Disclaimer: I may have run down the good intentions of many great and noble people. It is not the intent on this site to defame or discredit but to provoke discussion. Any who are donating in good faith, or are trying to help whether it be by their influence, or otherwise, generally make the World a better place and it is definitely not my intent to discredit their ambitions. Sorry in advance.
Afrika the great. I love the place. It is full of drama and intrigue. The life of Simon Mann, I am sure will be either cut short or if it isn't... a source for one great movie.
So we have Scratcher, we have Smelly, and we have Simon, who are good friends. Simon Mann was schooled in Eton and accustomed to the finer things. He is the son of Engand's famous cricket captain George Mann. Simon went to Sandhurst, trained to be an officer, and was by some reports a fine leader, and a good soldier, as evidenced by his swift promotion through the ranks of the SAS up to commander. He served in Cyprus, Central America, and Northern Ireland. I spoke to a military man here once, when he remarked; a good soldier is never truly discharged from the military. There are not many who know the special skills and temperments needed to be a commanding officer or soldier. Huh, maybe that explains all the Rambo movies. It was no surprise that 10 years after finishing with the military he was sought for the first Gulf War.
While he worked extensively as a consultant, served as a computer technician I have to be honest with you. Simon Mann is, in my opinion simply a mercenary. He allegedly formed a company named Executive Outcomes with one of his friends, a Mr. Buckingham, (Smelly a former oil rig operator) when he saw an opportunity in Angola. Rebels had taken over the oil production for the country and they offered to uh, dispose of the rebels and defend the oil production when this was completed. The venture was successful and they continued in that vein. He has done well, but was rich before his newly accrued wealth. Simon Mann has run into a massive problem though, now currently jailed in Zimbabwe for an alleged attempt at overthrowing the dictator in Equatorial Guinea. He had 70 with him, a large amount of money, a cache of weapons, and an advance force stationed in the country of interest. Zimbabwe is preparing to extradite him to Equatorial Guinea. I think the plan was to stage the coup, install the former rebel leader as the new governor and then run the oil rich state as their own kingdom, with a profit sharing scheme for the new ruler.
The political side is interesting. South Africa who is investigating this debacle, has been criticized for not taking a lead role in the condemnation of the practices of Robert Mugabe. They have also not opened their doors to the thousands of refugees or displaced persons either. Zimbabwe though has many problems, which quite overshadow the criticism voiced upon South Africa. One of them is that they are in need of oil. Equatorial Guinea has oil. Both of the leaders are similar in that they have a certain style of government, which does away with any opposition. I will let you guess what that leadership style is. In short Zimbabwe wants to stay in good stead with their petrol pumping friends.
Now this piece of the pie gets a little bit juicier. A smuggled message from his Zimbabwean cell was to get a "large splodge of wonga" together and get him out. The message found itself in the hands of Scratchy, or was that scratch and sniff? Scratcher is none other than Sir Mark Thatcher who had a bit of acne in school. I would guess he did a lot of scratching. If you recall, he is the son of Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britain. The Wonga list is the names of the people who financed this attempted coup. South African police are also supposedly interested in interviewing Lord Archer, author of bestselling books such as Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less and First Among Equals who may be a financier. If I was a man who liked to wager, I would think there are many on the list who would have their reputations tarnished if wonga was released to the world.
Now, a dash of salt and a pinch of speculation. One of the key figures in this failed plot was another ( will remain nameless at this point) who was involved in the Aristide coup. Sir Mark Thatcher allegedly has mining interests in Sudan, and inquired about some military helicopters. It is not clear how many, if any, he has operating at this present time. Do we have an elite group of individuals who are doing the work that governments deem too dirty? Aristide in Haiti has been ousted. Charles Taylor of Sierra Leone, has been deposed. The oil rich area in Equatorial Guinea is a target. Angola was a successful venture. Is Darfur next? The pieces are in place. Money is being collected in charitable donations by movie stars such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney for help in stopping the carnage in Darfur. Jean Chretien former Prime Minister of Canada was imploring heads of state in the G8 to "donate" money to causes in Africa. Bill Clinton has been focusing attention on the plight of AIDS sufferers in Africa. I have to admit, I don't trust Clinton or his motives. Oh wait, isn't his wife running for President? It is widely known that donations frequently go to soldiers and dictators. Is the only way to make things happen, to hire people who will remain in the shadows, and enforce the will of the World? Is Simon Mann a hero, who is overthrowing evil dictators or a rogue that reaps wealth where there is opportunity? Is he a pawn in a very large game?
One thing is for sure. The ending of the story will be interesting.
