David M. Dastych

Did the FSB Betray Victor Bout?

Warsaw, Poland: In my first article, published on the CFP on March 14, and then reposted on political Web sites in Britain, Switzerland and in the United States, I reported about the DEA sting operation against Victor Bout and also on some events from the past, involving him and other people. A few hours only after the CFP publication, I received interesting documentation from Bucharest, Romania, which was published in part in my second article, posted on the CFP on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. A story recently printed in a Polish magazine Gazeta Polska provided more facts about international links of Victor Bout’s criminal network, including his business with Polish Military Intelligence, and also with Russian and Polish gangsters Semyon Mogilevich and Riccardo Fanchini (Marian Kozina). According to the Polish TV reporter Witold Gadowski, one of the high-positioned protectors of Victor Bout in the Putin’s Kremlin was gor Ivanovich Sechin, known as an opponent of the new President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev.

Following the trail of the “Merchant of Death”

Warsaw, Poland: In my previous article, first published on the CFP on March 14, and then reposted on political Web sites in Britain, Switzerland and in the United States, I reported about the DEA sting operation against Victor Bout and also on some events from the past, involving him and other people. Only a few hours after the CFP publication, I received an interesting documentation from Bucharest in Romania and an article from the current issue of a Polish conservative magazine Gazeta Polska. Both provide very interesting disclosures about the illegal weapons trade and Mr. Bout’s connections to the Romanian and Polish military intelligence. Here is the first of my follow up reports.

‘Merchant of Death’ detained in Thailand

Warsaw, Poland: In a rare interview granted in Moscow to American journalist, filmmaker and writer, Peter Landesman, in 2003, Victor Anatolyevich Bout (then 36) said about himself: ''I woke up after Sept. 11 and found I was second only to Osama.” And referring to his bad reputation of “the biggest arms dealer in the world'' he joked: ''Maybe I should start an arms-trafficking university and teach a course on U.N. sanctions busting.'

Jaruzelski was no Pinochet

(Editor’s note: In March of 1987, Warsaw-based journalist David Dastych, then a CIA operator was arrested and imprisoned by Communist secret police in Poland. In a series of articles for Canada Free Press, Dastych throws a beam of light on “Communist traitors of Poland living the high life on generous pensions and tells readers their names.)

 Paul Joyal’s Injuries Saved Other Lives

After my analysis was published on the CFP on Sunday, February 24, “Russians Suspected in Shooting of Kremlin Critic Near D.C.”,  a reader from Texas e-mailed me with this message: “Actually it was his genitals that were blown off and Bush knew about it and called Putin on it. 

Russians Suspected in Shooting of Kremlin Critic Near D.C.

One year ago, Kremlin critic Paul Joyal was gunned down in the driveway of his suburban Maryland home. The case remains unsolved — but some see the hand of Russia in the shooting.

THE END OF ‘BRAINY DON’? We’ll see

First: A short “introduction” from Wikipedia: Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich (June 30, 1946 in Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian Семен Могилевич, also written as Semyon) is a notorious organized crime boss who is believed to control the largest Russian Mafia syndicate in the world. His business activities are alleged to include arms dealing, drug trafficking, prostitution and money laundering. He is nicknamed "The Brainy Don", because of his business abilities and because he holds a degree in Economics from the Lviv University.

Poland’s Black Wednesday

Warsaw, Poland-Poland is mourning the death of her best military pilots and Air Force commanders. Ironically as it sounds, a group of some twenty five Polish AF officers--including two generals--returned from a conference on "Flight Safety" held in Warsaw on Wednesday, January 23. All twenty people (16 passengers and 4 crew), remaining on board the plane after some left on previous stops-over, were killed in the crash. The Spanish-built brand new CASA C-295 military transport plane fell down during the landing operation near a Polish NATO airfield base, touched tree tops in a wooded area and hit the ground, exploding in flames.

Trading with the Enemy

“Dear David, I badly need your help. Some time ago a Russian newspaper “Vremya Novostei” published a story written by Arkady Dubnov, one of the best informed Russian journalists on Central Asia, about the alleged role of the US Air Force in heroin traffic from Afghanistan to Europe. He wrote that the US Air Force transported 85% of heroin produced in Afghanistan. Dubnov quotes anonymous Afghani sources (there are also some accusations of Karzai’s brothers who take part in this scheme).

Pakistan—After the Shut Down of GEO TV

Dear Friends, Here are some news and comments from Pakistan, India and other countries -- after a shut-down of private TV News channels in Pakistan by the Musharraf regime. Please, put some facts and comments on your Web sites to help our Pakistani journalists friends to survive the repressions and to reopen their broadcasting to the Nation and worldwide

Richard Pipes Was Awarded the National Humanities Medal Nov. 15, 2007 at the White House

The medal was awarded by President George W. Bush in a White House East Room ceremony today (Thursday, November 15, 2007). The president was joined by First Lady Laura Bush; Mrs. Lynne Cheney; Dana Gioia, chairperson, National Endowment for the Arts; Bruce Cole, chairperson, National Endowment for the Humanities; and recipients of the National Medal of Arts, who also received their honors at the event.

Lech Walesa’s New Heart

Warsaw, Poland: November 7 used to be celebrated in the then Communist countries, the Soviet Union in particular, as "The Revolution Day". Not any more now, save for the Russian hard-core Communists longing for the "glorious" past. On that day, in 1981, straight from a reception at the Soviet Embassy in Warsaw, the late Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, a top CIA agent in Poland, walked out to "disappear" and soon he and his family safely landed in the United States.

Musharraf’s Step Back

In a sharp political analysis published in India on September 5, 2007, Hamid Mir, one of the top Pakistani journalists (and also a CFP columnist) predicted the imposition of martial law in his country. His article, entitled "Pakistan and the 'minus two' formula" suggested: "Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's top advisers have seriously suggested applying Bangladesh's 'minus two formula' in Pakistani politics (...) The army-backed interim government in Bangladesh suspended general elections for one year and imposed emergency in early 2007. The Bangladeshi army also attempted to banish two former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina from politics (hence 'minus two')."

DEMOCRACY, NOT “TWINS-CRACY”

Warsaw, Tuesday, October 23: Poles went to the polls on Sunday and the turnout was a record high since 1991: 53.8 percent (out of 30 million citizens registered, over 16 million cast valid votes). The October 21 snap elections in Poland could be the most important since the regime change in 1989. A majority of the voters, including most of the young ones, cast their ballots for the Civic Platform (PO), a pro-business center-right party (41.51 %), expressing their disillusionment with the two years of the rule of the Kaczynski Twins' conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and their bizarre coalition with the populist Self-Defense (Samoobrona) and the nationalist-right League of Polish Families (LPR). Yet, Law and Justice remains a strong opposition (32.11%).

Poles Help Iraqis, Face Death

Warsaw, Poland. -- On September 24, Polish Radio Foreign Service reported: "Little Jannat had been the focus of Polish media from the day she arrived in Wroclaw two months ago." The girl was transported to Poland, thanks to the assistance and medical care of the Polish military contingent stationed in Iraq. This was coupled with the sincere cooperation of local authorities and organizations from Lower Silesia, where the girl was brought with her father and grandfather as guardians.