Category Archives: Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | June 2, 2015 · 7:27 am

INSIGHTS 210 — A NEW ADVENTURE

You loyal people who read my blogs and follow my posts on Facebook and Twitter know that I am a storyteller. I do not hope to write a great American novel, but my readers and their reviews tell me I have written five very good stories featuring Jack Brandon and his Bouvier des Flandres who are supported by several very strong women. Each of these stories cover some aspect of current law and order problems. They fit several genres: mystery, adventure, thrillers, espionage, and terrorism. All have been available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print and digital form. I do not personally try to sell them. I’m busy enough writing more novels and my blog several times a week.

I have a publisher who is an excellent writer and artist, as well. We have breakfast at least twice a week that keeps us both semi-sane. There is not a budget to advertise my books. Once they are formatted for publication, it is up to the gods of chance to decide how many actually sell. So far, the number is in the mid hundreds. Far fewer than even the break even point financially.

While I don’t advertise my work or travel locally to flog my novels, I do follow the advice of some successful writers. A friend of mine, a former Green Beret who served in Vietnam just before me, has written several books he personally sells from his web page. He passed on some advice he got from Mickey Spillane, who lived nearby. Mr. Spillane told him to create a character and keep writing about the same character. Fans want to follow characters they have admired and see what they do next. Mickey Spillane said, “I created Mike Hammer and rode him to success.” Other authors have stressed the need to have a blog, a fan page on Facebook, and Twitter. I do that, as well as keep a list of people who have told me how much they enjoyed my stories. Early on I found a partner/editor who has been of great help and support. But none of this has worked to sell thousands of books.

But now for the new adventure. I just published my fifth Jack Brandon novel, ISIS: Quiet Justice. It has a timely topic and is the first novel centered around ISIS exporting terrorism to America. It would have been out even sooner but the CIA took two months to review the manuscript and the galley proofs.

This time I wanted to see some real sales. At breakfast with my friend, the owner of Prose Press, I mentioned it was time for me to take some chances to promote my new book. A few days later, I told him I had scraped up a budget for advertising. Right there at the table he laid out a plan based on his background as the owner/operator of an advertising firm.

While all my books were theoretically being distributed by Ingram, the owner of Barnes and Noble and the Lightning Source on-demand printing presses, nothing much happened. Without the agreement of the author to buy back all books bought by book sales outlets and not sold, no book outlet would ever put a single book on their shelves. Rather than a net gain with the low profit margins involved, it is a real loss. So the money stolen from my nest egg has to cover book returns as well as advertising in national book distributor catalogs. A full page color ad can cost $1,800 and more than one such ad is needed, as well as other advertising costs.

I have always been a risk-taker. Win or lose, the process is exciting and this gamble is filling a part of my bucket list. It was a big deal for me to tell my blog and fan page followers that my books are now available nationwide at their local bookstore. Just check below. The kickoff is June 20 between 1 and 3 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in the Market Common in Myrtle Beach.

If you can, drop by. Otherwise, wish us luck. Thank you.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel by Barry Kelly dealing with ISIS in America, is now available nationwide from your local book store. This is the fifth novel in the “Justice” series. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, ISIS, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | May 8, 2015 · 7:47 am

INSIGHTS 204 — The Advisor’s Core Facts of the Middle East

The Advisor had no trouble putting together the realities of the Middle East, but he spent extra time deciding how to present a picture that would not cause the president to walk out on him during his presentation. The president was intelligent but had a very thin skin for such an accomplished political campaigner. Perhaps, he thought, it is because the truth had no place on his campaign trails. On the campaign, the ends for him clearly justified whatever needed to be done or said to weaken the opposition. The president had taken on board the Saul Alinsky rules totally. The issue is never the issue is his guidance for all his policies and speeches. The man is remarkably consistent and, for his followers, he is brilliant. He can avoid and ignore issues that any previous president would have believed he had to take on.

As he mused over his dilemma, the Advisor worked to stay within his historic guidelines. He had to advise his president to the best of his ability. The fact that he thought this president was clearly focused on destroying the political and economic structure he inherited was a problem, for his responsibility was to advise the president in his role to protect and improve the life of its citizens. If he could be just a little dishonest, he could rationalize that the president wanted to improve America. But in the process of socialization, great harm would be done. Freedom and the ability to rise above the norm would be lost as long as socialism, communism, or progressivism prevailed. He just couldn’t, or more honestly, wouldn’t follow that path.

At that moment, the Advisor’s only phone rang, with the only person he ever spoke to, outside the president, on the other line. Chris Hammond, the chief of the President’s Secret Service detail, said the president would late, somewhere near midnight. Good, he thought, that will give me time for a nap, a shower, and a frozen Indian curry dinner.

It was almost midnight when the Advisor put on a fresh pot of Sumatra dark roast. He was just getting ready to pour himself a cup when the faint alarm sounded and the president entered.

“Welcome, Mr. President. You must be able to smell fresh coffee brewing.”

The president chuckled. “When the coffee is as good as yours, I could smell it for miles, even when it is coming from an underground cave. Your existence is even more constrained than mine. I suspect you have learned to take pleasure in small things.”

“Yes, I have. That is very perceptive of you. There doesn’t seem to be much instant gratification in your life.”

“No, there isn’t. And I think I won’t get much in the next hour or so. Shall we begin? Surprise me.” The president sat back in his seat at the conference table, a cigarette already between his fingers.

“First, some basics. You know most of these but they are important in any discussion of the Middle East, no matter the subject. The people of the Middle East have a past they are proud of and a present they are not. Tribal allegiance is still a very important factor. Mobility up the social chain is much harder than it is in America where education is the key to improved status. In the Middle East it is religion and revolution. For reasons beyond my understanding Asian and Middle Eastern people have a very long and usually patient view of the time/progress ratio. Americans are only comfortable with instant gratification plus a decade.

“Then, there is the history of religious wars and colonialism when troops from the West with superior weapons and technology subjugated people of the Middle East and attempted to impose Western culture and even religion in the conquered areas. As a result the people of this historic crossroad both admire and hate the West with its superior technology.

“After World War I, diplomats from the West drew national boundaries that failed to consider tribal loyalties, religious affiliations, and the hunger of people for their own homeland. The situation of present-day Kurds is an example. The destruction of Saddam Hussain’s Iraqi ’empire’ created a vacuum that the Iranians are filling after noting the West had abandoned the region.

“Iran is the dominant single nation in the Middle East today. For decades, they have been working to take control of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen by creating and funding Shiite terrorists groups in all these nations. The West has been ineffective in thwarting the Iranian drive to hegemony in the Middle East. Now the Iranians want to solidify their gains and they need to be a nuclear power to do so. Unless they are presented with strong military and economic resistance, they will not be deterred in achieving nuclear status with an ICBM capability. They cannot be trusted to honor any agreement or treaty that stands in the way. Nor will they stop the funding and equipping of proxy terrorist organization to further their dominance of the Middle East. Nothing in Iran will change for the better in Western terms without a regime change. I know you have other reasons for negotiating with the Ayatollahs but there will be a terrible price to pay in human terms.”

The president sat still for a moment, then took a final drag on his cigarette before grinding it down on the table. “There were some surprises but you gave the speech I expected. I have to go, but this is interesting. I’ll give my response at one of our next meetings.” He left without another word or without a look back, per usual.

The Advisor found himself already impatient to hear the president’s response.

The above is a fictional account of a president meeting with a legendary but fictional advisor.

“ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, is now available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in print form and nook and kindle formats. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

INSIGHTS 198 — BRANDON NOVELS ARE NOT JUST GOOD STORIES

Since the beginning of the craft of storytelling, fictional situations have been used to describe subjects that were forbidden, too sensitive for plain talk, extremely complex, or buried in boring detail. To explain the message, the story has to capture the audience with suspense, mystery, intrigue, romance, and exciting action by attractive characters. The listeners can imagine themselves acting out some of the story. The author works to develop a captivating story that people will want to read and talk about. That is my top priority. But I also want these stories to give the readers a deeper understanding of issues that may invade their world.

My first novel, Justice Beyond Law, shows how a renegade KGB officer uses an abandoned network of KGB agents that was infiltrated into America years ago. The methods, Yuri, the renegade KGB officer, uses to turn his network into a profit-making enterprise and to manage his diverse network with agents of different skills is more than plausible. The methods he uses strain the traditional law-and-order approach to terrorism.

The second novel, Justice Without Mercy, shows the process an extremist Muslim group like al-Qaeda might use to set up a series of terrorist acts in America to weaken the resolve of the people and lessen their trust in government to protect them. The plot in this novel is more probable than most people believe. Traditional law-and-order process is not capable of dealing with the fast-moving action of terrorism in the homeland. The law-and-order process pushed by the Obama administration, particularly by the attorney general, is more political than an effective counter-terrorist approach. There is a war brought by Islamic jihadists against us. It needs to be fought with a similar approach. Foreign jihadists don’t qualify for the protections of our constitution.

The third Brandon novel, Shades of Justice, deals with human trafficking that can be a profit-making business both for terrorist organizations and criminals. Readers of this novel will see how simple it is to set up a human trafficking business in nearly any large city. They will also come away with an understanding of how the traffickers operate their business from the spotting and selection of targets to the capture, movement, holding and marketing of the victims. The ‘good guys and gals’ in this novel understand and attack all aspects of the human trafficking process. As you read this, note the challenge human trafficking poses to traditional law-and-order forces.

The fourth Brandon novel, Run to Freedom, is the prequel to the Jack Brandon adventure series. In this story I rely heavily upon my knowledge of the old USSR and its KGB intelligence apparatus. The story starts in 1920 in Siberia, with a little-known deployment of American troops just as WWI was wrapping up. In this novel the readers will travel from Russia, to Poland, to Canada and several cities in America as Peter Brandon, Jack’s father, tries to escape the KGB in America. The forces the KGB deploys in America to capture or kill Peter were and are entirely within the capabilities of Russian intelligence in 1970s America, as are the methods Peter uses to escape the dragnet.

The fifth novel, ISIS Quiet Justice, is to my knowledge the first novel using ISIS attacks in America as the central plot. The story shows the difficulty law-and-order forces have in fighting terrorism.

The blurb on the back cover of ISIS Quiet Justice reads:

ISIS is here!

Jack Brandon is back in the nick of time!

Follow Jack and his growing team as they join with the CIA to take down ISIS terrorists in Jacksonville, Florida; Minneapolis; Charleston, South Carolina; and on the terrorists’ own turf in Fallujah.

This latest adventure in the Jack Brandon series pits Jack’s wits against those of a terrorist known as The Fist of Islam, who has been converting U.S. citizens into warriors for Islam. Can Jack’s knowledge, planning, and execution skills save the day — and the nation — once again?

All of the Jack Brandon novels have been reviewed by the CIA to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

ISIS Quiet Justice is available on Amazon now as a paperback or an ebook, as are the rest of the Jack Brandon novels. The first three are available as a trilogy.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | March 6, 2015 · 7:39 am

INSIGHTS 193 — TRANSFORMING THE WORLD ORDER

When Senator Barack Obama convinced a majority of American voters to elect him president, he made no secret of what he was planning to do. He has worked hard at transforming America and has gone about as far as he can go, once the opposition captured both the Senate and the House. He will still make a few more gains using the executive power of the president, both lawful and unlawful. The big gains like Obamacare, immigration, internet control, killing coal, slowing down oil and natural gas exploration, over-regulating the economy, and under funding the military are history. This is no conspiracy theory. The man is doing what he said he would: redistributing American wealth. We just weren’t listening.

The Obama push to enact a carbon tax due to man-made climate change was and is a tactic to redistribute wealth from the industrial nations to the have-not nations, a big step in making all nations equal. I think his end game for domestic America is to weaken our economy and military power so America can never again be a dominant power and a threat to a new international equality among nations.

Transforming America domestically is only half of the progressive dream. The other half, and perhaps the most challenging, is the transformation of the old world order. I believe President Obama has very strong anti-colonial beliefs. Remember his father’s family suffered under British colonialism in Kenya. Obama was only in the White House a short time before he formerly sent a bust of Winston Churchill back to Great Britain. Why not just store it in the White House?

All the past progressive isms such as communism and socialism had powerful international programs to spread their beliefs. The goals of today’s progressivism are more invasive, yet better concealed. I can find no logical or American national interest to explain why President Obama has so persistently pursued a relationship with Iran. What little we know about the Obama/Kerry negotiating, is hard to connect with an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This is a country that is the number-one sponsor of terrorism in the world. Its top leaders have stated they intend to wipe Israel off the map. If their secret efforts to develop a nuclear capability is for peaceful reasons, why would they have a parallel program to develop ICBMs and maintain such a close relationship with North Korea?

If a U.S. president wanted to transform the existing world order, including the Sunni Muslim world order, Iran would be an ideal tool to use. Iran’s foreign policy objectives, if achieved, would destroy the existing world order. The Middle East would be dominated by Iran. They now control or have significant influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Lebanon. If their military is successful in defeating ISIS and/or occupying a large part of Iraq. They will keep whatever Iraqi or Syrian territory they dominate by force of arms. The Iranian empire that would emerge from wars with the Sunni nations and their Western allies will establish a new world order. It wouldn’t be the first great Iranian Empire.

To give Iran full room to maneuver, President Obama had to pull American and Western troops out of Iraq and resist sending them back anywhere in the Middle East. (Can you imagine either ISIS or Iran carving up Iraq, if America had left a sizable combat capable force in Iraq with an U.S.-controlled airbase? No way.) Therefore, using that rational, he had to get U.S. forces out as soon as possible and push negotiations with Iran that would clear the way for them to have the bomb.

Israel and all the rest of our current allies and friends in the Middle East would vanish in clashes with Iran and its subject states. The dream of the progressives for the last century would finally be achieved. The new world order, no longer dominated by the West, would now reign with equality between nations. A much better world, they believe, for all people. A ridiculous conspiracy? A progressive pipe dream? Never happen? That is what I thought about the transformation of America that is still unfolding. Does anyone have a better explanation? Comments welcome.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in March.

INSIGHTS 189 — DANGEROUS, OR JUST AN EMBARRASSMENT?

It won’t get any better.

I believe we have a flawed president who brought a heavy load of baggage with him to the White House. He can’t escape from his personal beliefs about the guilt of American power; the socialist creed of Saul Alinsky that wealth needs to be spread equally to all individuals and nations; and leading from behind and from a place where words are the same as action.

Add those beliefs to his real-life experiences of attending a ‘hate America’ church for twenty years, his early childhood years attending a Muslim madrassa in Indonesia, his grandfather’s enduring of abuse by the British colonial authorities in Kenya, and his pre-presidential association with an unrepentant American terrorist, Mr. William Ayers, and you have a man who comes from a very different background than any of our other presidents. Don’t expect him to address the problems and issues that threaten America. He can only use those issues to attack his opposition. When the opposition is weakened, the way is open for a one-party rule by a progressive elite.

President Obama cannot turn loose the power of the free market to create jobs and wealth, for he believes in a managed economy. He can only use his power to spread the wealth and to give everyone “a fair shot.” He cannot preside over a transparent administration, for with transparency comes full disclosure. In this case all the documents requested under our Constitution and the practice of the ‘separation of powers’ by Congress would severely damage his socialist goals. Instead of a transparent Obama administration, the one he promised, we have an administration that is known for lying and delaying for years legitimate requests for information by both citizens and Congress.

Probably the most egregious cover-up is the use of the IRS to target conservative groups applying for legal tax-exempt status. President Obama may be planning to use the increasing power of the IRS to destroy any opposition. The president said he was shocked and angry about this illegal use of the IRS but now denies it ever happened and is stonewalling Congress’ requests for documents. At one point, the administration claimed the documents were permanently lost when all of the computers of the people of interest crashed.

On the foreign front, the president’s desperate effort to make a deal with Iran is even more dangerous than his inept dealings with Putin. Iran is developing nuclear weapons. It is their stated national objective. Why does the president believe the Iranians are developing and testing ICBM missiles? They are not necessary for a peaceful development of nuclear power. For some reason beyond me, President Obama has mortgaged our war with Islamic terrorism, our relationship with the Sunni nations, and Israel over his constant concessions to Iran. I believe he has not been sending arms to the Kurds due to Iranian desires to keep the Kurds from being able to defend their land and people from ISIS attacks. If any people ever deserved our help to fight for their freedom, it is the Kurds. President Obama has sent only words and token shipments of weapons directly to the Kurds. Arms to the Kurds sent via Baghdad will never get shipped on to the Kurds.

All we can do for the next two years is to fight hard to delay the president’s illegal and dangerous domestic and foreign policy whims. We must also avoid a major war. Imagine being at war with our present commander-in-chief in control. Would that the Republican leadership in Congress be smart and courageous enough to thwart the worst of his socialist hopes? Not much hope there. Just more tilting of windmills and internal fighting. The people have spoken but neither the president nor the Republican leadership are listening.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “Quiet Justice” a new novel dealing with ISIS in America will be out by mid March.