The Afghan

The Afghan

"The Afghan" is a 2006 thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth, and concerns a planned Al Qaeda terrorist attack to take place against an unspecified target. As with other Forsyth novels, the full details of the plot are not revealed until the end. The story takes place in Indonesia, Pakistan, Guantanamo Bay, Trinidad and Tobago, Washington state and onboard various ships sailing the high seas.

Plot summary

Sometime before the events of the story take place, a joint MI6/CIA/ISI raid against al Qaeda (AQ) operatives in Pakistan uncovers documents concerning a planned, but largely cryptic, terrorist attack. This raises concerns and triggers further investigations authorised at the most senior level.

Mike Martin, who previously appeared in the Forsyth novel "The Fist of God", is now a retired SAS officer. Educated in Iraq and physically able to pass for an Afghan (his maternal grandmother was a Bengali-Indian named Indira Bose who contributed to his chestnut-brown complexion), Martin has a near-perfect command of Arabic and is also familiar with Afghanistan and the Pashtun language, Pashto. He is chosen (due entirely to an overheard gaffe by his brother who is a member of the expert "Koran committee" of academics specialising in ancient texts) to infiltrate the highest echelons of AQ, by impersonating an AQ prisoner, Izmat Khan, currently held at Guantanamo Bay. In the story it is revealed that prior to Martin's escapades in Iraq he had worked with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation where he met Osama Bin Laden and rescued a young Afghan boy, Izmat Khan, who later became a resistance leader. Khan is portrayed as an heroic Afghan freedom fighter determined to have vengeance against America and careless of his life following the bombing of his village in the Tora Bora mountains which killed his family.

In a highly covert operation Martin is successful in impersonating "The Afghan" (under the code word "crowbar"), a prisoner held in Guantanamo for over five years. Following his re-infiltration to Afghanistan as a repatriated prisoner, and his subsequent stage-managed escape, he makes his way back to an al Qaeda safe house in Pakistan, where he is accepted as a compatriot following his security clearance by "The Sheik", Osama Bin Laden due to the brief encounter years before.

He makes contact with AQ and volunteers to get involved in a suicidal terrorist attack which involves hijacking and re-berthing a tanker off Borneo carrying liquid petroleum gas. Another group hijack a cargo ship in the Caribbean, although this is intended to serve as a cynical decoy. Martin successfully alerts his handlers to the general nature of the threat, but is left incommunicado for several weeks as the ghost ship steams to the US Eastern Seaboard. Despite general mayhem and murder, Martin does not appear to have an actual job description in the plot and never gets personally involved in murdering or torturing any innocent bystanders, so is effectively a supernumerary.

Izmat Khan escapes from US captivity in a highly improbable scenario (panned by critics and readers alike [ [http://www.amazon.com/review/R30TNX9477PA6E Amazon review] ] [ [http://thefloridamasochist.blogspot.com/2006/10/frederick-forsyths-afghan.html The Florida Masochist blogsplot] ] [ [http://skgertsch.com/books.htm SK Gerch rants and raves] ] ): a US fighter jet accidentally crashes into a secret hiding place in Washington state where Izmat is incarcerated, destroying his guards and the compound wall whilst leaving him unscathed and free to walk out. He is finally shot dead trying to warn his allies using a public phone in Canada, after a long chase across the Cascades.

Eventually the tanker reaches the mid-Atlantic, where a G8 summit is, imaginatively, being held on the "Queen Mary 2" liner. Martin finally learns that the terrorists intend to release and then ignite the gas on board the tanker, which could incinerate the "Queen Mary 2" as it passed within range. Martin's last minute heroism, quick reflexes and self-sacrifice prevents a tragedy.

References

External links

* [http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_34672.asp "The Afghan" at Allreaders.com]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Afghan — Der Afghane (im englischen Original The Afghan) ist ein Thriller des britischen Schriftstellers Frederick Forsyth aus dem Jahr 2006. Der Roman erschien noch im selben Jahr in einer deutschen Übersetzung von Rainer Schmidt im C. Bertelsmann Verlag …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Afghan Whigs — Background information Origin Cincinnati, Ohio, United States …   Wikipedia

  • The Afghan Whigs — Выступление группы в мае 2012 года …   Википедия

  • The Afghan Whigs — Datos generales Origen Cincinnati, Ohio, Estados Unidos Información artística Género(s) rock alte …   Wikipedia Español

  • The Afghan Whigs — Afghan Whigs Afghan Whigs Pays d’origine  États Unis Cincinnati Genre(s) Rock indépendant, Soul. Années actives …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The Afghan Campaign — is a historical novel by the American writer Steven Pressfield. It was first published in 2006 by Doubleday editions (New York). It is the story of Alexander the Great s invasion of the Afghan kingdoms (the Afghanistan of today) in 330 BC through …   Wikipedia

  • The Afghan Women — is a play by Emmy Award winning playwright William Mastrosimone. It premiered in 2003 at the Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton, New Jersey. The first dozen performances raised US$10,000 for Afghan orphans. In January 2004, Mastrosimone presented a… …   Wikipedia

  • The Afghan Whigs — Allgemeine Informationen Herkunft Cincinnati, Ohio, Vereinigte Staaten Genre(s) Rock, Alternative Rock, Progressive Roc …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Afghan Whigs discography — Infobox Artist Discography Artist = The Afghan Whigs Caption = The Gutter Twins at The Bowery Ballroom in 2008. From left: Greg Dulli, Mark Lanegan Studio = 6 Studio link = Studio albums Live = Live link = Compilation = 1 Comp link = Compilation… …   Wikipedia

  • Military leadership in the Afghan Civil War — The Civil War in Afghanistan (1978–present), also known as the Afghan Civil War and several other names, was a civil war in Afghanistan. The civil war started when the Communist Party of Afghanistan took all political power in Afghanistan on 27… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”