John Keegan Quotes
I think to be shot in a mountain valley somewhere or other is altogether less glorious than crashing an airliner into a skyscraper.
Keegan, John. Interview by Brian Lamb. Booknotes, C-SPAN, 11 Jan. 2004.
The dramatic expression was actually not original with bin Laden. It emerged throughout Islamic history regarding the “enemies” of the time.
Two months later the attack of September 11 took place. CIA Director Tenant had been do alarmed by the information that the CIA had obtained that he immediately called the National Security Advisor to arrange a briefing at the White House. This was attended by Rich B, Tenant, and his deputy for counter-terrorism, Cofer Black. Black recommended that the United States immediately go on a “war footing.” It is not known what Rice discussed with President Bush but the nation did not go on a war footing and there was no alert even of the airports where the terrorists started their attack taking over planes. Tenant would later say that one of his biggest regrets was that he did not take the matter to the President personally when his meeting with Rice produced no action.
This terrorist and his cadre were Muslims and in the Muslim religion, one who dies defending Islam is a martyr and goes immediately to Paradise where he is given a special place and 72 virgins. The planners and leaders of these Islamic terrorist enterprises somehow never themselves take advantage of the opportunity to become martyrs, but instead recruit gullible young men for the “opportunity.” Husin was killed in a shootout with Indonesian police and the written plan was recovered from his personal computer.
Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan OBE FRSL was an English military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He wrote many published works on the nature of combat between prehistory and the 21st century, covering land, air, maritime, intelligence warfare and the psychology of battle.
