Name this US gonzo photographer / muhajadeen fighter / heroin addict?

[luckyjimm]

"Carlos Mavroleon, aka "Kareemullah" in Peshawar. He had volunteered to Younis Khalis' Hezbi Islami faction operating between Khyber and Jalalabad. He was fluent in Pashto and was an armed combatent in Afghanistan. Driven by personal demons, he was fearless and yet had a disarming Etonian demeanor that could charm a Victorian MP. Eventually harnessing his demons, he became a video cameraman and budding producer with some considerable talent. He was instrumental in the production of a Frontline documentary, "Ambush in Mogadishu" and was about to get married. He was much maligned by other journalists envious of his knowledge, nerve and charisma. Shortly after the controvertial missile strike ordered by President Clinton on Jalalabad in 1998, he went to Pakistan to try and get some video of territory he was much familiar with. He was found dead in his hotel room, allegedly of a heroin overdose. Few people who knew him believe it. But the story was given currency when Harper's published a fanciful tale called "Addicted to Danger" which took a Pakistani police report at face value."



And in Somalia:



http://www.lightstalkers.org/carlos_...d_you_know_him

[luckyjimm]

http://www.spectator.co.uk/printer-f...he-brave.thtml

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

cool stuff

[luckyjimm]

The last article I linked to says "when he died many of us felt we'd lost the one truly heroic figure of our generation, a figure in the same mould as T.E. Lawrence or Lord Byron" and strongly suggests he was killed by the Pakistani intelligence services.

Sorry for so much text, but this passage from the first article makes a strong impression on me, because what we see is somebody gambling with LIFE rather than money. This incredible ability to switch from "high" to "low" situations, to completely drop out of one culture and into another. It makes me aware that I take no risks in life; and I intensely admire someone like this who took so many:

"Carlos grew up in London's Eaton and Cadogan squares and was sent to Eton but, though he did well, hated it. He started to rebel, at first in the ordinary ways; with left-wing politics, music that his parents wouldn't like, soft drugs and drink. But as ever he soon left the ordinary far behind. At 14, he left his privileged world and signed himself into a London comprehensive.

After two years of taking a lot of LSD and indulging in 'industrial scale shoplifting', he told his parents he was going to the southwest of France to stay with friends. There were no phones, he said, so they wouldn't hear from him for at least two weeks. He had calculated that would give him enough time to get free. He planned to head to Burma and smuggle rubies.

He got as far as Pakistan. High in the Hindu Kush foothills, close to the border with Afghanistan, in lands that are barely controlled by the current Pakistani administration let alone by the British Raj, Carlos did odd jobs - including bodyguard and labourer, learned to speak the guttural language of the Pashto tribesmen who looked after him and converted to Islam. He never contacted his family. They gave him up for dead.

After nearly two years, he returned to Britain and Belgravia, thin, sick and still restless. His family welcomed him back, hopeful that his youthful wanderlust was sated. Carlos worked hard to get his A levels, but played hard, too. He moved from amphetamines and acid to heroin. Before long, he had picked up a serious habit which he never entirely shook.

He may have been reckless, but he wasn't stupid. He crammed at Millfield, a top public school, and got a place at Princeton University. Not satisfied with that, he applied to Harvard and, on the strength of a successful interview and a fistful of forged references, got in to read politics. With his money and connections, he was soon mixing with the best of America's East Coast society. He was a favoured guest of the Kennedy clan. He had an affair with Mary Richardson, who later married Bobby Jnr, and a short fling with Fawn Hall.

From Harvard he went on to Wall Street. It was the 80s and Carlos, intelligent, well-connected and bold, did well. He lived in Manhattan. He made a lot of money. And spent much of it on cocaine and heroin.

And yet it wasn't enough. By 1985, the attractions of his Manhattan lifestyle had palled. He flew to Islamabad - the capital of Pakistan - and drove up to Peshawar. It was then the main headquarters and logistics base for the guerrilla groups. He introduced himself to them and convinced them to take him into Afghanistan. It was his first taste of war. Within months of returning to America he had sold the New York apartment and was on his way back to the sub-continent. He was 26."

[HugoM]

[ QUOTE ]



He crammed at Millfield, a top public school

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, but Millfield is not a top public school, but rather a very expensive boarding school for rich thickos. Otherwise, interesting read about an interesting person. When I first read the OP I thought you might be thinking of Tim Page who was written about in Despatches by Michael Herr

[imitation]

really interesting stuff, what fuels the journalist-drug lifestyle? It's all very hunter s.

[KotOD]

[ QUOTE ]
There were no phones, he said, so they wouldn't hear from him for at least two weeks. He had calculated that would give him enough time to get free. He planned to head to Burma and smuggle rubies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Best part of the story. I wonder who put this idea in his head?

[luckyjimm]

Oh, I wish he were still alive so he could start a "How to Change Your Life" / Adsman - style thread.

Edit: Oh, he'd probably have been sent to Guantanamo....

[luckyjimm]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There were no phones, he said, so they wouldn't hear from him for at least two weeks. He had calculated that would give him enough time to get free. He planned to head to Burma and smuggle rubies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Best part of the story. I wonder who put this idea in his head?

[/ QUOTE ]


Although the timeframes don't fit for him to have been an influence, fellow Etonian Darius Guppy had a very successful operation smuggling gold from India to London in false-bottomed crates, where he sold it at a vastly higher price. He actually shifted such large quantities it affected the market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_Guppy

[Thug Bubbles]

It's a wonder how i can be saturated with minute by minute updates of Paris's jail-time or Daily doses of Anna-Nicole's life after death, but a story like this which is far more interesting and arguably just as ratings inclined is flatly ignored.

Thanks for the links.