Wednesday, August 23, 2006
the triple border
" At the real Triple Border, though, everyone may be a spy, or a would-be spy, because everyone is there: the Russian mafia, the Mossad, the Nigerian mafia, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Hong Kong triads. A rule of gold in the underworld is that Brazil is neutral territory and not subject to turf wars; everyone is entitled to join the fun (technically Ciudad del Este is in Paraguay, but it does business as a Brazilian annex via the Friendship Bridge). There's no chance of catching one of Ayman al-Zawahiri's lieutenants slipping $100 bills into the G-string of dancer Harlem Roux at the Casino Parana. He - and his al-Qaeda affiliation - would be spotted in minutes.
General Craddock grudgingly had to admit that the Pentagon has "not detected Islamic terrorist cells" at the Triple Border, nor anywhere else in South America, for that matter. But he'll keep trying. If he dropped by Ciudad del Este's mean streets, Craddock would hear a lot of Mandarin - but not Arabic. He would see every cheap plasma set in every audio-video shop tuned to Lebanese TV - or Al-Jazeera, hardly a terror ID. In his search for preemptive strikes, he could try the Condominio Mesquita - which, as the name attests, is a condo in the shape of a gold-painted mosque (they would love it in Peshawar). But he would see no Hezbollahs in fake Nikes chowing an empanada and sipping mate with Jet Li lookalikes. " - The Roving Eye
This won't stop the U.S. government ofcourse. Its just a matter of time before we see yet another military base down there. As Pepe describes in part 2 "Lost paraguayos: the Yankees are coming" , the 'when in doubt, invade' mentality will only mean a continued deprivation of funds where they are needed most in South America - education, infrastructure and health; that and more ideological crusades.
General Craddock grudgingly had to admit that the Pentagon has "not detected Islamic terrorist cells" at the Triple Border, nor anywhere else in South America, for that matter. But he'll keep trying. If he dropped by Ciudad del Este's mean streets, Craddock would hear a lot of Mandarin - but not Arabic. He would see every cheap plasma set in every audio-video shop tuned to Lebanese TV - or Al-Jazeera, hardly a terror ID. In his search for preemptive strikes, he could try the Condominio Mesquita - which, as the name attests, is a condo in the shape of a gold-painted mosque (they would love it in Peshawar). But he would see no Hezbollahs in fake Nikes chowing an empanada and sipping mate with Jet Li lookalikes. " - The Roving Eye
This won't stop the U.S. government ofcourse. Its just a matter of time before we see yet another military base down there. As Pepe describes in part 2 "Lost paraguayos: the Yankees are coming" , the 'when in doubt, invade' mentality will only mean a continued deprivation of funds where they are needed most in South America - education, infrastructure and health; that and more ideological crusades.
# posted by Surya Swamy : 10:05 AM
