Opium Series

Seeds of Terror by Gretchen Peters, 2009, Excerpts

The Northern Alliance swept into Kabul, installing its people in key security posts. The U.S.-appointed leader Hamid Karzai began handing out important positions like they were trophies. U.S. officials privately acknowledged the unsavory behavior of various individuals who joined the new government, including allegations that some were tied to drug trafficking.

A year before the U.S.-led invasion, Afghan farmers harvested just 8,000 hectares – mostly in areas outside the Taliban’s control. In 2002, 74,000 hectares of poppies were planted. Overnight, Afghanistan had again become the world’s leading opium producer. It is clear that senior officials in the Karzai administration are involved.

In June 2004, counter-narcotics agents raided the offices of the Helmand governor, Akhundzada, where they found nine metric tons of opium. He was removed as governor soon after, but Karzai swiftly appointed him as a member of parliament.

The Afghan president raised eyebrows in 2007 when he appointed Wasifi as his anticorruption tsar. Wasifi was convicted two decades ago for trying to sell $2 million worth of heroin to an undercover officer in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. Wasifi called the bust a youthful indiscretion.

Perhaps most troubling of all, in the light of President Karzai’s notorious reluctance to take on the drug trade, are persistent reports that his immediate family members are taking an active role in coordinating it, and that members of his Popalzai tribe, his half brother and other cronies, have been posted to positions along trafficking routes around Afghanistan.

Gordon Thomas wrote of a scenario Diana's death in 1999 [summary below]. After the summary, there are chronicled news articles of Diana's death, which migrates through complete denial, investigation, inquest jury, and verdict. Her death remains an enigma with powerful parties are involved.

It will be interesting to see if Mr. Thomas' account of her death plays out or not. It will also be interesting to see how Mohammed al-Fayed [Dodi's father] handles the verdict of the inquest. Will he respect the outcome of British justice, or will he see it as an expected outcome? After all, who would really expect to see a verdict against British royalty and British intelligence in a British court? Will al-Fayed had now seek justice outside the courts? It can be a deadly game when played on their level. Stay tuned.

And now [25 Oct 2009], Mohamed Al Fayed is ready to become the first president of an independent Scotland. He's a man on a mission.

Gideon's Spies by Gordon Thomas, 1999, Death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed

The Ritz Hotel had become important in Mossad's overall strategy. The hotel remained a meeting place for Middle Eastern arms brokers and their European contacts. Mossad had decided to have an informer in the Ritz who would be able to report on activities. As a chauffeur to VIPs, Henri Paul would be in good position to overhear their conversations, witness their behavior, see where they went, whom they met.

A Mossad psychologist had concluded that there was an inherent vulnerability about Henri Paul. The psychologist had recommended that steadily increasing pressure, linked with the promise of substantial monetary reward to finance Paul's social life, could be the best way to recruit him.

For Henri Paul in those last days of August 1997, there seemed no way out. He continued to drink, to take pills, to sleep restlessly, to bully junior staff. He was a man teetering close to the edge. Though he managed to conceal it, Henri Paul was unraveling mentally. Compounding the pressure was the forthcoming visit of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed. Paul had been put in charge of their security while they were in the hotel, with particular responsibility for keeping away the paparazzi.

Two weeks prior to their deaths, the service had held several meetings with Henri Paul, "who was a paid informer of MI6."  Henri Paul had installed a bugging device in the Imperial Suite at the Ritz hotel and had obtained tapes of the "last intimate moments" of Diana and Dodi. Shortly before their death, the couple had spent several hours alone in the suite.

Just past midnight on Sunday, August 31, 1997, the dead were Diana, Princess of Wales, mother of the future king of England; Dodi Al-Fayed, son of Mohammed Al-Fayed, the Egyptian-born owner of Harrods of Knightsbridge, the "Royal" store; and Henri Paul. The couple's bodyguard had been critically injured. "Paul had been blinded as he drove through the underpass by a high-powered flash, a technique which is consistent with MI6 methods in other assassinations."

Moments later, the mysterious white Fiat Uno, which had been seen zigzagging away from the scene of the crash and which traces of paint scrapes had  been found in the tunnel, had driven into a side street off the Avenue Montalgne. Waiting there was a pentachnicon, its ramp lowered. The Uno had driven up the ramp, and the pantechnicon's doors had been closed. Hours later, the Uno had been gripped in the claws of a crusher and was reduced to a block of scrap metal.

Mohammed Al-Fayed: "A decision had been made by the Establishment, and at the very top, that Diana must not be allowed to marry a Muslim. Then the future king of England, Prince William, would have an Arab as his stepfather and another as his grandfather. There was also a real fear that I would provide the money to allow Diana to become a rival to the Queen of England. The Establishment would do anything to end my son's relationship with the one woman he had ever truly loved."

Mossad's determined attempts to recruit Henri Paul could lead to accusation that this had played a part in Diana's death. To this day Mossad's involvement with Henri Paul has remained a well-kept secret - the way the service had always intended it should remain. Mossad acted at the behest of no one outside Israel.

The Malleus Maleficarum Series

Village 'witches' beaten in India.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8315980.stm

20 Oct 2009

Five women were paraded naked, beaten and forced to eat human excrement by villagers after being branded as witches in India's Jharkhand state. Local police said the victims were Muslim widows who had been labeled as witches by a local cleric. Correspondents say the abuse of women who are branded as witches is common, but rare footage of the incident has caused outrage across India. Footage of the incident has been aired on television channels in India prompting outrage. Hundreds of people, mostly women, have been killed in India because their neighbors thought they were witches. Experts say superstitious beliefs are behind some of these attacks, but there are occasions when people - especially widows - are targeted for their land and property.

Horror of Kenya’s ‘witch’ Lynchings

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8119201.stm

26 Jun 2009

A horrific practice which appears to be on the increase in Kenya - the lynching of people accused of being witches. I personally saw the burning alive of five elderly men and women. Not one person was protesting or trying to stop the killing. Village youths who took part in the killings told me that the five victims had to die because they had bewitched a young boy. "Of course some people have been burned. But there is proof of witchcraft," said one youth.