Osama's Nordic Hunters

Getting closer to Osama bin Laden's last hometown, Abbottabad. Photo taken a couple of weeks ago by para/marine Bo Sunnefeldt. This gentleman, Ashgar, was Bo's guide.

My friend Bo Sunnefeldt was in Abbottabad for the first time in 2004, on holiday. He then noted in his diary that the place seemed natural for bin Laden to hide in. Bo has just returned from another visit there, but that is not the only Swedish connection to the end of OBL.

Osama bin Laden did not yet reside in Abbottabad when my friend made his note. Well, at least a pretty good prediction then. Some weeks ago, after some serious mountaineering in Pakistan, Bo thought he might try to examine OBLs former compound. Here are some photos from his trip.

Inside Abbottabad and rather obviously getting closer to the compound.

Alas, a couple of hundred meters from the goal, armed guards stopped Bo and his guide and rather harshly informed them that OBL-tourism is not yet allowed.

My globetrotting friend close to the spot where he had to turn around.

Coincidentally, I recently picked up a book that I now realize takes place ten years ago, Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. This gripping book is about the fall of Taliban-held Mazar-i-Sharif, made possible by the combined forces of Afghan rebels, laser pointing Special Forces and the USAF. Here is video about the book:



In less than a month's time it will be exactly ten years since Mazar-i-Sharif fell, which since has become home for the main Swedish military contingent in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it was during the drive of the "horse soldiers" towards Mazar that John Walker Lindh, Osama's American volunteer, was captured.

Lindh I knew about and Swedish reporters have confirmed that his father is a Swedish American. But what really came as a surprise to me was to read in Horse Soldiers the name of one of John Walker Lindh's two original captors, CIA paramilitary officer Dave Olson. In other words the name strongly suggests that Lindh was captured by another Swedish American. Olson might possibly mean roots from another Nordic country than Sweden, but usually Danish and Norwegian surnames end with -sen, not -son.

There was at least one more Olson, Eric Thor Olson, who was very much part of the hunt for OBL. In his case not only the surname indicates Swedish or at least Nordic roots. Does someone out there know more about his roots?

Operation Neptune´s Spear and Swedish SEALs

To find an active US Navy SEAL willing to talk about operation Neptune´s Spear is no easy thing, but an American relative managed to find Mike Smith, a former SEAL. I like his last comments.

US Navy SEALs have been of particular interest to Swedes long before the bin Laden raid. This is because Sweden´s most famous elite officer, Carl Hamilton, is a fully qualified SEAL.

Carl Hamilton, however, is a James Bondesque character in novels by Swedish author Jan Guillou, and movies based on these books. But there has been a Rolf Hamilton and a Jan T. Sundlöf, two Swedish naval officers/attack divers that I have written about in my previous Swedish book, Elitförband i Norden ("Nordic Elite Units") and a long article. These officers received UDT/SEAL training in the 1950s to 1970s. Hopefully I will have time to translate and adapt that book into English next year.

Nice SEAL-interview, Randy!

Two Wars and Blade Runner

It is the first day of 2011. Many will ponder the fact that this year it will be exactly ten years since the September 11 attacks. Many remember exactly what they were doing on that 9-11. I remember too, although I am Swedish and was not in the United States at the time. However, in 2011 there are also good reasons to remember events of 70 years ago and to watch a prediction from 1981.

This photograph taken in Afghanistan in 2010 would not have been taken had it not been for what happened ten years ago. The soldier is from the Australian Special Operations Task Group and the photo was taken during the Shah Wali Kot offensive. PHOTO: Corporal Raymond Vance

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 70 years ago on the coming December 7, deserves to be widely remembered this year, and not just by Americans - the attack brought the United States not only directly into war against Japan but also against Hitler, through his declaration of war on the United States on December 11, 1941.

The Japanese attack was big news also in German-oocupied Eastern Europe, where a Russian boy was eagerly following world events. The boy, Roman Kravchenko-Berezhnoy, wrote in his secret diary on December 9, 1941, about Japan´s dim chance of success: "The navies of England, America, Australia and Holland are on one side, while Japan is on the other. Furthermore, hostile naval bases surround Japan. Besides, it is deeply involved in its war in China."

The secret wartime diary of Roman Kravchenko-Berezhnoy forms a major part of a book written by him some years ago: Victims, Victors: From Nazi Occupation to the Conquest of Germany as Seen by a Red Army Soldier. I am not neutral in relation to that book as I was one of its editors. Still, I believe it can be said quite objectively that Victims, Victors is a valuable book in any quest to understand the Russian WWII experience. Here is the book´s cover:

The sitting Red Army soldier on the cover is the author, who began the war as a news-hungry schoolboy, the son of a Tsarist officer, and who ended it as a submachinegunner and military interpreter.

How can I write "objectively"? Well, for example Walter Dunn wrote in Journal of Military History about it: "A remarkable document, casting light on events little understood. . . . Required reading for students of World War II and modern Russian history."

The monumental German-Soviet clash of 1941-45 - that on 22 June started exactly 70 years ago - is just a lot of places and dates for most people in the west. In the former Soviet Union, on the other hand, it is the defining moment of the previous century. Virtually everyone in what once was the Soviet Union has a personal relationship to WWII through the staggering Soviet losses, something like 27 million lives (both civilians and military).

Yes, the current estimate is about 27 million dead, which is exactly three times the total current population of my country, Sweden.

To somewhat understand Russia (or other states on former Soviet territory), studying WWII is simply essential. I also believe that especially the Red Army has long been a mystery to westerners for the lack of i.a. translated auto-biographies by Russian soldiers. Therefore I warmly recommend to those who have not read Victims, Victors to check out some more reviews.

Personally, one of the most fascinating things with Roman´s book I found to be how he tried to predict the future, and often succeeded. I guess this might have to do with my interest in movies about our near future. As you might already have guessed, "Terminator" is one of my favourites (the first and second, not the two latest). However, my number one is "Blade Runner". The year that has just begun happens to also be a special year for fans of that movie. On March 9 this year (2011) it will be 30 years since the principal photography of "Blade Runner" started. It ended four months later but was released only the following year (1982). In other words, watching "Blade Runner" this spring is watching a thirty year old vision of 2019.

I will not here compare what the movie is about with what we now almost know about the world in seven years. I just want to encourage you to see the movie (again). I especially recommend the 2007 version of the film, Ridley Scott's "final cut" version. Not least because of the documentaries on the DVD. It was while recently watching this DVD that I realized that there is a German Stahlhelm (steel helmet) also in "Blade Runner", in the home of J.F. Sebastian. It is worn by a small robot. I reckon it is a WWII helmet, made to look like it is from WWI. If you are into Stahlhelms in movies you might want to read my previous posts about this phenomenon.

P.S.
One of the most read posts I wrote during 2010 was this one about the Franciscan Waffen-SS soldier Gereon Goldmann. If you are wondering why I have since not written about that man and his story, you can be sure I will return to him in 2011. I read his book in German about a month ago and was so moved I decided to read it in English and Swedish too. Just the other day I got these books and I will soon start to read them and then do some research of my own. So, I reckon I will write about Goldmann again in March.