Customer Reviews

Jackal: The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal

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I really enjoyed this book even though the subject of its study is deplorable. Carlos the Jackal's story is not his alone. It tells of an era in which governments gritted their teeth and negotiated with terrorists despite official pronouncements to never cave in to their demands. Countries like France, and even East Germany, believed that by giving in to evil revolutionaries like those of the Carlos Group, they could buy their own safety and security. They failed to learn the important lessons of Munich; appeasement never works. As a man, Carlos was an adventurer, a philanderer, a spoiled gourmet, and a raconteur. He also seemed to have little political understanding of the causes he served, and regarded them only as a means to an end. Unlike the fundamentalist terrorists of our day, he fought to increase his own status and power which translated into his obtaining more women and luxuries at each step on his way up the status hierarchy. Somewhat surprisingly, the reader may find that it is difficult to summon up the requisite hatred for him as he really was more Goring than Hitler. Carlos could be bought for the right price and often he was. His brand of terrorism is now defunct which, when one compares his corruption to the absolute devotion of his peers, may not be such a good thing; although, it is nice to know that at least one of these villains will spend his life behind bars.

Twenty years ago Carlos was widely blamed/implicated for incidents ranging from the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre of Israeli athletes to bombings throughout France. Back in the 70s -80s Carlos the Jackal became synonomus during the so-called Red-terror campaign by left wing groups in addition to his connections with Palestinian terror groups.

Follain does a good job describing the Marxist upbringing of the young Illych Sanchez Ramierez (the Jackal's real name), his attendence of the KGB guerilla training school in Moscow (he was later kicked out), to the Jackal's affiliation with groups such as the PFLP and the RAF (Baader-Meinhoff Group). Follain describes how the devout Marxist was actually a playboy (he waited to pose for camera men after the 1975 OPEC takeover) and would kill for his own motives (such as French train bombings because his wife was arrested by French authorities).

This is a very succesful attempt at an in-depth analysis of the once illusive Jackal. I would definatley recommend it for those interested.

Follain describes with brilliant accuracy a life filled with violence and terror. Carlos the Jackal's life represents the decline of wholesale terrorism and the countries who support it. Follain's book not only portrays Carlos' private life but depicts his entire operation. Overall, a great book.

Among self-described "professional" revolutionaries, few cut a more fascinating figure than Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, a k a Carlos the Jackal. Before he was captured in 1994 and subsequently tried and sentenced to life in prison in France, the Jackal, a terrorist-for-hire whose higher-profile clients included Muammar al-Qaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro claimed to have nixed 83 people; dozens of hijackings, bombings and assassinations were blamed on him following his association, around 1970, with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. And yet, slovenly, feckless, girl-chasing and politically disoriented Carlos, however murderous, is almost too laughable to picture as a terrorist mastermind. Reuters man Follain does a nice job here of tracing, if not demystifying, Carlos' life of crime, from his guerilla training in Cuba as a teen to the bitter, pathetic and at times hilarious end. (When moved between prisons, he made sure to notify the subscription department of Cigar Lover magazine of his change of address.)

Good, good info on Carlos and his Venezuelan roots (I should know, I'm from Venezuela) and a detailed (and sometimes breathtaking) account of his most spectacular actions and capture. But, not being a native speaker, I have a problem with Follain's grammar. I mean, it's sometimes sloppy. I don't know, still and all good book.

John Follain cannot decide if he wants to be dramatic or expository. So he aims for both - in miserable spurts that completely fog the history of this madman and of modern terrorism itself. Rarely are the Jackal's motivation and vision clear. Even muddier is the larger story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the U.S.' growing intervention in Mideast politics and the backlash therein. I knew close to nothing about these issues going into the book and I still don't. I confess I gave up half-way through when I could no longer kid myself into thinking this clumsy book was a serious work of non-fiction.