Reviews
Who Killed Hammarskjöld? The UN, the Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa by Susan Williams
kyltra's review
5.0
An impressively determined study into the strange and sinister circumstances surrounding the death of a former United Nations Secretary-General in central Africa, during the period of decolonization.
The questions raised examine why Dag Hammarskjold was reportedly recovered outside of his downed aircraft with bullet wounds and a playing card placed on him, and why the only surviving member of his party, whom his doctor believed was recovering, died unaccountably.
Why did the response on the ground to the crash, just miles from Ndola airstrip, begin only in daylight? Why weren't transcripts of conversations with pilots from the air traffic control tower accurately documented that night? Why, too, weren't the testimonies of local black people identifying unusual police movements on the ground and explosions in the sky accounted for in colonial reports? (A sinister suppression of the truth, or incompetence owing to colonial racism?) And why, at the approximate time of the crash, did an NSA listening post in the Mediterranean pick up chatter from a French-speaking fighter pilot, describing firing across the bow of such a plane as Hammarskjold was travelling in?
Susan Williams tells a phenomenal story about Dag Hammarskjold and the Congo, wrapped in layers of intrigue, which culminates in the construction of a powerful case which has subsequently led to the re-opening of a UN investigation into the Secretary-General's death. William's glass eventually finds its focus on the powerful and secretive advocates for white supremacy who fought dirty wars to limit the movement of decolonization.
Unfortunately, persistent cultures of secrecy inhibit the release of documents from the former colonial powers, rendering investigation dependent on the political will of these countries. The potential of the received story of both the death of Hammarskjold and of decolonization in central and southern Africa to have been corrupted - by invidious agents, lawyers and governments - is therefore vast.
As a consequence Britain's role in the world over the past century remains mysterious by design, given that archives testifying to its actions in the Congo, Northern Rhodesia and South Africa within a few generations' living memory remain concealed. This book more than any other makes me want to dive into those archives.
The questions raised examine why Dag Hammarskjold was reportedly recovered outside of his downed aircraft with bullet wounds and a playing card placed on him, and why the only surviving member of his party, whom his doctor believed was recovering, died unaccountably.
Why did the response on the ground to the crash, just miles from Ndola airstrip, begin only in daylight? Why weren't transcripts of conversations with pilots from the air traffic control tower accurately documented that night? Why, too, weren't the testimonies of local black people identifying unusual police movements on the ground and explosions in the sky accounted for in colonial reports? (A sinister suppression of the truth, or incompetence owing to colonial racism?) And why, at the approximate time of the crash, did an NSA listening post in the Mediterranean pick up chatter from a French-speaking fighter pilot, describing firing across the bow of such a plane as Hammarskjold was travelling in?
Susan Williams tells a phenomenal story about Dag Hammarskjold and the Congo, wrapped in layers of intrigue, which culminates in the construction of a powerful case which has subsequently led to the re-opening of a UN investigation into the Secretary-General's death. William's glass eventually finds its focus on the powerful and secretive advocates for white supremacy who fought dirty wars to limit the movement of decolonization.
Unfortunately, persistent cultures of secrecy inhibit the release of documents from the former colonial powers, rendering investigation dependent on the political will of these countries. The potential of the received story of both the death of Hammarskjold and of decolonization in central and southern Africa to have been corrupted - by invidious agents, lawyers and governments - is therefore vast.
As a consequence Britain's role in the world over the past century remains mysterious by design, given that archives testifying to its actions in the Congo, Northern Rhodesia and South Africa within a few generations' living memory remain concealed. This book more than any other makes me want to dive into those archives.
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