“The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy (Chapter 16 – Chapter 22)

After a successful operation in America, made by the Caruso brothers, Campus thought that they were ready for the next ones. Now that strategy was called reconnaissance by fire. The whole point was that after they whacked one or two terrorists, saw what reaction, if any, results, and would take their guidance from there. But there was only one question whether terrorists’ eliminations going to be overt or covert. That point remained open, as the whole Campus’ attention was attracted by one thing, the weapon; it was a pen. To all appearances, it was an expensive ballpoint, gold-plated, with obsidian on the clip. By depressing the clip and turning the nib cover, the man switched the point from a real pen to a hypodermic with a lethal transfer agent. It would paralyze the victim in fifteen to twenty seconds, and kill him in three minutes, with no cure, and a very transient signature in the body.

   The brothers’ first victim was Uda bin Sali (he bankrolled terrorists’ expense accounts). They had to scout out the target, pick their moment, and make their hit; for that reason Brian and Dominic went to London. They'd have to be clever about that. Uda would probably take the lead, because it would be his job to spot the guy's police tail. But there was no sense in waiting too long, either. They'd looked at Berkeley Square just to get a feel for it, and hoping to eyeball the target. As soon as they so the man, brothers split up, heading in opposite directions; Dominic took out his Chichester map of central London and walked to the police tail; he stopped and turned quickly, gauging the distance from Brian to Sali. Brian would be doing exactly the same thing, and his job was to synchronize movement with his brother, who had the lead. Dominic stopped and turned quickly, gauging the distance from Brian to Sali. Brian would be doing exactly the same thing, of course,and his job was to synchronize movement with his brother, who had the lead. Then Dom’s eyes fixed on the tail. The Brit's eyes noted that, and his gaze shifted as well. Meanwhile Brian went to Sali; his eyes locked on the subject. At a range of three feet, he took half a step right as though to avoid someone who wasn't there at all, and bumped into him. The charge fired, injecting its seven milligrams of succinylcholine into the tissue of the largest muscle on Sali's anatomy; and Brian Caruso kept right on walking. Thus the brothers’ function was performed.

   Their second target was Anas Ali Atef (in Munich), he was thought to be a courier for the opposition, and also worked to recruit talent. There the man met his old friend and went to the mosque. After several minutes both of them went out of the building and walked towards the brothers. Dominic removed the gold pen from the inside pocket of his not-quite-a-suit jacket, furtively twisting the tip to arm it, then holding it in his right hand like an ice pick. He was heading on a close reciprocal course to the subject; Dominic appeared to trip over something, and fell right into the Atef guy; that would have covered the discomfort of the stab.

   The third target, Fa’ad, was in Osterreich; suffered the same fate as the previous ones. But the last mission differed, as in Italy Jack Patrick Ryan, Jr was sent to the twins as an analyst, Besides, he booked the room in the same hotel as their last target (Mohammed), that’s why the team had to change their tactics. Jack had to fulfill this task, with which he handled perfectly.

Individual Reading: "The Teeth of the Tiger": part 4

W.S. Maugham 'In a Strange Land'

William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s. His partially autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage (1915) is generally acknowledged as his masterpiece and is one of the best realistic English novels on the early 20^th century. Among his best works are The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The Painted Veil (1925), Cakes and Ale (1930) and Cataline: A Romance (1948).

'In a Strange Land'

“The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy (Chapter 10 – Chapter 15)

In Las Cruces Mustafa and his friends were given some instructions:  if, during their driving, the American police pulled them over, all they needed to do was to speak politely; if the police asked them to get out of the car, then they had to get out; and they had not go faster than the number on the highway signs (sixty-five miles per hour), not to be pulled over. On the road the group didn’t meet any police car and safely came to the final destination, where they stopped in a Hotel, having decided to have a little rest before starting their mission.

   Meanwhile, Brian and Dominic Caruso got another mission to track agent Michelle Peters without being spotted. There were some rules for them - if the brothers got close enough without being spotted, they won; if she (the agent Michelle Peters) said their name when they two were more than ten feet away, they lost. But just before the mission the twins went to get new shoes for Brian in American Eagle Outfitters, where during the fitting the men heard shots.

The terrorists’ first victim became the security guard; Mustafa held the trigger for but a second, but in that second, a total of nine bullets entered the black man's chest. That time Mustafa’s friend Rafi was in the Victoria's Secret store. The customers there all had to be women; he just pointed and held the trigger down. Three women were immediately hit and went down at once, others just stood still for a second, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief, not taking any action at all. Other two terrorists (Abdullah and Zuhayr) were firing as they went, killing men and women, boys and girls. Brian, facing Rafi, fired off four rounds; all four went into the thorax, below the shoulders; the terrorist’s body was fully of adrenaline and, under such circumstances, the body simply does not feel pain. Dominic was facing another one, Mustafa; the FBI man fired and the first round hit the target's weapon, the second one took him in the chest. That’s two were down. The Marine saw Abdullah, he fired off two aimed shots into the target's chest, saw no effect, and then emptied his magazine; more than twelve rounds entered the man's body. The terrorist was still moving; Brian walked over the body and fired one round right into the back of his head. The skull split open - blood and brains exploded out onto the floor. There was only one of the terrorists; in the Belk's women's store the picture was worth: the floor was defiled by numerous pools of blood, there were screams and whimpers. Zuhayr saw several alive women; and started walking toward one of them. The man tried to fire a single round into her back, but instead rippled off three rounds from a range of one meter. Brian saw the whole thing, and something just came loose; he fired three rounds, one of which got the target right in the belly, and another in center chest. Then the brothers went upstairs to be sure that there were only four terrorists, where they saw a little boy with three hits in his back. Brian turned him over; the eyes were open; but several minutes later they closed. The man gently set the body back on the counter and felt for a carotid pulse; but there wasn’t any. Later the twins knew about another news flash from a place called Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs, Colorado, then came one from Provo, Utah, and finally Des Moines, Iowa; that made it a colossal story.

   Hendly Associates’ member Jack Patrick Ryan, Jr found out that there were only sixteen total terrorists, as he read the content of some of Uda bin Sali’s e-mails and his account supported a bunch of Visa cards (their number was sixteen). The terrorists used them to buy gas across the country, and their trip originated in New Mexico. So Jack tied the man who bankrolled their expense accounts.

Individual Reading: "The Teeth of the Tiger": part 3

Rendering: 'Bear hunting in California: the end of an era'

The article ‘Bear hunting in California: the end of an era’ was published by Rory Carroll in the Guardian on December 2. It reports at length that the controversial practice of hunting bears with dogs is about to be banned in the US state.

   Speaking on hunting bears, it’s necessary to note that about 1,700 black bears out of a population estimated between 23,000 to 39,000 can be legally "harvested" in California each year. Besides, hunters have killed 1,300 bears this season so far, so another 400 remain fair game. It’s necessary to note that almost half are done so with the help of hounds. But last month Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill, banning the hunting of bears and bobcats with hounds, which takes effect on 1 January 2013.

    Analyzing the situation with the bill, it’s necessary to emphasize that the practice has been declared archaic and cruel by powerful coalition of animal rights activists and Democrats. The ban will still let hunters kill the same number of bears – but without dogs. There is every reason to believe that pressure is expected to grow for similar bans in the 17 other states that allow hunting with dogs. Besides, it’s interesting to note that the impression of hounds men as heartless louts who persecute wildlife is all the more damning because popular culture depicts their victims as cuddly, honey-loving fur balls: Winnie the Pooh, Paddington Bear, Yogi Bear, Smokey Bear, Gentle Ben.

    Giving appraisal of the situation, it’s necessary to point out that some animal activists and Democrats are concerned that California's bear population needs to be controlled because it destroys hives, kills deer and marauds into towns, threatening human life and property. Moreover, it is more humane to tree a bear before shooting to determine if it is a suckling sow, and ensure a clean shot. The alternative, shooting from a distance with a telescopic sight, can inadvertently target sows and wound rather than kill, leaving bears to escape to slow, painful deaths. In addition, it’s important to note that animals in the wild don't die easily, as they get sick and wounded, they're killed by younger rivals, they starve. So saving animals from painful death, the human hunter of today is the most humane hunter in history.

   There are signs that some people consider the bill humane, as chopping up and hauling a bear's remains out of the forest is arduous and hunters are permitted only one kill per year so once they take a shot their season is over; that’s why they prefer to take pictures of the bear.

    The article draws a conclusion that it’s poor justification to harass bears to strip away the arguments about conservation, wildlife control and the hypocrisy of meat-eating urbanites, the hunters do what they do largely because their fathers did it, and because it's fun. But at the same time, in many ways, the hunters care more about the woods than most urban opponents admit.

   Having read the article, I was shocked to get to know that the hunters benefit nature, killing animals; and no matter whether they are sick, weak or old. In nature, everything is balanced, everything is taken into account; after all, these animals (mentioned above) "kill" their own kind in order to survive themselves, and killing them ourselves, we break this balance. Besides, I’ve never accepted hunting, as it is cruel and inhuman. It’s an open secret that if in the past, people hunted to feed themselves, to survive; now hunting is only fun (now it is even something like sports). It’s necessary to note the fact that now the bears’ population is big enough, but what will be if almost every allows himself such a "privilege" as hunting - then the population will be reduced. And what will humanity do next? prey on other animals? which in the end will lead to the moment when almost all species are on the verge of extinction.