now in US hands and the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. Photo: Workers |
Since 1966, control of the station has been assumed by the National Security Agency of America (NSA) set up by Truman in 1952 without any debate by Congress. From its inception Menwith Hill has grown and expanded its range of activities. It is now acknowledged as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world.
For half a century this bristling array of domes, dishes and masts, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been a reminder that the so-called special relationship is a decidedly one-way affair. And for half a century, British governments have connived to mislead the public about what purpose it is serving. There have been notable attempts to force the issue in Parliament, inevitably met with the "not in the national interest to disclose" mantra.
One year ago, at the beginning of Gordon Brown's premiership, and with the phrase "respect for parliamentary democracy" ringing in our ears, this Government cynically slipped in a statement about Menwith Hill among a series of policy announcements made 48 hours before the summer recess, when MPs' thoughts were on warmer climes.
Announcement
Without discussion or consultation, defence secretary Des Browne announced that Menwith Hill would be used by the United States for its Ballistic Missile Defence system (BMD). Falling over in their haste to follow the Bush administration from one military catastrophe to another, Labour had knowingly embraced yet another.
George Monbiot, writing in the Guardian on 31 July 2007 saw through this charade, writing: "...Des Browne's note asserted that the purpose of the missile defence system is ‘to address the emerging threat from rogue states'. This is a claim that only an idiot or a member of the British government could believe. If, as Browne and Bush maintain, the system is meant to shoot down intercontinental missiles fired by Iran and North Korea (missiles incidentally, that they do not and might never possess), why are its major components being installed in Poland and the Czech Republic? To bait the Russian bear for fun? In June, Vladimir Putin called Bush's bluff by offering sites for the missile defence system in Azerbaijan and southern Russia, which are much closer to Iran. Bush turned him down and restated his decision to build the facilities in Europe, making it clear that their real purpose is to shoot down Russian missiles."
The US BMD system, claimed by Bush as a necessary defence, is a global network of bases that will detect and shoot down missiles launched against the United States. Russia has some 5,700 nuclear warheads. The proposed silos in Poland will house 10. They can only be envisaged as part of a mopping-up programme to neutralise the few "enemy" missiles not destroyed in a pre-emptive strike.
And there we have it. The Pentagon's blueprint for missile defence, "Joint Vision 2020", has as its central principle "full spectrum dominance", the ability "to defeat any adversary and control any situation". Not only do we have, with Menwith Hill and related facilities such as Fylingdales near Whitby, the eyes and ears of American aggression, we learn that Blair had been actively lobbying for missile bases here also. It goes without saying that any nation threatened by America would seek to disable the beast by knocking out these facilities. Small wonder the government would rather we didn't discuss this.
A dangerous world
The likelihood of such a scenario coming to pass is a matter for conjecture. There are fortunately few governments in the world with both the capacity and the gung-ho recklessness of Bush and his allies. But there are some such as our own who applaud like cheerleaders the nonsense coming out of Washington and make the world a more dangerous place.
If we wish to counter American warmongering, we start by opposing British warmongering and by exposing the role of our government in doing America's dirty work for it.
Protestors who won't give up |
Anti-war protestors come in all shapes and sizes. For many years now, a number of determined individuals and organisations have kept the spotlight on Menwith Hill. Braving intimidation and often imprisonment, they see the bigger picture and put many of us to shame by never giving up. On any given day you could find a Quaker service against the base, a carnival with clowns and balloons, a barbecue, anything to capture attention. Three examples from this last year serve as a glimpse into the wide spectrum of protest.
|