Mitch Rapp, Vince Flynn's flawed(anti?)hero

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Paracelsus

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Edited By Paracelsus

I have been reading the works of Vince Flynn, dealing with the activities of CIA operative Mitch Rapp. I admit that like those of Frederick Forsythe, Tom Clancy and the late William F.Buckley, they ARE indeed a"rattling good read" if I hardly subscribe to the politics(outspokenly right wing) of the authors. Yes, Mitch IS brave, resourceful and totally committed to the war against Al Qaeda( ARE we at war with Al Qaeda BTW?- true this jihadist group has made chillingly clear its hostility in word and literally deed-pace9/11 and 7/7-but there has been no formal declaration of war against this body by Congress or Parliament) on behalf of the United States and its allies. What disturbs me most of all is Rapp's admitted willingness to use what the Bush Administration termed coyly "enhanced/harsh interrogation techniques"( like waterboarding which the more realistic term torture) with either the tacit "wink wink, nudge nudge" or explicit condonation of his Agency superiors. Much like Jack Bauer, his CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) counterpart in "24", Rapp believes in the "ticking time bomb scenario" as justification for his tactics(never mind the fact that in reality British soldiers and intelligence officers who served in NI during the "Troubles" never came across such a scenario and concluded that "counter-terror simply does NOT work!"

According to Wikipedia, it now seems that Flynn's books will be made into movies by Hollywood. I do hope that if this is the case, they will NOT glamorize such inhumane (and arguably anti-American in the fullest sense of the word) acts. After the murder of Italian politician Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in 1978, a police chief was asked to sanction the torture of terrorist suspects. He replied: "Italy will survive the loss of Moro- it will NOT survive(presumably as a civilized state) the introduction of torture!"

Terry