Difference between revisions of "Alan Clark"

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{{person
 
{{person
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Clark
 
|wikipedia=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Clark
|constitutes=politician
+
|constitutes=author, politician, deep state functionary?
 +
|image=Alan Clark.jpg
 
|birth_date=13 April 1928
 
|birth_date=13 April 1928
 +
|nationality=UK
 
|birth_name=Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark
 
|birth_name=Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark
 
|birth_place=London
 
|birth_place=London
 
|death_date=1999-09-05
 
|death_date=1999-09-05
 +
|death_cause=brain tumour
 +
|description=[[Bullingdon Club]], [[Le Cercle]], [[Minister for Defence Procurement]]...
 
|death_place=Saltwood Castle, Kent
 
|death_place=Saltwood Castle, Kent
 
|religion=Anglican
 
|religion=Anglican
 
|political_parties=Conservative
 
|political_parties=Conservative
 +
|sourcewatch=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alan_Clark
 +
|wikiquote=http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Clark
 +
|spouses=Jane
 +
|alma_mater=Christ Church (Oxford)
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|children=2
 
|employment={{job
 
|employment={{job
 
|title=Minister for Defence Procurement
 
|title=Minister for Defence Procurement
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|end=14 April 1992
 
|end=14 April 1992
 
}}{{job
 
}}{{job
|title=Minister of State for Trade
+
|title=UK/Minister of State for Trade
 
|start=24 January 1986
 
|start=24 January 1986
 
|end=24 July 1989
 
|end=24 July 1989
 
}}{{job
 
}}{{job
|title=Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea
+
|title=UK/Member of Parliament for Kensington and Chelsea
 
|start=1 May 1997
 
|start=1 May 1997
 
|end=5 September 1999
 
|end=5 September 1999
 
}}{{job
 
}}{{job
|title=Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton
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|title=UK/Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton
 
|start=28 February 1974
 
|start=28 February 1974
 
|end=9 April 1992
 
|end=9 April 1992
 
}}
 
}}
 
}}
 
}}
 +
'''Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark''' was a UK author and [[politician]] who was a junior minister in [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade and Defence, and became a [[privy counsellor]] in 1991. His successor as [[Minister for Defence Procurement]] also attended [[Le Cercle]].
 +
 
==Connections==
 
==Connections==
He attended [[Le Cercle]].
+
Alan Clark attended [[Le Cercle]].
  
 
==Career==
 
==Career==
Line 35: Line 46:
 
===Arms-to-Iraq===
 
===Arms-to-Iraq===
 
{{FA|Arms-to-Iraq}}
 
{{FA|Arms-to-Iraq}}
Clark was implicated in the [[Arms-to-Iraq]] weapons deal, together with fellow Cercle members [[Jonathan Aitken]] and [[Paul Channon‎]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,908301,00.html Britain's dirty secret], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (David Leigh and John Hooper), 6 March 2003.</ref><ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631539.stm</ref>  During the 1992 [[Matrix Churchill]] Clark stated that "the interests of the West were best served by Iran and Iraq fighting each other, and the longer the better."<ref>[[Document:Maggie's Guilty Secret]]</ref>
+
Clark was implicated in the [[Arms-to-Iraq]] weapons deal, together with fellow Cercle members [[Jonathan Aitken]] and [[Paul Channon‎]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,908301,00.html Britain's dirty secret], ''[[The Guardian]]'' (David Leigh and John Hooper), 6 March 2003.</ref><ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631539.stm</ref>  During the 1992 [[Matrix Churchill]] trial, Clark stated that "the interests of [[the West]] were best served by [[Iran]] and [[Iraq]] fighting each other, and the longer the better."<ref>[[Document:Maggie's Guilty Secret]]</ref> The trial collapsed soon after Clark admitted being "economical with the actualite" regarding what he knew about arms exports to [[Iraq]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34912959 "The difference between lying and misleading"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
When Alan Clark was questioned at the [[Old Bailey]] by [[Geoffrey Robertson]] at the 1992 [[Matrix Churchill]] trial, Clark accounted for the discrepancies between his testimony and statements he had made previously. His response became notorious:{{QB| 
 +
* Clark: it's our old friend "economical"
 +
* Robertson: with the truth?
 +
* Clark: With the ''actualité''. There was nothing misleading or dishonest to make a formal or introductory comment that the Iraqis would be using the current orders for general engineering purposes. All I didn't say was 'and for making munitions'.<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=CFVvSAaTANMC&pg=PT158 page=158}}</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=rjLTsncFKCgC&pg=PT212 ''Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations'' 2007, p.212]</ref>}}
  
 
==Death==
 
==Death==
Alan Clark died of a brain tumor<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/08/world/alan-clark-a-british-scold-is-dead-at-71.html</ref>, which [[Peter Eyre]] compares to the [[assassination]]s of [[Gerald Bull]] and [[David Kelly]].<ref>http://petereyrepatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-and-uk-lost-three-nuclear-weapons_04.html</ref>
+
Alan Clark died of a brain tumour<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/08/world/alan-clark-a-british-scold-is-dead-at-71.html</ref>, which [[Peter Eyre]] compares to the [[assassination]]s of [[Gerald Bull]] and [[David Kelly]].<ref>http://petereyrepatch.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-and-uk-lost-three-nuclear-weapons_04.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Publications==
 +
* The Donkeys: A History of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915 (1961).
 +
* The Fall of Crete (1963).
 +
* [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Barbarossa-Russian-Conflict-MILITARY-PAPERBACKS/dp/0304358649 Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941–1945 (1965).]
 +
* The Lion Heart: A Tale of the War in Vietnam (1969).
 +
* Suicide of the Empires (1971).
 +
* Aces High: The War in the Air over the Western Front 1914–1918 (1973).
 +
* Diaries (three volumes, 1972–1999):
 +
*Volume 1 Diaries: In Power 1983–1992 (1993).
 +
*Volume 2 Diaries: Into Politics 1972–1982 (2000).
 +
*Volume 3 Diaries: The Last Diaries 1993–1999 (2002).
 +
* The Tories: Conservatives and the Nation State 1922–1997 (1998).
 +
* Backfire: A Passion for Cars and Motoring (2001).<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Clark/e/B000APTUYM/ref=d_pd_sbs_bl_sccl_2_1/258-5916749-3040663 "Books by Alan Clark"]</ref>
 +
 
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
{{SMWDocs}}
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}
{{Stub}}
 

Latest revision as of 13:20, 24 July 2023

Person.png Alan Clark   Sourcewatch WikiquoteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(author, politician, deep state functionary?)
Alan Clark.jpg
BornAlan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark
13 April 1928
London
Died1999-09-05 (Age 71)
Saltwood Castle, Kent
Cause of death
brain tumour
NationalityUK
Alma materChrist Church (Oxford)
ReligionAnglican
Children2
SpouseJane
Member ofBullingdon Club, Le Cercle
PartyConservative

Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a UK author and politician who was a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade and Defence, and became a privy counsellor in 1991. His successor as Minister for Defence Procurement also attended Le Cercle.

Connections

Alan Clark attended Le Cercle.

Career

Alan Clark was Minister for Defence Procurement from 25 July 1989 to 14 April 1992, succeeded in that position by fellow Cercle Member (and later chairman), Jonathan Aitken.

Arms-to-Iraq

Full article: Arms-to-Iraq

Clark was implicated in the Arms-to-Iraq weapons deal, together with fellow Cercle members Jonathan Aitken and Paul Channon‎.[1][2] During the 1992 Matrix Churchill trial, Clark stated that "the interests of the West were best served by Iran and Iraq fighting each other, and the longer the better."[3] The trial collapsed soon after Clark admitted being "economical with the actualite" regarding what he knew about arms exports to Iraq.[4]

When Alan Clark was questioned at the Old Bailey by Geoffrey Robertson at the 1992 Matrix Churchill trial, Clark accounted for the discrepancies between his testimony and statements he had made previously. His response became notorious:

  • Clark: it's our old friend "economical"
  • Robertson: with the truth?
  • Clark: With the actualité. There was nothing misleading or dishonest to make a formal or introductory comment that the Iraqis would be using the current orders for general engineering purposes. All I didn't say was 'and for making munitions'.[5][6]

Death

Alan Clark died of a brain tumour[7], which Peter Eyre compares to the assassinations of Gerald Bull and David Kelly.[8]

Publications

  • The Donkeys: A History of the British Expeditionary Force in 1915 (1961).
  • The Fall of Crete (1963).
  • Barbarossa: The Russian-German Conflict, 1941–1945 (1965).
  • The Lion Heart: A Tale of the War in Vietnam (1969).
  • Suicide of the Empires (1971).
  • Aces High: The War in the Air over the Western Front 1914–1918 (1973).
  • Diaries (three volumes, 1972–1999):
  • Volume 1 Diaries: In Power 1983–1992 (1993).
  • Volume 2 Diaries: Into Politics 1972–1982 (2000).
  • Volume 3 Diaries: The Last Diaries 1993–1999 (2002).
  • The Tories: Conservatives and the Nation State 1922–1997 (1998).
  • Backfire: A Passion for Cars and Motoring (2001).[9]


 

Event Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
Le Cercle/1990 (Oman)30 November 199030 November 1990Oman
Al Bustan Hotel & Al-Baraka Palace
Muscat
Start/End dates uncertain
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References