Canada in Afghanistan, Again

As George Santayana stated, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it".

Which brings us to Afghanistan and the Canadian Forces fighting there today.

As a country, Afghanistan has been soaked in blood for centuries. From various Persian invaders to intertribal wars that lasted for decades, the difficult terrain and fractured tribal loyalties have made it easy to invade but difficult to hold. The British suffered a major defeat in the First Afghan War in 1842 (there were to be three) when a force of 14,000 was reduced to one survivor in the retreat from Kabul to Gandamak. The Second War was more successful for the British, who wisely limited their objectives; the Third resulted in an independent Afghanistan and continuing bloodshed from shifting regimes and intertribal warfare.

Then came the Russian Invasion on December 24th, 1979, leading to their subsequent defeat and - some would argue - the collapse of the USSR. Assisted by the ISI (Pakistani secret service) and Americans ("Charlie Wilson's War", a recently released movie, tracks the American efforts to arm the local tribes) the local Mujahideen forces forced the Soviets out in 1988. The United States funded and supplied the Mujahideen "freedom fighters" and thus created the "Islamofaschists" that are today the enemy in Bush’s "War on Terror". "Blowback", it is called.

Having "won" the war, Afghanistan was largely ignored by the USA. There was little aid and less concern. Having spent vast sums to arm the Afghanis (who kept those arms), no concern was given to rebuilding the war-torn country. Once again, tribal conflict emerged with warlords parsing out sections of the country as their fiefdoms relying upon the opium crops to finance their armies. That gave rise to the Taleban, who hosted the remnants of Mujahideen forces recruited from other Muslim countries, one such remnant being al-Qaida. The only sign of any interest at all from the West was the desire for a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, which saw Taleban dignitaries feted in Sugarland, Texas by Unocal. Oil and gas deals were concerns; human rights in Afghanistan were never mentioned.

The successful American attack on Afghanistan in 2001 - Enduring Freedom - relied primarily on arming and backing one of the local militias, the Northern Alliance. As in 1988, the Americans lost interest and shifted troops to Iraq and a new invasion. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory. Aid for reconstruction was limited to promises and words. The Taleban and al-Qaida retreated to lost valleys and northern Pakistan to wait. A few American troops and the "Coalition forces" (including Canadian troops) stayed behind to protect the new regime and "clear up the mess" in Afghanistan, but not in Pakistan where most of the Taleban were now in residence, safe and close by. Oh yes, we held an "election" that gave rise to great press but changed little.

Now, the Taleban has returned. A recent edition of the PBS program "FRONTLINE" detailed the resurgence of the Taleban from the tribal areas of Pakistan to the south of Afghanistan where Canadian forces are stationed. The program made no mention of the Canadian forces, referring only to American or "Coalition" soldiers. Pakistan is certainly not able to control its northern border and tribal area and its ISI has many ties with the Taleban. The efforts of the Pakistan military to control the tribes have met with failure and ended in accommodation.

Canada’s involvement came about under Prime Minister Chrétien as a direct result of 9/11. We wanted to be on the good team, for the USA and not against it in Bush’s terminology; the terrorists had to be punished. While almost all of the pilots and terrorists of that day were not Afghani but Saudi, Afghanistan had harboured al-Qaida and Ben Laden providing some justification for war. The Taleban, we were now told, was an extreme and repressive regime. But even now, years after we got involved and stayed, the objectives of this conflict for Canada are not at all clear. We have replaced the government with one more favoured (even if the Prime Minister is known more as the "Mayor of Kabul" for the limited area he actually controls). The warlords still control most of the country; the Coalition forces control where they are, from moment to moment.

The growing of opium continues and expands, funding the warlords and Taleban from their sales of product to our societies. On November 18th, 2004, CBC reported that opium production had surged in Afghanistan in the preceding year ("A new United Nations report says drug production has shot up more than 60 per cent in the past year") and it continues to grow, supplying 92% of the global supply. Opium represents one third of Afghanistan's gross domestic product. The street drug deals in Prince George are the last link in the chain that starts in Afghanistan. 2006 saw a further 49% increase according to the United Nations (http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70511 ).

It is, quite simply, the same old story. We can get the occasional "feel good" tales of wells being dug and girls going to school but we are never going to "win" if winning means what most of us would consider control of the country and the establishment of normal human rights and rule of law - or a decrease in opium production. We will see a continual war between our forces and the resurgent Taleban (or tribes) who have no wish to change their ways or to accept a foreign occupation (which is how the locals view what is occuring, regardless of how we elect to view things). Kill a few and a even more come up from Pakistan. Our "allies" have no wish to see their troops moved from the safer north to the violent south. Germany has simply refused and there is no reason to think that any of the other Coalition members wish to loose their lives to assist Bush’s War on Terror.

Our departure is only a matter of time. When that departure comes - as it shall - nothing will have changed. A few wells might remain a few buildings perhaps. Still, the "old ways" will continue. With no clear goals remaining, no objectives that can be attained and the lessons of history, we should bring our troops home. Whatever point had to be made, it was made months and years ago. If – and that is a very large "if" – aid can be made to accomplish anything in Afghanistan, we should direct our efforts towards not military action but the rebuilding of what has been lost. Attempts to change the Afghani social structure will not work.

In 1817, the poet Shelly composed his short "Ozymandias":

"I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

In years to come, the efforts of our troops and our dead in Afghanistan shall be as Ozymandias’ statue. Nothing will remain and all will be as it was before the death and dying.

Canada in Afganistan

In the recent Throne Speech, Prime Minister Harper stated that his government ("Canada's New Government" is the mandated phrase to be used) will seek to extend the stay of Canadian troops from 2009 to 2011.

On the surface, this seems like a reasoned extension of the War on Terror. Unlike the Iraq Invasion, the invasion of Afghanistan seemed linked directly to events of 9/11 and terrorist activity.

But events have intervened...

When the Taliban and Al Queda were trapped in Tora Bora, a little push would probably have captured Ben Laden and ended both the Taliban and Al Queda. But President Bush had other plans and the request of the field commander for 600 U.S. Army Rangers went unheeded. Those troops were diverted for the planned invasion of Iraq. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory thanks to that Bush/Cheney decision.

So what has happened since then? A surge in drug proceeds as the opium crop grows (by 50%, according to some) provides funding for the new guerrilla warfare. (Think about that for a moment - poppies need fields and time to grow. Only 12% of Afghanistan is available for agricultural crops and poppies can be spotted from the air. A 50% increase clearly shows that we lack the resources to find those fields of poppies growing during the months it takes to grow them). Violence is up and as more than one wag has stated, "Karzai (the Afghani President) is no more than the Mayor of Kabul". The rest of the country is seeing a surge in guerrilla activity as it faces 40% unemployment and appalling conditions, from lack of running water, sewage and electricity. The promised aid has not arrived or, when it has, it has been siphoned off to private pots or used in ways that limit any benefit. A report by the Asia Committee back in 2003 set out the issues and solutions. Few of those recommendations have been realized.
The Taliban, or insurgency, or whatever one wishes to call it, is stronger now than it was several years ago. One Australian report suggests this results from "resentment at NATO bombing of civilians, billions of dollars of wasted aid, a lack of jobs and record crops of opium". With no economy to speak of, the only way for an Afghan to earn money is to grow poppies or become a paid fighter for the Taliban. Pakistan is always there as a training ground. Guns, after so many years of war, are easy to get.
Not noted often is that Afganistan, after many years of warfare, has minefields everywhere. Children are often killed as they are sent out to gather fuel in the treeless country. Indeed, the number of Afghans killed or maimed by mines is staggering and the survivors of those events need special care.

Prior to Afghanistan, Canada had a reputation for providing "peacekeepers" in nations around the world. From Lester Pearson's Nobel Peace Prize and the Suez Crisis to Cyprus, from the Israel border to Bosnia, Rwanda and more, our troops had a unique and special purpose. They were not there to fight but to try - and they often succeeded - to keep warring factions apart. We had a world-wide repudiation for peacekeeping.

I think many Canadians were justly proud of that reputation.

The status of our troops in Afghanistan is very different. We are not there as peacekeepers but as warriors. I doubt that many Afghanis can note any difference between the Canadian troops and the American troops. We used much the same equipment and profess the same goals. While the initial intention might have been noble and just, the failure of the United States to fully complete the mission prior to the Iraq invasion not only gave the Taliban time and resources to continue the fighting but changed the war in character. From a war that would quickly be ended, it became - with limited resources - a war that would drag on forever. This is so as we have Allies that provide only a limited number of troops, not sufficient to accomplish the broad goals stated, and some allies who limit where their troops can be sent to areas that are not active war zones. The number of troops presently available dooms this mission to a endless engagement.

Recently, the President of Afghanistan suggested that the Taliban be invited to form part of the government. Perhaps a practical solution to the mess, but what does that say about our continuing to fight the same Taliban in the same country?

From the British defeats over a century ago to the Soviet defeats in the past few decades, Afghanistan has shown it is easy to conquer, difficult to hold. Our goal is no longer to simply destroy terrorists. Indeed, one has to wonder what the present goals are given the invitation mentioned above. And if we cannot clearly set out what goals we have for our forces in the field, we should not be willing to risk Canadian lives in a war that lacks any clear purpose and promises to have no end.

The Throne Speech followed the establishment of a panel to examine Canada's role in Afghanistan last week. To be headed by John Manley, a hawk certainly, the panel is to advise "Canada's New Government" on what role we should play in that country.

Hey! As we have been there for several years perhaps we might have had a role and mission well thought out before?

Thanks to the early phasing back of American special forces, the opportunity to "win" was lost. All we can attain now is a continual festering sore of a war, one that keeps going long after any Energizer bunny has stopped. So it has always been with Afghanistan, from early days through the Brits and Soviets. If our mission is to train Afghan police, then let's do that without the large contingent of soldiers fighting a group that may form part of the government in a short time.

An Idaho Potatoe

All right. It was early in the evening, late in the afternoon, and we were bored. Rick Sanchez holds little appeal and reruns of "CSI" were repeats of repeats.

Those are amongst the excuses I have for watching the hour long interview with Idaho senator Larry Craig. I tried to read a book while the interview was broadcast, but laughs from my partner, Sonia, get my mind wandering back to the screen.

It was designed to be touching. In their living room, I suppose, Larry in causal clothing, wife in red, and holding hands.

But we have been here before, haven't we?

There has been a lot of time to explore possible answers and the rehearse those answers. We have the story as told by the police officer, with nothing to gain by fabricating, of the tapping and touching foot and the left hand palm upward motion, complete with wedding band. Then the predictable denials, familiar to anyone who has watched even one episode of "Dateline Predators". "Of course I didn't do that".

What destroys any credibility are the actions Craig took after, while still in the heat of the spotlight. Forget that weeks past after the event before he was discovered, forget that as a U.S. Senator he knows both how laws are made and followed, but which lawyers to call when need arises. To borrow from securities work, he is a "sophisticated lawbreaker", not a rube.

Remember instead the sad "resignation" speech in downtown Boise. My "intention" to resign, coupled with the misdirected but recorded telephone call to his lawyer. Those two, taken together show a duplicity that is astounding. Clearly he wanted people to think he was going to resign, encouraged that view while being nefarious and sneaky with wording that allowed an out, just as his recorded statement to the police after the incident. This guy is a pro. Worse yet, a Republican.

Yet there he sat, wife in hand, woefully commenting that his "friends" in the Senate and Romney did not call, did not say goodbye. The poor soul, abandoned by all but newly minted innocent, with full intent to clear his name by not only appealing from his admission of guilt but now appealing the decision to uphold that guilty plea. Now I ask you, how many times on each court day is a plea of guilty for such offences taken and confirmed. Would Joe Q.. Public be afforded the opportunity to recant and claim innocence. Not even "Judge Judy" would permit that sort of nonsense. You had the time to reflect, the time to call a lawyer (weeks of time, really) and talked to the prosecutor by phone. Now you wish to say all that was a mistake, one we would not allow for a normal person?

Further, the interview did disclose that this was not the first time - at least for suspicions. The "Idaho Statesman" found lots of smoke, but no fire:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/143801.html

"The most serious finding by the Statesman was the report by a professional man with close ties to Republican officials. The 40-year-old man reported having oral sex with Craig at Washington's Union Station, probably in 2004. The Statesman also spoke with a man who said Craig made a sexual advance toward him at the University of Idaho in 1967 and a man who said Craig "cruised" him for sex in 1994 at the REI store in Boise. The Statesman also explored dozens of allegations that proved untrue, unclear or unverifiable."

Of course, what causes the attention to stay focused is not necessarily the brazen almost resignation, but the fact that Craig has been an advocate and voted always along the lines of "family values" as espoused by the religious right. The world hypocrisy comes readily to mind. Simply put, Craig has been thirty years trying to impose his "family values" on the rest of the United States, while potentially lacking those same values in his own life. Of course, he and his wife attributed this attention to the media seeking to destroy him. Sure. Jay Leno and Anderson Cooper are out to get him, along with every other comedian and reporter in the nation.

"Wide-stance", not really a quote but attributed to Craig just the same, will be the calling card. If indeed his appeal is allowed, will that no open floodgates for traffic tickets and more from those who months after, saw the need to recant a write-in plea of guilt?

Bah! Humbug!

Nightly Rituals

Perhaps my partner, Sonia, and I have too many books...

Or perhaps age is creeping up on us.

I have always been absent-minded. It seems I get into a book or thought and
manage to simply loose track of everything else. When I am summoned back to
the real world I often leave my book, with the page carefully marked, where
I "know" I will find it again or simply in a convenient place. After
whatever interruption has called me is over, I look around in the "normal"
places for the book I was reading. And, in the words of Flanders & Swann, I
"find it missing". This night, "Dear Old Dead" has been found missing...

This starts a great hunt, often tinged with frustration and anger at myself
for doing this again. I revisit all the places in our house and out where I
have been, where I might have left the book in an unthinking moment. No,
not there. Not on the front porch, not in the bathroom, not by my favoured
spot in the front room. Did I go to the kitchen? No, I don't think so, but
maybe, just maybe I did. Not there either. After several minutes of this
meandering about, with Sonia always asking "What are you looking for now", I
see another book that I have been wanting to read. Around this house, there
is "always" another book handy that needs reading.

Time passes and the book is nowhere to be found. So, with some reluctance
but also with some joy, I open the covers of another book and start off.
Hmmm. Lynn Hightower. "The Debt Collector" - that sounds interesting.
Read the blurbs and flaps. Yes, this will do. A chapter is finished, then
another. Five or so chapters in and it is time to head off to bed. With my
nose still in the book, down the hall I go, Little Boots cheerfully
following. Boots chews on his nighttimes dog biscuit then jumps on the bed.
As my eyes follow, I see the long sought book, "Dear Old Dead", resting
right in the centre of my pillow where I casually threw it when interrupted.
Indeed, the moment I see it I instantly can connect all the dots and
remember exactly why I decided at that moment to put it right where it is.

Now comes the great decision. Do I continue to read the "new book" or
return to the "old book"? Both now lie by my pillow and I tend to avoid the
necessary decision. Hmmm. Both novels, both mysteries. You know, I don't
really "feel" like reading a novel right now. Something a bit meatier.
Now, what was it that DAF said about Bush and Iraq? There was an answer to
that on the tip of my tongue, but I know it was in something I read - what
was it? - a week ago or so. So I cast an eye over the shelves of books now
nested by my desk on Clinton, Bush, Cheney and Iraq, Iran, Israel and
Palestine. That's right - it was something Gwynne Dyer wrote. That narrows
it down to three books, so I take out all three from the shelf. Nope, not
the first, it might be the second. Definitely it was in the third book on
the right side of the page.

The novels take their place on the bed, Boots takes his, and I hope in with
the third book firmly in hand, turn on the light and roll over. The light
is on a timer - it will go off sometime after I fall asleep. Opps! Forgot
to take my night-time pills! Up I go and grab the bubblepack that seems to
rule my days. Pop the night-pills and down they go with a bit of water.
Now back to the bed and hop in yet again, picking up "Dear Old Dead" as I do
so. Dyer has fallen to the floor on the other side of the bed or has
managed to creep under Boots as he starts to snore.

"As before, when George Demarkian had come to New York. it had been
winter..." Ah yes, just where I was before...

The Hunt for C.S. Forester

I feel in love with C.S. Forester’s “Hornblower” series in my late teens, on a trip to Vancouver and Seattle. The series had just been reprinted in uniform volumes by Bantam and were on display at Shorey’s in downtown Seattle. I bought them all (I thought) in the summer of 1968. I was still in university.

At the time, I was most certainly not a book collector but I was an avid reader. I read all of the Hornblower novels and then stopped in at a small bookstore that used to be just off Jasper Avenue on 101 Street in Edmonton’s downtown. I found a few more books by Forester and, more interesting, a list of books that he had written courtesy of the clerk, a fellow named Tom. In that brief moment, I became a book collector.

Now at that time Forester’s books were being given away and some were still available in “first editions”. Always a book hound, now I started to learn the nuances of collecting from identifying a first edition to searching for them. The used bookstores of the day did not favour Forester that much – his titles were often in the big bins of books available for a quarter or so. If the book was on the shelves inside, the price was not much higher.

So that is how it all started, so many years ago.

Tom, the sales clerk at the bookstore, ordered in what he could (I attended his marriage years later and ended up only a few miles south – he is a teacher in Dawson Creek, B.C.). Beyond prowling in used bookshops in Edmonton and elsewhere when I traveled, after an initial rush the collection grew slowly. I was hooked but not yet starkers mad.

The Forester shelf in my bookcase remained more or less the same.

Then we moved to Vancouver with new used bookstores to explore. Titles were added, one by one. On what had become annual forays to London I discovered another world – one that could find such books for me thousands of miles away. Bookstores in Charring Cross and such became regular correspondents. I remember one on Bond Street, where I finally found Forester’s one children’s book, “Poo-Poo and the Dragons”. Bertram Rota provided regular offerings. In those days I was just about the only person collecting Forester in any manner so the plums fell to me.

To aid in finding new books, the sequels to Forester by Dudley Pope, Alexander Kent, Patrick O’Brien and others (the “shot and sail” novels that take the place of Westerns in the UK). Somewhere along the line I write to Mrs. Dorothy Forester, then still in Berkley California and she replied with a two-page manuscript of his that was duly framed. I started writing as well to the other writers and soon had a lively exchange with Dudley Pope, Douglas Reeman (“Alexander Kent”) and most of the rest. That led to some wonderful times in London and the UK. Reeman took me to the Savage Club and out for supper to the pub where Nelson stopped on his way to Trafalgar. Yearly trips and visits followed. We used to stay and Mrs. Beever’s Bed and Breakfast and I can still remember the address – 53 Cambridge Street, London, and SW1. Just around the corner from Victoria Station.

On one trip, I made my way out to Redding and Angmering-by-the-Sea and met both Dorothy Forester and his cousin, Stephen Troughbridge-Smith. We chatted and had tea; Mrs. Forested added to my collection with a copy of “U-97” - a play by Forester - and Steven regaled me with tales of his uncle. The next day, early on, I made my way to Dulwich and located Forester’s home from his early days. After the milkman arrived I knocked on the door and introduced myself to the occupant who took me up to the attic room where Forester played his games with tin soldiers and wrote his first (rather bad) books.

Later via the Internet I was to meet John Forester, son of CSF by his first wife. John hates his father. Due to royalties and such, he was in a battle with Stephen. That delayed the Hornblower series for A&E in the USA. Suffice to say I am perhaps the only person to know both sides of the dispute directly from the horse’s mouth.

One year, I placed an ad in “The Bookseller” a weekly publication that tells the trade what books are being published in the UK. I got a letter from an elderly woman in the UK who offered twenty of the Forester books, all complete with dustjacket for One pound each. She had collected books all her life and her architect was now telling her that unless she got rid of some her house would fall down. So now I had signed copies of Forester’s books and the collection was complete!

We moved, from West Vancouver to Vancouver Island and Campbell River. A divorce meant moving again, this time to a farmhouse near Courtenay. By this time, the Forester books had their own bookcase, glass fronted and only for them.

It was insurance that caused me to think about divesting. To insure such books out in the country was a long and complicated affair. I was told that I could ship them to San Francisco for appraisal which might be acceptable. Ah well, that would be expensive.

When I first tired to contact Forester’s widow, I had corresponded with a person named Llewlyn Howand III. He was then an editor with Little, Brown in Boston. I knew he had left to start his own bookshop (and to sail some magnificent yachts). So I contacted him and send the books off to Boston for sale. They ended up at the University of Texas for the magnificent sum of $5000 or slightly more:

http://www.mwilden.com/forester/

http://library.tamu.edu/portal/site/Library/menuitem.32cd556b7355d69343aecb5419008a0c/?vgnextoid=152f8944d32e0010VgnVCM1000007800a8c0RCRD

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=C.S.+Forester&sortby=1&x=40&y=11 ("The African Queen" is over $30,000 alone, with dustjacket…)

In today’s inflated Forester market, those same books would bring in over $100,000. C’est la vie.

Along this long road, I had wonderful times and met fascinating people. I may well add to this tale – consider this a work in progress for there are so many stories to tell…

A Good Day

Today I had intended to call a record store and order a CD by Long John Baldry, now deceased. Last week, on CBC Radio, there was in interview with Paul Meyer who has just completed a biolgraphy of Long John. Baldry spend most of his last twenty-five years in Vancouver. The bio sounds interesting and it is now on my Chapters list for the next AirMiles Gift Certificate.

Baldry is the Father of British Blues, creditied with the discovery of Rod Stewart and Elton John. Indeed, he saved Elton's life. The story is that Elton, uncomfortable with being Gay and seeing no answer, had his head literally in the gas stove when Baldry called up and convinced him that being out was the way to go.

During the interview, they played a few tracks, including "Don't Give Boogie Woogie to the King of Rock 'n Roll" and "It Ain't Easy". Both were produced by Stewart and the piano is from Elton John. So with that intention I stopped first at a small local thrift and cast my eye down the rows of cassettes they had for sale (Our van, Eggplant, has a cassette player, not a CD). There it was, "It Ain't Easy" by Long John Baldry, for all of $.25. Better yet, the version of "Boogie Woogie played on CBC did not have the voice over introduction, a long tale of Baldry's arrest in London for busking in London.

(Music wise, one of our best Saturday afternoon sets of CD's is of Chinese music, edited by Yoyo Mah. We recently found, at another thirft, a three CD set of African music which looks equally good. To my major disapointment no cuts by King Sunny Adda but that can be corrrected! King Sunny came to Vancouver years ago and put on a fantastic show at the old Commodore).

Having started the day with that find, it was over to Habitiant for Living, where I found a nice bi-fold door for our hallway, the louvered type which we wanted. I should be able to get that up tomorrow. Sonia's ensuite is complete but needed a medicine chest. The Sally Ann has a very nice one free for the taking, so I did. Wood trim, three shelves and two mirrored "wings". Just what the doctor ordered.

Arriving home, I saw the post office van just leaving and yes, the book order from Chapters was here. Yesterday brought signed bookplates form Olen Steinhaur, all the way from Hungary. Today brought the order with his last two books, "Liberation Movements" and "Victory Square". There are five books in his series, starting off the "Bridge of Sighs". They are mysteries (and spy thrillers) set in an un-named Eastern European country starting in 1948 and continuing to the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Highly recommended.

The third book was not fiction. "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" is by an Israeli historian and I had read some very good reviews of it.

For those who cleave to the mythology that the Palestinians left their homes in 1948 due to Arab radio urging, forget the myth and look at the truth. Documented truth by an Israeli scholar, Ilan Pappe. Pappe's purpose in writing this book is not to denounce his own
country, Israel. Rather, he states clearly that until such time as the
criminal actions of evicting the Palestinians is recognized by the world,
including Israel and the United States, there can be no peace.

Here is the true story - a deliberate plan to removed any Arab from the
territory of Palestine. Far from only isolated incidents of violence, this
was part of Plan "D", a very deliberate and calculated plan to remove
Palestinians from the lands they had occupied since Roman times. That Arab
radio played into the successful propagation of the myth is certain, but
that was well after Plan "D" had been formulated and was being executed.

This is no anti-Jewish screed. It is a well documented and historically
accurate rendering of the crime that continues to drive violence into the
Israel Palestinian conflict.

Most assuredly, if you read this book you will never, ever look at the
Palestinians in the same way. Their removal and subsequent treatment
including the settlements and outposts was and remains part of a plan the
world has ignored. As Pappe points out, others have been brought before War
Crime tribunals for the same acts that were carried on with impunity by the
founders of Israel.

And perhaps, just perhaps, reading this book will give some insight into the
reason why so many Muslims are mad at Israel and its unconditional backer,
the United States. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine forms the root of
Islamic fundamentalism as much as do the oppressive regimes supported by
American foreign policy. If you still believe that Islamofacists are out to
rule the world, especially your part of it, it might be nice to get to the
single issue that has driven that movement right from the state.
Uncomfortable as it may be, this book provides many answers.

Eh bien, not is the time to take of the old hallway doors and put up the new-to-us bifold. As one might expect, nothing goes totally well - it looks as if a half inch or so need be removed from the new door.

The Hunter is Hunted by Her Prey

(The title comes from an old “Girl Groups” song written by Smokey Robinson)

One thing is very clear…

You don’t have to like a writer to enjoy their books.

Some may recall the American poet, hailed by some as America’s greatest poet, Ezra Pound. Pound was in Italy when the United States entered the war and made many broadcasts favouring the Axis powers:

“After the war, Pound was brought back to the United States to face charges of treason. The charges covered only his activities during the time when the Kingdom of Italy was officially at war with the United States......His insanity plea is still a matter of controversy, since in retrospect his activities and his writings during the war years do not appear to be those of a clinically insane person. Treason is potentially a capital offense. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Pound

(The same method had been used with the British World War One hero and poet Sigfried Sassoon. He was confined to a mental hospital in Scotland until he agreed to return to the trenches).

I have been reminded of that in my recent “discovery” of an American mystery writer, Jane Haddam (her real name is Orania Papazoglou). Prolific, Haddam has written two series of mysteries. The most durable are the tales of Gregor Demarkian, “the Armenian-American Hecul Poiroit”. There are over twenty in this series:

Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990)
Precious Blood (1991)
Act of Darkness (1991)
Quoth the Raven (1991)
A Great Day for the Deadly
A Feast of Murder (1992)
A Stillness in Bethlehem (1993)
Murder Superior (1993)
Dear Old Dead (1994)
Festival of Deaths (1994)
Bleeding Hearts (1995)
Fountain of Death (1995)
Baptism in Blood (1996)
Deadly Beloved (1997)
And One to Die on (1997)
Skeleton Key (2000)
True Believers (2001)
Somebody Else's Music (2002)
Conspiracy Theory (2003)
The Headmaster's Wife (2005)
Hardscrabble Road (2006)
Glass Houses (2007)
Game of Solitaire (to be released next year)

There are three main characters. Gregor Demarkian is a retired head of the FBI Criminal Behaviour Unit, and its founder. His wife died shortly before his retirement and he returned to the Armenian section of Philadelphia, bought an apartment and enjoys the quiet close-knit neighbourhood. Bennis Hannaford is first a potential victim, then a friend, and more recently a lover (and soon to be wife?). She hails from a rich but dysfunctional family on The Main of Philadelphia. Last is Father Tibor, an Armenian Orthodox priest who offers sage and often confusing advice.

Various Armenian neighbours, a police chief and would-be mayor round out this cast, and others added as the stories require. Several of the titles involved Roman Catholic nuns. They typical book starts off with a chapter introducing each character, charming little vignettes that present the character and move the plot along just enough. Then, of course, comes a murder, mostly. These are like Agatha Christie in a sense, but far more involved and convoluted. By the time the plot starts to take off, Haddam has made you at home with each of the characters and, if you have been following the series, brought you up to date on the evolving relationship between Gregor and Bennis.

Gregor is not a private detective, as he repeats often enough, but a police consultant. He seems to be invited to all sorts of places, from mansions to colleges, to movie star’s homes and even ships. Naturally, foul deeds are done. Often several. As the plot moves along, the interplay between Gregor and Bennis, and Father Tibor is a delight. Haddam is a person of definite views (more of that later) and interjects politics and political science in very chewable nuggets throughout the text. By making her characters of different political persuasions, she is able to present some funny and also piercing commentary on various views.

Now, what does this have to do with Ezra Pound?

Well, I had never heard of Jane Haddam until I joined a well-established Usenet newsgroup – Rec.Arts.Mystery or RAM. This group has been going for many years, has annual meetings and even a logo. Unlike other newsgroups, this one is not give to flames and ads for sex tonics. Most of the posts are actually about books and mystery writers. Indeed, in the Demarkian novels, Father Tibor is an avid participant in the group.

Father Tibor might join the group in fiction; Jane Haddam joins the group in real life. And that is where I met her – and we instantly disagreed.

To say the least, Haddam and I differ on “American Foreign Policy”, notably the War in Iraq and potentially the War in Iran. So that has lead to some rather hot exchanges. As Haddam’s books are not published in Canada or the United Kingdom, I had not heard of her nor ever seen any of her books. I ordered the first one in with the intention of hating it.

And when it arrived, I tried to hate it. The problem being, like with Pound, I was captured and had to surrender – at least to the books. My first taste was several months ago and now, thanks to my digging deep in cellars and strange out of the way bookshops on line, I have the complete set of Demarkian mysteries and have been reading my way through all of them.

At times, I am ashamed of myself. If I were to stand on principle I would burn them or at the least give them away to some non-English readers. But I simply can’t…

Now, the first books of the series were all written with a holiday in mind. This was, according to what I have read, her publisher’s idea, not hers. So Christmas, Easter, July Fourth, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day and more - each of the early books revolves around a particular holiday. That gets a bit tiring and makes some titles and plots a stretch. I find Haddam’s plots great fun, but in some cases the coincidences do stretch credulity as the story comes together. The first fifteen books, the "Holiday" Demarkians, were published by Crimeline. With Demarkian "16", "Skeleton Key", Haddam switched publishers to St. Martin's Minotaur and the plots were markedly less restrained by the artificial "holiday" theme. In my opinion, the freedom from holidays resulted in much better and more interesting plots. The newer books are indeed my favourites.

While not commonly found in Canadian bookstores, the titles can be found at Chapters and specialist mystery bookstores. For the early titles in paperback, I found all the paperbacks in a used bookstore in Kamloops. Better World Books and BookCloseOuts on the web also have some of the more recent titles.

Haddam has gone outside of the Demarkian series for another short series (the Patience McKenna novels) and two stand alone novels ("Charimsa" and Sanctity", both released under her true name). I have not managed as yet to locate copies of these but I am certainly looking for them.

Instead of hunting Jane Haddam to get the books signed, I often find myself her prey on line…