I just finished reading a novel, “Flash Point” by James Huston. The book was originally published in 2000, but it’s amazingly prescient about 9/11.
The plot of the book involves a Navy F-14 pilot whose roommate is murdered by terrorists while on leave and his efforts to track down the killers. The terrorists are a re-birth of the ancient Hasheeshan, the original Assassins. The part I find so prescient is that the US declares war on the leader of the group, a novel idea (no pun intended) since most people thought you could only declare war on a country. Yet centuries ago, wars were declared against monarchs, e.g. declaring war against the King of Spain as representative of his country.
The author, Huston, came up with the idea of a War on Terror, in which the US pursues terrorists and terror groups wherever they are and that any country harboring terrorists should either give them up or expect to have US forces enter their territory to pursue the terrorists. It’s the “you’re with us or against us” doctrine.
Perhaps I’m not doing justice to the concept outlined in the book. It is an interesting read and if you’re a BookMooch member, I have listed it in my inventory and you can mooch it from me.
