Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 18, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press sunday july 18, 2004 perspective b3 editors killing raises russian ghosts his work put him at the Centre of business crime Power and wealth m Moscow ? Paul Klebnikov the editor of Forbes Russia was dying. Shot four times after he left his office on the night of july 9, he was in an ambulance with out an oxygen bottle bound for a Hospital where the elevator summoned to deliver him to surgery would stall. Before losing consciousness he told a fellow journalist that he did not know who had shot him or Why. Not Long afterwards he was dead. Klebnikov 41, had alighted in Moscow with a spirit of civic Reform. His killing freighted with the themes of a nation at a Crossroads raises a troubling question. As it continues its transition from Post soviet disarray How far and How fast can Russia really go the country can build skyscrapers and solve International conflicts and even win Tennis tournaments said Peter Klebnikov one of Paul Kleb Nikov a Brothers. But so Long As its considered completely Normal to resolve disputes and kill a person who is interfering with the Way you want to live this country is Brazen Klebnikov a work ? informed and sometimes Brazen ? inserted him squarely into the worlds of russian business crime Power and wealth. These themes Are historically explosive in Russia where the czars were overthrown in part because of their dazzling riches surrounded by the deep poverty of the masses a condition sometimes suggested in the shape the new Russia has assumed. The country a 36 billionaires control about $110 billion assets equal to a Quarter of the nations Gross Domestic product according to the Magazine took the reins of political Power and began ruling with a tightening hand. The country showed signs of Calm and Hope. Klebnikov himself was optimistic about its prospects ? even As it seems someone was planning his death. The russian authorities have described Klebnikov a death As a con tract killing and have said it appeared connected to his journal ism. Some of those who were sources for his articles said they knew of no work that would have made him a tar get. In the broader sense the vital questions of who ordered Klebnikov a death and Why Are partially eclipsed by the fact that he could die in such a Way. If somebody feels Safe enough to kill the editor of a major Western know Paul knew much greater he said. So much can be undone by such even before Klebnikov was killed Russia was stalked by enduring questions. Its protracted War in Chechnya grinds on in spite official assurances that it is All but won. Its richest Man Mikhail Khodorkovsky is facing trial on charges of fraud tax evasion and embezzlement in a Case widely regarded As directed by Putin against an oligarch who dared to make a foray out of business into politics. Simultaneously the Oil company Khodorkovsky founded Yukon is staggering from a civil tax Case that is also seen As linked to Putin Sani mus. The possibility of Yukon bankruptcy looms. Criticism Independent news organizations have been reined in. Rights of Public demonstration have been curtailed. The most recent elections for the presidency and the legislature were criticized for being unduly influenced by the Kremlin. Even Klebnikov had been wary of what he saw. In an interview hours before he died Klebnikov was supportive of Putin and his push to curtail the Power of oligarchs Over Russia a Economy. He was also critical of what he saw As creeping authoritarianism. Russia is at a Crossroads he told Izvestia a russian newspaper. One of Putin a biggest achievements is that Many of the russian magnates have changed their behaviour for the but now the government is going toward the other extreme he added. It is possible that soon we will say that the real danger to the country is not the oligarchs but the overextended government Power of bureaucrats acting at their own the oligarchs occupied much of Klebnikov a attention. Forbes Russia which first appeared in april published a list of Russia a 100 richest people in May. The Magazine said that Moscow was Home to 36 billion Aires More than any City in the world. Boris a. Berezovsky who had become a billionaire during Boris n. Yeltsin a administration suggested last week that such a roster carried risks. To publish this list is like Send ing a letter to the prosecutors office he said in a Telephone inter View from London where he lives. Its different than in the United states. In Russia those people go to Berezovsky had been the subject of Klebnikov a journalism in both a pro file and a Book. He filed a libel suit against Forbes in Britain which was settled last year after the Magazine acknowledged that it had been wrong to say that he had been involved in the killing of a television personality in 1995. His name has been in constant circulation in Moscow As someone who Klebnikov produced. It was that rus Sia that Klebnikov seized for his subject and that had so quickly replicated some of the disparities of old. In recent years another phenomenon appeared to have taken hold. Businesses Consoli dated holdings and eased their most flagrant excesses seeking a degree of legitimacy and respect. President Vladimir v. Putin Magazine we have anarchy in rus Sia said William f. Browder a for eign investor. He said Klebnikov called him for articles about corruption at two Large Kremlin Friendly companies the Oil giant sur gut Neft Gaz and the natural Gas monopoly Gaz prom. It makes Putin look like a weak Man he added. Klebnikov was a descendant of russian emigres who fled the bolshevik revolution and he made frequent visits to Russia after the soviet Union collapsed. Having studied both Early privatization and the hints of maturation he dreamed of a bet Ter Russia open honest Law Abid if somebody feels ing an evolving Safe enough to kill nation with its Wilder impulse the editor of a major tamed. He also saw a Chance for the Western Magazine synthesis of West Ern standards and we have anarchy in russian traditions in a newly Strong Russia. It makes look like it has not been an uncommon weak Man dream Here. One measure of the ? foreign investor Impact of his death William f. Browder is How swiftly that dream has become tempered. Its still unsafe to do business and speak the truth said Boris Jordan a russian american businessman who was born on Long Island n.y., and was until recently based in Moscow. He added glumly we All came Back hoping to do even the most optimistic Are reassessing. Eric Shogren a Minnesota native who built a pizza Empire in Novosibirsk and had Long worried that news coverage of Russia was Dis proportionately negative had admired Klebnikov a efforts to Intro Duce More upbeat articles about rus Sia. The killing has reordered his View. At no time in the near future will i let my guard up he said last week. You have to be careful and smart try not to fight extra there is the greater Russia that i might have held a grudge against Klebnikov ? a suggestion he abruptly brushed off. I fought him in the courts and won he said. Few seem to believe Klebnikov a killer will be found. But others said the Case also provides an Opportunity for the state to demonstrate the possibility of Rule of Law. There Are signs that the family clings to Hope. When Klebnikov was buried Friday on Long Island n.y., after a russian orthodox funeral in new York City his three Young Chil Dren stood at the grave. His two sons clutched russian flags. ? new York times news service new . Centre will study terrorists minds senses of humiliation oppression Sterns research published As terror in the name of god benefited from Access to the lives of terrorists. But even he has developed what he called the oppression questionnaire to gauge the degree to which a person feels Subj already seen As common threads Stern who did her research before 9/11, said it would be dangerous to return. Gated. But there could be an a Factor to the by Mark Glassman when the 9/11 commission released its preliminary staff reports last month some of the most compelling material came from the lives of the men who hijacked the air planes. Who were these Guys anyway there was Ziad Jarrah a Pilot who considered dropping out of the plot. Jar Rah had a Girlfriend a penchant for nightclubs and a private Christian school education. He was from a Well to do fam ily with whom he was quite close. He was in Short a relatively unlikely candidate to become an Al Aida suicide operative according to staff statement no.16. But that did not Stop him from hijacking in gods name United airlines flight 93, which crashed into a Field in Pennsylvania. It is unclear whether Security officials could have seen this kind of behaviour lurking in a Man like Jarrah ? in any Man really ? but the department of Homeland Security is looking for a few Good scientists to at least give it a try. A $12-million Grant from the depart ment will finance an academic Centre to study the behavioural and social aspects of terrorism. The goal is to attract a group of researchers yearning to find out not Only what makes terrorists tick but also when they la go off. When did terrorism become the new physics can we really make a science of All this there is no established terrorism questionnaire. No one has validated a terrorism quotient or found a terror Gene. Which is not to say no one has tried. Or. Jeffrey Victoroff a professor who studies terrorism at the University of Southern California said no terrorist personality has been unearthed. There is no mind of the terrorist he said. There Are Only minds of Jessica Stern who lectures on terror ism at Harvard travelled around the world conducting interviews with known terrorists. She said that she found great variation in their reasoning but that there was a common thread most of them Felt humiliated and spoke of being pigeonholed into a lower weaker caste by some other group. In her research Stern said she came across a Follower of the extremist Amer ican group the identity christians. He had suffered bronchitis As a child was discouraged from joining the boys gym class and instead joined the girls. An islamic Kashmiri militant lamented that muslims no longer held the Power and stature in the world that they once did he said our ego Stern said that while both terrorists Felt humiliated there was a difference in their shame. For americans she said it tends to be a lot More can / associated press archives Jarrah pondered leaving plot for an american to do that today i think its very Likely they would end up the Way Daniel Pearl did she said referring to the . Journalist slain in Pakistan by islamic terrorists in 2002. And that is one reason the Opportunity to work with Homeland Security might be Worth More to scholars than a Grant. For scientists it could mean Access to an invaluable subject Pool terrorists and unprecedented clearance to Classi fied documents. The closer that you can get to that tiny subgroup of humans who choose the life of terrorist Victoroff said the bet Ter your understanding will in this Case getting close might mean something As off limits As a visit with a Detainee in Guantanamo Bay. But How to understand a terrorists motivation is a matter of debate. Some scientists advocate a psychoanalytic approach that Hopes to understand a terrorists family history and Early life events and the development of the psyche. Others say that this method is outdated. They re trying to apply 1920s freudian theory to explain the actions of 21st-Century terrorists who grew up in a society that was nothing like Vienna in the 1930s,? Victoroff said. Terrorist personality something that can not be quantified. I think that if we overemphasize a quantitative Micro economic approach to terrorism we May fail to recognize the deep effects of religious Fervour hatred bravado and psychodynamics pressures that Are unknown to the typical Western mind Victoroff said. The Centre could provide a new Stream of information on fighting terrorism experts said. When we decide what we re going to protect in this coun try we tend to do it because its Vulner Able or because we think there a a Way to threaten it said David Aaron the Assis Tant to the president for counter terror ism at the Rand corp. But we Don to really take into consideration what these people Are Likely to spending Money on airline Security seems to make sense because we know terrorists Hijack air planes Aaron said not because air planes Are easy targets. More knowledge about terrorist behaviour is crucial he said. After All Aaron said we can to protect ? new York times news service ;