Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.
Sto caricando le informazioni... Operation Morthor : the last great mystery of the Cold War (edizione 2020)di Ravi Somaiya
Informazioni sull'operaOperation Morthor: The Death of Dag Hammarskjöld and the Last Great Mystery of the Cold War di Ravi Somaiya
Nessuno Sto caricando le informazioni...
Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
A PLANE CRASH IN THE JUNGLE. A LEGENDARY STATESMAN DEAD. A TRAGIC ACCIDENT... OR THE ULTIMATE CONSPIRACY? For nearly sixty years, the circumstances surrounding the death of renowned diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld have remained one of the Cold War's most tightly guarded secrets. Now, with exclusive evidence, investigative journalist Ravi Somaiya finally uncovers the truth. In 1961 the Congo was in crisis, fragmented and at war with itself. The streets of Leopoldville, the capital, were crawling with CIA operatives, MI6 agents and Soviet infiltrators. Belgian colonialists, Rhodesian white supremacists and corporate mercenaries massed in the south of the country. The chaos conspired to make it one of the most dangerous places on earth. UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, the man John F. Kennedy called 'the greatest statesman of our century' flew into the maelstrom. He was an idealist. The Congo's best hope for peace and independence. But en route to a diplomatic summit to reunite the country, Hammarskjöld's plane mysteriously disappeared. Soon afterward he was discovered dead in the smoking wreckage, an Ace of Spades playing card placed on his body. A riveting work of investigative journalism based on new evidence, recently revealed first-hand accounts, and groundbreaking interviews, Operation Morthor reveals the plot behind one of the longest-standing murder mysteries of the Cold War, with dark implications for governments and corporations alike. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
Discussioni correntiNessunoCopertine popolari
Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)967.51031History and Geography Africa Central Africa Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa); Rwanda & Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa -- former Zaire)VotoMedia:
Sei tu?Diventa un autore di LibraryThing. |
If you are looking for a solid introductory read into this topic then this is book for you. Author gives a very detailed picture of events in Congo and Katanga in 1961-63. This was (after Korea in 1950's) last large engagement of UN led troops in area heavily contested by both superpowers and also various private enterprises. So when UN decided to stand with the Congolese government to affirm their independence, forever present fear of those others-that-want-to-destroy-us (communists but in general populist movements of any kind at the time) will trigger armed response from the neighboring countries already involved in the long counterinsurgency war (Rhodesia) and from private companies that just didn't want to lose their profitable concessions (and also didn't want to be called out by any elected government especially in the areas where they were the de-facto governments). Soon large groups of shady people, mercenaries and spies began to pop up, and conflict between UN/official Congo government and Katanga (supported by private enterprises) entered a bloody phase. Dag Hammerskjold was a person that lived by UN rules and obligations so for him there was no other way but to make sure Congo exits the colonial period a sovereign country. Challenged by the mercenary forces, and triggered by gruesome murder of Lubumba, UN troops started a series of offensives that were so brutally fought by both sides that Katanga's leader Tschombe decided to have a meeting with Hammerskjold to discuss how to reintegrate secessionist Katanga back into Congo. And en route to the meeting plane carrying Dag Hammerskjold will crash killing everybody on board.
And this is where author starts to give us details on all investigations and obstacles encountered during the investigation of the crash. It is true that story loses its tempo here but this is as expected because lots of details related to the crash were intentionally obscured by almost every official team and by actions of various countries with interest in Katanga. Because of such an opposition investigations would hit a wall very fast. Either people would hide away from the investigators or they would be dismissed as unreliable (for some very weird reasons that, to make things stranger, were never challenged) or just would not be available for questioning (especially during the re-started investigation in 2000's, time when majority of witnesses from 1960's were long time dead). Unfortunately there are no documents given in the book nor details on the findings (only given is publicly available information which is not much) so everything reads very much like he-said-she-said. Again this is expected. It just seems nobody wants to volunteer the information that would shed light on this event.
When one scratches the surface such weird things start to surface, characters and organizations that seem like they popped up from pages of pulp fiction novels (SAIMR being just one one of them, maybe even not the strangest one).
This event is important for several reasons - first, UN will never again act in capacity they did in Congo and will forever remain toothless tiger that became more involved in politicking and squabbling but unable to force any settlement ever again on its own; second, killing of a high profile person like UN Secretary General sent a message to everyone in the world. No-one was untouchable. Even if this was not planned assassination entire web of half-truths that was built around the event will always raise the what-if question and make politicians (usually not the most reliable people to begin with) to keep their distance.
If there was ever a warning story of what happens when private business and government goals match then it was this. Hopefully truth about what happened will eventually come to the light of the day.
Very good book, good introduction to the topic and with extensive bibliography to pick up to learn more.
Recommended. ( )