A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Why I am a conspiracy theorist
"Warren is an aspiring author as well as a spy. Eight years ago, he published a pulp thriller called "The People of the Veil." The hero of the book is a U.S. diplomat, based in Algiers, who battles terrorists trying to take over the U.S. Embassy. In a subplot, the hero, Nick Phillips, has an affair with Mariam, a beautiful Algerian woman who shunned Arab men ("because they were too controlling") but fell in love with Nick because he "respected her and treated her as an equal," and who "never pressured her and understood her culture." Speaking anonymously in order to be candid, one of Warren's former instructors at the "Farm," where spies are trained, told NEWSWEEK that Warren was "a loose cannon" whose confidence "bordered on narcissism." Still, he added, people at the agency "are crushed by this." A former academic mentor, Professor William Alexander of Norfolk State University, described Warren as "an incredible person" and said that he had been working on a second novel." Do you know the evidence of the conspiracy? There is an almost complete blackout on this story in the Arabic press, including AlJazeera. They probably fear embarrassing the American patron. (thanks Ali)