With the killing of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda loses its revered symbol but radical terrorists remain a threat to the United States. I recently read a novel by Dr Rocco Leonard Martino of Villanova PA 9/11/11 The Tenth Anniversary Attack, is published by Bluenose Press. The gist of the story is a cyber war strategy to forestall an Al Qaeda 9/11 anniversary attack on the United States.
The action takes place in New York City, Washington DC, Moscow, Dubai, Riyadh-Saudi Arabia and the Al Qaeda caves in Waziristan on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Dr Martino lays out a credible Al Qaeda sponsored plot to cripple the “American Satan” on the anniversary of 9/11. He opens with a sabotage of a chemical plant outside Baton Rouge, LA the dire effects of which are thwarted by a combination of luck and skill. The President in the novel, named Strobe (but I think modeled on Obama), then establishes a special projects group to think outside the box and find new ways to prevent attacks and cripple the terrorist apparatus.
The group focuses on cyber war projects to cripple the terrorists’ ability to use their funds -- in fact to go so far as to steal their funds. And, the theme of the book is that cyber warfare, particularly focused on finances, should be at the core of our strategy to combat terrorism. The Presidential character does often refer to the fact that the terrorist war is also a battle for the hearts and minds of the Muslim people.. And, there is one statement in the book that I think gets to the heart of the matter particularly in the Middle East as to how we stop the recruiting advantage of radical groups like Al Qaeda “There is a limit to how long good people can resist the bad people, especially when their families are hungry.”
The events in the novel take place from Oct 27, 2010 thru Oct 2011, although most of the action takes place from March 15 to March 30, 2011.
It’s a novel. It’s fiction. And unlike historical fiction it is predictive historical fiction. Those aspects of the story which I am familiar with either personally or by study, i.e. the political and governmental, are well done - portrayals of characters in government and their actions are in my opinion on the mark.
The book reads smoothly and the last 20% is gripping, there is military action (naval), romance, murder and air strikes.
I think this novel offers a non-boring way to get those who don’t care for strict political science or public policy works to focus on the problem of combating Islamic fundamentalist radical terrorism and a way to consider options other than massive US military intervention.
There is no question that the United States and most “western” nations face a terrorist threat from radicals in nations with perceived grievances against the west – old anti-colonial gripes, along with religious inspired rivalry, and the poverty and ignorance of the poor in those countries feed radical terrorist movements. There are those who say the only way to defeat this terrorism is to win the hearts and minds of the people of the countries that breed and foster these terrorists. I agree that that is something we should be striving to do. But, it is also clear that one needs to respond to terrorist attacks with strength. We see in Afghanistan that while we can drive Al Qaeda into other lands we can’t end its effectiveness. This novel offers some ideas as to avenues we could explore to close down these terrorist operations. Combining drying up their funds with destroying their safe havens may be a viable strategy as against simply invading and occupying every country they spring up in.
5-2-2011
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