FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist with expertise in the Middle East and the CIA, has written a taut foreign affairs/spy thriller based on today’s situation in Iran. The plot involves the White House, which is considering its options in light of a possible Iranian nuclear weapons development; a disaffected Iranian nuclear scientist; and Harry Pappas, head of the CIA’s Iranian Operations Division, which has no staff or contacts in Iran.
Pappas is still wrestling with the death of his Marine son, who was killed in Iraq in 2004 while Pappas was stationed in Baghdad and aware of the details about how poorly that war was going. Pappas has emerged with a new commitment to the truth in order to prevent another foreign policy debacle. But with few allies, Pappas operates within an environment that includes a CIA director who really doesn’t want to be there, rampant mediocrity in the agency and young advisors in the CIA and White House who are bent on confrontation with Iran.
Unlike Pappas, his British counterpart Adrian has actual resources to connect with the Iranian nuclear scientist. Adrian’s team, known as “the increment,” is reminiscent of the one in the movie, “Mission Impossible.” Adrian is in some ways an older version of James Bond. Once Adrian’s team assembles, the excitement factor of “The Increment” rises considerably.
Meanwhile, Pappas is involved not only in the details of the team’s operations on the ground in Iran, but politics in D.C. Inevitably, Pappas must also contend with other cunning and ruthless actors who are pulling the strings in England and Iran. Surprisingly, Israel figures only minimally in the story.
What makes “The Increment” such a page-turner is not only the spy intrigue but also its rich foreign relations content and insight into Iran’s socio-political dynamics.