Several months ago I interviewed an author who had written a book about the JFK assassination, and before you ask, no it was not particularly conspiratorial, but it certainly pointed out some inconsistencies. And even though the events happened over 40 years ago, there are still special interest groups involved. I asked him if ‘shaking the trees had caused him any problems’. His answer was ‘I was at no time personally threatened, but I was very aware that I was under scrutiny. However I was working from documentation in the public domain, I was not poking at the ants nest - that could be a completely different story’. The ‘ants nest’ that you have decided to explore is one that is very much alive and well. Did you have concerns that you were ‘boldly going where maybe you should not’?
I didn’t expect to be threatened, since all the material I was using was in the public domain. Perhaps I should have been more wary, given the nature of the subject. The Saudi lawsuit came completely out of the blue, since the allegations were only a marginal aspect of the book and were based entirely on material from the public domain. Unfortunately in this country, British libel laws do not allow public domain to be used as a defense, which is why the rich and powerful so often make use of them. I’ve learned that lesson and I am still choking on it.
What resources did you use in your research?
There was no great mystery. I didn’t want to write ‘talking to terrorists’ reportage, but to trace the historical origins of ‘terrorism’. So I ordered a lot of books. I visited libraries, particularly the fabulous British Library. I surfed the Internet relentlessly. I watched movies and documentaries. I read novels, both good ones and bad. For three and a half years I steeped myself in terrorism till I was dreaming about it. In the process I probably fried much of my brain, but I think it’s beginning to recover.
Reading this book I came to the conclusion that regardless of the country or the cause, the ‘war’ inevitably reaches a climax. Just like two opposing bacteria on an agar plate, eventually one overwhelms the other. I realize that this process varies from months, to years, to decades. In the West our concern (or at least the government's concern/excuse) is Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Has this peaked? Or are we still in the formative stage?
Article comments
1 - Amy K
Interesting book though one would wish to learn more about what is behind terrorism. Even today, things are still getting out of hands. Obviously, it has to do with wealth vs poverty on a global basis. Maybe knowing about global political and economic map is more meaningful. For this, I recommend another great book: China and the new world order: how entrepreneurship, globalization, and borderless business are reshaping China and the world, by a chinese journalist named george zhibin gu, which offers a more realistic picture about changing world politics and business.