The King (Hussein) & the spy

"If a diplomat is an honest man sent to lie for his country, a spy is probably a dishonest man sent to lie for his country?

 This article caught my attention from the Washington Post, "A cautionary tale for Middle East peace". 

It goes to show you how even the most paranoid dictator can often have a point when they accuse everybody of being a CIA stooge!

I have to admit to always liking King Hussein, the man was a tenacious survivor but a  unsuccessful leader. He survived multiple assasination attempts, survived the wave of Arab Nationalism, confronted the very real possibility of his country being taken over by Black September and finally made peace with Israel. He did all this with no Oil and no real allies, so what if he was on the CIAs payroll?

A book review on a "King's Counsel", about a CIA operative who allegedly used to make regular payouts to the King Hussein of Jordan.

When O’Connell was station chief in Amman from 1963 to 1971, he dropped off monthly envelopes of cash at the palace as part of a long-running CIA covert action code-named “NOBEEF.”

I say allegedly because taking the word of a spy on what goes on has always stuck me as a contradiction in terms. If a diplomat is an honest man sent to lie for his country, a spy is probably a dishonest man sent to lie for his country? Maybe that is a bit cynical of me but hey hey ho.

A little side plug to a entertaining read of many 1970's leaders, the fact that the author turned into a right wing nut later on shouldn't detract you!


 A little excerpt from Anjum Niazs article in 2003 about her..


 Fallaci impugns homosexuals as "devoured... by the wrath of being half and half," and accuses feminists of "dreaming of being raped by bin Laden." For Fallaci each and every Muslim on the face of the earth is a "threat"! "Oh, I could go on ad infinitum. Tell you things never told, things to make your hair stand on end. About that dotard Khomeni, for example, who after our interview held an assembly at Qom to declare that I had accused him of cutting off women's breasts," fulminates Fallaci. "I could tell you about Mujibur Rahman, who, again at Dacca, had ordered his guerrillas to eliminate me as a dangerous European, and lucky for me an English colonel saved me at the risk of his life. God, what people!

"The only ones I've had a civil relationship with, remain poor Ali Bhutto, the first prime minister of Pakistan, who was hanged because he was too friendly to the West, and the most excellent king of Jordan: King Hussein. But those two were as Muslim as I am Catholic."