Iran and Potemkin Villages

Iranian girl students 2009

When I was sent to Iran in 1970, we had a large American presence there.  A U.S. Army Major General was in charge of an American Advisory group.  I was part of a staff advising the Shah’s Supreme Military Staff, helping them to develop all the planning capability that the American military has.  The thing we did the most is to work with the Iranians to buy a tremendous amount of military equipment, and in the bargain, commercial airliners and factories.  We tried to teach them Long Range Planning, but from the Shah on down, they were impatient.

 They wanted to create a more powerful army, navy and air force, and fast.  Long Range Planning was something they did not seem to embrace. The idea of an orderly schedule to develop schooling for operators and maintenance people, creation of an automated system for handling maintenance and repairs— they figured they could overcome all of that by just spending a few million more.

            The Shah was trying to take a backward, nineteenth-century country into the twentieth century.  He had ordered great improvements in schools all over the country, but his people had learned that they could sometimes fool the traveling bureaucrats, and perhaps even the Shah, by creating things that looked good on the outside, but were not changed, really.  You may have read about Potemkin Villages in Russia, fake villages created to impress Prince Potemkin —-which were the same. 

 Iranians launch “Omid” (Hope) Satellite in 2009

            At this time the Shah had ordered a huge telecommunications project to be installed.  This multimillion dollar project was being handled by a consortium of contractors from all over the world—Siemens, RCA, General Electric, Philips.  They were spending all this money to install nodes all across the country to transfer information, but there was little information to transfer, because few people had a clue about what needed to be done. 

 Iranian Telecommunications Node

           

                I had a friend, John Babbin, who was one of those men you meet at the ends of the earth, who are soldiers of fortune.  They get paid large amounts of money to go to these places and get things built.  John told me about going down through the desert in the southeastern part of Iran to look at a telecommunications node.  He hired a driver and Land Rover, and drove to this magnificent concrete building out in the desert, miles from anything.  It was splendid—big troposcatter antennas, log periodic antennas, and microwave dishes, and freshly planted palm trees in a garden inside the complex.  They had a cafeteria for the workers, and all the comforts of home.  But there was just one thing:  Inside the equipment rooms, where all the switching equipment was supposed to be, was NOTHING!  Empty.  This station really looked good, but was useless.

The Iranians did stuff like that. 

I found that for someone interested in geopolitics, I had hit the mother lode.  Not only did Iran have huge oil and natural gas resources, but even from the early days of the Silk Road between the Mediterranean and China, it was a key to world trade.  During World War II, the United States brought millions of tons of equipment, supplies and foodstuffs to Iran to be shipped overland to the USSR.  The Russians greatly desired to take Iran for their own when the war ended, and might have, except for American intervention. 

            When we were there, Iran was strongly supportive of the United States, and we supported the Shah and his country.  However, they also maintained friendship with the Soviet Union.  The Iranians bought first-line jet fighters and other military equipment from the United States, and jeeps and artillery from the Soviets.  They bought destroyers from the British, and converted other destroyers that had previously been in the U.S. Navy.  They often flew their military aircraft to Israel for repair by Israeli mechanics.  That meant they first had to fly them to Cyprus, where their markings would be painted over, then flown into Tel Aviv.   

            The Shah’s big enemy in those days was Iraq.  Afghanistan was simply a very backward country next door. Another neighbor, Turkey, was not really an enemy, but Iranians did not seem to appreciate the Turks, a sentiment that was centuries old.  They had a lot in common, though.  Kemal Attaturk, a Turkish sergeant, had taken over an Islamic state and was very successful in making it much more secular, even converting their written language to western type, instead of Arabic script.  Today, Turkey is an excellent example of a progressive, forward-moving Islamic country.

The Shah, whose father had also been a sergeant, had taken over Iran, and was converting the country to a secular state.  In spite of failures, the Shah was making good progress in bringing Iran forward.

However, in about 1974, after the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Arab states, oil prices went up so much that Iran simply could not handle the money that came flooding in to the country.  The Shah had managed to control graft and corruption up to that point, (although that is debatable), but after this, with epic spending on necessities, and exotic aircraft and weaponry, commercial jets and many, many other things, graft and corruption spread throughout his inner circle.  

            For those who had long resented the Shah, and his efforts to make Iran a secular state, this was their invitation for change. 

            Many books have been written about the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, and what the Shah could have done, what America could have or should have done.  Many want to criticize the United States for its efforts to “meddle” in Iran’s life in the time of Mohammad Mossadegh, when CIA agents reportedly organized the removal of this man, whom many believed to be aligned with the Iranian Communist party and with the Soviet Union.   The Shah came back then, in 1951, and seemed to start on a fast track to modernize his country. 

            The United States enjoyed a close relationship with Iran from the days of World War II, when we shipped Lend Lease tanks, aircraft, ammunition, and millions of tons of other supplies to the Soviet Union from the head of the Persian Gulf, by rail, up to Soviet Azerbaijan.  American diplomats followed in the footsteps of British diplomats in Iran.  The British had been strong players in this whole area for decades.  It was their initiative that created modern Iraq.  

            It was also the plan for British withdrawal of naval forces “East of Suez” in 1971 that propelled the Shah forward in his assumption of duties as naval policeman for the West in the Indian Ocean. 

            During the Cold War it didn’t  take long for nations all over the world to realize that if their nation had raw materials that the Super Powers wanted or needed, or if they were positioned in a strategic location, they could play the U.S. against the USSR, and vice versa. 

            The Soviet Union had long lusted to acquire Iran, and when World War II ended, when the U.S. and U.K. withdrew from Iran according to the Potsdam agreement, Stalin’s USSR, with help from Pro-Soviet Iranians, hunkered down in northern Iran.  The United States stepped in to help the Shah kick the Russians out.  This was one of the first encounters of the Cold War.

            When I was there (1970-1972) the Shah held a huge military parade in Tehran each year, celebrating the anniversary of this event, and at the same time impressing Iraq with his military might.  As we watched this parade we noticed that we were seeing the same faces (of those any of us recognized) over and over as  the Imperial Iranian Army recycled men and weapons in the parade to make it seem like they had more of each. 

            Iran has a large number of well-educated young and middle aged people, and there are millions more living abroad who would willingly return to a rejuvenated Iran, free of the despotism of the Mullahs.  However, they would not be interested in the despotism of monarchy, either.  Iran may be positioned better than any of the Arab countries currently going through turmoil today, to build a free state.

The Personal Navigator has books and papers to offer you:        

Boston Courier, Semi-Weekly, Monday, September 28, 1829  Boston, MA: Adams & Holden, Printers. 4 pp. 39 x 50 cm. Prince Polignac is now at the head of the French cabinet. Story relates his background, including his, and his brother's, attempts against the government of Buonapart in 1806. He gave proof of his congenial feelings toward this country in 1816 by marrying Miss Campbell, a young lady of large fortune.  Ireland is in a most horrible condition now. From John Bull, a high church anti-Catholic paper, reports gangs of murderers, fiends who take the opportunity of waylaying Protestants. Burning, slaughterings and abductions continue in that "priest-ridden land."  Long report on imaginative robbery of the Suffolk Bank by John Wade, who took $5100 and boarded a schooner for Hallowell, Maine. He made it to Bath, bought a sailor suit, re-boarded the schooner under the name of Mr. King, sailed back to Boston, where the ship lay at anchor and he and crewmates went ashore to play nine pins, with Wade (alias King) paying all the bills. Gentleman from the West Indies says he has been exporting 2000 to 3000 puncheons of rum, but now, owing to the Temperance societies, demand for rum in the United States has fallen off, and he will have to sell his plantation and leave the island. USS Constitution has arrived at Norfolk, in 40 days from Rio de Janeiro. The seven mutineers were left on board the Hudson, to be sent home for trial. Advertisement for Patent Sponge Boots for Horses.      Newspaper, small holes in folds,  good. Inscription on top of page one "G. Wilkinson".    (8137)  $26.00. Newspapers  

Boston Courier, Semi-Weekly, Monday, October 1, 1829 Boston, MA: Adams & Holden, Printers. 4 pp. 39 x 50 cm.            Excellent two-column dissertation by J.R. Poinsett of South Carolina, who has been the United States' Envoy to Mexico, but accused by the Mexicans of meddling in their internal affairs and fomenting revolution.  This discussion of accusations and Poinsett's explanations is tremendously valuable to anyone interested in the history of Mexican-American relations preceding the annexation of Texas, and the war that ended with the accession of much of the southwestern United States.  Erasmus Doolittle writes a lively, humorous column about his travel to China.  It is interesting to see how much Boston readers were exposed to in 1829!  Report from England of events in Turkey, where the Russians are at the gates of Constantinople.  The Sultan has removed to Broussa (Bursa), about 100 miles from Constantinople, across the Propontis (Hellespont). Report from the Allgemeine Zeitung states that Russian troops have landed at Sizeoboli, and the whole army of the Seraskier has been dispersed.  The Armenians, whom the Sultan has by his very ill-judged policy alienated, every where united with the Russians as they advance.            Newspaper, small holes in folds,  good. Inscription on top of page one "G. Wilkinson". (8138) $40.00.  

Sermon Preached August 9, 1826 at the Ordination of the Rev. Stephen Thurston over the Congregational Church and Society, Prospect, Maine, by Rev. David Thurston of the Winthrop, Maine Congregational Church. Hallowell, ME: David Thurston, Pastor, Winthrop, Maine Congregational Church.  If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. I  Timothy, IV, 6
Sermon by famous anti-slavery preacher, David Thurston, with theme from I Timothy, IV, 6. Cites requisites for a good minister of Jesus Christ. This copy inscribed by David Thurston to his uncle, Samuel Bacon. 16 pp. 14 x 21 cm. Paper booklet, covered with coarse heavy paper. First four pages have 10 cm closed tear across middle, other pages have 2 cm tear in edge. Soiled, worn, poor. (5727) $46.00.

[Rev. David Thurston was one of the Congregational church's most prominent ministers. Reform-minded and idealistic. He started the first Sunday school in New England. He was a pioneer in all matters of reform and a leader outside of his community on the great questions of the day. He formed the Winthrop chapter of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1834, and for years before the Civil War he was a leading voice in the cause of abolition of slavery. In fact, he was so strongly anti-slavery that his parishioners forced him to resign, ending a 44-year stint as pastor in Winthrop.

Church members today say they carry on Thurston's message of social activism by running programs on family violence and an after-school program for middle school students. ]

Seven Sermons, On Different Important Subjects; by Robert Russel at Wardhurst, in Sussex 1791 Philadelphia, PA: Peter Stewart.  Small book offers sermons on:  I. The Unpardonable Sin against the Holy Ghost: or the Sin Unto Death; II. The Saint's Duty and Exercise: Being an Exhortation to, and a Direction for Prayer; III. The Accepted Time, and Day of Salvation; IV. The End of Time, and Beginning of Eternity; V. Joshua's Resolution to serve the Lord; VI. The Way to Heaven made Plain; VII. The future State of Man: Or, a Treatise on the Resurrection. 144 pp. 8.5 x 14.2 cm. Paper on board with leather spine, very worn, but intact. Inside front hinge cracked. Front pastedown contains name that is heavily scratched out. No free endpapers. Fair. (6991) $115.00. Religious

Shocks from the Battery; or Sermons and Sayings by Rev. Benjamin Pomeroy of Troy (Methodist) Conference with an introduction by Rev. Jesse T. Peck, D.D.. Sixth edition. 1874. Albany, NY: S.R. Gray , State Street. Sermons and sayings of a remarkable man, eccentric, bright, powerful. At Camp Meetings he has shown a wholly unusual power of thought and expression. Frontispiece engraved picture of Rev. Pomeroy.

To the backslider:  "Yes, you are there in murderous blood -- the mark is on you--it's on your feet.  How hard you trod Him down when you treated with contempt His salvation! Oh! How drabbled in atonement blood you are! As these blood-spotted multitudes are made to face retribution, I seem to see restrained lightning grow restless and fiery. O,  how its forkedness shoots out like adder's tongues -- lurid and red, all tremulous with charged damnation, as if to be avenged on that spotted throng! How atonement blood on feet stirs the vials of wrath!"

300 pp. 14 x 21 cm. Quarter black leather with cloth on board, edges scuffed, very good. (5391) $44.00. Religious

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Winnie's Journal

                    I imagine Winnie and Lizzie may have looked like these young ladies from Godey's                     

            Winnie Gould was a bright, very well-educated woman from Ohio.  I had the privilege of reading two journals she kept on trips she took 1889-1891. Reading diaries and journals often gives you a very refreshing, unique view of a world that has since disappeared. Some detective work is required, and of course the internet contains a world of almost lost information. 

This is from her journal of 1889.

Winnie is a young woman, Vassar alumna, who lives somewhere in Ohio, reached primarily by boat. She is obviously very literate and well-educated, and belongs to an affluent family.  Because of the warm reception she receives at all spots along railroads all over, I suggest that she may be related to Jay Gould, the so-called “Robber Baron” responsible for much of early railroad development in the United States.

Mar. 12, 1889. Left home on the 3:55 am train. Helen and Rebecca helped me off and Papa went with me to the depot. Consulted Capt. Warrick in Cincinnati as to tickets. Jessie Clinton and Cousin Isa came down town to see me. Took sleeper for Peoria.

Mar. 13. DeForest met me at the depot in the morning. Lizzie and I spent part of the day planning for our trip. 

Mar. 14. Called on Mrs. Rugg and Lucy. Packed our trunk – prepared our lunch, etc. In evening played cribbage with DeForest and visited with him and Lizzie and about 10:15 p.m. we started for the depot accompanied by Mrs. Tennery. Farewell was said and the train moved off.  Mr. O’Brien kindly assisted us in changing cars in Bloomington where we rode in a very hot chair car for St. Louis.

It sure beat the stage coaches.

Mar. 15.  St. Louis. Mr. Morton and the other Missouri Pacific officials were as courteous as possible to us in every way. We bought our tickets over this line to Mexico City, San Francisco, Portland, Denver, etc. paying therefor $144.15. At one o’clock Dr. George Dennis came to the depot and took us out for a drive, showing us the prettiest parks and handsomest residence portions of the city.

Hot Springs, Ark. Took bath and champoo   [old spelling for “shampoo”]

Malvern, Ark. 14 mi. horseback ride..

Mar. 19. San Antonio. Stayed at  Menger House.. street car drawn by small mule….. Visited the Alamo.

Spofford, Texas Strap Iron Jail

Mar. 20 took the noon train for Spofford Junction, Texas  Lieut. Rivers on board, 3^rd cavalry. Six hours ride over Texas prairie, a wild, unsettled country, immense ranches. A few ranch men on board with belts and high-heeled shoes. Major Smith met us at Junction  with army ambulance, a nine mile drive to Ft. Clark, reached at sundown. Mrs. Smith very cordial and pleasant. Dinner, evening bath and a good night’s sleep.

[Note: Spofford Junction was a shipping point for area ranchers shipping sheep, goats and cattle on the Southern Pacific Railway, which ran through here. It is less than 30 miles from the Mexican border. When Winnie visited the population was about 100, with two saloons. In 2000 the population was 75.]

Mar. 21. Saw guard mount. Then made the rounds of the post, the library, Quartermaster’s dept., corral etc. In the evening some calls, and a heavy rainstorm followed by hail.

Mar. 22. In the afternoon the Major drove us over through the Seminole camp. They look more like negroes than Indians, though they are half breeds. Live in most wretched stick huts called jacals, their only wealth a flock of goats like Father Abraham’s. Then drove through Brackett and saw the Mexican quarters. [Note: Fort Clark, where she visited, was one of many Army outposts for defending the border against raids from Mexico, and Indian tribes.  Many infantry regiments and almost all cavalry regiments were at one time or another based at Fort Clark, as well as companies of Texas Rangers and Confederate troops during the Civil War. The Army's Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts also were assigned to Fort Clark. These are the Seminole-Negroes she writes about.  They were brought from Florida to Texas to help the Army in fighting Indians in the southwestern United States. Some of them served as the famed “Buffalo Soldiers”.  During the past two centuries Seminoles often met and had children with slaves, so that many Seminoles were also black.  The Fort was built in 1852 and remained until 1946.]  

In the evening almost every lady in the garrison called.

Mar. 23. Played some tennis and had some calls.

Mar. 24. Sunday at Ft. Clark, Guest talk. Elaborate dinner; church in the evening.

Mar. 25 Early 9 mi. drive in army ambulance across Texas prairie to Spofford Jct. On train talked to Mrs. Mary Meredith, niece of Justice Stanley Mathews [Supreme Court Justice, 1824-1889] just died and cousin of Henry Watterson of Louisville. Watterson, b. 1840, d. 1921, a journalist, founded the Louisville Courier-Journal.] She was a character, eccentric and wealthy. Came down here for her health, went into real estate speculation, made money, owns and manages 3 immense ranches. Goes to St. Louis and Chicago to sell cattle.

At Menger House met again Dr. Wolfred Nelson, special medical representative, New York Mutual Life Ins. Co. went to supper with him and spent a pleasant evening.

Laredo. Last American sunset—rosy.

Nuevo Laredo.

Monterrey. Stayed at Hidalgo.

Mexico City.

Pueblo.

The Personal Navigator offers these books and papers:

Today we offer an uncommon little book of Yale poems by a member of the Class of 1900 and Skull & Bones;

A collection of 150 Italian sonnets, etc.;

An instruction book on how to make enemies, with interesting insults, etc. included;

Instructions for Town Officers in Massachusetts, including what to do with Lunatics, including Lunatic Indians;

An interesting commentary on the Acts of the Apostles;

Advice to young people, primarily of  religious nature;

And an 1820 issue of American Baptist Magazine, in the days when missionaries sought to save the whole world.

The Litter of the Years,   by Cross, John W. 1947. New York, NY: The Cheltenham Press.  This is a collection of interesting and lively poems by a distinguished architect and a member of an old patrician family.  Cross, born about 1878, was a member of the Yale Class of 1900 and Skull & Bones; he died in 1951.  Many poems revolve around a lifelong Yale affection. One poem, "Past and Present" mentions several members of the Yale 1900 Skull & Bones Society-- (Hulbert) Taft, (Percy) Rockefeller, (Corlis Esmonde) Sullivan, (Frank Dexter) Cheney. "Sheba" is about a black Labrador presented by another 1900 S&B member, F. W. Allen, to George Dudley Seymour (a distinguished city planner and benefactor).  On title page is inscription by Cross to Harry Staton: "To Harry Staton -- who put me on the Editorial page of the (Herald) Tribune several times. J.W.C." 48 pp. 14 x 21.6 cm. Black pebbled leather on boards with slight upward edge warp, with gilt title, very good. (2549)  $44.00. Poetry

Raccolta di Cento Cinquanta Sonetti e di altri Componimenti Poetici di vari Autori, seconda edizione, con aggiunte 1870. Firenze, Italia: Enrico Moro Editore. Sonnets, in Italian: La casa del Petrarca di Alfieri; Las sua vita di Alfieri; Il suo Ritratto di Alfieri; Forza dell' Innocenza, di Baciocchi; Morte d' abele, di Baldis; Processione del SS. Sacramento, di Costa; Ritratto d' un Amico, di Vittorelli. 448 pp. 8 x 12 cm. Marbled paper on board cover worn, owner name on front pastedown, good. (5428) $20.00. Poetry/Italian

Gentle Art of Making Enemies, as pleasingly exemplified in many instances, wherein the serious ones of this earth, carefully exasperated, have been prettily spurred on to unseemliness and indiscretion, while overcome by an undue sense of right;  Collection by Whistler, J. McNeill. 1927 New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.  The running gunbattle between the Artist, J. McNeill Whistler and his critics gets played out here in this remarkable collection, which begins with many quotes from 1890 issues of Pall Mall Gazette.  This collection is filled with insults and accusations, back and forth. Many of the insults are quite eloquent, particularly those of John Ruskin and Oscar Wilde. 340 pp. 15.7 x 20.5 cm. Tan paper on board with tan cloth spine, gilt stamped title is missing gilt. No dj.  Bookplate on front pastedown: "Ex Libris George Schley Stillman".  Very good.  (2195) $26.00. Printed matter 

Thomas' Town Officer, A Digest of the Laws of Massachusetts in relation to the powers, duties and liabilities of towns; New Edition, revised, corrected by Dwight Foster and James E. Estabrook, Counsellors at Law 1856 Worcester, MA: Enos Dorr & Co. The previous edition of this guide for Massachusetts town officials was published in 1849. This 1856 edition has removed inconsistencies and brought things up to date. Town Meetings. Collection of taxes. Settlement of Paupers. Surveyors of shingles and clapboards. Viewers and cullers of hoops and staves. Measurers of upper leather, made of the hides of neat cattle, buffalo or other animal.  Overseers of the Poor. "The overseers of the poor may bind, as apprentices or servants, the minor children of any poor person, who has become actually chargeable to their town, as having a lawful settlement therein, or who is supported there.. at the charge of the Commonwealth...Such children.. may be bound, females to the age of 18 or to the time of their marriage within that age, and males to the age of 21 years..." Lunatic Paupers: " Judges may commit any lunatic.. who .. is so furiously mad.. that it is dangerous to the peace and safety of the community...to the (lunatic) hospital.  Judges shall have the authority to commit lunatic Indians.. to the State Lunatic  Hospital..." Surveyors of Highways: "Any person who travels on the Lord's day neither from necessity or charity, cannot maintain an action for an injury received by him while so traveling..." 486 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Calf on board, outer front hinge cracked,  2x 3 cm piece of leather on spine chipped off, scuffed, front board slightly warped.  Inscr. On front endpaper: "Horace Wallis Jr., Town Officer, Holland, Mass." and above that, "Presented to the Historical Association July 1922 by .. daughter of (Hollis)." Good condition. (5916) $75.00. Reference

Acts of the Apostles, The: with a Commentary, First Edition by Rev. Abiel Abbot Livermore   1844 Boston, MA: James Munroe and Company. Livermore (1811-1892) was a Unitarian pastor in Keene, NH when he published this Commentary. Includes map of the Mediterranean Sea showing the travels and voyages of St. Paul, as well as a Calendar of Events during the first century of the Christian Era, and a Pronouncing Vocabulary. . 330 pp. + 24 pp. catalogue. 12 x 20 cm. Cloth on board with blindstamped design, cover moderately worn, faded with several small holes in cloth. Map of Mediterranean detached. Front free endpaper inscribed: "Amory Holman & Fanny Holman". Good. (5826) $48.00. Religious

Advice to a Young Christian on the Importance of Aiming at an Elevated Standard of Piety, w/ intro by Rev. Dr. Alexander; third edition, revised and corrected 1830 New York, NY: G.&C.&H. Carvill, 108 Broadway "The age in which we live (1830) demands a high standard of Christian character," writes author in preface. Consists of series of letters to young people. 196 pp. 9 x 14 cm. Paper on board, with leather spine. Bumped and rubbed. Owner inscr. on ffep, dated 1830. Very good. (1329) $39.00. Religious.

American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, May 1820, Vol. 2 No. 9 Boston, MA: Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts. Memoir of Rev. Henry Jessey. Review of sermon delivered at the ordination of Rev. Stephen Chapin by Jeremiah Chaplin, Professor of Divinity in the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, at North Yarmouth. Extract of letter from Missionary College, Serampore by W. Ward. [Note: Ward was among founders of this College in India in 1818. It still exists in 2010.] College is open to all denominations of Christians, and to as many heathen scholars as choose to avail themselves of its exercises and lectures. Letter from Pomare, King of Otaheite, Society Islands. Report on efforts to Christianize American Indians of the Oneida and Stockbridge; letter signed with marks by Oneida Indians asking to embrace Christianity. 34 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Paper periodical, edges frayed, page corners curled, poor. (6399) $34.00. Religious/Missionary

Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Getting Ready to go to Russia

St. Basil's Church, Red Square

Getting Ready to Go to Russia

Everybody has a dream. Some people would like to play for the Red Sox.  Some would like to fly fighter planes.  Some would just like to make a pile of money. 

            My dream, since junior high school, was to go to Russia.  I studied Russian, and read everything I could about the USSR. 

I wasn’t a communist sympathizer--- I didn’t admire their system, one bit.  But I was eager to learn more about Russia and Russians. I wanted to know more about Peter the Great, his remarkable life and all the things he did to open Russia’s window on the West .  I wanted to explore the life of Russians at the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, and try to feel the dark world of Dostoyevsky’s Raskolnikov in St. Petersburg.

I wanted to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway and see Siberia.  And I wanted to experience life in Russia under Communism.

So, when I managed to get myself assigned to the USSR as the United States Naval Attaché, I was excited. 

            I was lucky that my wife, after living in Iran and Italy, and traveling a lot, was agreeable to going over there, although it definitely was not high on her list. 

            I had to go to Defense Intelligence School in Washington for about a year.  A lot of this was to bring my Russian language up to standard, but we also had courses in how to observe, how to take and develop pictures, and what to do when the host country security services rolled you up. 

Nina Aleksandrovna De La Cruz was my Russian teacher in Washington.  She was a very elegant woman, daughter of an officer in the Czar’s army, who left before the Revolution in 1917.  Nina taught us a lot about the cultured, polished part of Russia that many of the Soviets never really grasped.  She was a class act.

Most of our Russian instructors were natives of the USSR, so the Russian we learned was up to date. It was interesting to visit with these instructors, because some were still going through the shock of living in the United States.  One thing that really gave them fits was all the choices one had in America.  In a Soviet Gastronom, for instance, you had one kind of coffee and one kind of flour, marked “Coffee” and “Flour” in Russian.  After a life of eating hot groats (kasha) for breakfast every morning, to walk down the cereal aisle in a Washington Safeway was unnerving.

            In the USSR attachés are observers.  We were expected to observe everything about our host country, especially the things we knew the most about.  As I had spent over 20 years as a naval officer in destroyers and submarines, had spent a good amount of time tracking Soviet submarines around the Mediterranean Sea, and more time following and observing Soviet surface warships all over the world, I was expected to put that experience to work watching the Red Fleet.  However, we were also expected to observe anything going on that might provide a clue to the machinations of a very secret society.

On our first field exercise, our class of prospective attachés was assigned to a set of points in downtown Washington, DC.  We were to start at the Botanical Gardens near the Capitol, and photograph “suspicious” plants.  Then, we’d hit a few other spots, take a trip on the DC Metro and finally try to take pictures of the FBI building on Pennsylvania Avenue.  In all of this, we would be followed, and perhaps opposed, by “secret police,” who were really U.S. Army Counterintelligence operatives who normally did this against foreign spies.  They were simulating KGB for me, but they were simulating Rumanian, Czech, and Chinese security services for officers who were headed to those places. 

So, we were to make it from point to point, collect intelligence, take pictures, and avoid being detected.  We were to try to detect our surveillance, and evade them. 

We had a surprise in store.  When we started to look for sneaky people we saw a lot.  We saw people following other people (not us), photographing people, and generally acting suspicious. 

At the end of the exercise we all went back to the Pentagon for a debriefing.  When we reported the sneaky people we had seen, we learned that we had probably seen Israeli Mossad agents, KGB operatives, GRU (Soviet Military intelligence), as well as FBI agents, CIA, DEA, DC Police, Capitol Police, and probably more. It is amazing how many foreign agents are in Washington, busily watching the other foreign agents, as well as American agents!

Our “opposition” had a beautiful picture of where we had gone, and what we had done, and none of us had ever spotted any of them. 

That was our first exercise, and we learned that we had a lot to learn.

A Party at the Soviet Embassy in Washington.  The occasion for the reception at the embassy was the annual meeting of U.S. and Soviet senior naval officers to discuss the Incidents at Sea Treaty.  This treaty enabled the two navies, when either party sensed an “incident”, to communicate directly with the other, rather than waiting for the incident to escalate to State Department exchanges, and perhaps, shooting. 

The annual gatherings were largely social, one year in Washington, the next in Moscow.  Since I was soon to go to Moscow, I took part in this meeting, including lots of luncheons, dinners and receptions like this one.

At the Soviet Embassy on 16^th street in Washington a big, burly Soviet Army general (“Tankist”, or officer specializing in armor and tanks) walked over to my wife and me shortly after we had arrived. He introduced himself and, when we told him that we were soon to be going to Moscow, where I would be the new U.S. Naval Attaché, he said, in what I thought was a joking manner: “Sometime, when you are traveling around the Soviet Union, you will look around behind you, and I will be there!” 

Later, while we were serving in Moscow, I read that he had been apprehended by the FBI outside of Washington, caught servicing a dead drop, and was being expelled. For those who don’t read spy books, a “dead drop” was a secret place where a spy left information, to be recovered (serviced) by another spy.

At that same Soviet Embassy reception we met the Soviet Naval Attaché to the U.S., Captain Smirnov, and his wife. 

We went on a Field Trip in Virginia.  Marty lived in Amherst, New Hampshire while I was going through this year of language and spy school.  But, as our last big field trip in intelligence collection came up, I asked her to come to Washington to take part.

In this exercise we would rent cars and travel out into various towns in Virginia, attempting to collect intelligence, just like we would soon do in the USSR.  We would be assigned certain targets to photograph, and expected to collect information, and we would be followed by Army Counterintelligence people, acting as if they were the KGB.

Marty and I teamed with an army colonel and his wife and we all got into a rental car in Alexandria, VA.  There were several other cars with other attaché trainees.  We were all heading for countries where we could expect hostility to our information and intelligence gathering. 

We started off from Alexandria, but we had trouble with the rental car’s engine overheating.   We pulled in to a little old general store in Culpeper, VA.  In this store there were a bunch of good old boys just hanging around.  They looked like the kind of good old boys you could have found there a century before. 

We called the rental car agency and asked them to send us a replacement car, and then we sat there waiting.

This was not part of the field problem, so our “surveillance” just hung out there waiting, as well.  However, the “surveillance” consisted of two Army enlisted people, in civilian clothes. One was a white male and the other a black female. 

This was 1981, and in rural Virginia the sight of mixed race couples was still unusual, and these old boys clearly didn’t like it.  Of course they didn’t know that they were at work, and that we were all on a spy exercise. When the replacement car arrived, we left, with our surveillance following, and the old boys were glad to get rid of us.

We drove down to Petersburg.  Our target was a small army airfield there, and we drove in, with the objective of photographing various things.   Not surprisingly, surveillance soon arrived and apprehended us.  As we were trained, we all stayed in the car, with doors locked, windows closed, even though it was hot. The “KGB” threw a large tarpaulin over our car, so we were completely in the dark. 

If anyone was claustrophobic, this was unsettling.  This happened to be a trick the Czech security people had pulled on our attachés in Czechoslovakia, so this was an authentic bit of harassment. 

Eventually, our opposition removed the tarp and we were on our way to our next assignment, which was to check in to a hotel in downtown Petersburg.

Here the security people tried little tricks to get us and our wives unnerved.  One time, they insulted our wives when the husbands were out of earshot, just like agents have done to attaché wives in the USSR.  My wife noted that the regular guests in the hotel who were close enough to observe this rude, disrespectful behavior to women, and who didn’t know this was all an “exercise” did absolutely nothing to help the ladies.

When we went down to the restaurant for a meal, the “KGB” would enter our rooms and carefully go through anything we left there. A wadded up receipt, thrown in the trash, might give clues that could be used against us. We began to realize that this would indeed happen in the USSR, and it would not be an exercise! 

Finally, we turned in our rental cars, and boarded an Amtrak train in Richmond, bound for Washington. Here we were assigned to collect intelligence as we passed certain installations on the train’s route, with “KGB” right on the train with us.  In the USSR we would spend much more time on trains than in the U.S.

A few weeks later, we were traveling in the Soviet Union, and the real “KGB” did some of these things, which reinforced the fact that this was not just fun and games.  This was very important preparation for our assignment. 

Now, here are some books and papers from The Personal Navigator:

Governor Cony: Address of Governor Cony to the Legislature of the State of Maine, January 5, 1865 by Cony, Samuel, Governor of Maine 1865 Augusta, ME: Stevens & Sayward, Printers to the State. At the start of the last year of the Civil War, Governor Samuel Cony (1811-1870) who was elected Governor in 1863, gave this speech to the Maine Legislature.  Like his predecessors, he enthusiastically and very capably supported prosecution of the War and preservation of the Union. In this address he notes that bounties paid enlistees in the Army are causing the State to gain heavy debt; he talks about draft dodgers, and one brutal murder.  He notes that after three years of war the armies of the Republic have lacked nothing for success but competent leaders, but praises Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas, and also Farragut and Winslow, who commanded USS Kearsarge when she sank CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France. 32 pp. 14.5 x 22.7 cm. Paper booklet, cover worn, lightly soiled, good. (8017) $30.00. Civil War/History

Haverhill Gazette, The, Haverhill, Mass., Friday evening, October 10, 1862  Haverhill, MA: The Haverhill Gazette 4 pp. 40 x 60 cm. Charles Sumner's speech at Faneuil Hall, Boston in response to President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Senator Sumner decries the "No Party" people who are so bitterly opposed to Lincoln that they ignore the fact that the country is at war. "They would rather hang Henry Wilson or John A. Andrew than Jefferson Davis or Robert Toombs." [Note: Wilson was a Republican Senator from Massachusetts, Andrew was Governor of Massachusetts; Davis was President of the Confederacy, and Toombs, a senator from Georgia and now a Confederate general.]

 "The Draft in Baldinsville" by Artemus Ward: "The war hain't been too well managed... I have great confidence in A. Linkin. The old fellow's heart is in the right place and his head is clear. There's bin sum queer doin's by sum of his deputies.. but let it pass, We must save the Union."  War reports from Gen. Grant and Gen. McClellan.  Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in a sermon last Sunday, said "There can only be two parties--those who uphold the rebels and traitors, and those who stand by the President and the Government." Newspaper, tiny holes in intersection of folds, good. (6914) $31.00. Civil War/Newspapers

La Guerre D'Amérique: Récit d'un Soldat du Sud [in French] (The American {Civil} War: Narrative of a Southern Soldier); Tome Premier [Volume One ONLY] par Fontane, Marius   ca. 1866 Paris, France: Adrien Le Clere ET Ce, Éditeurs, Rue Cassette, 29. Volume One of a two volume set. Small foldout map ( "Carte du Théâtre de la Guerre d'Amérique") at rear of first volume. Narrative by Marius Fontane (1838-1914).  Entrée de Charleston. L'exploitation des forêts de la Caroline du Sud.  Toinot le planteur. Les case des nègres. Premier coup de fusil (6 avril 1861). Jefferson Davis, président des États confédérés. L'arsenal de Norfolk (6 mars 1862).  Marche des Nordistes vers Richmond.   304 pp. + map. 11.5 x 17 cm. Quarter leather with marbled paper boards; covered with plastic film.  Fold-out map has small tears in folds. Good. (1735) $75.00. Civil War/History

Life of Horace Greeley, The; Editor of The New York Tribune, first edition by Parton, J. 1855 New York, NY: Mason Brothers. Traces life of Greeley from his Scotch-Irish parentage to early days in Amherst, NH. Book is dedicated "To the young men of the free states." 442 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Brown cloth on board, embossed, and printed with gilt. Minor wear on edges.  Text foxed. Includes contemporary newspaper clippings about Greeley, Civil War, and Greeley's death, in 1872.  Very good. (2135) $45.00. Biography/History

Manchester Daily Union, Manchester, N.H. Tuesday, May 16, 1865  Manchester, NH: Campbell & Hanscom. By telegraph from Washington:  The assassination trial is open to reporters of newspapers. It is supposed that Jeff Davis will be brought to Washington and tried for murder. The Negro Problem in Kentucky is one of great practical moment. Negroes are leaving their homes by the thousands and are crowding into the towns, demoralizing and being demoralized.... the plantations are without labor, and crops cannot be grown. Uncertainty and confusion take the place of order, and poverty and disease must follow upon idleness and dissipation.  Negro Suffrage--the Abolitionists, not content with negro freedom, are clamorous for negro suffrage. Continued account of Assassination Trial...Mr. Lloyd, who kept a hotel at Surrattville, testified that several weeks before the assassination Booth and his accomplices came to his house, and brought two carbines and a rope... Testimony of Mrs. Surratt... Booth and Harold came to the hotel soon after midnight; Booth said, "I will tell you some news; I am pretty certain we have assassinated the President and Secretary Seward."  Commentary on Mission of the Democratic Party. Adv. New Dress Goods; Mourning Goods; Carpeting and Housekeeping Goods at Barton & Co., East Side Elm Street. 4 pp. 32 x 47 cm. Newspaper, some perforations in spinefold, good. (8030) $25.00. Civil War/History

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Arab Spring and what came before

Völkerfrühling and Arab Spring

Revolution in 1848

            For several months now we have watched an exciting series of events in the Muslim world.

            Nearly ten years ago a group of angry Arabs unleashed their hatred on America with the coordinated hijacking of four airliners and attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, and presumably, the Capitol in Washington.

            Thus began a so-called “War on Terror” and most Americans recalibrated their minds from the Cold War that had ended a decade before. 

            We launched a war in Afghanistan to attack al Qaeda and their hosts, the Taliban, in 2001, and two years later we launched a second war in Iraq, to rid that country of a threat to peace and stability in the region, and, we thought, to eliminate a threat from a megalomaniac with weapons of mass destruction. 

            Over the past decade Americans have learned much more about the Middle East, Islam, Arabs, and Afghans. And we have generally learned that they don’t like us, they resent us, and they would like to wipe us off the face of the earth.

            Although we think we’ve learned much, most of us know very little about the Islamic world that stretches from the Maghreb of North Africa, across all of the Middle East, and on to Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

            Nothing is ever as simple as we try to make it, and that certainly applies to the Arab world, and probably most of the Islamic world.

            Just when we thought that it was all about Arab hatred for the West, and a blazing Jihad to remove us infidels, we started to see uprisings in country after country.   Mostly young Arabs, men and women, were fed up with the dictatorships under which they lived, and they want something more.  They want so badly to rid themselves of despotic leaders that they have taken to the streets, and risked their lives to make real change. 

And these people don’t necessarily spend their days just hating the United States and the West! 

            We’ve seen uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrein, and Syria, and there are likely groups working under cover in other countries, intending to join this movement. 

"Arab Spring"-- Women in Egypt

            As we attempt to understand what is happening in the “Arab Spring” it might be interesting to examine “The Springtime of the Peoples”, or “Völkerfrühling” of 1848.

            Mike Rapport, a lecturer in history at the University of Stirling in Scotland, is an authority on revolution and counter-revolution, and his book, 1848, Year of Revolution, 2009, New York: Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, 461 pp. is a good place to start such an examination. 

            In 1848 crowds of working-class radicals and middle-class liberals started uprisings in Paris, Milan, Venice, Naples, Palermo, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Kraków and Berlin that began a process of establishing a new, liberal world.  The world would not see such a sweeping change of regimes again until the collapse of the Soviet empire began in 1989.

            Like nations in revolt in the Arab Spring, this was a messy series of uprisings that resulted from strains at tectonic plates that differed from country to country, and from group to group.  We saw Europe as held together by the marvelous statesmanship of men like Klemens von Metternich come apart.  Metternich was the architect of the old conservative order, formed after the defeat of Napoleon, in 1815.  In many cases, the kings and rulers caved in easily when faced with determined opposition. 

            The Habsburg Empire, which traced its beginnings to 1278, and ruled most of the time from Vienna, faced many changes in the 1848 revolutions. However, it continued to exist until Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I. 

            1848 marked the beginning for creation of the German and Italian states.

            We’ve noted that Arab Spring has used the lightning-fast communications of cell phones and the internet to spread the news of revolt and uprisings in other countries, and to coordinate demonstrations and events.

            In 1848 the telegraph was just starting to have an impact upon communications; travel by rail and ship enabled word to spread from one city to another faster than ever before. 

            In 1848 the industrial revolution was just beginning.  Wealthy men were creating factories that would put home craftspeople out of business.  Textile manufacturing could spin out fabric far faster and cheaper, if not as well, as women at hand looms.  People were leaving farms and moving to cities, and cities were growing in size and density, with increasing numbers of people who could not feed themselves. 

            In the old conservative order, wealthy landowners were the only voices that the kings heard, but now there appeared men with ideas for drawing the attention to the needs of the poor.  

            When revolution succeeded in these cities and states, it was only the first step in a perilous string of events, because each group, and each leader, had a different idea of what the new system would look like.  Among the various voices were men like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who developed their ideas of a “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” and their cry, “Workers of the World, Unite!” during this time.  Marx first published The Communist Manifesto in 1848.

            Other revolutionaries aimed at drawing together their ethnic group into a strong nation, and this often meant that other nationalities in the same country would be excluded or ignored. 

            As Arab Spring plays out, we on the outside are not aware who these revolutionaries are.  When they have overthrown the ruling regime in a country, will they answer the democratic aspirations of their people, or will they become even more repressive than the old order? 

            If the United States and other western states encourage an uprising, apply sanctions against the old leaders, or support NATO attacks as in Libya, how do we know about the rebels? Will we provide encouragement and aid to overthrow a regime, only to find out that the new is worse than the old?

            Arabs criticize the United States and President Obama for taking little or no action to support them in these uprisings.  However, al Qaeda and other Arab voices have long uttered a mighty roar, criticizing the U.S. for our “meddling” in Middle Eastern affairs.

            After the 1848 Spring revolutions came counter revolution, often because the conservatives had realized that they had caved in too easily, and some of the liberals were shaken to the core when they saw what had become of “their” revolution, with working-class disorder and chaos.  In many cases the liberals, in search of law and order, fell back, if unwillingly, in line with their old adversaries.

            Some might say that after the bright hopes of the Spring, much eventually failed, but much happened in 1848 that marked the year as a watershed in the history of Europe and western civilization.  Serfdom ended; People learned that they could make a difference; No longer was power left to the landed gentry—it became actually possible for the working class to gain political power in the state.

            Historians also point to the rise of Otto von Bismarck in 1848—a purely conservative young voice, his credo of “Blood and Steel” which eventually undid the achievements of liberalism in 1848 Germany may have laid the groundwork for Germany of World War I and the horror of Nazi Germany of World War II.

            In terms of tectonic plates, Rapport summarizes that in 1848 we saw the tragedy of 1848 in that liberals were all too ready to sacrifice freedom to power.  The liberal emphasis on political freedom and civil liberty butted up against socialist stress on social justice, of the friction between the individual and society.

            Some in America and overseas criticize President Obama because they think he and the U.S. are not doing enough to help in places like Syria. Perhaps it is time for us to look at history-- at 1848, and perhaps 1989 and the disintegration of the Communist world, before we leap into the fray.

-end-

Here are some books and papers from The Personal Navigator:

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1833 Fourth Annual Volume 1832 Boston, MA: Gray and Bowen; and Carter, Hendee and Co. Calendar of Celestial Phenomena for the Year; Red snow of the Alps, Showers of Dust, Meteoric Stones, Mirage, Halos, Parhelia or False Suns, Lightning Rods. Part II: Executive Government. President Andrew Jackson receives salary of $25,000 per annum. Senate: Daniel Webster was Senator from MA; John Tyler from VA, Thomas H. Benton, MO, Henry Clay, KY; John Q. Adams of Quincy, MA was Congressman; Benedict J. Semmes was Congressman from MD, James K. Polk Congressman from TN. John Marshall was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger Taney was Attorney General. Bank of the United States--a bill rechartering this Bank was passed by both houses of Congress but was rejected by the President. Census shows free white population of 10.526,248, free colored of 319,599 and slaves 2,009,043. Information on each state provides interesting data on railroads constructed, under construction, and planned, and river transportation.  Section on Commonwealth of Virginia contains interesting report on Committee on Slavery  and Removal of Free Negroes, which concluded with resolution that it is currently "inexpedient to make any legislative enactments  for the abolition of slavery." Includes reports on various foreign nations, and a Chronicle of Events for Sept. 1831 to Sept. 1832. 312 pp. 12 x 19 cm. Paper covered book with 4 cm. hole burned in cover; owner name "Fannie P. Matthes" handwritten on cover. Fair. (2555) $79.00. History

Bassett: An Oration Delivered on Monday, the Fifth of July, 1824, in Commemoration of American Independence Before the Supreme Executive of the Commonwealth, and the City Council and Inhabitants of the City of Boston by Bassett, Francis 1824 Boston, MA: Wells and Lilly, Court Street. Francis Bassett (1786-1875) delivered this address in Boston on the 48th anniversary of the American Independence.  Bassett, an 1810 graduate of Harvard, was from Yarmouth, near Dennis, on Cape Cod.  He practiced law in Boston as a contemporary of Webster, served in the Massachusetts legislature for many years, and was a designated orator in the City of Boston.  In this oration on page 23 he refers to "an American Congress, the Greeks have found an advocate whose eloquence 'may give them courage and spirit, teach them that they are not wholly forgotten by the civilized world...'". And Bassett notes in handwritten mark below "Webster".  It was Webster's eloquent support for Greek independence at this time to which the orator refers.  American support for Greece became diffused later in 1824 by adoption of the Monroe Doctrine, but the support of Webster and Henry Clay, our "Great Philhellenes" is admired in Greece today.  This copy is inscribed by Mr. Bassett: "Hon. Timothy Fuller from his Obed't Servant, F. Bassett".  Fuller was another Boston orator at the time, noted for his anti-Masonic rhetoric. 24 pp. 13.8 x 21.6 cm. Disbound paper pamphlet, inscription by author on title page. Fair. (7934) $65.00. History/American

Boston: Address Made to the City Council of Boston, January 5, 1835 by Mayor Theodore Lyman, Jr. Boston, MA: John H. Eastburn, City Printer.  Report by Mayor on the state of the city of Boston; debt, new construction, Deaths 1554, many deaths by consumption, but health of population better than 10 years before; only 4 deaths from smallpox; 249 persons committed in 1834 to House of Correction, of these 165 were common drunkards, 97 were men. Great Britain ships their paupers to us. Alludes to action taken to counter the attack on the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown.

“During the last summer the habitual peace and quiet of the town were suddenly menaced to an alarming extent…. In the exceedingly inflamed state of the public mind the ordinary police of the City might not prove adequate…I considered it my duty to appeal at once... to the citizens for their aid and support.....The military also assembled with very full ranks at a minutes warning.…”  31 pp. 13 x 21 cm.  Paper booklet, staples added to spine, fair. (5529) $24.00. History/Boston/Anti-Catholic.

Canning:  Sketch of the Character of Mr. Canning. From the National Intelligencer of Sept. 15, 1827 by Rush, Richard (?) 1828 Washington, DC: Gales & Seaton. Blistering picture of Great Britain's Foreign Minister, George Canning (1770-1827) published shortly after his death, apparently written by Richard Rush, but also attributed to John Quincy Adams.  Sketch accuses Canning of "British selfishness", Toryism, undeviating support for monarchy, ridiculing popular movements. Canning was never the political friend of the U.S., writer states. "From Mr. Canning, literally nothing has been obtained -- no, never; though we have held frequent and protracted negotiations with the British Government, during his administration of the Foreign Office." 22 pp. 13 x 21 cm. Paper booklet, pencil notes on cover wrap: "Richard Rush, author". Minor foxing.  Good. (7929) $42.00. History/Great Britain

  

Contact me at     scoulbourn1@verizon.net