Most of us have a unique experience associated with Sept 11, 2001. Here in the Philippines it was already Tuesday evening when the events were unfolding. That morning I had finished The Clancy novel The Bear and the Dragon. China fires an ICBM missile aimed at Washington. Later on that night I watched CNN and witnessed in real time as the second plane flew into the the other tower. As this was happening Tom Clancy himself was being interviewed on what and who could have caused what was happening.
An elite military unit is dispatched covertly on a mission then is massacred by militia not officially representing any country. At the time of their greatest need the military unit is disowned by their commanders and all hope of help is cut off. When the dust settles the government officials who were in the loop about the covert operations refuse any accountability and will not truthfully identify who made the decisions that resulted in the botched mission. Hands up if you think I described the Mamasapano massacre?
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Tom Clancy novels enrich one’s understanding of conflict, human nature, culture and politics. Mostly the darker side.
I have read most of the Jack Ryan series (until Teeth of the Tiger) and have read the earlier ones twice. Those turned off by the thickness of the books deserve to be left out of such pleasure and enlightenment for being pansies. The Jack Ryan series is not just an education on warfare and politics but strategy, world culture , human nature and deductive reasoning. What I did not expect that the blueprint of stupidity and treason in the Philippines in 2015 would be laid out in a Clancy film that is 21 years old.
Noynoy was in the vicinity that fateful Sunday afternoon. Yet there are times he said he knew nothing or was lied to. You are even more awe inspiring.
John Clark: “Reciprocity.” That’s a clever name for it. Revenge is a very, very, very dangerous motivation.
Robert Ritter: Are you able to handle this operation or not? What I’m looking for here is a simple yes or no.
John Clark: What you’re looking for is a political mess.
Robert Ritter: Yes or no?
John Clark: Is that what they want? Because that’s what this is.
Robert Ritter: They want what every first-term administration wants – a second term.
Let’s turn this thing around. 650 million dollars and change. It’s worth ten times that in political capital.
President Bennett
There he goes, old blood and guts…. his glory… our guts.
Unidentified soldier talking about General Patton from the movie Patton
In Clear and Present Danger, the motivation for mobilizing troops might be seen as similar to what some believe motivated the mission that the SAF 44 were on. The perception that something is done. Some even suggest that Noynoy was in the vicinity of the operations so that he will be present for the photo op of a successfully completed mission thus pole vaulting him to the Nobel Peace Prize. Sorry Noynoy but last I looked they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to smart, well intentioned people who did good for their communities and weren’t gunning specifically for the Nobel Peace Prize. As far as I am concerned I am holding to my earliest hypothesis that Noynoy sincerely believes a naive simpleton like himself is capable of solving the complex conflict that is Mindanao.
Admiral Greer: [speaking to Jack Ryan] You want to know about politics in Washington? Four words. Watch your back, Jack.
James Cutter: Are you suggesting a course of action, sir?
The President: The course of action I’d suggest is a course of action I can’t suggest.
Noynoy and company till now are never clear or coherent on the events that day because clarity and transperency are exactly what they can not provide.
Jack Ryan ( in this movie played by Harrison Ford) as Acting Deputy Intelligence went before Congress and asked for funds for the “war against drugs”. In it, he gave his word that the funds would be used only for advice and supplies for the local governments where the war against drugs was being fought. He was made to promise that would be the extent of the activity. The problem is President Bennett and his aforementioned thirst for P.R. ( remind of you anybody?). He suggests a course of action (remind you of anybody) to his National Security Adviser which he then puts into action totally under the radar. In order to rationalize the president’s plausible deniability Cutter (NSA) tells CIA’s Deputy Director for Operations Bob Ritter ” He can’t be clear when clarity is what he wants to avoid.” Somebody out there please find me somebody not named Jim Paredes or Leah Navarro or Bimby who will claim the government’s handling of the deaths of the 44 does not avoid clarity.
I need to defeat those soldiers blowing up everything they see. Give me maps of their locations. Cut off their communications.
Cortez (Drug Cartel Intelligence Adviser) to National Security Adviser James Cutter in a secret meeting in a hotel room in Panama City.
“I think it’s time the whole thing went away.” Cutter
” Then it should go away. lt never happened. “President Bennett
Noynoy botched his opportunity at damage control that it reads like a blooper reel.
What is a good spy movie without a double cross? Better yet the one doing the selling out is doing it to save the a$$ of his boss. Remind you of anybody?? Tom Clancy books just like Harry Potter books are infinitely superior to their movie counterparts. In the book Clear and Present Danger, Clancy goes into great detail showing how clandestine this clandestine operation was. They went for a specific profile of Hispanic ethnicity with no family ties. They trained isolated in higher elevations and the force was given high tech equipment that was neither registered or signed. It seemed like it was designed that it was easier to make it go away. That is a novel. In real life Noynoy is telling grieving widows about playing computer games, going to Mall of Asia, being at the same level as them and fingerprinting rebels. I doubt anyone could recreate that scene for a movie.
A collection of Noynoy quotes on any topic whatsoever usually results in a collective “SMH” for those not dazzled by his bull$hit.
In the film the Godfather Francis Ford Coppola juxtaposes the baptism of Corleone’s nephew with all the assassinations he ordered on a family that was supposedly allies of his. In CAPD they juxtaposed the funeral of Jack’s mentor Admiral Jim Greer with scenes of the jungle ops being hung out to dry. I dare you watch at 1:40 of the film where the troops are being massacred by a drug lord’s army while God Bless America is being played by a military band not to think of what happened the 44. In that scene where they are laying Admiral Greer to rest, his idealism and loyalty to his country were also being buried in the ground by the same people putting on the funeral including President Bennett.
“One of mine”
John Clarke looking at the corpse of one of the men formerly under his command face down in a stream.
Expecting Noynoy and his allies to be accountable is as realistic as expecting the studio audience of a pinoy noontime show to read Tom Clancy
Jack Ryan gets wind of the abandoned men and heads down to Columbia. In his mind to make good on a check he had no idea was going to bounce when he wrote it. At (1:53) a justifiably enraged sole survivor named Ding Chavez ( played by Raymond Cruz AKA Tuco of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad) confronts his commanding officer Clarke for abandoning them. Jack Ryan breaks them up and says it is not his fault. When Chavez then asks who Ryan responds with words you have never heard from Noynoy Aquino in his public life: “It’s my fault”.
Jack Ryan: “I will not let you dishonor their memories by pretending you had nothing to do with it. ”
President Bennett ” How dare you come in here and bark at me like some junkyard dog I am the president of the United States!”
No, no, no! Not black and white Ritter, RIGHT and WRONG!
Jack Ryan after being accused of only seeing the world as black and white and not grey by Ritter.
In the movie there is a rescue of a small fraction of the abandoned men. Lead by an actual government desk jockey (who was a former Marine) . But that is the movies. Close to the end, President Bennett tries to bully , discourage Jack Ryan in the confines of the Oval Office from giving full and complete disclosure of the misappropriation of the very funds he asked from Congress earlier in the story to the Senate Oversight Committee. Bennett/ Ritter/ Cutter were the ones engaging in skulduggery with taxpayer money and wasted lives of good men. They wanted good people like Jack Ryan and Jim Greer to pay for it with their reputation and legacy. Remind you of anything???
Putting a very sharp needle into the balloon known as Pinoy Pride since 2012.
Harsher in Hindsight was TC’s shtick all the way to Command Authority (his last book, published after death, focusing on Not!Putin invading Ukraine). With Mark Greaney succeeding him…
BUT I DIGRESS. The film may not have been faithful to the book (which adaptation is?) but if only we had the likes of Jack Ryan in government…
Also, spoiler for Full Force and Effect:
The Norks try to kill President Ryan and fail, with the Not!Kims getting boned in the aftermath.
that’s right….if only we had Jack Ryan in the Phil government.
excellent article sir… too bad It’ll just fly over the heads of the sheeple still in love with “tuwid na daan”
After watching the news about SAF44, I immediately looked for that book in my shelf. I remembered Zimmerman dying and thinking about his kids at the same time. Remember the police who was looking at the picture of his family in his phone? But what I really looked for was the meaning given to REMF – rear echelon mother f*cker. If you’re also a fan of the Jack Ryan saga, then you’ll know what it means.
The Soldier in the Back. The one isolated from the grit, the gore, and the guts. John Clark had to endure that fate from Rainbow Six until (IIRC) Dead or Alive.
And Jack’s sense of honor and duty was being used against him in the next book…
Thought about that too. The book had grander action scenes since there were multiple squads. Zimmerman was married to a Vietnamese woman if I am not mistaken. He and Jack manned the 50 cals I think during the extractions. He gets hit and Jack promises scholarships. IN a future book Clarke and Chavez “persuaded” local bullies not to harass the kids of the widow. If I make one person latch on to the boom series my side mission is done,
I remember taking one of TC’s earlier books with me in high school.
To think it all started with Rainbow Six…now I’ve read all the books from (order of sequence) Without Remorse to Full Force and Effect.
my favorite is Cardinal of the Kremlin
Cardinal is great. Sum of All Fears is great for me maybe because Jack was at his most flawed. Some that I know mention without Remorse. Debt of Honor and Executive Orders should really be one book.
Its kind of scary when a piece of fiction predicts the events to pass. (Just like Metal Gear predicting the type of conflict that will be fought in the future) What’s interesting to note that alot of the things we enjoy to day come from the imagination from some people and the effort of others to bring that imagination to reality. (flight, hospitals that doesn’t kill people, the sun in your house, etc.)
Such is the beauty in fiction. While it is not guaranteed to predict the future or make millions, it can tell you alot about the writer, the land they live in and their level of intelligence. Something this country sorely lacks. (The crap they put on Wattpad does not count)
ABOVE ARTICLE IS A GEM.
*****
In the real life story of the Mamasapano incident, P-Noy will end up either in jail, or some mental hospital. By that time, some sycophant of his, if he still would have one that time, would gift him with a Tom Clancy. P-Noy would probably read it, as a break from his computer games and to while away time.. He will read it a 100 times, but will never get it.
One possible reason “Truth is stranger than fiction.” is because fiction is written within explained parameters.In life not everything is explained.As a matter of fact, most of the real world is almost never explained truthfully….and of course:One Man’s truth can be another Man’s lie.
IDK when it happened but somehow people have come up with some weird ass notions like they somehow live in Democracies!Or outright criminals have to be proven guilty after they’ve written laws to protect themselves.
It is not strange,no.It is naivete that has infected many a mind.
If you need to be told,you’ll never really know.
Clancy may have met a few U.S. Navy Seals that told him a few stories.He is not a clairvoyant.
But his stories go beyond SEAL activity. It’s perspectives on all sides and levels. Was always amazed when there are about a hundred pages to go and I would get that feeling how they will wrap up all the dangling story lines .
How many REMFs do we have in the govtr? But at least two of those in the novel rectified their errors. If im not mistaken, they gave the codes back to locate the exact spot where Ding’s troop is and establish communication between the people in the ground and the “support” group. Afterwards they said, “It’s nice to be a man again.” or something to that effect.
The concept of Rear Echelon (()(; #%%}}% appears in a Pink Floyd song that I could have quoted .
” forward they cried from the rear and the front rank died. The generals sat and the lines on the map moved from side to side”. Song is called Us and Them.
Aquino denies, he knew about the operation that murdered the 44 SAF. Roxas denies, he also knew about the operation of the SAF.
They have a Escape Goat, the SAF Chief…Purisima resigned with his pending Graft and Corruption charges.
If the operation would had been successful, Aquino and the rest of his minions , would had been claiming credits…and demanded the Nobel Prize to be awarded to him…”Delusion of Grandeur”…
From the GRP Facebook Page
Normande Rafael
Further proof that this particular piece is airtight. The hell with arguing on the merits or the lack of merits that Noynoy is a cold blooded traitor. Let’s talk about prices. Something not discussed in what I presented. We won’t say prices of what . As any high school economics student knows, prices are dependent on a lot of different variables. Then again the standards for being a Noytard are quite low. Normande Rafael your idol deserves a Braniac such as yourself. Glad you are not on my side.
Clear And Present Danger is one of my favorite Clancy Novels. I too am a Clancy fan and have read all the Jack Ryan series (except the Ryan Jr novels, which – I think – are overreaching already). At the end of Danger, I remember Ryan saying that what made the operation illegal was the secrecy (and the fact that he was ordered to lie to Congress). Theres another tale just as appropriate to our situation – a little thing called Watergate. How much did the president know – and does his desk have hidden recorders as well?
Reading this article, I was amazed. To think that a lot of insight can be gleaned from reading such books. I remember Clear and Present Danger as well as The Hunt for Red October.
What is staring back at me as i write is human greed- a ONE WORLD DREAM.the MORO REBEL excuse is fantasy. look for OSAMA BIN LADEN in the Philippines and solve the mystery. man look behind the yellow curtain and discover who is manipulating the PUPPETEERS
I’m sorry, Mr. President, I don’t dance.
Potomac two step was in my notes.
Nice Analogy Sir! My hats off to you!
Well thats politics plain and simple!
I was hoping Mar Roxas would do the Jack Ryan. And tell Aquino, “Sorry, Mr. President. I don’t dance” or the “you broke the law!”
We are living in tom clancy’s world.