"The feather men" by Sir Ranulph Fiennes – Book Review
Book Review – The Pen Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 1991.
This thought-provoking biography details Middle Eastern beliefs regarding revenge killings. The culture of the Middle East is dominated by tribal clans and their “eye for an eye” belief is deeply ingrained in their way of life. This is one of those mind-blowing, impossible-to-put-down books that you come across from time to time. Reading this book will completely change your understanding of the nature of war, conflict and its ramifications.
This superbly written and often disturbing account of true events highlights the activities of three assassins, hired by Sheikh Amr bin Issa, to track down and kill each soldier responsible for the deaths of his four sons. The only stipulation is that each death “must look like an accident” so that no responsibility goes back to the sheikh. There is also no time limit for each ‘accident’. As a consequence of this, the murders took place over 17 years. The sheikh himself died during this time and the final payment was made by the sheikh’s surviving son.
The meticulous planning and execution of each assassination has been explored in detail, and notably, the patience displayed by the assassins on each occasion has been nothing short of exemplary. The three men, De Villiers, Meier and Davies (known as ‘the Clinic’) were contacted through a firm called ‘Tadnams’ of Earls Court, London. Fortunately, a group of retired military men called ‘the Feather Men’ began to suspect that these so-called ‘accidents’ were happening to their officers who had fought in Oman and had since left the forces and returned to civilian life. Had it not been for the tenacity and vigilance of the Feather Men, and their covert surveillance of the Clinic’s suspected prey, more deaths would have occurred. In fact, the author, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, was himself a target.
Behind these events is the disturbing realization that this is not fiction. This book portrays cold-blooded murders that were carried out not by a group of fanatics from the Middle East, but by three Westerners, hired to do a job. Surely we should be asking, ‘how safe are our men and women in the military, who have served in the Middle East?’ Westerners involved in the conflict with the Middle East do so at their own risk, due to these ancient tribal beliefs and customs, to ‘save face’ within their clans and avenge the deaths of their children. Retirement from active duty cannot guarantee that our soldiers will be safe from further attacks by people who harbor a long-term desire for revenge against soldiers who took action on behalf of their governments.
Leave a Reply