George H. Wittman: Writer on Current and Foreign Affairs

To begin a discussion of Africa it is necessary to go back to pre-Christian days. This may seem irrelevant to today, but it is actually necessary in understanding the origin of contemporary affairs on this continent. Ancient civilizations vied for control of portions of what we now refer to as Sub-Sahara n Africa as early as 1630-1540 BC when the rulers of Egypt drove their armies south into what was known as Nubia. Back and forth these struggles ensued for domination as other forces from the Middle East and southern Europe spread out across northern Africa. In brief, the Africa we know today is a result of thousands of years of struggle - sometimes between major armies and ofttimes simple, but bloody, local tribal conflict. The diversity of the peoples of Africa is not simply a matter of coloration. Not only did the predominately dark-skinned Nubian empire at one time control southern Egypt and most of what we refer to today as Sudan, but later lengthy wars and occupation by the light...

The photos of the two Russian operators caught by British CCTV show a couple of guys straight out of Central Casting for the roles of Thug #1 and Thug #2. The fact is that both "gentlemen" were chosen because they looked like the hundreds – perhaps thousands – of Eastern European workers that are now seen daily in construction work and other laboring jobs throughout Britain. They looked tough because they were tough. They did what they were trained and ordered to do. If they had been captured they would have withstood known British interrogation methods or simply taken the L (lethal) tablets with which most official assassins are supplied. One can quibble over their method and technique, but the end result was failure. To be fair (and certainly we should be "fair"), it was not the operators' fault, but really lousy planning. Heads will roll, but it won't be the two "gunsels" heads. Higher level heads will be chopped – one way or another. There is ...