Tuesday, September 28, 2004
A Kidnapping in Gaza. Yesterday, men who claimed they were with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade abducted a CNN cameraman in Gaza City. Today, they released him unharmed -- either because they realized he was a Druze from the Gallilee and they had no quarrel with him, or because Yasir Arafat and (what's left of) his security forces got involved. Either way, it's worrying. There haven't been too many kidnappings in the OT so far; I remember some rogue Fatah hawks kidnapping a couple of American reporters in Khan Yunis back when I was there in 2001, though they were released within hours.
It's not surprising to see this stuff happening, really: there's no peace process, the White House has given the Likud a blank check and the Territories are slowly but surely being taken over by criminal gangs. If the status quo endures, we can probably expect more in the future -- especially in Gaza, which resembles nothing so much as an open-air prison.
It's not surprising to see this stuff happening, really: there's no peace process, the White House has given the Likud a blank check and the Territories are slowly but surely being taken over by criminal gangs. If the status quo endures, we can probably expect more in the future -- especially in Gaza, which resembles nothing so much as an open-air prison.
Monday, September 27, 2004
The Arlington Connection.Reports have just surfaced that elements at the Pentagon might have had a hand in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea this spring. (For background, look here and here.) It's a story that gets murkier by the day, but here's the gist: Seems that one of the coup's alleged go-betweens was in touch with a group of private security industry companies in the US, who said the Pentagon -- remember, these companies are just a hair's breadth away from the active military -- was eager to see them expand their Africa operations. Presumably, a new, Washington-friendly government in Equatorial Guinea would result in some work for these private contractors, and a better deal for US oil companies, who are already active in the country's newly discovered oil fields.
Both the US and Britain have extensive oil interests in Equatorial Guinea which, in the words of one US official, is "the new Kuwait".
The Texas company Marathon is building a huge liquefied natural gas plant, of which the British gas firm BG plans to buy much of the output for the next 17 years.
There is a good deal of unofficial sympathy in US military circles for the coup plotters. One of those present at the original IPOA dinner said on Sunday, requesting anonymity: "Ethically, you have to want to see Obiang removed.
"It's a real indictment of the international community that they've failed to get rid of him."
This anonymous source is right, of course: Obiang definitely deserves to go. I don't know if it's just the humanitarian impulse, the wish to see a brutal dicator brought down, that's motivating our shadow security industry. More likely it's the profit priniciple, justified by a bit of crusading zeal. After all, West African oil is a growth industry, and maybe Obiang, after decades in power, is starting to look a little creaky. Sounds like a conspiracy theory, I know. But this story just keeps getting stranger ...
The Texas company Marathon is building a huge liquefied natural gas plant, of which the British gas firm BG plans to buy much of the output for the next 17 years.
There is a good deal of unofficial sympathy in US military circles for the coup plotters. One of those present at the original IPOA dinner said on Sunday, requesting anonymity: "Ethically, you have to want to see Obiang removed.
"It's a real indictment of the international community that they've failed to get rid of him."
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Public Enemy #1. Just watched the 60 Minutes segment on Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist who seems to be behind a good deal of the suicide bombings and beheadings in Iraq. It was an interesting backgrounder, and it spent some time on Zarqawi's formative years in Jordan, where he was tied to a number of plots to kill Americans long before the Iraq war. The piece left out one important detail, though: we passed up three chances to kill Zarqawi in the run-up to war last year because wiping him off the map would have undermined the White House's case for war.
I wonder why CBS left that bit of the story out? Maybe because of this?
I wonder why CBS left that bit of the story out? Maybe because of this?
CBS News said yesterday that it had postponed a "60 Minutes" segment that questioned Bush administration rationales for going to war in Iraq.
The announcement, in a statement by a spokeswoman, was issued four days after the network acknowledged that it could not prove the authenticity of documents it used to raise new questions about President Bush's Vietnam-era military service.
[ ... ]
CBS said last night that the report on the war would not run before Nov. 2.
"We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election," the spokeswoman, Kelli Edwards, said in a statement.
The announcement, in a statement by a spokeswoman, was issued four days after the network acknowledged that it could not prove the authenticity of documents it used to raise new questions about President Bush's Vietnam-era military service.
[ ... ]
CBS said last night that the report on the war would not run before Nov. 2.
"We now believe it would be inappropriate to air the report so close to the presidential election," the spokeswoman, Kelli Edwards, said in a statement.
Friday, September 24, 2004
No Deal. An interesting analysis of Abkhazia and South Ossetia's almost immediate rejection of Mikhail Saakashvili's proposal to end the more than 10-year-long conflict in Georgia. Meanhwile, Georgia keeps moving troops to the South Ossetian front. Saakashvili certainly seems to be playing the game like a pro -- olive branch in one hand, rpg in the other -- but there are still some kinks to work out. Georgia needs to stop letting its soldiers get kidnapped, for one.
Dangerous Business. Washington just sold 5,000 heavy, precision-guided bombs to Israel, apparently -- the sort of weapons that would be just perfect, as it turns out, for a pre-emptive attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility. With tensions between Israel and Iran rising, it makes you wonder if now is the best time for an arms transfer like this. I'm sure the Pentagon knows best, though. After all, what's the worst that could happen?
War games run at the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency to examine the repercussions of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities have consistently reached a chilling conclusion: Iran would unleash a wave of terrorism against Israeli targets worldwide and against U.S. troops in the Middle East. Some 140,000 American military personnel are currently stationed adjacent to Iran in Iraq and Kuwait.
Oh, right.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Bulletproof. Came across a link to this site on All Africa.com's blog list. Pretty obviously, it's not a blog, but I'm guessing the good people at Texas Armoring figured it'd be a good place to advertise their wares.
Texas Armoring Corporation currently, one of the largest providers of armored passenger vehicles in the world, is dedicated to the protection of corporate executives, government officials, and diplomats. Texas Armoring Corporation's armored sedans, limousines, four-wheel drive, and other vehicles have been protecting the lives of clients throughout the world for over two decades.
Looks like they do nice work. I wonder where Robert Mugabe gets his armored cars?
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
'Thieves in Law'. So it looks like today is "Crime Tuesday," I guess. I'm posting this fascinating paper on Georgian criminal groups from the Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. I came across it while doing some background research, and it offers a pretty good rundown of the militias that ran Georgia into the ground in the 1990s, along with some very interesting stuff on the Georgian mafia and the role it played (and continues to play) in the Russian crime world.
Researchers have always emphasized the role that the "thieves in law" played in the former USSR and continue to play in Georgia and other CIS countries today. In all probability the "thieves in law" castes formed after the revolution in the 1920s and became official in the '30s and '40s during the years in Stalin's camps. A hierarchy was established during the Soviet times with "thieves in law" at the top. "Thieves" were criminals who had avoided the system through secret help from other criminal authorities. It was imperative that the "thieves" follow the "thief honor code," which stated:
-- Never associate with State authorities,
-- You cannot work,
-- Always support your fellow thieves,
-- Support the thief treasury.
-- Never associate with State authorities,
-- You cannot work,
-- Always support your fellow thieves,
-- Support the thief treasury.
Leveling Out? Good news from South Africa. The latest crime statistics show drops in most categories. Cash-in-transit heists -- that is, armored-truck robberies -- were down a full 50 percent, which must be of some comfort to those charged with guarding the trucks (During my time in Gauteng, it was generally acknowledged that armored truck guards did the most dangerous job in the country).
So it's good news. But all the same, don't forget those carjacking safety lessons.
So it's good news. But all the same, don't forget those carjacking safety lessons.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Another postcard. This one's from Khashuri, the hammock capital of Georgia (no kidding), taken during one of our frequent breakdowns. (photo by Heidi Zeiger.)
Friday, September 17, 2004
Michael Moore, seen from Maadi. In Middle East Report, Garay Menicucci reports on the reception -- official and otherwise -- that Fahrenheit 9/11 got in Cairo. Not surprisingly, the government didn't allow it to be screened at any of the working-class theaters downtown. Indeed, the only ones who got to see it were expats and Egyptian elites.
In the piece, Menicucci touches on something I noticed, too: the film doesn't even mention Israel. While it's hard to say exactly how much of a role Israel and its backers (of course, they are legion in the Bush administration) played in the decision to make war on Iraq, it's undoubtedly an important part of the equation. But Moore doesn't mention it, preferring to concentrate his fire on the Saudis. As Menicucci writes, the Egyptian audience could hardly fail to notice an omission like that.
In the first week of its Cairo release, Moore's latest documentary championing the downtrodden was shown in only four small upscale cinemas in suburban shopping malls in Maadi and Nasr City, miles away from the bustling downtown area and nowhere near affordable public transportation. At the Osman Group Cinema on Palestine Street in Maadi, there was valet parking for filmgoers arriving in sport utility vehicles and Mercedes sedans. Tickets in the cinemas in malls and luxury hotels cost double what Cairo's popular downtown venues charge.
Several of these cinemas were packed to the gills with people who came to see Matt Damon playing the memory-challenged and misunderstood CIA agent in The Bourne Supremacy. Otherwise, patrons of the cheaper theaters were stuck with Groom from General Security, starring Egypt's beloved, if aging comic actor Adel Imam as a doting and overly protective father who is reluctant to have his daughter marry an agent in the mukhabarat (secret police). Of course, the hated mukhabarat win his grudging admiration in the end. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore mocks the American upper crust in a clip where the tuxedoed Bush jokes with a crowd he calls "the haves and the have-mores." "Some call you the elite," Bush continues. "I call you my base." In Cairo, it was the haves who had the privilege of viewing Moore's socially critical cinema and chuckling at his in-your-face bashing of Bush and the Saudis, while the have-nots made do with mediocre movies whose messages reinforce the status quo.
Several of these cinemas were packed to the gills with people who came to see Matt Damon playing the memory-challenged and misunderstood CIA agent in The Bourne Supremacy. Otherwise, patrons of the cheaper theaters were stuck with Groom from General Security, starring Egypt's beloved, if aging comic actor Adel Imam as a doting and overly protective father who is reluctant to have his daughter marry an agent in the mukhabarat (secret police). Of course, the hated mukhabarat win his grudging admiration in the end. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore mocks the American upper crust in a clip where the tuxedoed Bush jokes with a crowd he calls "the haves and the have-mores." "Some call you the elite," Bush continues. "I call you my base." In Cairo, it was the haves who had the privilege of viewing Moore's socially critical cinema and chuckling at his in-your-face bashing of Bush and the Saudis, while the have-nots made do with mediocre movies whose messages reinforce the status quo.
In the piece, Menicucci touches on something I noticed, too: the film doesn't even mention Israel. While it's hard to say exactly how much of a role Israel and its backers (of course, they are legion in the Bush administration) played in the decision to make war on Iraq, it's undoubtedly an important part of the equation. But Moore doesn't mention it, preferring to concentrate his fire on the Saudis. As Menicucci writes, the Egyptian audience could hardly fail to notice an omission like that.
There is little love lost between most Egyptians and the Gulf Arabs who descend on Cairo every August to escape the scorching heat of the Arabian Peninsula and indulge in decadent pleasures denied them in their own countries: alcohol, gambling, prostitution and discos. But Saudi oil wealth does not translate into sufficient political clout in Washington for the Saudis to push the US into war, as far as Egyptian and Arab audiences are concerned. Meanwhile, the influence and strategic vision of another US ally in the Middle East -- Israel -- is nowhere to be seen in Fahrenheit 9/11. It is an odd omission for Egyptians familiar with the tales of how an Office of Special Plans assembled by an undersecretary of defense sympathetic to the Likud Party cherry-picked and stovepiped intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction.
Overall, it's a pretty enlightening read -- one that provides a glimpse of the political climate in Egypt, along with a perspective on Moore's movie that isn't entirely focused on the November 2 elections.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
A postcard from Tladzlisi, Georgia. That's Dima, our fixer, in the white shirt. I'm second from right. (photo by Heidi Zeiger.)
From the horse's mouth. Here's the official Russian line on the rising tensions with Georgia, from an interview with Vladimir Putin run by The Guardian. Essentially, Putin's view is that it's all Georgia's fault.
Update: Emphasis added.
Now, as regards Mikhail Saakashvili, the new Georgian President has told me on several occasions that he wants to establish the contact necessary with the leadership and the people, and he wants to start incorporating them in the area of co-operation of humanitarian affairs. This would be the right thing to do.
But what has been done in practice to these? On both sides of the border in both Ossetia and Georgia, they have set up a security fence. So, according to the agreements reached there, there should be not more than 500 peacekeepers from each side, including Georgia, North Ossetia and Russian Federation. This makes up altogether 1,500.
But, what Georgians did was they introduced up to three thousand men of their own, on their own part of the security zone, and then go further into Southern Ossetia.
[...]
Some believe that if Russia were to express such a desire immediately overnight things would change to their liking, but this is not the case. That could only be the situation under the conditions when Russia was to pursue imperial policies, which is not the case. And such policies cost us very dear, so if we were to pressurize somebody in those areas to pursue our ends, then we will be hated in that area for hundreds of years.
So there you have it. Vladimir Putin: staunch anti-imperialist.
But what has been done in practice to these? On both sides of the border in both Ossetia and Georgia, they have set up a security fence. So, according to the agreements reached there, there should be not more than 500 peacekeepers from each side, including Georgia, North Ossetia and Russian Federation. This makes up altogether 1,500.
But, what Georgians did was they introduced up to three thousand men of their own, on their own part of the security zone, and then go further into Southern Ossetia.
[...]
Some believe that if Russia were to express such a desire immediately overnight things would change to their liking, but this is not the case. That could only be the situation under the conditions when Russia was to pursue imperial policies, which is not the case. And such policies cost us very dear, so if we were to pressurize somebody in those areas to pursue our ends, then we will be hated in that area for hundreds of years.
Update: Emphasis added.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
I stand corrected, maybe. Apparently, US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles told local reporters yesterday that there are still some terrorists left in Georgia, hiding out in Pankisi and Kodori. It's hard to imagine why Miles would say this unless he had some solid evidence to back it up -- unless Washington is looking for a way to justify its continued military presence on Russia's southern flank. And Al Qaeda's always good for that, you know...
After Beslan. Tensions are rising on the Georgia/Russia border, as Moscow again hints that Chechen terrorists are hiding out in Georgia's mountains. Not surprisingly, Tbilisi worries that Moscow will use the Beslan tragedy as an excuse to go after Georgia. The worries aren't unfounded, either. Just a few years ago, Russian fighters bombed Georgia's notorious Pankisi Gorge in retaliation for Chechen attacks. Now, however, both Georgian and American authorities insist there are no terrorists in Georgia -- except, as Natalia Antelava points out, those hiding in the Russian-controlled breakaway province of Abkhazia.
Hell in a Handbasket. Meanwhile, Chris Albritton of Back to Iraq lets us know just how things stand in Iraq.
I don’t know if I can really put into words just how bad it is here some days. Yesterday was horrible -- just horrible. While most reports show Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra as 'no-go' areas, practically the entire Western part of the country is controlled by insurgents, with pockets of U.S. power formed by the garrisons outside the towns. Insurgents move freely throughout the country and the violence continues to grow.
I wish I could point to a solution, but I don't see one. People continue to email me, telling me to report the 'truth' of all the good things that are going on in Iraq. I'm not seeing a one.
I wish I could point to a solution, but I don't see one. People continue to email me, telling me to report the 'truth' of all the good things that are going on in Iraq. I'm not seeing a one.
Journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad was in the crowd on Haifa Street in Baghdad this past Sunday, when US helicopters appeared toopen fire on unarmed civilians. The US says insurgents in the crowd fired on its helicopters first; in any case, 13 Iraqi civilians ended up dead -- including an Al Arabiya reporter, Mazin Tumaisi. Abdul-Ahad offers a minute-by-minute account.
I had just reached the corner of the cube when I heard two explosions, I felt hot air blast my face and something burning on my head. I crawled to the cube and hid behind it. Six of us were squeezed into a space less than two metres wide. Blood started dripping on my camera but all that I could think about was how to keep the lens clean. A man in his 40s next to me was crying. He wasn't injured, he was just crying. I was so scared I just wanted to squeeze myself against the wall. The helicopters wheeled overhead, and I realised that they were firing directly at us. I wanted to be invisible, I wanted to hide under the others.
As the helicopters moved a little further off, two of the men ran away to a nearby building. I stayed where I was with a young man, maybe in his early 20s, who was wearing a pair of leather boots and a tracksuit. He was sitting on the ground, his legs stretched in front of him but with his knee joint bent outwards unnaturally. Blood ran on to the dirt beneath him as he peered round the corner. I started taking pictures of him. He looked at me and turned his head back towards the street as if he was looking for something. His eyes were wide open and kept looking.
There in the street, the injured were all left alone: a young man with blood all over his face sat in the middle of the cloud of dust, then fell on to his face.
As the helicopters moved a little further off, two of the men ran away to a nearby building. I stayed where I was with a young man, maybe in his early 20s, who was wearing a pair of leather boots and a tracksuit. He was sitting on the ground, his legs stretched in front of him but with his knee joint bent outwards unnaturally. Blood ran on to the dirt beneath him as he peered round the corner. I started taking pictures of him. He looked at me and turned his head back towards the street as if he was looking for something. His eyes were wide open and kept looking.
There in the street, the injured were all left alone: a young man with blood all over his face sat in the middle of the cloud of dust, then fell on to his face.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Well, that didn't take long. I just got my first Nigerian scam e-mail from someone purporting to be the son of one of the Equatorial Guinea coup plotters. Say what you want, these guys are nothing if not topical:
JUNO DU-TOIT
DUBAN, SOUTH - AFRICA.
Email:toit-toit@zwallet.com
RE: APPEAL FOR YOUR SINCERE, HONEST ASSISTANCE
Dear Sir,
Greetings and compliments of the season.
Please, I beg you to pardon me, as I know this letter from me will come to you as a surprise as you and I have not met before.
Well, by way of introduction. I am Juno Du-Toit, the son of Mr. Nick Du-Toit; the South African wealthy businessman recently arrested and still being held in Equatorial Guinea, as he was accused of leading an advance team in an international coup plot in a foreign country (Equatorial Guinea) in march this year.
It is hurting that my innocent father is now a victim of wicked conspiracy as it seems he is deeply committed with trumped charges and under false / manipulated rules in a country ruled with Iron - Fist under Iron curtain rules.
[...]
I am humbly waiting for your sincere and honest reply soon.
Thanks.
Yours truly,
Juno Du-Toit
DUBAN, SOUTH - AFRICA.
Email:toit-toit@zwallet.com
RE: APPEAL FOR YOUR SINCERE, HONEST ASSISTANCE
Dear Sir,
Greetings and compliments of the season.
Please, I beg you to pardon me, as I know this letter from me will come to you as a surprise as you and I have not met before.
Well, by way of introduction. I am Juno Du-Toit, the son of Mr. Nick Du-Toit; the South African wealthy businessman recently arrested and still being held in Equatorial Guinea, as he was accused of leading an advance team in an international coup plot in a foreign country (Equatorial Guinea) in march this year.
It is hurting that my innocent father is now a victim of wicked conspiracy as it seems he is deeply committed with trumped charges and under false / manipulated rules in a country ruled with Iron - Fist under Iron curtain rules.
[...]
I am humbly waiting for your sincere and honest reply soon.
Thanks.
Yours truly,
Juno Du-Toit
Saturday, September 11, 2004
I've just posted a selection of photos from Georgia on my site. Though I'm the writer on this project, I managed to shoot a bit during my spare moments. So have a look and enjoy.
Friday, September 10, 2004
The 'Wonga List'. Today's Mail & Guardian has a good rundown of the latest twists in the Equatorial Guinea coup plot. Zimbabwean authorities have given some stiff sentences to ringleader Simon Mann and his accomplices -- the hired muscle -- who have been rotting in a Harare prison since March. Mann's 'Wonga list' of alleged financiers, meanwhile, is an interesting bunch: besides Mark Thatcher (former British PM Margaret Thatcher's son), there's a Lebanese oil trader and various British/South African businessmen. Even Jeffrey Archer, the disgraced Tory politician, makes an appearance.
Mann, an Etonian and ex-SAS, is well-connected, but it doesn't seem to have saved him. Maybe it was just his bad luck to get caught in Zimbabwe: After all, Mugabe's always ranting about how the British are plotting against him. In this case, they weren't plotting against him but against another aging dictator to the north, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
For more background on the plot, see my post from earlier this year.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who's been following this story, but South Africa's Black Economic Empowerment program -- designed to level the post-apartheid economic playing field -- hasn't been a resounding success so far. While the pace of BEE has quickened, it has only created a new class of uber-rich black tycoons, mostly well-connected ANC politicians. Whites still control the lion's share of businesses, and millions of blacks can't even get a job. As I said, none of this is surprising; this sort of transition takes time if it's to be done properly (look to post-Soviet Russia or Robert Mugabe's fiefdom to the north for lessons in how not to do it). And it was part of the deal that brought apartheid to a (relatively) peaceful end: the blacks get politicil power, while the whites get to keep control of the economy, at least for the near future. Clearly, though, there's still a lot of work to be done.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
It's become something of a ritual by now. Whenever things in the Caucasus heat up, Russia accuses Georgia of harboring Chechen guerrilas. So sure enough, like the rites of spring or the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano, Moscow says Georgia's Pankisi Gorge -- which borders Chechnya -- is home once again to Chechen rebel bases. During the worst years of the Shevardnadze regime, this was certainly true; the remote Pankisi was home to all kinds of bad men. (The post-Sept. 11 claim that Al Qaeda was also hiding out in Georgia, which was used to justify a US military presence on Georgian soil, was always specious, though.)
In recent years, however, things seem to have improved somewhat -- at least as I understand it. It's still lawless and it's still a smuggler's clearinghouse, apparently, but most of the people I spoke to said the vast majority of Chechens in Pankisi these days are just refugees. It would seem stupid for the Georgian government to allow Chechens to mount attacks from its soil; but then again, the Georgians now have some American muscle behind them, so maybe they're not too worried about that. The real question, though, will be how far the Americans will back Georgia in a fight with Russia. My bet? Not very far.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
During my last few days in Georgia, all eyes were riveted on the catastrophe unfolding in North Ossetia, where Chechen guerrilas had taken a school full of Russian kids hostage. It ended badly, of course, as it always seems to when Russians and Chechens are involved (and especially when the Spetsnaz storm the place).
Nobody in Georgia, however, was shedding any tears for the Russian hostages. As one person put it to me, "It's shameful to say, but when I heard the news, I thought 'Good. It serves the Russians right.'" No one really meant they hoped to see innocent Russians die. Rather, given Russia's imperialist history in the Caucasus -- both Georgians and Chechens have been on the receiving end of a lot of brutality from up north -- it'd be surprising to hear any other sentiment. It was sad, and it was also familiar; I remembered hearing the same things from both Israelis and Palestinians. And now the calls are growing for Putin to rethink his tactics with the Chechens. While Russia seems unlikely to back off -- remember, there's an oil pipeline running through Chechnya -- the Chechens are evn less likely to yield. As a friend in Tbiisi said admiringly, "The Chechens are warriors. They always have been."
Nobody in Georgia, however, was shedding any tears for the Russian hostages. As one person put it to me, "It's shameful to say, but when I heard the news, I thought 'Good. It serves the Russians right.'" No one really meant they hoped to see innocent Russians die. Rather, given Russia's imperialist history in the Caucasus -- both Georgians and Chechens have been on the receiving end of a lot of brutality from up north -- it'd be surprising to hear any other sentiment. It was sad, and it was also familiar; I remembered hearing the same things from both Israelis and Palestinians. And now the calls are growing for Putin to rethink his tactics with the Chechens. While Russia seems unlikely to back off -- remember, there's an oil pipeline running through Chechnya -- the Chechens are evn less likely to yield. As a friend in Tbiisi said admiringly, "The Chechens are warriors. They always have been."
I'm back, just returned from a reporting trip to the former Soviet state of Georgia. Posting should resume soon.
