This is how international relations work!

The Ipcress File (1965)
Director: Sidney J. Furie

We always think that violence, espionage, eavesdropping, intelligence archiving, military building and sabotage are events that only happened in the past. We have confined them in the fiction row of our bookshelves and assume it does not occur in real life. We give humans way too much credence.

This business of international relations began as early as the time Man picked up a weapon to knock down his neighbour.

Just found out recently, of all the people, the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth I and the Ottoman Empire had a good thing going between the two. After being labelled an outcast by the Roman Catholic Church for the shenanigans of King Henry VIII, there was animosity between England and many European superpowers of that time. The Spanish, Italians, French, Russian and Portuguese were all under the thumb of the Vatican.

The English naturally found friendship in 'the enemy of the enemy'. In the eyes of the Ottoman, the Anglicans (i.e. British) were not idolaters. Unlike the Catholics who found pleasure in worshipping the statues of a caring mother or a man on a crucifix, the Anglican houses of worship were pristinely bare. Beyond all that was business. The British wanted to lay their hands on many Muslim traits like raisins and spices. The Moors from Morocco actually had expansion plans. They had, in their mind, a joint venture with the British, a conquest over the Spanish territories in the Americas. By then, the Spanish armadas were scooping gold by the shiploads from ancient civilisations.

Sir Henry Hyde, after whose family Hyde Park is named, lived during this time. He was a royalist during the English Civil War. He worked as an agent for the Levant Company, which became the precursor to the East India Company. He later became a Consul under the Ottoman administration. At the same time, this man also was a spy for the Venetians. After their classic sea battle in Cyprus, the Venetians had a bone to pick with the Ottomans. Hyde informed the political and military secrets to the Venetians.

Working within the crowd of Cromwell supporters, Hyde was captured while fighting for King Charles II and was executed in the Tower of London.

If you think Aurangzeb's planned murder of his brother, Dara Shikoh, was brutal, King Ashoka was no saint. He had his 99 brothers killed before sitting on the throne.

We all grew up reading and listening to the covert operations on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era. Both ideologies, suffering from extreme delusion and cognitive dissonance, thought the other would annihilate each other. Ultimately, they almost ended up sending the whole planet up in a mushroom cloud twice.

It is during this time that this movie is set. In the swinging sixties, with the background of miniskirts, baby doll dresses and bright colours, it is a joy to watch a young Michael Caine doing his suave 'licence to kill' James Bond manoeuvres.

A point to note is that even though the Americans seem to be on the side of the West, they also keep a tight rein on their subordinates. This is just to make sure that they know how the boss is.

We thought spying and honey trappings were only a legacy of the past. Wrong. Even as late as the 21st century, these are ongoing. The US accused the Chinese of using their goodwill to siphon off sensitive state secrets back home, as the US was the innocent party.

It is just how the world works. We don't hold hands and sing Kumbayah.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

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An extrovert spy?

The Secret Life of Uri Geller – Psychic Spy?

BBC Documentary (2013)

Director: Vikram Jayanti

The flamboyant Mossad and CIA secret agent always liked the attention but led a mysterious life. He wants to keep his admirers guessing of his ability as he finds joy in doing his stuff under the radar, under the cloak of secrecy and the excuse of national security.

Growing up in the 60s in Nicosia, he partook in the Six-Day War in 1967. After the war, he was a celebrity in the Tel Aviv entertainment circle as a performer performing spoon-bending mind tricks. He is said to possess psychokinetic powers, ability to do remote viewing and had psychic powers. His penchant for sticking around the wealthy and famous landed him in Mexico, doing a gig with a local TV and slowly building a strong bond with the first family. There, he is said to have done CIA's dirty work of erasing Russian floppy disks with remote viewing ability and psychokinetic skills. He then made his way to New York. Geller is said to be involved in CIA's secret, sometimes labelled fictitious, programme named Stargate Project. This project is supposed to develop ways to secretly 'view' enemies' documents from a distance.

In 1976, he is said to have used his gift to help the Israeli fighter planes to escape radar detection by the Egyptian Army as they flew past their airspace to get to Entebbe airway to rescue the 100 over hostages held in an Air France plane by Palestinian hijackers.

His activities are all hush-hush. His services were in great demand at the heights of the Cold War. Even though the Stargate Project was officially terminated in 1995, his services were apparently reactivated after 9/11. In the documentary, Uri Geller finds intense pleasure in keeping his viewers in suspense. He does not admit or deny any of his clandestine activities.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

It does not matter what people think

Bridge of Spies (2015)

There are truths, half truth, manufactured truths, lies bent to appear true. The problem is knowing the whole real truth is near, if not, impossible. Some truths are buried in the tombstones of time only to show a short cameo appearance before it is forgotten for good. Some never even see the living daylight. Some non-truths instead become gospel truths as they were uttered by victors and oft repeated!

One cannot be an idealist, doing only things which he considers the truth. As in most things in life, it is hidden in the shades of grey between white and black. We should do what we think is right. It does not matter what people think.

What is actually right, we may never know!

In this spiced up American movie,  set during the heights of the Cold War, James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance negotiator is summoned by the Justice Department to defend a suspected Russian spy. The US wanted to appear to be holding a fair trial. At the outset, the lawmakers wanted to make it an open and shut case but unfortunately, it dragged on. The accused, Rudolf Abel, a pessimist, denies any involvement with espionage. The defence lawyer, Donovan, and the accused builds a relationship of mutual respect. As expected, the accused is proven guilty by the courts. Despite being ostracised by the general public for defending an enemy spy, Donovan labours on. When an American air pilot and a student is apprehended by the Russians, he acts as a negotiator on a secret mission to East Germany.

Job well done, smoking 'em out of their foxholes?

Job well done smoking 'em out of their foxholes? 

Wow, I just realised that my friends are getting just as twisted as me. I guess that is why they say that friends with the same mental illness flock together. When a naturalised Sikh Canadian gets elevated to the rank of Minister of Defence, normally the whole world would sing praises of equality, of globalisation and acceptance of multiculturalism. That the world is everyone's oyster and all one has to do is show allegiance to a flag, bravery and the zest to fight for the Truth against the tyranny of Evil forces. There are two forces in this world, the Good and Evil. The Evil one is hellbent on crushing something good that the rest of the world (i.e. Good) is trying to propagate.

But, no! My friend looks at it as a betrayal to Sikh community.

The Sikhs have always had a special place in the heart of the people of the world. Before the Partition, Sikhs were the minority in the state of Punjab, overpowered in numbers by the Hindus and Muslims. But still, in Malaysia and most parts of the world, people are under the impression that Punjabis and Sikhs are one. That is speaking much of the charisma of the Sikhs.

At one time, the Malaysian wing of the Standard Chartered Bank used a Sikh security guard as their icon to denote their mammoth structure, steadfastness, strength and cordiality. Some time ago, I saw a public service announcement from India. A young demure girl walks along a deserted street in Chennai. She notices a few mean looking good-for-nothing punks on dirt bikes looking lustfully at this maiden. Thinking of the worst, with many unsavoury scenes of Kollywood and Bollywood flashing through her mind, she hastens her pace. She lets a sigh of relief when she sees another biker in front of her. The silhouette of the burly chap with a turban gives her hope. Hope that she has found a dependable soul to rest her woes. The motorcycle trotting punks, upon seeing their nemesis scoots off in no time.

Turbaned Tornado

So, the rest of the community looked at the Sikhs with awe, respect and confidence. What more, they, a small community, have done well. A Sikh in any part of the world is instantly recognised. These qualities must have used by the learned minister to garner accolades in the army. His CV includes the ability to infiltrate enemy territories to garner vital information to turn the outcome of the Gulf War to the side of self-proclaimed Protectors of the world.

Now, the trust is gone. He has put his whole community in danger. Until now, the Sikhs have not been targets of terrorist activities. Dumb actions by naive Americans who mistook Sikhs as Taliban do not count. The frustrated fundamentalists would now have another area to create mayhem. After all, it would mean to them that the Sikhs had turned over to the 'Other Side'!

Just food for thought...