Telegraph defence editor savaged by Owen Jones
over Saudi-links, deletes Twitter account
Guardian columnist Owen Jones © REUTERS/Simon Dawson
Guardian journalist Owen Jones savaged the Telegraph's defence editor after he went to a Saudi Arabia Embassy party at a London Museum. Con Coughlin has now deleted his Twitter account after Jones linked him to both Saudi and MI6.
Coughlin’s credibility was left in tatters after a Jones Twitter thread took aim at the journalist and his wife. The thread was instigated by Coughlin’s attendance at a party hosted by the Saudi government at the Natural History Museum, amidst allegations that Saudi agents had killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Following Khashoggi’s disappearance, Coughlin echoed the line of the Saudi government, tweeting: “Was Jamal Khasogghi a liberal or a Muslim Brotherhood lackey who reviled the West?” and linking to his article on the matter.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
This morning, Coughlin posts a hatchet job on Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, suspected to be murdered by the Saudi regime. https://twitter.com/concoughlin/status/1050665398515822593 …
And here's another article in the Spectator he approvingly posts. https://twitter.com/concoughlin/status/1050693494027763712 …
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Read through this thread, and bear this mind. Con Coughlin was Foreign Editor, and is now Defence Editor of one of Britain's main broadsheet newspapers. He is treated as a respected journalist. What does this tell us about the British media?
The writer also took exception with Coughlin’s reporting on Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Con Coughlin's output on Saudi Arabia is ludicrously Pravda-esque fawning. Scan through the articles he's written here: it is beyond belief. Seriously, have a sickbag ready. https://twitter.com/search?
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Here is a fawning interview Coughlin conducted with Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in March, who he describes as a "human dynamo". He concludes: "With this young royal at the helm, Saudi Arabia’s future prospects clearly know no bounds." 🤢 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/05/exclusive-interview-british-saudi-people-will-much-safer-have/ …
Mohammed bin Salman interview: 'British and Saudi people will be much safer if we have a strong...
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the young Saudi royal charged with undertaking the most radical reform agenda in his country’s history, is the epitome of a human dynamo.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
All Coughlin does is churn out Saudi propaganda and Saudi talking points. Check this out when Saudi Arabia and its allies clashed with Qatar. Is this news reporting, or a de facto press release Saudi Arabia might as well have written? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/24/britain-must-remember-real-friends-crisis-engulfing-middle-east/
Jones didn’t only look at Coughlin’s recent work and connections, he also went back into the veteran’s career to expose numerous instances where Coughlin was reportedly fed lines by MI6, writing: “One false story fed to him by MI6 about Saif Gaddafi led to the Sunday Telegraph apologising for libel.”
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
A 2000 article reveals Coughlin was fed material by MI6 for years, which he then turned into Telegraph news articles. (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2000/jun/12/pressandpublishing.mondaymediasection …) One false story fed to him by MI6 about Saif Gaddafi led to the Sunday Telegraph apologising for libel (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1391636/Saif-Al-Islam-Gaddafi-an-apology.html …) pic.twitter.com/XRTkAtgU4J
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Stories published by Con Coughlin include a front page splash: 'TERRORIST BEHIND SEPTEMBER 11 STRIKE WAS TRAINED BY SADDAM'. It was based on a forged letter which had been fed to him. https://www.newsweek.com/terror-watch-dubious-link-between-atta-and-saddam-132097 …
A Document Tying The Iraqi Leader With The 9/11 Terrorist Is Probably Fake. Plus, How Terror Financiers Manage To Stay In Business
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Con Coughlin went on NBC to tell viewers that the (forged) letter was "really concrete proof that al-Qaeda was working with Saddam". This false claim was invaluable: it justified one of the Bush administration's false pretexts for the invasion of Iraq.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
As Newsweek notes, Coughlin's "story was apparently written with a political purpose: to bolster Bush administration claims of a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam's regime." No kidding.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
As his "story" fell apart, Coughlin said: there's "no way of verifying it. It's our job as journalists to air these things and see what happens." Errrrr.
A book by Pulizter-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims the Bush administration forged the evidence. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/05/politics1 …
The Guardian writer then exposed Coughlin for his work in the build up to the Iraq War, posting that he was involved in the pushing of ‘evidence’ of a link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, that “Pulizter-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims the Bush administration forged.”
Moving on to his spouse Katharine Bergen, Jones detailed how she “is a former journalist who wrote pro-Bahrain propaganda for publications ranging from The Daily Mail to Standpoint Magazine.”
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
A thread. The Telegraph's Defence Editor churns out Saudi propaganda after going to a Saudi party.
He is married to Katherine Bergen who worked for Meade Hall & Associates, paid lobbyists for Bahrain's dictatorship, which was propped up by a 2011 Saudi invasion. https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1050518839719530497 …
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Katherine Bergen is a former journalist who wrote pro-Bahrain propaganda for publications ranging from The Daily Mail to Standpoint Magazine. (http://standpointmag.co.uk/dispatches-july-10-katherine-bergen-bahrain-women-islam-parliament …, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1315182/Bahrain-breaks-A-pearl-holiday-Dubai-WAGs.html …)
Bahrain is one of the Middle East's more charming enclaves - a place where you can dive for pearls one minute, and stare at skyscrapers the next. Katherine Bergen takes a trip.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Bergen's shadowy PR firm, abruptly apparently dissolved in April this year, was founded by Patrick Meade, the 8th Earl of Clanwilliam, a former Conservative councillor. In 2014 he sponsored a £1,000 per head table at a Conservative fundraising dinner.
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Guests on the table included Philip Hammond and his wife; Tory MP Conor Burns - chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Bahrain; and Dr. Afnan Al Shuaiby, the Saudi chief executive of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2014/jul/01/-sp-conservative-party-fundraising-dinner-11bn-seating-plan … pic.twitter.com/Pko2zdW6Ub
The Twitter thread subsequently went viral, with thousands re-tweeting and liking Jones’ posts. He was hailed by many, although one former Guardian journalist said his words would be a lot more powerful if he looked at his own employers too.
Jonathan Cook
@Jonathan_K_Cook
Good to see Owen Jones regularly criticising the corporate media. Now if he'll carry through his own logic to conclude that the Guardian, his employer, is also part of the corporate media – and part of the problem – we'll be making real progress
Owen Jones🌹✔
@OwenJones84
Genuine question. Why is the Telegraph treated as a respectable news organisation, whose journalists are held in high esteem, well-connected, invited to all the press conferences, to gatherings and parties of the great and the good - but, say, The Canary is beyond the pale? https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1050762279787089920 …
It is unclear as to Coughlin’s response to the attack, other than to delete his Twitter account. The editor did, however, have a story published on Sunday, titled: “Are you smart enough to pass the GCHQ entrance exam? Test your intelligence with these extracts from the world’s toughest puzzle book.”
I would think Mr Coughlin's days as an editor at the Telegraph are numbered. But that should not be the end of it. There needs to be an investigation into the credibility of reporters and editors who can't be bothered to lift the carpet to see how much dirt has been swept underneath.
What was Coughlin's motivation for supporting Saudi Arabia so enthusiastically? Is that same motivation at play in demonizing Russia and Syria? Why is MI6 involved in feeding The Telegraph stories? And why isn't someone investigating this?
This is Deep State! This is how it works, and it is all over the western world.
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