No comments about PSYOP: Post- 9/11 Leaflets.

No comments about Terrorism and International Law.

5 comments about The Poet Game: A Novel.

1. I loved most things about it - the humor, the suspense, the raw energy. The only flaws I saw were that the supposed pre-climax (which I argue should truly have been THE climax) was the death of a key individual, and the main character should have been responsible for it or had proof of its happening. The uncertainty was annoying. The ending seemed cliche and actually silly. This said, I'm not a spy genre connoisseur, so maybe I'm not getting it for that reason.



2. The best books in any genre, I think, are those written quietly and without too much fanfare. They don't have to run into several hundred pages to convey the plot and its consequences. I found the Poet Game one of the smartest reads of any genre. The writer's atmospherics were intimate and immediate. The action was not forced. The psychological rendering had depth and made for a sympathetic protagonist who was left with hard choices in a hard business that he somehow had fallen into, almost against his will. I think the Poet Game will ultimately be remembered for its language, however. It's simply one of the best written thrillers I've ever read. The writing itself seemed to belong to that of a consummate poet. Fine job. Waiting for a follow-up.



3. I will say this book is non stop, and most of all very fun. It can be a little complex, but very non stop where Iwill admit I did not put the book down at all.
   Good Job



4. In the current climate of concern about Terrorism, Abdoh's 2001 book almost seems prophetic. Basically, a Iranian counter-terrorism agent goes to New York to investigate a conspiracy. Double-crosses and triple-crosses soon come, and Sami is in a game where rival Iranian originzations use him to further their own power. The ending was a bit of a let-down, which is why I wouldn't recommend this book.



5. Abdoh, born in Iran and now teaching English at the City College of New York, has written what may be the first-ever novel about militant Islamic terrorism in the United States. Unexpectedly, perhaps, this is not a page-turning story of intrigue and drama, but a roman noir full of layers of complication and brooding introspection.
   
   The plot: Sami is dispatched by a super-secret intelligence agency in Iran to New York to infiltrate the terrorist rings in America. His purpose - and here begins the noir part - is not to help them attack U.S. targets but to prevent them from doing so. His agency has determined that if bombs go off in Manhattan, the U.S. forces will be patrolling the Persian Gulf and making life difficult for the Islamic Republic of Iran, so those bombs must be stopped. Sami presents himself as a terrorist and gets caught up in confusing rings of Iranian, Arab, and American agents. Trouble is, his confusion rapidly becomes the reader's too and it quickly becomes overly-burdensome to follow who is who and working for whom in Abdoh's shadowy world, especially as it does not seem all that serious. Guns go off and lives are lost, but it is more surreal than horrifying (Sami's ally was "as unfazed by his goon's dying as if the man had been lying there in his own pool blood for recreation").
   
   There is another problem with Abdoh's story: as he understands it, the motive force for terrorism on U.S. soil comes from countries like Iran and Libya, ignoring the important development that this violence now derives primarily from American-based sources, not foreign ones. So the story is not just hard to follow, but it does not correspond all that well to reality. In all then, though sophisticated and competently written, The Poet Game is neither a page-turner nor an insight into Islamist violence in America.

No comments about War Against Insurgency & Terrorism in Kashmir.

No comments about 21st Century Essential NBC Reference Series: Dirty Bombs and Radiation Threats, Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) Preparedness, Radiation Terrorism Pocket ... Destruction WMD, First Responder Ringbound).

1 comments about Reshaping America's Military: Four Alternatives (Council on Foreign Relations Policy Initiatives).

1. This book was a fascinating examination of the possibilities for the future of the United States military. Unfortunately, the book does not provide an exhaustive examination of the current status of the military. However, it does provide a thorough examination of the four alternatives suggested as a course for the future of the military. It provides the pros and cons of each alternative, as well as the political ramifications for each position. Simply put, the first option is to increase military spending overall to increase the overall strength of the armed forces. The second provides for a shift in military spending towards new technology in order to create a military that is faster and more intelligent than any other (even more so that right now). The third asks to shift the spending towards are increasing our current capabilities to meet the current threats faced by the U.S. The last option calls for a more multilateral approach, by asking for the UN and our allies around the world to share in the burden of international security. Whichever your preference, this book provides an interesting, if brief, examination of the possible alternatives. This is an important political issue, and books like this spur on public debate by giving readers a chance to become more informed about an issue that does not always at the center of public debate.

No comments about Comparative Legal Approaches to Homeland Security and Anti-terrorism (Homeland Security) (Homeland Security).

No comments about The Path and the Peacemakers: The Triumph over Terrorism of the Church in Peru.

No comments about The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, The AudioVisual Book Edition.

1 comments about Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Research and Development to Improve Civilian Medical Response.

1. A good resource to understand the other side. A must read for the inquisitive mind on the subject of terrorism.