A Bout with the KGB

The legend of KGB lives on with revenge stories, double agents (yes, still alive!) and garbage talk.

A Nazi-like Russian leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, linked KGB to Pope John Paul's assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. The Polish Pope was installed by the CIA, and as a CIA and Poland hater, it was a justified attempt by the KGB, he said. This is the same crazy Zhirinovsky who said India should conquer Pakistan and Afghanistan to share a border with Russia.

Can't recall, but he may have suggested Russia conquering China for Asia to become a pan Indo-Russia continent.

Ex-KGB agents in Georgia are feeling the effects of the country's recent revolution -- a bill being discussed in parliament will deny them federal jobs. Georgia is trying to get rid of any Soviet remnants, so they believe this is a step ahead for them.

The Georgians are proceeding without thinking. The ex-KGB folks won't be dangerous killing machines as they don't have the Soviet infrastructure to rely on, but they are well-trained in executing planned projects.

In a corruption-ridden Soviet Russia, the KGB was perhaps the most efficient organization.

As the Georgians seek revenge, the Latvians are trying to patch up with ex-KGB members by dismissing the past. If a court reverses a ban, KGB members could hold government posts soon, which has been denied to them to date.

Nevertheless, ex-KGB staffers won't be saved from being called up for jury duty. Today, I followed up jury duty with a Hindi movie. 7-1/2 straight hours on two buttbusting chairs.

One ex-KGB agent without a country is cashing in though.

Sometimes you may ask yourself: How do terrorists get their hands on guns like AK-47s? Which brings us to Victor Bout, the most dangerous ex-KGB agent to watch out for. He's the Russian version of Halliburton in one individual, just sleazier.

He supplies weapons, anything from grenades and assault rifles to helicopter gunships and tanks, to terrorist groups, militants and countries. Like a true secret agent, his name changes as he moves from country to country.

The arms are distributed from his own planes flying from the weirdest countries (Liberia? Congo? in addition to the usuals like UAE). He has supplied African governments and rebel leaders with arms, promoting conflict there. Even India has received weapons through his weapons supply chain. His weapons could well be killing people in Kashmir, though there is no way to verify that.

He technically breaks an international law that limits weapons supply, but he operates under the radar so he gets away with it. The guy has no enemies, he sees business opportunities and rides with the tide.

Somehow, he managed to get the better of Bush during the Iraq rebuild. It's like the good old KGB -vs- CIA fight, with Bout knocking out Bush.

In the Afghan war, both Taliban/Al Qaeda and Northern Alliance used weapons supplied by Victor Bout. That attracted Bush's attention, and Interpol issued an alert keeping him on the look out. He disallowed business with Bout.

But Bout's long reach beat Bush. Cheney's beloved Halliburton subcontracted with two Bout firms to transport cargo and refuel planes from U.S. airbases in Iraq. Nobody knew Bout owned those firms, but when it became obvious, the contracts were cancelled.

His name bleeps on the radar occassionally, meaning he is still out there, perhaps planning his next step or next business opportunity. Think of him as an MNC criminal

The next question is: where is he? He could be somewhere in the Russian vastland or a country the world has never heard of. Though Russia may deny knowledge where he is, he still is an ex-KGB agent, which gives him Russia's support.

Bout picked up good tools during his KGB days and is using them to good effect today. But the world can be a better place without him.

But Bout's skills show that KGB was a good agency, with skilled agents. Bout represents the best; don't judge the agency by KGB alumni who speak to Russian newspapers about aliens and supernatural intelligence.

UPDATE: Apparently, just a day after writing this, the Pope John Paul II assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca, is missing. KGB or some supernatural intelligence agency responsible for this?