The Fist of God: A Book Report

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The Fist of God By: Frederick Forsyth

Introduction The Fist of God is written by Frederick Forsyth. It was published in 1994 with a total of 592 pages. The author used known facts and combined it with fiction to tell a story. Forsyth was born in Ashford, Kent, he was a son of a furrier. He graduated from Tonbridge School and later attended the University of Granada in Spain. At the age of 19 he became one of the youngest pilots in the Royal Air Force. He served on National Service from 1956 to 1958. In 1961 he joined Reuters that officially turned his life around as a journalist. Later on in 1956 he joined BBC, where he served as an assistant diplomatic correspondent. He served as a correspondent covering the Nigerian Civil War from July to September 1967. He left the BBC the following year after controversy arose over his alleged bias towards the Biafran cause and accusations that he falsified segments of his reports. In 1969 he then returned to Biafra and became a freelance reporter, where he wrote his first book, The Biafra Story. Forsyth is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra. The Afghan, published in August 2006, is an indirect sequel to The Fist of God. The Fist of God revolved around the coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, racing against time to discover the true nature of Saddam Hussein's secret weapon, 'The Fist of God.' The story opens with the assassination of Dr. Gerald Bull, who is a real Canadian space researcher. He developed a supergun for the Iraqi nuclear weapons project. It then continues with various covert and overt missions by Israeli, American and British military to find and destroy the Iraqi nuclear capability.

Characters Complete List of Characters The Americans George Bush - President James Baker - Secretary of state Colin Powell Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Norman Schwarzckopf Commander-in-chief, Coalition Forces, Gulf Theater Lieutenant General Charles Chuck Horner Commander, Coalition Forces, Gulf Theater Brigadier General Buster Glosson Deputy to Chuck Horner Bill Stewart Deputy Director (Operations), CIA Chip Barber Head, Middle East Division, CIA William Webster Director of Social Intelligence, CIA Don Walker USAF fighter pilot Steve Turner USAF Fighting Squadron Commander Tim Nathanson- Wizzo to Don Walker Randy Roberts Wingman to Don Walker Jim Henry Wizzo to Randy Roberts Harry Sinclair Head of London Station, CIA Saul Nathanson Banker and Philanthropist Daddy Lomax Retired Nuclear Physicist The British Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister John Major Thatchers successor as Prime Minister Lieutenant General Sir Peter de la Billiere Commander, British Forces, Gulf Theater Sir Colin McColl -Chief, SIS Sir Paul Spruce Chairman, British Medusa Committee Brigadier J.P. Lovat Director, Special Forces Colonel Bruce Craig Commander Officer, 22nd SAS Regiment Major Mike Martin Major, SAS Major Sparky Low SAS Officer, Khafji Dr. Terry Matin Academic and Arabist Steve Laing Director of Operations, Mid East Division, SIS Simon Paxman Head of Iraq Desk, SIS Stuart Harris British Businessman, Baghdad Julian Gray Head of Stations, SIS, Riyadh Dr. Bryant Bacteriologist, Medusa Committee Dr. Reinhart - Poison Gas Expert, Medusa Committe Dr. John Hipwell Nuclear expert, medusa Committee Sean Plummer Head of Arab Service, GHCO Wing Commander Philip Curzon Commander Officer, 608th Squadron, RAF

Squadron Leader Lofty Williamson Pilot, 608th Squadron, RAF Flight Lieutenant Sid Blair Williamsons Navigator Flight Lieutenant Peter Johns Pilot, 608th Squadron Flight Lieutenant Nicky Tyne Johns Navigator Sergeant Peter Stephenson SAS man Corporal Ben Eastman - SAS man Corporal Kevin North - SAS man

The Iraqis Saddam Hussein - President Izzat Ibrahim Deputy President Hussein Kamil Saddams Son-in-law, Head of MIMI Taha Ramadam Prime Minister Sadoun Hammadi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz Foreign Minister Ali Hassan Majid Governor-General, occupied Kuwait General Saadi Tumah Abbas Commander, Republican Guard General Ali Musuli Commander, Engineering Corps General Abdullah Kadiri Commander, Armed Corps Dr. Amer Saadi Deputy to Hussein Kamil Brigadier Hassan Rahmani Chief, Counterintelligence Dr. Ismail Ubaidi Chief, Foreign Espionage Brigadier Omar Khatib Chief, Secret Police (Amn-al-Amm) Colonel Osman Badri Colonel, Army Enginners Colonel Abdelkarim Badri Colonel Iraqi Air Force Dr. Jaafar Al-Jaafar Head, nuclear program Colonel Sabaawi Secret Police Chief, occupied Kuwait Dr. Salah Siddiqui Nuclear Enginner The Kuwaitis Khaled Al-Khalifa Pilot, Captain Ahmed Al-Khalifa Merchant Colonel Abu Fouad Head of Resictance Movement Asrar Heroine of Resistance The Israelis Itzhak Shamir Prime Minister General Yaacov Kobi Dror Head of Mossad Sami Gershon Head, Combatants Division, Mossad David Sharon Head of Iraq desk, Mossad Benjamin Netanyahu Deputy Foreigner Minister Gideon Gidi Barzilai Mission Controller, Operation Joshua Dr. Moshe Hadari Arabist, Tel Aviv University

Avi Herzog, Alias Karim Aziz Mossad Agent in Vienna

The Viennese Wolfgang Gemutlich Vice-president, The Winkler Bank Edith Hardenberg Gemutlichs private secretary Notable Characters Dr. Gerald Bull, a real Canadian space researcher, who developed a supergun for the Iraqi nuclear weapons project. Major Mike Martin of the Special Air Service assigned to SIS as a top level intelligence to work with the Kuwaiti resistance. His brother, Terry Martin, an expert in Arab military studies, is asked to advise a joint Anglo-American committee on possible Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction. General Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander-in-chief, Coalition Forces, Gulf Theater who believes that the superweapon is a definite threat to his forces. Brigadier Omar Khatib who turns out to be Jericho (the Tormentor), Israels own secret weapon.

Summary Saddam hires Dr. Gerald Bull and he designs a supergun codenamed Project Babylon for Iraq. He believes that it will be used to launch a satellite. He realizes the true reason shortly before being assassinated by his Iraqi paymasters. Iraq then invades Kuwait. U.S moves in to stop the rampage and free Kuwait from the iron rule of Saddam. But all the think-tanks are unable to locate the weapon(s) of mass destruction which Saddam has developed over the years and successfully used in the war against Iran. These weapons are so well camouflaged that even the spy satellites hovering over Iraq are unable to locate them, specifically the giant gun. They decide to send a covert agent into Iraq a so called NOC (non-official cover operative) to get firsthand information. Major Mike Martin of the Special Air Service was assigned to SIS to work with the Kuwaiti resistance. He becomes the natural choice because not only does Major Martin speak fluent Arabic, he also looks like an Arab his ancestors were so called Indira Bose. His brother, Terry Martin, an expert in Arab military studies, is asked to advise a joint Anglo-American committee on possible Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction. Mike breaches the Iraqi defense by disguising himself as a Bedouin and reaches Kuwait. Along with the local resistance he plans and executes several operations which leave the Iraqi leaders wondering about this so called illusive Bedouin. In the meantime word reaches the CIA that Mossad has an asset in Iraq, a so called Jericho. Now the question arises who will go to Iraq and handle Jericho to gain inside information, because Israel cannot directly participate in the ongoing conflict. Mike again becomes the natural choice, because of his looks and his extensive knowledge on the Iraqi culture. Mike is called back from Kuwait and sent into the heart of the enemy territory i.e. Baghdad. Mike poses as a gardener working in the house of the Soviet ambassador. He starts handling Jericho through a series of dead drops and starts gathering inside information. The story becomes an interesting read when Jericho (whose identity is not revealed till the end of the book) reveals the position of the giant gun in exchange for a hefty sum of money. However, it does not solve the problem because the gun is so well camouflaged, that it will require somebody on the ground to pinpoint its position for a perfect hit from the air. The book consists of two mysteries, the first one is the identity of "Jericho" (about whom the readers will keep guessing) and the second one is the way the giant gun is taken out. Coupled to this is the story of Mike Martin. How he carries out the operations and how his presence of mind saves him number of times from situations where he will be inches away from capture. The book also portrays, the life of a commoner under the iron rule of Saddam, the dreaded Iraqi secret police, the trained and disciplined Iraqi republican guard, the corruption infested cabinet of Saddam.

Evaluation and Conclusion The Gulf War had been over years ago and throughout that short war, my knowledge and even my political opinion was very limited. The Fist of God was an enlightening and an interesting read, Forsyth had so much insight into the behind-the-scenes politics and strategies that I couldn't imagine how he knew all those things. Based on my research, Forsyth has a reputation for thoroughly studying his subject matter. He is also known for including good technical detail and most of all for his knack of weaving real people into the plots. And it works, because the book effectively presented a recap of the Gulf War in a very comprehensive format. It became difficult for me to separate fact from fiction and vice versa. Forsyth's seemingly obsessive compulsive attention to detail creates an atmosphere of believability around his fictionalized description of great events. However despite the attention paid to contemporary geopolitics it somehow made me feel and interpret the story as if Iraq is Nazi Germany, and Saddam Hussein is much like Adolf Hitler, and the Persian Gulf of the 1990s is Western Europe in 1944. In this extremely large, chaotic, and overly populated novel, the torturers all sneer, the dictator rages, and the only hero that counts is a regular guy named Mike. The story is not at all subtle it is straightforward hence the effectiveness of the plot. I find it unchallenging though that Martin is just oo good to be true. He looks like an Arab and speaks perfect ''street Arabic, every swearword, slang, piece of jargon'' without any trace of an accent-boy. Its as if it was meant to be that way, the perfect guy at the right place on the right time. The first several hundred pages, I got bored with the in between pointless cutaways to President Bush, Prime Minister Thatcher, and a overabundance of spies in London, Tel Aviv, and Vienna. But I was interested enough to stick with it mostly because it was very informative. And just when all of his thorough plotting seems about to pay off, he changes direction entirely, taking Martin out of Baghdad and changing the last quarter of his novel with high-tech details. On the contrary since Forsyth isn't writing alternate history, I do not doubt the result of Martin's third secret mission. What's completely unusual, though, is how considerably unexciting, and unconstrained, that supergun assault finally proves to be. It became uninteresting that everything went perfectly well with the military electronics. Nothing goes wrong, and none of the ''good guys,'' either on the ground or in the attacking fighter planes, is really threatened. Im torn whether I am amazed by the informative and rather educational approach of the story because the emphasis on technical detail becomes too much to bear sometimes. The consolation at least is that half the book is a straightforward account of the war, and

surprisingly ends, with a short, awkward article about the danger of war and full account of Western technical know-how. I got the message throughout the novel that Forsyth seems to be preaching. He placed much of the blame for the conflict on those developed nations that sold the means to produce high-tech weaponry to "the crazed, the aggressive, and the dangerous for short-term financial profit'. Also it seems that for him, the government is foolish to consider human intelligence obsolete in the technological advances. Hence, "for certain tasks in certain places, there is still no substitute for the oldest information-gathering device on Earth," concludes Forsyth -- "the human eyeball, Mark One." The story in general infuses a dose of unreality into an authentic historical setting. What would have happened, Forsyth wonders, if Saddam Hussein really had succeeded in building himself the mother of all weapons? The Fist of God is, in other words, is a very good read if you are one of those who look for harsh, manly thrillers full of ammo and jet aircraft splitting the sky with an angry howl.