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CASABLANCA |
 AHMED BEN BELLA |
Memories of a midnight
flight leaving for Algeria
By PATRICIA J. GEISTER
of TheColumnists.com
The other day I finished reading Ed McBain's new book, "Money, Money." In it there's a reference to Algeria and the beginning of terrorism as we know it today. That paragraph figuratively jumped off the page for me.
I have told you in the past that I was a civilian employee for the Air Force in Morocco. That was from January 1962 to July 1963. I lived and worked on Nouasseur Air Base (Moroccan military regulations told us not to call it an Air Force Base) which was 19 miles south of Casablanca. The Office of Special Investigations was divided between counterintelligence (CI) and general investigation (GI). My job was in GI.
Four of us drove into Casablanca for dinner one evening, totally unaware of an international incident that was about to happen. This was the spring of 1962. Everything in and around town seemed normal when we went into La Mer, a popular restaurant right on the beach. The big grey/black striped tabby cat slept peacefully, as always, on one end of the bar. They had their usual happy crowd. Nobody seemed the least bit nervous or uptight.
As we drove out of the parking lot around midnight there was a line of Moroccan armed guards that began about a half block away. They were posted 50 feet apart as far as we could see. The officer at the exit of the parking lot told us under no circumstances were we to deviate from the route they were guarding. Forget asking why. In Morocco the police and the military asked the questions, and if you didn't want to get a club or gun banged on your skull, you answered. All were carrying submachine guns and ammo belts. Inside the city limits they were using the police. Beyond that and up to the front gate of the base they were Army, 100 feet apart, both sides of the road. Geez, what a creepy feeling it gave me. I thought the country had been invaded, but by whom and why?
Barricades had been set up at the main gate. Our own American troops were standing guard, rifles in hand.
An officer of our Air Police Squadron was in the guard shack's door. "Do what they tell you. Save your questions for tomorrow," he said.
Moroccan soldiers were checking ID, using a flashlight to see all passengers. That wasn't enough. The drivers were told to get out and open the trunk.
Our colonel gave us a terse explanation the next morning. He and our CI chief both looked like they hadn't slept a wink.
"Last evening, early it was, we got the call to come to the Wing Commander's office. Washington had ordered us to shut down the field to all traffic until further notice. Around 10 o'clock the general told us a plane would be landing within an hour. The Air Police would be jointly guarding a certain area with the Moroccan Army.
"A cargo plane landed as expected. The door wasn't opened; nobody got off. Around midnight a military staff car came into the Base Ops lot. An officer got out, a guard, and then a civilian, a man, got out. The general, his interpreter, spoke with them very briefly.
"They put the civilian on the plane, the guards stayed in place for the take off, and for twenty minutes after that. The general told us the civilian was Ahmed Ben Bella, going back to Algeria."
Our CI chief told us that Ben Bella had been in a French jail for eight years. Algeria wouldn't let the French land there, or maybe the French didn't want to land there, I don't know yet. Anyway, Ben Bella was taken back home to Algeria so he can be the new leader.
That name meant nothing to me. A couple of years ago my daughter met and dated an Algerian from France. I asked him what he knew about Ben Bella. That seemed to cool his need to be in our home. The young man who came to dinner turned into the young man who disappeared.
Now, 40 years later, I read about Algeria and terrorism in McBain's book. I'm glad he rekindled an exciting time in my life. My research via the Internet tells me Ben Bella retired to Switzerland where he now lives after losing an election to one of his long time friends.
Now, 40 years later, McBain's
book rekindles memories of an exciting time in my life.
Terrorism wasn't favorable to me then, nor is it now. I lived
with war and mass destruction always on the horizon. The difference
was I came home when my tour was finished and I felt safe. In
this new century, a new year just beginning, there is no end
in sight. The terrorists have many resources to keep the fear
alive. Sadly, that seems to be one of their major powers.
We Americans are strong, determined and devoted to our freedom. Those are only some of our major powers. Forget changing us; it won't happen. Our history proves it. Don't you forget it.
©2002 by Patricia J. Geister. The photo of Ahmed Ben Bella
is from Internet sources.
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