Swedish Diplomat Hammarskjold May Have Been Killed in Air Attack: Study

The Local (Sweden) ^ | 18 October 2017

[nickcarraway]

A new UN report on the mysterious 1961 plane crash that killed UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold in central Africa has concluded it appears "plausible" the aircraft came under attack.

Sweden has called "an open wound" the unsolved questions over Hammarskjold's death, which came during the Cold War between Western nations and the Soviet bloc.

The latest findings take into account newly-released information from the archives of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Germany and the United States.

[nickcarraway]

Was there a secret plot to kill Swedish ex-UN chief?

[lee martell]

Is the fate of this late gentleman something most Swedes spend a lot of time contemplating? Every country has it’s heroes, villains and mysteries.

There is an attached article featuring an 80 year old Swedish woman who wrote a book about ‘Dostadning’ or Death Cleaning.
The idea being to throw out useless personal items before your death in order to save your relatives from having to decide what to preserve. The book has become quite popular.

[buwaya]

Its not out of the question. The Katangan rebels (effectively Belgium, working through proxies) were at war with the UN at the time. Mercenaries in their service fought against UN forces several times, against Indian, Swedish, Irish and other contingents.

There is a film on Netflix right now, “Siege of Jadotville”, about one of these episodes that led to the surrender of an Irish unit to the Katangan mercenaries.

[Vendome]

I use to have late night make out sessioms with his niece, Ghirgen Khirgen, down by the fjord in Sweden

[nickcarraway]

You were teaching her how to put together Ikea furniture without an Allen wrench?

[nickcarraway]

Was it good?

[piasa]

Watching the Russian submarines race no doubt

[Axenolith]

That’s easy, takes about 1/2 gallon of gasoline and afterwards you mix what’s left in a can with cement for a boat anchor and go out and buy real furniture.

[Fiji Hill]

In the early 1960’s, American conservatives supported the Katangan rebels. American Opinion bookstores, run by the John Birch Society, carried pro-Katanga literature and conservatives staged a massive rally in support of Katangan independence at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in March, 1962.

The central government of Congo Leopoldville, backed by the United Nations, finally crushed the Katangan rebels in early 1963. But a year later, when the UN withdrew after running out of money, Katangan rebel leader Moise Tshombe took over Congo Leopoldville and ruled it until he was deposed by Joseph “Diamond Joe” Mobutu, who set up a kleptocratic military dictatorship.

[Vendome]

Well, she ensured I didn’t grow hair on my knuckles...

[Vendome]

How’s the smoke from the LG fires?

I saw the smoke and opted to stay a few days down south to get away, as I would be in the middle of it.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks nickcarraway. At the time it happened, it was common knowledge that the plane was shot down by Soviet-backed a-holes.

[norwaypinesavage]

I was a sophomore in high school when this happened, and the propaganda from the teachers was that the UN was the greatest thing to happen to the world since Jesus Christ (and maybe even better). Hammarskjold's death was treated nearly with the same respect as was Kennedy's a couple of years later.

It took several years for me to figure out (on my own) that the liberal love of the UN was nothing but ill informed propaganda, and that therefore teachers should never be trusted to teach the truth. I have had a cynical view of teachers ever since, even though my mother was one.

[Paine in the Neck]

There is a movie The Siege of Jadotville that touches tangentially on this. It is/was? available on Netflix. Good movie.

[CondorFlight]

I’ve always thought the Russians had the plane brought down.

They supported Lumumba, and his faction was losing.

That said, it’s too bad Sweden didn’t show the same concern for what happened to Wallenberg. He was basically abandoned because of fear of the looming (and for Sweden, nearby) Soviet colossus.

[vetvetdoug]

I remember it happened on Armed Forces Day as we were on the tarmac at Yokota AFB and it was the news of the day. I think flags were ordered half mast for his loss.

[T-Bone Texan]

I only got through 20 minutes of “Siege of Jadotville”.

I thought it was about diamond mines.

PS: “Dag” also means the poop that sticks to an animals fur.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Remember the postage stamp honoring Dag Hammarskjold? One sheet was accidentally printed upside down making it a very RARE and valuable stamp, and a collector bought it.

To destroy the value of that stamp, the post office then printed thousands of stamps upside down.

Now think in terms of dollars, how printing more money destroys the value of each dollar bill.

[IronJack]

Excellent film. Those guys were the latter-day 300 Spartans.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***the propaganda from the teachers was that the UN was the greatest thing***

I remember those days. The school kids were required to “give” a dime to UNESCO or UNICEF for the poor people of Africa.
Even TV’s LASSIE had a a “Give to the UN” propaganda piece on one of their shows. We kids were mature enough at 10 years old to see right through their scam.