Saul's Game

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by Andrew Kaplan

Kunya—Arabic word for a nom de guerre or wartime cover name adopted to hide one’s true identity. Often, the name “Abu,” father of, is used (following an Arab custom for a father to adopt the name of one’s oldest child; thus if one’s firstborn child is named Mohammed, the father might adopt the name Abu Mohammed). The second name of a kunya often references a heroic character in Arab history or myth, or a derivation of a name with meaning. Thus, Abu Nazir is not the real name of the terrorist Carrie hunts, but is his kunya or cover name; its meaning in Arabic is “father of one who gives victory.”

  LNM—Acronym for the Lebanese National Movement, a Druse-led coalition of Druse, Palestinian, pro-Syrian, and leftist parties and militias during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). In speaking about it with Saul, Dar is suggesting that his time as a guerrilla fighter in the LNM during that war was his school.

  Lurs—An Iranian ethnic minority (population estimated at approximately nine million), who primarily reside in southwestern Iran. Most Lurs speak Luri, a language related to both Kurdish and Farsi. As a tribal people, Lurs are closely related to the Kurds. They generally follow the Shiite Islamic religion, although some incorporate elements of the Ahl-e Haqq faith, characterized by a belief in reincarnation. Historically, they have been discriminated against by the Persian majority, who sometimes regard them as a more primitive ethnic people.

  Mahdi Army—An Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003. The group initiated attacks on Iraqi Security Forces and U.S.-led Coalition Forces as well as fighting actions against Sunni extremists and insurgents during the Iraq War. It opposed the U.S. presence in Iraq and was known for its use of IEDs. The group was subsequently linked to the Iraqi police forces.

  MCCUU—Acronym for Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform—the camouflage combat uniform of the United States Marine Corps.

  MI6—Acronym for the British Secret Intelligence Service aka SIS, of James Bond fame. It is headquartered in Vauxhall Cross in London. The terms “MI6,” “SIS,” “Secret Service,” “Vauxhall Cross,” and “VC” are used interchangeably.

  MIT—Acronym for the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey, Milli stihbarat Tekilatı. The MIT is responsible for intelligence and security both within and outside Turkey, making it the Turkish equivalent of a combination CIA and FBI.

  MOIS—Acronym for Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Iranian agency responsible for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence, i.e., the Iranian equivalent of the CIA. Also see VEVAK.

  MRAP—Military acronym for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, used to describe armored personnel vehicles introduced into Iraq in 2008 to replace Humvee vehicles in order to help reduce U.S. casualties caused by roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). Also see IED.

  Mukhabarat—The Syrian foreign and military intelligence service, Shu‘bat al-Mukhabarat al-‘Askariyya, is the Syrian equivalent of both the CIA and the DIA in the United States. As director of the Mukhabarat, Abd al Ali Nasser would report directly to President Assad of Syria, which would make him the most important and powerful intelligence person in Syria.

  NOFORN—CIA acronym for No Foreign Nationals, i.e., no one who is not a native-born American may view this document.

  NSA—Acronym for National Security Agency; the NSA is the U.S. intelligence agency primarily responsible for COMINT (Communications Intelligence, see above), cryptanalysis, and computer intelligence and security.

  NSC—Acronym for National Security Council, the White House’s primary policy and decision-making forum for issues involving U.S. national security. The NSC is chaired by the U.S. president and includes the president’s national security advisor, key intelligence and cabinet officials, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

  ORCON—CIA acronym for Originator Control, i.e., the originator controls dissemination and/or release of the document.

  PDB—Acronym for the President’s Daily Brief; a written summary provided to the president of the United States every morning by the DNI, the director of national intelligence. The PDB is a condensed summary of the most important and critical intelligence information gleaned from all available sources, including potential terrorist and other threats to the nation. The PDB is based on input from all U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the NSA, the various Pentagon intelligence services including the DIA, the FBI, the NRO, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the Treasury Department, the DEA, etc.

  Persona non grata—Latin phrase for a person who is not welcome, it is formally used as the designation for a nonnative person who is being expelled by the government of a foreign country. Informally, it is used to describe someone whose continued presence is not welcome at a particular gathering, event, or place.

  PFLP—Acronym for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical paramilitary movement advocating the liberation of Palestine, with a Marxist base philosophy. It has initiated terrorist attacks, hijackings, and attacks on Israel and has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Israel.

  RPG—Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher, a weapon that fires explosive grenades, typically modeled on the Russian RPG-7.

  RSSMF—Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, the branch of the Saudi Arabian military responsible for the kingdom’s ballistic missile, air, and missile defense operations.

  Rusari—Farsi word for head scarf, frequently worn by Muslim women in Iran for modesty; called a “hijab” in Arabic.

  SAVAK—The Organization of Intelligence and National Security, Sazeman-e Ettela‘at va Amniyat-e Keshvar, the secret police arm and domestic security and intelligence service established by Iran’s shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, during his more-than-two-decades-long reign, which ended with his overthrow in 1979. Part of Iran’s hostility against the United States stems from the fact that the CIA helped put the shah on the throne in Iran and also helped him create, supply, and train the SAVAK. Also see VEVAK.

  Shiites and Sunnis—The origin of the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites dates back to the year 632 when the Prophet Mohammed died without leaving a son or heir. Two claimants vied to replace him as the leader or “caliph” of the new religion: the Prophet’s closest male relative by blood, his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, whose followers called themselves Shiat Ali, the followers of Ali, or Shiites for short; and the Prophet’s father-in-law, Abu Bakr, whose supporters, called Sunnis, believed he would be best able to manage the rapidly expanding Muslim empire. Abu Bakr was chosen, creating the initial rift. The split between these two groups became final and irreparable when Ali’s son Hussein (who was not only Ali’s son, but also the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) challenged the legitimacy of Yazid, the Sunni Ummayad caliph. Ali, his forces outnumbered, was killed at the battle of Karbala in Iraq in the year 680. Many of his male relatives were slain with him. The Imam Hussein Shrine was built on the site where Hussein and his flag bearer, Abbas, fell in battle. The massacre of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson along with most of his male relatives sent shock waves across the Muslim empire that reverberate to this day. It led Shiites to adopt a feeling of martyrdom as part of their faith, exemplified as they saw it, in the actions of Hussein, whose sacrifice is still commemorated on the Shiite holiday, the Day of Ashura. Throughout history, while acknowledging that they are fellow Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites have viewed each other with suspicion. The conflict continues to this day, often played out violently and through surrogates, such as Hezbollah (Shiite) and al-Qaeda (Sunni), and in countries with mixed Sunni-Shiite populations, such as Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. The civil war in Syria, which began as an Arab Spring movement, has devolved into a Sunni-Shiite conflict.

  SOG—Acronym for Special Operations Group, a CIA paramilitary team used for special operations. Members of a Special Operations Group are typically CIA personnel who are veterans of U.S. special military units, such as the U.S. Army Delta Force, Army Ra
ngers, Marine Corps Special Operations Command, and the Navy SEALs.

  Souk—Arabic word for market or bazaar.

  Special Access Critical—A level above the highest security classification (Top Secret), a Special Access Program is a Top Secret operation that may be designated by the director of the CIA to deal with an exceptional threat or intelligence action for which access to information on the operation is limited to as few Top Secret clearance personnel as is absolutely necessary. “Critical” is the highest level of operational urgency.

  Special Operations Group—See SOG.

  SVR—Acronym for the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation, Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, a successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB. It is the Russian equivalent of the CIA, headquartered in the Moscow suburb of Yasenevo.

  Top Secret—The highest U.S. government security classification; also see Special Access Critical.

  UAZ—Russian four-wheel-drive military vehicle; roughly equivalent to a U.S. Humvee.

  Vauxhall Cross—See MI6.

  VC—See Vauxhall Cross and MI6.

  VEVAK—The Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Vezarat-e Ettela‘at va Amniyat-e Keshvar, the internal security and secret police organization of the Islamic Republic, primarily responsible for counterintelligence and internal security. It is a successor organization to the shah’s SAVAK, which was initially purged and disbanded during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Also see MOIS.

  WMD—Acronym for Weapons of Mass Destruction; refers to weapons that have a wide mass killing effect, such as nuclear weapons, poison gas, and biological weapons.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo by Jonathan Vandiveer

  ANDREW KAPLAN is a former journalist and war correspondent. He is the author of the spy thrillers Scorpion Betrayal, Scorpion Winter, and Scorpion Deception, along with his earlier bestselling novels, Hour of the Assassins, Scorpion, Dragonfire, and War of the Raven, and, most recently, the groundbreaking official series tie-in: Homeland: Carrie’s Run. This is his second Homeland novel.

  www.andrewkaplan.com

  Friend Facebook.com/AndrewGKaplan

  Facebook.com/HomelandOnShowtime

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  ALSO BY ANDREW KAPLAN

  Homeland: Carrie’s Run

  Scorpion Deception

  Scorpion Winter

  Scorpion Betrayal

  War of the Raven

  Dragonfire

  Scorpion

  Hour of the Assassins

  BACK ADS

  CREDITS

  Artwork © 2013 Showtime Networks, Inc.

  A CBS Company. All Rights Reserved.

  COPYRIGHT

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  HOMELAND TM & © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  FIRST EDITION

  ISBN 978-0-06-231545-8

  EPub Edition OCTOBER 2014 ISBN 9780062315465

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