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British UFO researcher in 'biggest US military hack of all time' loses his bid to avoid extradition to the United States

• Gary Mckinnon could spend 70 years in prison for making the US military look incompetent but British MPs oppose deportation of Terror Chief to the States because of "interrogation techniques"

A UFO enthusiast turned computer hacker accused of the 'biggest military hack of all time' has lost his appeal against extradition to the United States where he could be jailed for 70 years if convicted.

In a completely unsurprising move, the tarnished House of 'Lords' rejected an appeal by Gary McKinnon to quash an extradition request granted to the US authorities in 2006 by a court servile to the 'special' relationship interest between the UK and US.

The unemployed 42-year-old computer genius, who has already admitted hacking into 97 US military and NASA computers but claims he was searching only for information on UFOs, will now stand trial for allegedly sabotaging vital defence systems. But Mr Mckinnon's hack attacks caused no damage at all to US military and defence and he is simply being hounded because he made the US military, NASA and the CIA look incompetent.

His lawyers, who claim he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay as a terrorist suspect, immediately announced they would appeal to the European Court to prevent him being taken from Britain. They claim the case could have been brought in the UK but that the Government had chosen instead to stand back and let the US 'make an example of him' to deter other hackers but whatever happens to McKinnon it is certain other hackers will make efforts to thwart any security.

In carefully worded statement his lawyers said: 'Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathiser. His case could have been properly dealt with by our own prosecuting authorities. Instead, we believe that the British Government declined to prosecute him to enable the US government to make an example of him. American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him "fry". The consequences he faces if extradited are both disproportionate and intolerable and we will be making an immediate application to the European Court to prevent his removal.'

McKinnon, from Enfield, North London, hacked into 97 American military computers at the Pentagon and NASA between 2001 and 2002 from the bedroom of his girlfriend's aunt's house. He has never denied that he wandered around the computer networks of a wide number of US military institutions and instead of being prosecuted he should be thanked for highlighting how easy it can be to access US military defence computers.

He has always maintained that he was motivated by curiosity and that he managed to get into the networks only because of lax security and this humiliation has prompted the Americans authorities to pursue him so fanatically. And the same embarassed American authorities claim he stole 950 passwords and deleted files at Earle naval weapons station in New Jersey.

He was accused of using his computer skills to gain access to 53 US Army computers, including those used for national defence and security, and 26 US Navy computers, including those at US Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, which is responsible for replenishing munitions and supplies for the deployed Atlantic fleet. He was also charged with hacking into 16 NASA computers and one US Defence Department computer.

Mark Summers, an official representing the US government, previously told a London court that Mr McKinnon's hacking was 'intentional and calculated to influence and affect the US government by intimidation and coercion'. It is not thought that anyone laughed out loud when Mr Summers claimed a computer hacker was trying to intimidate the awesome power of the world's only superpower.....

McKinnon lost his case at the High Court in 2007 and went straight to the highest court in the land, the House of Lords, in June this year. David Pannick QC, representing him, said his extradition would be an abuse of proceedings but the Lords 'spiritual and temporal' caved in to American demands amid accusations of being Britain being the 51st State of America.

McKinnon had been warned by the US authorities that he faced a life sentence rather than a couple of years in jail unless he agreed to plead guilty and accept extradition but McKinnon refused to buckle to their overt threats and intimidation.

Without cooperation, the US authorities said, the case could be treated as one of terrorism and comes as no surprise from a nation obsessed with terrorism. It has been reported that US prosecutors wanted to 'see him fry' in a politically motivated malicious prosecution.

But a defiant McKinnon said he was motivated by curiosity and was looking for evidence that the US government had information on UFOs. His supporters say he is being made a 'scapegoat' for security shortcomings on US military networks.

McKinnon described his exploits as 'ridiculously easy'. After a previous hearing, he said: 'I was amazed at the lack of security and the reason I left not just one note but multiple notes on multiple desktops was to say "Look, this is ridiculous". My intention was never to disrupt security. The fact that I logged on there and there were no passwords means that there was no security.'

But McKinnon will be hounded by the US authorities until they get him behind bars and 'see him fry' for exposing the defence of the world's most powerful country as ridiculous. And McKinnon's extradition is all the more insane in light of a widespread opposition by treacherous MPs against the extradition of genuine terror suspects because the Americans might torture them.

It is not thought the Americans are planning an extraordinary rendition (kidnap) on McKinnon if his appeal succeeds at the European Court of 'Justice'....



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