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Sunday, Nov 22, 2009
That's the morality tale being reported by many news organizations. Consider this action-adventure blurb of a lead, pulled from a Fischer story in last Saturday's Los Angeles Times: "For 12 years he has stayed one move ahead of the U.S. government he despises, always in motion, hard to corner. But U.S. justice may have finally caught up with Bobby Fischer."
"Hard to corner?" Fischer has his own Web site. Fans send him e-mail. He has appeared on 21 live radio interviews in the past five years. Even his private cellphone number has been listed on the Internet. A fifth-grader with a rudimentary knowledge of Google could track down America's notorious grandmaster fugitive in 50 keystrokes or less.
"One move ahead of the U.S. government"? In 1997, four years after the federal warrant for his arrest was signed, he applied for a new passport and the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, issued him one. Moreover, he has traveled exclusively to countries that maintain extradition treaties with the United States. Since his self-imposed exile in 1992, he has visited the Philippines (where his girlfriend and daughter live), Switzerland (where he maintains a United Bank of Switzerland account), Hungary and Iceland (where he has appeared on radio programs to spout his vile brand of anti-Semitic and anti-American drivel) and Germany (which he claimed as his father's homeland).
Asked during a radio interview in 2002 if he was fearful of being caught by the U.S. customs agents, Fischer merely chuckled, boasting that "the U.S. hasn't got the guts to catch me." Considering Washington's lack of interest in Fischer up to now, such colossal hubris was understandable. All of this begs the question: If finding Fischer was such a simple task all along, why has it taken 12 years to finally apprehend him?
After stuttering profusely and asking the question to be repeated, Dean Boyd, a spokesperson for United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sheepishly said he'd get right back with an answer. When he did, he seemed much more confident. "We can't just swoop down and grab people anywhere around the globe willy-nilly," he said. "We don't have that authority. It would cause an international incident." Then he adroitly switched the onus to Japanese authorities, adding, "Right now, it's Japan's call whether to deport him or not because he's in their custody."
And Japan has made that call. Last Tuesday, immigration officials in Tokyo announced that the procedure to deport Fischer to the United States had already begun. Japanese officials were quick to point out, however, that Fischer was legally entitled to challenge the deportation.
Why is this happening now? Miyoko Watai, the president of the Japan Chess Association and Fischer's designated spokesperson, claims it's because of his unpopular political views, which are featured prominently on his infamous live radio appearances, usually broadcast from Baguio City. Exhibit A: When the twin towers were ablaze, Fischer was watching the tragic event play out in real time on a television screen and could barely contain his delight. "This is all wonderful news," he said excitedly, as if he were watching his favorite team pulling off an unprecedented upset. "It is time to finish off the U.S. once and for all."
Russell Targ, a physicist in Palo Alto, Calif., who was married to Fischer's late sister, Joan, concurs with this analysis. He maintains that his famous brother-in-law's latest legal plight is merely a smokescreen orchestrated by the Bush administration to distract from growing foreign and domestic problems. "What Bobby's accused of is playing chess 12 years ago in Yugoslavia," he says bitterly. "It's just a distraction from 900 dead American soldiers in Iraq and the floundering economy. They can't find bin Laden, so they got Bobby."
