And He Finally Did

"I Just Work As A Consultant There ... With RAO"

The WaPo has a ho-hum story today on the Raymond Davis case, one that just recaps the standoff that exists over the matter of Davis's diplomatic immunity or lack thereof. However, there were two anonymous quotes of interest:

The Pakistani official said his government was also angry that no U.S. official has apologized for a third, apparently inadvertent, death in the incident, that of a Pakistani cyclist run down by a car from the U.S. consulate in Lahore that unsuccessfully tried to reach Davis at the scene of the shooting before his arrest.

I had noticed that lack of an apology myself. Would it hurt our position regarding Davis's immunity, or anything else, if we expressed regret?

And then there was this unattributed and gratuitous statement from our side, which might not even be accurate:

Senior U.S. State Department officials have said that Davis was not supposed to carry a weapon in Pakistan.

Thanks for that, Mr. Helpful, whoever you are.

The only real news in the story is the release of a video of Davis's initial interrogation by Punjabi police, a video that Davis evidently recorded himself without the knowledge of police by placing his cell phone or camera on the floor at his feet.

You can see a clip from it in the above Pakistani television report, at 1 minute 30 seconds into the video.

Pakistani television aired a video Wednesday that appears to show Davis being questioned by authorities after he was taken into custody. Davis identifies himself as an American and repeatedly pleads with his interrogators to help him locate a passport that he says went missing shortly after he showed it to police at the crime scene.

He identifies himself as an employee at the consulate in Lahore, saying, "I just work as a consultant there."

A sad business all around.

Chicken Kills Man in Street Fight

It was a rooster, actually. And the fight wasn't fair, since the rooster was armed with a knife when he killed Jose Luis Ochoa late last Thursday night during an altercation on the outskirts of Bakersfield, California. (To be precise, this mano-a-mano brawl happened "near in the intersection of Avenue 24 and Road 128, about three miles north of the Kern County line and west of Highway 99" according to Tulare County Sheriff deputies.) But, fair fight or not, you have to admit that's a remarkable bit of news.

Here's the report by a local Bakersfield news outlet, which I think is a superb example of crime reporting:

Cockfighting can be a fatal activity, not just for the roosters.

A 35-year-old Lamont man died Sunday after being stabbed in the leg by a sharp blade that was attached to a fighting bird, authorities said.

Jose Luis Ochoa was taken to Delano Regional Medical Center shortly after Tulare County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a reported cockfight near in the intersection of Avenue 24 and Road 128, about three miles north of the Kern County line and west of Highway 99.

An autopsy Wednesday revealed that the accidental death was caused by an injury to Ochoa's right calf, according to a Kern County Sheriff's Department news release.

"I have never seen this type of incident," said Sgt. Martin King, a 24-year veteran who noted the major arteries that could have been severed. "People have been known to bleed out from those injuries if medical attention is not obtained immediately."

King said Ochoa and others fled when deputies arrived at the alleged cockfight, a gambling event in which birds armed with razor-like knives fight each other -- often to the death.

Deputies, who were tipped off by an anonymous caller Sunday, found five dead roosters and other evidence of cockfighting at the scene, King said. No arrests have been made and no citations have been written in connection to the incident.

Ochoa's death caught the attention of John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy for the Humane Society of the United States.

"It's pretty rare, but I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often considering the knives they put on those birds," he said. "It's not a surprise that somebody got killed."

The status of the crime in the state is surely related to its continued existence, Goodwin said. Cockfighting, raising gamecocks, being a spectator and possessing related tools are all misdemeanors in California, although a second cockfighting offense is a felony.

California is an "attractive destination" to people involved in cockfighting, Goodwin said, especially considering nearby states like Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico punish the crime as a felony.

"We have seen a steady stream of activity in states with weaker laws," Goodwin said.

In March 2008, local law enforcement officials broke up an illegal cockfighting operation in the 2700 block of Trust Avenue in east Bakersfield.

In November, five men were arrested after Kern County sheriff's deputies responded to a large cockfighting ring in the 200 block of East Curnow Road, south of Bakersfield. Three guns and hundreds of birds were found at the scene.

In addition, a man in India was killed last month when his fighting rooster slashed his throat, the London-based Daily Mail reported.

"This is a sport that is popular in other parts of the world, and they have brought that interest to Kern County," Public Health Director Matt Constantine said. "It's illegal and inhumane, but we have not seen a decline."

Ochoa, for one, had participated in cockfighting before Sunday. Last year he paid $370 in fines after pleading no contest to one count of owning or training an animal for fighting, according to Kern County Superior Court records.

In comparison, Goodwin said, a bettors' pot can reach $10,000 even in a relatively small cockfight.

"The money adds up fast, and that's why we need strong penalties," Goodwin said. "For a law to be a deterrent, the penalty has to be greater than the gain of breaking the law."

In most cases, the roosters suffer the worst injuries. They usually have been injected with antibiotics and steroids, Constantine said. The spurs on their legs and the combs on their heads are often cut off. Rehabilitation is "a real challenge," he said.

It behooves law enforcement agencies to continue cracking down on cockfighting because there are often other crimes involved, Goodwin said.

"The people who do this don't wake up in the morning and say, 'I'm gonna be a good, law-abiding citizen,'" he said.

I am far more educated about cockfighting now than I was before reading that.

By the way, here's the story about that Indian rooster who broke bad last month, in which the reporter even ascribes a motive to the rooster's assault:

A cockfighting rooster appears to have taken deadly revenge on its trainer for forcing it back into the ring too soon.

The bird is said to have attacked owner Singrai Soren and slit his throat with razor blades he had attached to its legs.

Villagers in Mohanpur, West Bengal, were warned not to approach what police described as ‘an unknown rooster with black and red feathers’.

The Indian police issued an all-points bulletin for a rooster who was known to be armed and dangerous? That makes me curious. Given the great Hindu reverence for all forms of life, how do the police take down a man-killing bird nonviolently? With a stun gun? Tranquilizer dart? Maybe they lure it into a cage with a trail of bread crumbs?

Come to think of it, the article doesn't say whether the law ever caught up with the fugitive fowl. I'm kind of sympathetic with his motive, so I'd like to think that he's still on the lam, lying low in some farm or field while he plots his escape across the border to Pakistan. Kind of like Steve McQueen in The Getaway.

Another Ribbon Cut, Another Fortress Embassy Opened

The Office of Overseas Buildings Operations is on a roll, dedicating a second new embassy compounds in as many weeks, this one in Lusaka, Zambia.

Here's the press release:

Reflecting the importance of the United States’ diplomatic relationship with Zambia, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson dedicated the new United States Embassy compound in Zambia today. Zambian President, Rupiah B. Banda and First President of the Republic of Zambia, Kenneth D. Kaunda, and U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, Mark C. Storella and Managing Director of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, Jay Hicks attended the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The new Embassy on Ibex Hill was designed to incorporate unique architectural features that showcase elements of Zambia. It also integrates green building techniques and has been registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certification. The multi-building complex provides more than 350 U.S. embassy employees, both American and Zambian, with over 13,000 square meters of working space.

B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama constructed the facility under a design/build contract; the architectural firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott designed the facility. The $126 million project generated jobs in both the United States and Zambia. The new facility was completed in October 2010 and at times involved more than 1,200 workers in its construction.

Since the 1999 enactment of the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act, the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has moved more than 22,000 people into safer facilities. Including the dedication of the new Embassy in Lusaka, OBO has completed 77 diplomatic facilities and has an additional 33 projects in design or construction.

Now, the question on my mind is how many of those 350 employees can fit inside the new cafeteria at the same time. Is it as ridiculously small as the one in Addis Ababa?

Widow of Pakistani Shot By U.S. Consulate Lahore Employee Commits Suicide

A tragic development today in the Raymond Davis case. There were threats last week that family members would kill themselves to draw further public attention to their demands that Davis be brought to trial, and now one of them has carried out her threat.

Here's the Associated Press story, Pakistani woman commits suicide after US shooting:

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- The wife of a Pakistani man shot and killed by a U.S. official committed suicide by eating rat poison Sunday, explaining before she died that she was driven to act by fears the American would be freed without trial, a doctor said.

The U.S. has demanded Pakistani authorities release the American, saying he shot and killed two armed men in self-defense when they attempted to rob him as he drove his car in the eastern city of Lahore. He was arrested on Jan. 27, and the U.S. has said he has diplomatic immunity and is being illegally detained.

The shootings have stoked anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, feelings that could be further inflamed by Shumaila Kanwal's suicide. She died several hours after being rushed to a hospital, said Ali Naqi, the doctor in Faisalabad city who treated her.

"I do not expect any justice from this government," said Kanwal in a statement recorded by the doctor before she died. "That is why I want to kill myself."

Kanwal also spoke to reporters after arriving at the hospital, saying "I want blood for blood."

"The way my husband was shot, his killer should be shot in the same fashion," she said.

The case puts Pakistan's government in a difficult position. The government relies on the U.S. for billions of dollars in aid but is wary of being seen as doing Washington's bidding. The U.S. is widely unpopular in Pakistan, in part because of its undeclared campaign of drone missile strikes along the northwest border with Afghanistan.

The government could face charges of being an American lackey if it hands Raymond Davis over to the United States. But refusing to do so risks harming a relationship with a vital ally.

Pakistani officials have avoided definitive statements on Davis' level of diplomatic clearance and whether he qualifies for immunity.

Federal officials have said the decision on his fate is up to courts in Punjab province, where the shootings occurred. But provincial officials have said the federal government must decide whether Davis has immunity. The two governments are controlled by rival political parties, which has further complicated the case.

Besides the two men who were shot dead, a bystander was also killed when he was struck by an American car rushing to the scene to help Davis. Police have said they want to question the Americans suspected in that death as well.

Relatives of the men who were allegedly shot by Davis have participated in several protests in Lahore, including one Thursday outside the U.S. consulate where demonstrators shouted "Hang the American killer!"

Some commentators have tried to paint the two men as innocent Pakistanis rather than thieves who were attempting to rob Davis. But the U.S. Embassy has said the men had criminal backgrounds and had robbed money and valuables at gunpoint from a Pakistani citizen in the same area minutes before the shootings.

Public demonstrations outside the U.S. Consulate in Lahore have been fairly mild so far, but this event has the potential to escalate those demonstrations into mobs.

Calculating This Home's Value

The photo is of the Ambassador's residence in Luxembourg, an obvious hovel, the discomforts of which played a major part in ex-Ambassador Cynthia Stroum's constant battles with her staff.

Of course, you've seen the scathing OIG report about our Ambassador/Queen Bee in Luxembourg, the political appointee who was such a disaster that FSOs on her staff curtailed their assignments to take jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan. (That's a feat kind of like reversing the course of nature, since cushy spots like Luxembourg are usually reserved for people coming out of those places.) If you haven't read that report, go here.

Now that you're read it, you might be idly curious about exactly how much money you would have to bundle into campaign cash for a chance to live in a residence so unsatisfactory. Open Secrets Blog (motto: investigating money in politics) has done the research for you:

A new report from the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of State slams the tenure of U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Cynthia Stroum, one of the top fund-raisers for President Barack Obama and a prolific Democratic donor. Obama appointed her to the post in 2009.

"Most employees describe the Ambassador as aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating, which has resulted in an extremely difficult, unhappy and uncertain work environment," the new report states (see a .pdf file of the 66-page report here).

Some staffers even requested transfers to U.S. embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan to get away from Stroum's "confrontational management style."

-- sip --

According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, Stroum bundled at least $800,000 for Obama's committees, including a minimum of $500,000 to assist his 2008 presidential campaign and $300,000 to help pay for his inauguration in January 2009.

No other bundler-turned-ambassador has funneled more money Obama's way, the Center finds, although bundling disclosure practices paint only a partial picture.

Presidential candidates are not required to disclose their bundlers' names or the amounts bundled. The information that was voluntarily disclosed in 2008 was often only in broad ranges, such as "more than $500,000" -- the category used to describe Stroum's activities, as well as about four dozen other people's.

Like Stroum, Nicole Avant, who is serving as the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, also bundled a minimum of $800,000 to Obama's committees, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported. And so did Charles Rivkin, who is now the U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco.

As OpenSecrets Blog reported at the time of her nomination, Stroum, along with her daughter, has also directly contributed about $165,000 to federal parties, candidates and committees since 1989.

Of this sum, 97 percent has gone to Democrats, including $4,600 to Obama and $1,000 to now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Stroum also personally donated $10,000 to Obama's inauguration committee.

Here is a table of her other top beneficiaries:

Democratic National Committee $60,500
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $19,300
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) $11,725
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) $10,547
Democratic Party of Washington $10,500
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) $9,500
Barack Obama $5,600
EMILY's List $5,000
ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) $4,300
Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) $4,250

How much does it cost to live like an Ambassador in Luxembourg, the Bahamas, or France? The answer is at least $800,000. At rates like that, I can understand why Cynthia Stroum wanted everything in her house exactly so.

Iraqi Treasury Gets Refund on Magic Wands

The wands in question are those scam bomb detectors that I have gone on about before (here, here, and here). That's an actual promotional video for them, above. Check out all those explosions! It's even more dramatic than those Brinks/Broadview home security commercials that feature single women in their twenties who live alone in five-bedroom suburban houses and are under constant assault by stalkers.

Now, Lowering the Bar, a blog by lawyers who see the lighter side, has taken judicial notice of this matter:

On Wednesday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry reportedly said it had recovered the equivalent of $20 million that the government lost due to corruption. Unfortunately, that's only a fraction of the amount it lost to people who duped it into buying hundreds of magic wands.

Some refer to these as "ADE-651 bomb detectors," but those people are crooks, like Jim McCormick, the head of the British company that sold them. He was arrested last year for fraud (but is currently out on bail). What he sold the Iraqis, and many others, was - literally - a plastic handle with a TV antenna stuck onto it, which the company claimed could find explosives in the same way a dowsing rod finds water. I guess that's true in a sense, because dowsing rods also don't work. This, however, did not stop the Iraqis from spending $85 million to buy 1,500 ADE-651s.

McCormick was the director of ATSC Ltd, which marketed the ADE-651 as being able to detect "all known drug and explosive based substances." (Amazingly, the company's website is still up.) Supposedly, it could detect tiny quantities of explosives at distances of up to one kilometer (or three kilometers from the air). In a test conducted by the London Times, though, it failed to detect a paper bag containing fireworks from a distance of a few feet.

McCormick insisted that his detectors do work, although in the Times interview he could not explain why or even what principle is involved. (This is generally a bad sign.) According to the company's website, which amazingly is still up, the ADE-651 uses "long range electromagnetic attraction" to detect the "resonance frequency" of nitrogen atoms, which sounds scientific but is in fact complete bullshit. McCormick, though, said he and his company had been "dealing with doubters" for years, but thought that they had finally identified the issue causing the doubts. "One of the problems we have," he said, "is that the machine does look a little primitive." To address this problem, "[w]e are working on a new model that has flashing lights."
Yes, that's the problem. It needs some lights.

The ministry's inspector general issued a report last October confirming that the things are totally useless, and news agencies have taken the things apart to show they contain no electronics. But some minds will not be changed. "Whether it's magic or scientific," said Major General Jehad al-Jabiri, "what I care about is [that] it detects bombs." Fair enough, only it doesn't. Although ministry officials did take swift action by granting immunity to the guy who signed the contracts, they did not take the magic wands out of service, and according to this report people were still waving them around expecting to find bombs as recently as three weeks ago. (I imagine some of them find bombs, but not in the way they expect.)

A policeman quoted in the report said he wasn't surprised that the inspector general found the devices to be a sham. "We all knew they're a failure," he said. "They don't achieve anything. It's all a show for the public." But that can't be true - what kind of government would spend huge amounts of money on security technology that doesn't work and is just a show for the public?

Can we at least get some flashing lights on our body scanners? I mean, give us our money's worth.

I observed airport police in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi, Pakistan using the ADE651 to 'screen' incoming vehicles during a visit last October. The snake oil that is used to sell those things is so powerful it is almost impossible to overcome.