The Ambassador’s Daughter by Nick Hahn, due 2017
[image error] Omar is the young terrorist assigned to interrogate Alex. He was educated in the US, his English is perfect, his understanding of American culture is not. His relationship with Alex drives the narrative of this book!
“Next morning we served a meal. We didn’t use western terms like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food consisted of hot tea, hard boiled eggs, assorted vegetables, stale bread and sour cream, no meat. The captives ate with us, escorted into the kitchen and seated at a long wooden table. Alex came in first. Like last night, she was defiant, walked erect with her head held high, this young infidel had an attitude even though I knew she was scared, I liked that. There was two of them, the girl and the aid worker we’d been holding. They were no longer in restraints. Our location was remote and secure. We posted 24-hour guards and released the Rottweiler’s at night. The people in this village were Taliban. The mere sight of a westerner would alarm them. She was wearing the hijab, exposing her face, the hair, visible around the edges, was blonde, with highlights, she was obviously not Muslim.
“Forgive me, Allah, for this distraction”
Only trained interrogators spoke to captives. I was not trained but my US experience was an exception in this case. Talk was not on my mind. It had more to do with emotions and the morning ache in my groin.
In Pakistan, marriages were arranged by the families. In extreme cases, the bride and groom never met until the day of the ceremony. This arrangement has advantages. Issues of wealth, education, culture, language, and religion dominate any marriage once the passion subsides and the day to day living and child rearing takes over. After seeing her, I began to understand the wisdom of these customs. When you meet a woman like Alex, passion trumps the practical. It controls you, it’s addictive, nothing else matters except release and the promise of more. Like drugs and alcohol, it ignores culture, language, and wealth. Passion is a narcotic, more powerful than poppies. Passion drives life and all its permutations–sex, work, creativity, revolution. Without passion, there would be no America, no Al Qaeda and no Taliban. There is no recovery program for passion except the Koran. A literal interpretation of the Koran channels passion. It moves us to a higher place, converts our emotions to actions, motivates and rewards the ultimate sacrifice: taking one’s own life in the service of Allah and his holy war against the West.
My thoughts consumed me in the silence of the moment. This girl, this daughter of Satan, continued to stare at me. Her expression was blank, no emotion, no passion. No wonder we were winning in our unequal battle with the West.”
