Booze, Bimbos, Bribes And Baku
The UK’s latest corruption scandal is all about BP’s Lord Browne and the company’s use of everything from hookers to hash in ‘winning’ oil contracts.
Britain’s Daily Mail was forced to pull the story minutes after publication - not here anymore - but well-meaning bloggers have re-sleazed it here and here.
First, you wonder why the Government censored the story. After all, that’s normal business hospitality isn’t it? And if they blew an expense account of 45 million in four months, well, that’s the way things are in Baku, where any woman out after 9 pm is a whore.
Only last year, the US Ambassador had to be recalled after American diplomats were caught trafficking ’scorching redheads’ from Azerbaijan to Florida. (Guess what - that earned him promotion.) As one journalist noted, Baku has been more successful with its integration into the Western sex industry, than in its NATO partnership. But hey, anything’s better than the old Evil Soviet Empire.
I’m sure Lord Browne will argue that you can’t do Baku on tight budget. Blogger Johnnie Baker writes: ‘I have been fortunate enough to have a bit of a sex life during my stay here in Baku, which can be quite difficult if you’re not willing to pay.’ He also discovered that more shopkeepers know the word condom than the Russian preservativ - which shows the real progress being made there.
Presumably, what Her Majesty’s Government didn’t like in the article was the reference to MI6 abetting BP in fostering local corruption. Once again, I am shocked, shocked. Wasn’t MI6 behind the coup d’etat in Azerbaijan anyway?
BP’s middlemen arranged to supply the new government with military equipment in what was described as an “arms-for-oil” deal. The move was designed to “consolidate BP’s position”
So, it appears that BP is doing nothing more at the moment than continuing to ‘consolidate its position.’ That does highlight the problem with the Baku bunch, though. You bribe them once but they don’t stay bribed.
Not to quibble CD, but the US Ambassador was not recalled for trafficking. There are plenty of reasons to heap calumny upon him, and much as I wish it was true, he went back to DC as part of his normal rotation. That story was reported in the AZ press, but it was pretty much BS.
There was a scandal in the embassy a while back about visa bribery, but the two events were not related.
and where did you ever get that awesome poster? I need it!
The illustration is from a great site called Travel Brochure Graphics. All sorts of old Soviet posters here.
Here’s the link.
Thanks for the link
CB wrote:
“he went back to DC as part of his normal rotation. That story was reported in the AZ press, but it was pretty much BS”
It was reported by UPI, AFP and a bunch of other reputable sources.
Of course, I’d prefer to believe that the ’scorching redheads’ were just part of a regular ‘democracy assistance program’ . . .
[...] Die Initialzündung für diesen Eintrag lieferte mir The Copydude mit seinem Eintrag, unter dem ebenso frivolen Titel “Booze, Bimbos, Bribes and Baku” , in dem er von Groß Britanniens neuestem Korruptionsskandal berichtet. [...]
I lived in Baku for 3 years and knew the US Ambassador very well. I can assure you that Ambassador Harnsich was an honest, sincere and committed diplomat. And he is a decent honorable person. I know it makes great copy, but it isn’t fair to a good man.
Hmm, how surprising - an oil company working with state security forces, bribery, corruption, spying and all just to get a pipeline deal. What’s not surprising about all of this? This just takes me back to the good old days - Salvadore Allende and ITT (and the CIA).
Raymond. Thanks for your comment. I don’t think anyone accused the Ambassador of being involved in trafficking, only that the scandal happened on his watch. Typical news report of the incident:
‘Local and regional media are rife with speculations over the human smuggling ring that trafficked young Azeri women to be sex slaves in Florida. The F.B.I. suspects an inside job. Replacing the tarnished Mr. Harnish is Anne Elizabeth Derse, a career foreign service officer who has held the rank of minister-counselor.
The girls were reportedly receiving valid U.S. visas through the embassy in Baku. A former translator for Amb. Harnish was under investigation for helping the girls obtain visas with forged documents, UPI said. That translator, Zarifa Dzhabieva (also Jabiyeva), has since been found dead. She was stabbed between 30 and 50 times by unidentified assailants.
President Bush announced his plans to elevate Ms. Derse to her new post on April 13, just weeks after the scandal broke in Azerbaijan.’
Apparently, you believe everything you read in the Russian (and Azeri) press. Your libelous comments on Reno Harnish are astonishing. Do you normally consult Regnum and Pravda for enlightened commentary? (Frankly, if they ran a headline on a sunny day in June that said, “Sky is Blue,” I’d run outside and check.) But instead of injecting some skepticism, or ideally just ignoring the “story,” you repeated it without wondering if it actually was true. Think about it: a US ambassador involved in a trafficking ring? It’s absurd on its face. You owe Harnish an apology, along with the family of Zarifa Dzhabieva.
Is there anything you people wont do for money, “tanya”?
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It’s a shame to see my city of birth affiliated with this kind of crap in any way.