Clear and Present Danger | Tom Clancy Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Clear and Present Danger For the film see Clear and Present Danger (Film) . Clear and Present Danger ISBN #: 0-399-13440-9 Clear and Present Danger is a novel by Tom Clancy , written in 1989, and is a canonical part of the Ryanverse . In the novel, Jack Ryan is thrown into the position of CIA Acting Deputy Director of Intelligence and discovers that he is being kept in the dark by his colleagues who are conducting a covert war against the Medellín Cartel based in Colombia. The title of the book is based on the legal phrase "clear and present danger". Contents Edit The United States Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Panache intercepted a yacht in the Caribbean Sea, discovering two Hispanic males cleaning up after executing a man and his family. Through a mock execution, the Coast Guardsmen coerced the executioners to confess to the grisly murders. However, it was later learned that the murdered man was part of a money laundering scheme within the Medellín Cartel ; upon further investigation, it was discovered he had laundered and embezzled approximately $650 million.

The details of the expedition percolated up to the office of the President , who calls for a change of direction in the War on Drugs. The incumbent president feelt compelled to take drastic measures against the drug trade in the United States because election-year mudslinging had revealed his failure to generate returns on campaign promises regarding drug-trafficking in the United States. The President's challenger, allied the public behind the administration's failure to curb the drug trade, and forces the administration to take a more active stance against drug imports. To combat the source of drugs, the President initiated covert operations within Colombia. The CIA concocted a plan involving a step-up of airborne-interdiction operations against aircraft believed to be entering U.S. airspace with the intent to distribute narcotics. In order to verify targets, the CIA dispatched soldiers to infiltrate Colombian territory and stake-out airstrips dispatching and receiving drug-trafficking aircraft. The airstrips were destroyed after the aircraft was shot down or captured. Three major players help the plan reach fruition: The plan consisted of five operations: Operation: CAPER: Electronic-intelligence gathering Operation: EAGLE EYE: Aircraft interdiction. Operation: SHOWBOAT - I: Airstrip reconnaissance.

Operation: SHOWBOAT - II: Destruction of coca processing sites. Operation: RECIPROCITY: Surgical air-strike on Cartel management. Operation: CAPER was the covert-dispatching of SIGINT -gathering units to Colombia to intercept communications between Cartel management. The primary mode of communication was cellular phones, which at the time of the book's authoring were new devices that many felt were impossible to intercept because of their ability to be moved and reprogrammed. It was also the communications arm for Operation: SHOWBOAT and the light-fighters' only means of contact with the outside world. John Clark was dispatched with CAPER to coordinate the effort. EAGLE EYE involved dispatching F-15s to intercept drug flights verified as originating from Colombia and identified as carrying narcotics. These drug flights were scouted by a completely Hispanic light infantry force which had been drawn from the various units that the U.S. Army has at the time of the novel. These include the 7th Infantry Division and 25th Infantry Division and the 10th Mountain Division . The interdiction flights are primarily executed by United States Air Force Captain Jeff "Bronco" Winters .

His primary craft was an F-15C Eagle . He destroyed at least four aircraft and forced others to land, where the pilots were met by members of the Marine Corps Force Recon and interrogated for more information regarding the cartel. These soldiers were the bulk of Operation: SHOWBOAT. The soldiers were seconded from American-based infantry battalions, and were all Hispanic in order to blend in with the local population. The infantrymen were tasked with scouting landing sites and reporting departure times and tail numbers of aircraft using the airfields to refuel, allowing the EAGLE EYE team to intercept them. Operation: RECIPROCITY was the fourth operation formed as a part of the new War on Drugs. As the name suggests, it was a reciprocal attack on cartel operations as a result of the assassination of sitting FBI Director Emil Jacobs , the Director of the DEA and the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia when rocket propelled grenades destroy the armour of their limoduring a visit to the Attorney-General of Colombia. The assassination was made possible by a Cuban national named Félix V. Cortez .

Cortez was a former member of the Cuban DGI in the employ of the cartel, and specifically Ernesto Escobedo , as their Chief of Security and intelligence operative/analyst. Cortez turned the widowed aide of Director Jacobs , Moira Wolfe , into an unknowing agent by feigning romantic interest. She unknowingly revealed information regarding the date and time of Jacobs' official visit. Cortez delivered this information to the Cartel, who have become wary of missing drug flights. The cartel management orders Jacobs's assassination as retaliation for Operation Tarpon, which seized hundreds of millions of dollars of cartel money. Cortez was infuriated with the plan, as it meant his source was no longer of any use. After Jacobs, the U.S. Ambassador and several other Americans who were part of their delegation had been killed, Operation: RECIPROCITY began. This phase involved using a carrier-borne A-6 Intruder ground-attack aircraft and a single laser-guided bomb to covertly attack the meeting location discovered by CAPER intercepts.

The planners intended to keep the bombing secret and give the impression of a car-bomb due to the political unrest in the region caused by disillusioned Marxist militiamen who were part of M-19 . In order to further this belief, the bomb was a precision-guided munition with a delayed fuse. To further hide the fact that it was an air-dropped bomb, it had a case made from cellulose, which had been designed for use on stealth aircraft. This casing would be consumed in the blast and there would be no fragmentation. Unfortunately, one piece of oversight tipped Felix Cortez off to military involvement in the assassination attempt: the use of Octol as the explosive and catalyst. Jack Ryan became aware of the events surrounding the activities in Colombia, and grew suspicious of the agency. As acting Deputy Director of the Intelligence Directorate, Ryan should have been privy to most operations, but he realized he was being left out of something, and suspected it was related to Colombia. After his long-time friend Commander Jackson inquired about activity in the region, Ryan went to Judge Moore to demand an explanation. Moore avoided explaining the situation, but ordered Ryan to withhold the information from the Congressional Intelligence Oversight Committee, and thus break the law.

Cortez discovered the true nature of the villa bombing after another airstrike hit a house in Colombia. Planning to create a war within the cartel that will leave him in a position to seize power, he suppressed this information. He also learned of the American troops in Colombia, and ordered large groups of cartel mercenaries to hunt them down. He finally comes into contact with Vice Admiral Cutter , and blackmailed him into ending the operation, promising an intra-cartel war that will slow drug imports into the United States. Cutter 's meeting with Cortez was shadowed by Jack Ryan along with CIA operatives John Clark and Carlos Larson , who had staged into Panama from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field . Dan Murray had been dropped off on the Panache to obtain their assistance as a "last resort" landing platform in case their helicopter couldn't make it back to Panama. John Clark was outraged at this abandonment of the troops in Colombia, and with Ryan and the Air Force personnel planed a rescue operation. Clark hit it off with the helicopter's pilot, Colonel Paul Johns , a fellow Vietnam veteran.

Clark flew into Colombia with Larson to make radio contact with the teams to warn them of the cartel operations and advise them of alternate pickup points. Making contact with two of the four SOC teams inserted (FEATURE and OMEN), he ordered them to pre-determined hold positions to await extraction. Whilst trying to contact Team BANNER, which had been rendered combat ineffective due to an encounter with a large number of cartel mercenaries, Clark spotted Team KNIFE. KNIFE had encountered the same group of mercenaries as BANNER, and was overrun at their expected extraction zone while Clark was flying overhead. He made sporadic radio contact with the survivors from Team KNIFE. The survivors, including Domingo Chavez escaped. Clark advised Chavez that he would meet them the next day at a rendezvous point. Clark flew into Colombia the next day to retrieve Chavez ' band of survivors. Jack Ryan flew in later that night and picks up the surviving members of Team OMEN. This group together with Clark and Chavez's group launched a raid on the cartel's command post using the MH53 Pave low's superior firepower to kill the cartel guards while Clark and Chavez capture Escobedo and Cortez . The group then attempted to extract the remaining ground team, Team FEATURE.

During this extraction the team and the helicopter came under heavy fire from the remaining cartel ground forces. The helicopter's crew chief, Sgt. Buck Zimmer , was mortally wounded, and Ryan made a promise to take care of his family. Due to a hurricane and damage to the helicopter, they landed on the deck of the Panache . Cutter , who had flown back to Panama upon finding out that a rescue operation was under way, was made to believe that the helicopter crashed in the mountains. He flew to Washington believing that the matter is closed. Before leaving Colombia, Escobedo was returned by Larson and Clark to his fellow cartel members, who were led to believe that it was he who was conducting the assassination attempts. Clark forces Cutter to commit suicide . Cortez was returned to Cuban hands, where he was a marked traitor. Ryan confronted the President, who insisted what he did was right. Ryan responded that despite his classifying the drug cartel as a "clear and present danger," what the president did was illegal, and Ryan must brief Congress. The two presiding members of the committee briefed by Ryan met with the President, who agreed to unspecified conditions.

Ryan, who had observed both presidential campaigns, realized that the incumbent had deliberately sacrificed himself (by running a poor reelection campaign) to protect the knowledge of the covert operations and the honor of those involved. Fowler won by a slim margin, and Ryan realized that the incumbent had more honor and dignity than he originally thought. Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy Clear and Present Danger By Tom Clancy The Hunt for Red October... Red Storm Rising... Patriot Games... The Cardinal of the Kremlin... Tom Clancy's novels now total, remarkably, over 15 million copies in print, and The Cardinal of the Kremlin was hailed by reviewers as his finest novel yet. "Terrific characters... the authentic feel of espionage... a superlative rendering of modern warfare... Clancy delivers," wrote Bob Woodward in The Washington Post. And now Clancy delivers again, with a novel as explosive as today's headlines. At what point does criminal activity threaten national security? When can a nation respond to it as to an enemy? These are the questions Jack Ryan must consider when he hears the awful news: Colombian drug lords, tired of being harassed by U.S. law enforcement agents, have assassinated three high American officials, and that is just the beginning.

The message is clear: Leave us alone. But they have pushed too far. Someone steps quietly over the line they have drawn, deploying covert-action teams in Colombia. At home, too, men armed with the most sophisticated tools their country can devise begin to take the fight to the enemy. But does anyone know who the real enemy is, and how much action is too much? Who is doing what? Which line has been crossed? Ryan and his "dark side," a shadowy field officer known only as Mr. Clark, must find out. They expect danger from without -- but the danger from within may be the greatest of all. As Clancy takes us through the twists and turns of Clear and Present Danger, he blends the exceptional realism and authenticity that are his hallmarks with intricate plotting, knife-edge suspense, and a remarkable cast of characters.

This is Clancy at his very best -- and that is "the best there is." Buy the Book: Mass Market Paperback | 704 pages | 1989 | isbn13: 9780425122129 Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy (1989, Hardcover) | eBay Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy (1989, Hardcover) 4.9average based on 7 product ratings 5 Trending price is based on prices over last 90 days. Brand NewLOWEST PRICE Sold by jennytullock See details for delivery est. Sold by crowdmc_7969 See details for delivery est. Sold by fc.dl.61 See details for delivery est. All listings for this product Any Condition item 2 - Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy (1989, Hardcover) $8.00 Buy It Now Compare products others also viewed THIS PRODUCT Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy (1989, Hardcover) TRENDING PRICE Synopsis Synopsis The sudden and surprising assassination of three American officials inColombia.

Many people in many places, moving off on missions they all mistakenly thought theyunderstood. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected finish lineswere things that, once decided, were better left unseen. Tom Clancy's new thriller is based on America's war on drugs . . . and the covert --and shocking -- U. S. response. Product Identifiers by 19casebeer46 Mar 22, 2016 Very nice for used The book was very nice considering it was a used book. The dust cover was free from tears or stains. The inside was in great condition with no folded pages or other issues. I'm very pleased overall. Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned by 618crabby Dec 23, 2012 One of my favorite authors, having a signed version is great. This is one of my favorite books I have read it atleast 10 times. Having an actual signed first eddition will really complete my collection. Any one who loves a book that is written with details that takes talking with actual soldiers or agents needs to read Tom Clancy. by 65ac21648d92a99...

Oct 09, 2013 Clear and Present Danger "Clear and Present Danger",by Tom Clancy,is actually better than the movie was,which I also enjoyed! Very detailed military actions and suspenseful reading. I highly recommend to any Tom Clancy fan,and or military enthusiasts! by sga-king Dec 02, 2006 Clear and Present Danger Tom Clancy is one of my favorite authors, I have read nearly all of his books, And my only complaint is that he doesnt write fast enough, I need at least one new book every week :O) I wont divulge any plots of the book because if you are like me you dont wont to know the plots untill you reach them in the book. But I do highly recomend this book. by 1050290935@dele... Jun 23, 2011 Really great product! Great book. It is very suspenseful my husband loves Tom Clancy books. I am on my way to buying all the Jack Ryan set. Explore Buying Guides Clear and Present Danger. Clear and Present Danger.

FIRST EDITION OF "CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER": SIGNED BY TOM CLANCY Clear and Present Danger. Item Number: 3464 New York: G. P. Putnam's Son's, 1989. First edition. Octavo, original half cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Signed by Tom Clancy on the title page. A very sharp copy. "Along with the usual, stunning array of military hardware and the latest techno-gadgets, Clear and Present Danger further develops the relationships and characters that Clancy fans have grown to love. Admiral James Greer passes the CIA torch to his pupil, Ryan. Mr. Clark and Chavez meet for the first time. Other recurring characters like Robert Ritter and "the President" add continuity to Clancy's believable, alternate reality. This is Clancy at his best" (Patrick O'Kelley). Out of stock Patriot Games. New York: G. P. Putnam's Son's, 19. First edition of the authors third novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

Inscribed by the author, "For Nancy Best Wishes Tom Clancy" on the half title page. A very sharp copy. Price: $200.00 The Hunt For Red October. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984. First edition of the author’s first novel. Octavo, original red cloth. Signed by Tom Clancy on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a closed tear. A very sharp example. Price: $1,500.00 Moonraker. London: Jonathan Cape, 1955. First edition, first printing (with “shoot” on page 10, and a 19 mm text block) of the third novel in the James Bond series and what many critics to be his finest. Octavo, original black cloth. Name covered by the front jacket flap, near fine in a near fine dust jacket with the spine panel bright and with light wear to the spine extremities. Price: $9,500.00 The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

London: George Allen and Unwin, 1954-55. First editions, first printings of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, original red cloth, 3 volumes. The Fellowship of the Ring has some minor offsetting to the endpapers, near fine in a bright near fine dust jacket with one small closed tear. The Two Towers has some offsetting to the endpapers, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. The Return of the King has some minor offsetting to the endpapers, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional set, rare in this condition. Price: $40,000.00 Clear and Present Danger (1994) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Clear and Present Danger ( 1994 ) PG-13 | CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON TV a list of 42 titles created 02 May 2011 a list of 40 titles created 03 Sep 2013 a list of 40 titles created 07 Jan 2014 a list of 40 titles created 6 months ago a list of 40 titles created 4 months ago Title: Clear and Present Danger (1994) 6.9/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards » Videos When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge. Director: Phillip Noyce Hijackers seize the plane carrying the President of the United States and his family, but he - an ex-soldier - works from hiding to defeat them. Director: Wolfgang Petersen In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA.

Is he trying to defect or to start a war? Director: John McTiernan CIA analyst Jack Ryan must stop the plans of a Neo Nazis faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's newly elected president by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore. Director: Phil Alden Robinson Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt. Director: Andrew Davis US Marshal Samuel Gerard (Jones) and his team of Marshals are assigned to track down Sheridan (Snipes), who has been accused of a double-murder. Director: Stuart Baird On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so. Director: Tony Scott A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial. Director: Peter Weir A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding. Director: Alan J.

Pakula When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster. Director: Kathryn Bigelow Carolyn Polhemus, an up-and-comer in the Kindle County D.A.'s Office, is found viciously murdered in her home. Immediately her boss, D.A. Raymond Horgan and his chief deputy, Rusty Sabich ... See full summary » Director: Alan J. Pakula In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder. Director: Roman Polanski Edit Storyline Jack Ryan is back and this time the bad guys are in his own government. When Admiral James Greer becomes sick with cancer, Ryan is appointed acting CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. Almost before he can draw a breath in his new position, one of the president's closest friends and his family are murdered in their sleep by what appears to by drug cartels. Ryan is called in to investigate, but unknown to him the CIA has already sent a secret field operative to lead an illegal paramilitary force in Colombia against cartels.

Things get even more complicated when his team is set up and he loses an agent in the field and a friend of his wife's, who was the murdered agent's secretary, is murdered that same day. Ryan must then risk not only his career, but his life to expose the truth behind the mystery. Written by SindyMac The war of drugs would lead him to the war of power. See more » Genres: Rated PG-13 for some intense action/violence and language | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 3 August 1994 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia The scene in which the convoy of Suburbans is attacked by the drug cartel, is now actually used as a training video in U.S. government agencies. The footage was also used in an episode of JAG (1995). See more » Goofs The laser guiding the cellulose bomb was aimed clearly on the large yellow pick-up truck in the driveway in front of the hacienda. This leads to the media speculation that a truck bomb went off. Yet, Ryan's intelligence photos of the aftermath of the explosion clearly shows a crater in the center of the compound, away from where the laser was aimed.

See more » Quotes [Before commencing a covert action] Ritter : Let me make this very clear: this is your deal, not mine, so unless I have written authorization, this whole thing is over before it starts because I'm not going to be the only one left without a chair when the music stops. See more » Frequently Asked Questions Clancy's Best Movie Outing to Date 18 September 2002 | by OttoVonB (Switzerland) – See all my reviews Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan has had an odd time at the movies. So far 3 actors and as many directors have had a go at him, with varying degrees of success. Hunt for Red October might come up in conversations more often, but it's hard to get past the silliness of Sean Connery pretending to be Russian (and speaking worse Russian than Baldwin's American character). Clear and Present Danger is where your money belongs. One of Clancy's best Ryan efforts in print, this massive door-stop of a book was condensed by veteran scribes Steven Zallian and John Milius - how's that for a screen writing combo?

- into a script that retains a lot of the original's moral complexity while making smart concessions to the blockbuster format. For a blockbuster is what you have before you, and one of the smartest ones out there, where art and commerce were combined in perfect harmony. As Ryan 2.0, Harrison Ford is perfect in the lead, and it's hard to believe at times, that Clancy didn't have him in mind when creating the character. With a narrative this fragmented, it is essential that the supporting roles be pitch perfect and across the board everyone does first-rate work, with special mention to Willem Dafoe as John Clarke and Donald Moffat at a devious commander in chief. Philip Noyce builds on his Ryan-debut Patriot Games and shows he is equally at ease with the quiet parts and the loud ones, particularly an RPG-powered car ambush centerpiece. The action beats are used sparingly but with brilliant precision. All in all, this is smart, tight, believable and expertly executed. It is that rare brainy "action" film that will involve you and have you hanging on the edge of your seat. 48 of 56 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Clear and Present Danger (Jack Ryan , book 6) by Tom Clancy Clear and Present Danger A novel by Tom Clancy Another suspense-filled novel by the author of Patriot Games & The Hunt for Red October. Colombian drug lords, the assassination of American officials, and an intricate pattern of covert operations in South America and at home set off international alarms. Clear and Present Danger (Literature) - TV Tropes Clear and Present Danger You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share Literature / Clear and Present Danger × WMG Clear and Present Danger is the fourth Jack Ryan novel written by Tom Clancy . It is the sixth chronological book, published in 1989 and taking place in 1988. Several months after the events of The Cardinal of the Kremlin , in the midst of an election year, the President decides that he must show the voters that he is taking a hard line against drugs. His new National Security Advisor, Vice Admiral James Cutter, takes charge and enlists the CIA in order to conduct offensive operations against the Medellín Cartel.

At the same time, Jack Ryan finds himself assuming the position of DDI due to his mentor James Greer succumbing to pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, things soon spiral out of control and Ryan must find a way to stop things before too much damage is done to the government. The novel is notable for introducing badass John Clark as a regularly recurring character, after the popularity he enjoyed in The Cardinal of the Kremlin , as well as Domingo "Ding" Chavez, who would later become the other half of Clark's Badass Duo. The 1994 film adaptation starred Harrison Ford as Ryan and Willem Dafoe as John Clark. This novel contains examples of: Action Survivor : Ryan, as in past instances, has the action come to him rather than him searching for the action. Affably Evil : Larson points out that the drug cartel leaders can be quite nice and generous, while most are also dedicated family men. He could easily get a half-a-million dollar loan by simply asking, though he'd have to pay it back by doing drug courier flights. However, he also warns Clark that, gentlemanly as they are, the cartel leaders can still be ruthless and cruel to those who cross them.

Armchair Military : Discussed by John Clark who promises that if the American teams don't survive then the REMF (rear echelon motherfucker) who abandoned them is going to die. He wasn't kidding. Zig-zagged with Admiral Cutter. He does have the necessary naval commands for reaching flag rank but Ryan notes that most of his career was spent in the Pentagon. In practice, Cutter repeatedly is shown to be inept at just about everything except for ass kissing and has no idea how to run a covert operation. Artistic License / Anachronism Stew : In the real world, 1988 featured George H.W. Bush running against Michael Dukakis, since it was impossible for Ronald Reagan , who got elected in 1980, to run for a third term. However, for the purposes of the story, the President in the last two novels was elected to his first term in 1984, theoretically making him either Harold Stassen or Walter Mondale.

But this is impossible, since Red October, which has the same President, clearly states that December 3rd took place on a Friday that year, which makes it only possible to happen in one of four years in the post-Vietnam, pre-2000 era: 1976 (Impossible as Ryan would have still been in college at that time, and Red October has explicit references to events that happened in 1981), 1982 (Red Rabbit, which takes place before Red October is explicitly stated to take place in this year), 1993, or 1999. This gets more confusing in later novels where Clancy treats the Reagan and Bush presidencies as happening as normal. Furthermore, the President in Clear and Present Danger is implied to be a Republican, or at least right-wing (the parties are never named in the Clancy novels), because his opponent Fowler's foreign policy is very dove-ish and pro-Cuba and his convention is in Chicago, a traditional location for DNCs. Ascended Extra : After a small but very popular appearance in The Cardinal of the Kremlin , John Clark is given a major supporting role in this novel.

Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work : Cortez and Escobedo's fate. Both are captured by the end of the book, but neither can be brought to the United States for trial without exposing the illegal operation the United States was running in Colombia. So Escobedo is returned to the cartel, whose other leaders believe he was trying to flee the country after betraying them; Cortez is returned to his home country of Cuba, where he is still wanted for defecting. Be Careful What You Wish For : Cortez, when he discovers the nature of the American operation against the cartel, says he would like to meet the man who put this plan together: "truly he is a professional!" When he does get to meet John Clark, it doesn't end well for him. Beleaguered Assistant : Cortez to Escobedo, and subsequently to the rest of the Cartel. It's specifically noted by Ritter that whatever brains the Cartel don't have, they hire. Cortez laments several times throughout the novel that he could easily replace the men he works for and eventually does make moves to do as such.

Beware the Nice Ones : Cortez tries to teach Escobedo this in regards to the United States, reminding him that America's open borders and lack of response to the drug trade are a result of Americans' belief in freedom and the limitations of their police forces, not a lack of resolve. He even warns Escobedo against trying to target Americans, and especially American government officials. Predictably, the cartel ignores Cortez and the U.S. starts dropping laser guided bombs through their front doors. The Big Guy : Julio Vega, who would later become a recurring character, is introduced in this novel, and given his nickname, Oso . A staple of this and later novels is that he's so tough that a hundred pushups a day doesn't generate even a drop of sweat for him. Boring Yet Practical : Invoked by Director Jacobs, who argues that, instead of covert special operations and bombing, good, honest police work can do much more to sink the Cartel. He makes a pretty good case, seeing as how Operation TARPON makes by far the biggest hole in the Cartel's power.

Broken Pedestal : When Jack learns about the operation and that it was signed off on by the President, Bob Ritter, and DCI Moore he's pretty lost at what to do. Previously they had been trustworthy Reasonable Authority Figures but were now involved in an invasion of a US ally all for the goal of helping the President get reelected and rebuild the CIA's covert ops abilities to what they were in the 1950s. Fortunately, they all pull off a Heelï¿½Face Turn and manage to rebuild some of Jack's respect by the end. Call Back : Clark's violent history with drug dealers is briefly hinted at. Dovetails with a Call Forward in Without Remorse in which Ritter notes the CIA had been thinking of becoming involved in anti-drug operations - and recommends formally recruiting Clark in part because of said history. The Cartel : Are the primary adversaries. The Cavalry : After everything goes to hell, Ryan and Clark help organize a rescue for the troops left behind on the ground, with the Pave Low, their MC-130 support, Larson's King Beech, and the Panache all playing big roles.

Chekhov's Gun : Ritter's safe combination is revealed to Ryan at the beginning of the novel for a very good reason: he uses it to break into Ritter's vault to discover the facts about Operations SHOWBOAT and RECIPROCITY. The Chessmaster : several, but Felix Cortez especially. After surviving and then discovering the nature of the American operation against the Cartel, he decides to essentially hijack their operation for his own purposes, forcing Admiral Cutter to abandon his own soldiers in Colombia and to help him eliminate most of the remaining Cartel bosses and acquiesce to his own status as the organization's new kingpin. Chronic Backstabbing Disorder : Once Cortez discovers the various United States operations against the Cartel, he uses them in order to eliminate various Cartel leaders to solidify his position. Cool Boat : USCGC Panache. Corrupt Corporate Executive : The owner of the Empire Builder had laundered money for the Cartel on a massive scale, and his elimination was due to the Cartel discovering that he had been skimming off the top. The records the FBI discover in his home lead to Operation TARPON.

Corrupt Cop : Ernie Braden, a detective in the Mobile police force, was hired by the Cartel to search for and steal evidence prior to the hit being put on the Corrupt Corporate Executive above. His failure to discover the records subsequently result in the Cartel putting a hit on him. Could Have Avoided This Plot : Congressmen Trent and Fellows note that if the President had simply followed the law and had the CIA inform Congress of the operation, they still would have supported it. Ryan also calls out the President's stupidity in hiding America's retaliation for Emil Jacobs' assassination, pointing out that the public more than likely would have supported it given the justification. Darker and Edgier : The Ryanverse was never a warm and fuzzy place, but it takes a level in darkness in this one. Admiral Greer dies of cancer; high ranking members of the U.S.

government who had previously been shown as men of honor and integrity, including Judge Moore, Bob Ritter, and the President, are shown engaging in a covert operation that eventually slides into a criminal conspiracy; Admiral Cutter gives us our first Corrupt Politician in the series; and by the end, the President having thrown the election as part of a deal to avoid exposure, it's implied (and sadly borne out by the next book) that the incoming administration will be even worse. The American soldiers deployed to Colombia are betrayed by a superior trying to cover his own ass, resulting in the deaths of most of them. Finally, the book touches on two heavily topical and controversial issues for the late eighties, the war on drugs and the Iran-contra scandal, in contrast to the general Eagleland Type 1 portrayal of America in the first few books. Possibly the bleakest thing about the story is the knowledge that the drug problem is unsolvable, or at least beyond the ability of the main characters to fix. Cortez points out that education may eventually reduce the demand for drugs, but in the meantime, so long as Americans want them, someone will be there to supply them.

Dark Horse Victory : The President was heavily favored to win the election but deliberately throws it, allowing Bob Fowler to win an upset victory. Derelict Graveyard : "Bronco" Winters speculates that the Boneyard in Arizona is where the captured druggie DC-7B will eventually be dumped, given that one more old aircraft in storage there won't be particularly noteworthy. Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu? : invoked in-universe by Felix Cortez. He refuses to divulge the identity of his sources to Escobedo, saying that not only is this a principle of intelligence operations but that Castro himself once asked him the same thing and was given the same answer. Privately, he acknowledges this is baloney: not only was he never that close to Castro, but no one in Cuba would have dared refuse him if he had asked. It's a good story to improve your street cred, though. Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That : This exact line is said by Clark when the pilot Larson walks up behind him without warning first. Actually incredibly stupid of Larson , since Clark just killed four heavily armed mercenaries.

The Dragon : Felix Cortez is this to Escobedo, and is mainly portrayed as a Dragon-in-Chief since much of the Cartel's side of the story is told from his perspective. Driven to Suicide Moira Wolfe attempts suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills, after she finds out that she was used by Cortez for the information that was used to kill Director Jacobs during his visit to Bogota. Admiral Cutter, facing trial for flagrant violations of U.S. and international law, chooses the "easy" way out by stepping in front of a bus. Drugs Are Bad : The justification for the plot. Subverted when the methods the government uses to attack the drug trade are shown as clearly worse than the trade itself. Dude, Where's My Respect? : Cortez is constantly feeling this in his employment with the Cartel. He's a KGB trained professional intelligence officer who's managed to compromise the freaking FBI, yet his advice is usually ignored or not even sought out. It's what prompts his coup attempt against the Cartel and detente with the U.S. government. Elites Are More Glamorous : Averted. John Clark recruits his soldiers from regular U.S.

Army light infantry units and then gives them additional training in guerrilla warfare. The reason he doesn't recruit from Special Forces is that the Special Forces community is small enough that people would notice the missing soldiers and start asking questions. Enemy Civil War : Part of Clark's RECIPROCITY operation after FBI Director Jacobs is killed by the Medellin Cartel. Enemy Mine : between Admiral Cutter and Felix Cortez. They both have an interest in eliminating most of the Cartel's leaders - Cutter because it's an enemy of the United States, Cortez so that he can take over. Exact Words : Ryan and Murray promise Cortez that he won't be prosecuted. True to Ryan's word, he isn't prosecuted. He's handed back to his former agency in Cuba, where his fate is most likely to be far less pleasant than what it could be under the US criminal justice system. Even Evil Has Standards Cortez has the mindset of a professional intelligence officer, so while he mostly has a lot of Pragmatic Villainy moments, he does show genuine disgust with the methods used by the Cartel to intimidate their rivals (even paraphrasing Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil at one point).

Exploited by the Mobile Police Department, who use a combination of this and The Power of Love to convince two armed robbers to murder the pirates who kick off the novel. Every Bullet Is a Tracer : Averted. When tracers are used (particularly in the miniguns on the Pave Low helicopters), it's specifically mentioned that only one out of X bullets is a tracer round, for the purposes of assisting with aim* miniguns aren't equipped with sights, as they're for area denial and not precision shooting. Given minigun rate of fire , it's also mentioned that it looks like a laser beam at full "rock and roll". This also goes for the SHOWBOAT teams, where it's specifically noted that only the last three rounds in each magazine for the riflemen are tracers, in order to tell them that it's time to reload. Fake Kill Scare : The Coasties get a drug-runner to talk by pretending to hang his collaborator from the lanyard with a hood over his head. A pad of gauze soaked in ether, hidden inside the hood, knocks him out.

False Flag Operation : In order to facilitate the Enemy Civil War , Clark uses Navy-dropped stealth bombs to make the Cartel think that their own members are killing each other. Father Neptune : Captain Red Wagner of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Panache. Started out as an enlisted man, became so badass that a U.S. Senator, who's nephew Wagner had rescued during a storm, took upon himself to get him promoted to officer's rank. Fiery Coverup : When Clark discovers the remains of Team Banner's men after they run into a Cartel hunting party, he burns the bodies in order to cover up American involvement in the operation. He later confronts Ritter about this, saying that he's never burned the body of a friendly before, and didn't like being forced to. General Failure : Vice Admiral Cutter, by sheer incompetence, manages to escalate the US operations in Columbia to illegal levels. To make matters worse, Cortez discovers the U.S. involvement and then blackmails Cutter into assisting him in his power grab, which involves betraying the SHOWBOAT teams and leaving them to die. Genius Bruiser : Clark.

He's a former non-commissioned officer with no college degree who's kept around partly as the CIA's in-house hitman. He also speaks six languages, several of them well enough to pass for a native, is fully capable of planning complex operations (both intelligence and military), and his ability to restructure these operations on the fly in the face of changing circumstances while still achieving the best outcome borders on Xanatos Speed Chess . Genre Blind : Discussed by Bob Ritter. He repeatedly has to deal with Admiral Cutter making unnecessary changes to the operation, but eventually realizes that Cutter has confused the reality of intelligence work with the glory of fictional spy thrillers. He even points out there's a term for this: Mission: Impossible Syndrome. In lesser measure, Bob Ritter himself, as Clark explains while venting to Larson. Not only has he had a desk job for so long that he's losing his memory of how things work in the field, but his own career in the field consisted mostly of running spies in Eastern Europe, which is very different from the "low intensity warfare" that the CIA is now practicing in Colombia.

"Get out of Jail Free" Card : Largely averted, since, as mentioned by new FBI Director Bill Shaw, none of the order-followers throughout the whole operation actually broke the law since they believed that they were following legitimate, legal orders from above. Bob Ritter, being a veteran of Washington politics, knows full well he needs to cover his ass and so forces Admiral Cutter to provide him with one. Unlike in the film adaptation, this is treated as covering the CIA and its assets in general, rather than just Ritter personally. Grey and Gray Morality : Outside of Ryan and a few other major characters, everyone involved gets morally compromised in some way. And while Cortez is evil, he's occasionally shown in a positive light for his competency and skill. Hollywood Silencer : Played completely straight, notable in a book by Tom Clancy, whose claim to fame is meticulous research and realism in the technological aspects of his stories. Home Field Advantage : In one case, some Cartel workers manage to escape from Team Knife due to knowing the terrain better and using it to flee. Honey Trap : Cortez is said to be a master of this, and demonstrates as such, in manipulating Moira Wolfe into giving him sensitive FBI information.

Honorary Uncle : Due to Buck Zimmer's death, Ryan effectively becomes this, looking after Zimmer's family and making sure they all go to college. It becomes a major plot point in later novels. Idiot Ball The Cartel 's decision to assassinate the US Ambassador to Columbia, the Director of the FBI, and the head of the DEA displays a tenacious grip on the Idiot Ball . Cortez is the only one that realizes this. This is reciprocated by the United States when they decide to start using the SHOWBOAT teams to hit Cartel processing sites, which essentially is an act of war against Columbia since they're now technically using armed soldiers to kill Columbian citizens inside of their borders. It's also noted that hitting the processing sites is stupid, because there's hundreds of them, and taking out 2 or 3 a night won't have any effect. Informed Ability : In-universe example. Admiral Cutter was appointed as National Security Adviser because he was supposedly an expert on Latin-American affairs. By the time the President realizes that he most certainly is not, it's already too late.

Innocent Bystander : After the Cartel kill Jacobs, Cutter's response is to approve a surgical bombing of a Cartel meeting. Of course, the bomb isn't as surgical as he deluded himself to believe, resulting in the deaths of various Cartel heads' family members and servants. This has a direct impact on the election rhetoric, putting even more pressure on the President. When the SHOWBOAT teams commence operations hitting Cartel processing sites, it's implied that many of the peasants who do the dirty work have no other choice to feed their families. Ernie Braden's wife happens to catch a stray round when Cartel hitmen murder him in his front yard, and she later dies in the hospital. Interservice Rivalry : An interesting aversion. Acting FBI Director Shaw and Dan Murray are both uncomfortable with exposing the CIA's operations because the resulting political scandal would likely result in the CIA being crippled as an intelligence agency. This would be a devastating blow to the FBI's war on terror since the CIA is a major, though silent, partner in it and provides vital overseas information. Still crops up on a smaller level from time to time, however.

Part of the reason Ritter is eager to join the Colombia operation is because he resents the fact that the CIA's two most successful operations in recent times, as pointed out by Admiral Cutter, "actually started in Greer's department" (the analyst department of the CIA) and is anxious to prove that the Directorate of Operations still has it together. It's All My Fault : Moira Wolfe, on discovering that she was used by Cortez, and that the information she gave directly resulted in Emil Jacobs's death, attempts suicide because of this. It's Personal : Jeff "Bronco" Winters, who pilots the F-15 that takes part in Operation EAGLE EYE, accepted the job because his mother was killed by a druggie when he was a child. When the Cartel discover the implications of Operation TARPON, and that Emil Jacobs would be flying to Columbia to meet with their Attorney General, they make the rash decision to murder him. Of course, this results in compromising Moira Wolfe, the FBI source who gave Cortez the information.

In response to the above, the President gives Ritter a "hunting license with no bag limit," which results in the killing of various Cartel heads, as well as the SHOWBOAT teams attacking Cartel drug processing sites. In one scene, Ritter explains to Cutter that John Clark is more than happy to go after the Cartel because Clark's former girlfriend was murdered by a drug-dealing pimp (referring to events that would later be depicted in Without Remorse ). More generally, the CIA deliberately select for this trope, picking for their operation military men they feel will be angry about drugs - the Gunnery Sergeant in command of the Recon Marines who received the intercepted drug flights, for instance, served in Vietnam and saw a platoon wiped out by the Vietcong because some of them were doing drugs. Just Following Orders : When Clark initially refuses to cooperate with the FBI, out of fear of being used as a scapegoat for the operation, Bill Shaw reassures him that he could legitimately claim this as his defense. As far as Clark and all the other low-level operations people knew, they were following the legal and proper orders of their commander-in-chief.

The Killer Becomes the Killed : The Alabama police use some wildly illegal and creative means to get two black felons to murder Ramon and Jesus, the pirates, after their lawyer gets the death penalty taken off the table. Last Stand : The Battle of Ninja Hill, in which fifteen US Army soldiers take on 200 Cartel gunmen. While the SHOWBOAT teams manage to kill close to half of the gunmen and wound most of the rest, only five of them end up surviving, with one of them captured and later killed. Leave Behind a Pistol : Admiral Cutter is given the "choice" by Clark of suicide to avoid facing trial for flagrant violations of U.S. and international law. Later novels clarify that Clark did this entirely on his own initiative. Literary Allusion Title : the "Clear and present danger" clause in law. Title Dropped . Interestingly, it is related to the First Amendment freedom of speech provision and has little, if any, relevance to the plot. Locked Out of the Loop : Ryan, despite being the acting Deputy Director (Intelligence), is kept in the dark and lied to by his colleagues, and remains mostly in the background until the very end.

Mentor Occupational Hazard : James Greer, Ryan's mentor throughout his CIA career, is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and spends the first half of the book wasting away in a hospital before finally dying. This also becomes Back Story for Clark, who mentions that he also owed a great deal to Greer. No One Gets Left Behind : Brutally averted. Most of the American teams don't make it out and even the ones that do suffer heavy casualties, with those who fall being left behind and likely ending up in unmarked graves. Played straight for Jack Ryan and John Clark, who risk their careers and their lives by flying down to Colombia to rescue the surviving soldiers, and for the FBI agents and military personnel who back them up. The book takes the stance that this should be an inviolable principle when sending men into combat, but that not everyone will see it that way. No Celebrities Were Harmed : Ernesto Escobado is a thinly-veiled stand-in for real life Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Odd Friendship : Alan Trent, a gay liberal from Massachusetts who was introduced in The Cardinal of the Kremlin , is first seen in the company of Sam Fellows, a conservative Mormon from Arizona, at the end of the novel when they force the President to throw the election to Fowler. Worthy Opponent : Cortez feels this way about the Americans who set up the operation against the Cartel (Bob Ritter and John Clark, though he doesn't know it), noting that it's an unusually subtle yet ruthless plan by CIA standards and the sort of thing he himself might have thought up. In much lesser measure, Clark with the Cartel. He despises drug dealing and organized crime on a very personal level, but is also a veteran Cold Warrior and grudgingly respects the Cartel's very successful history of confronting Marxist insurgencies in Colombia. Wrong Genre Savvy : Admiral Cutter thinks he's in an episode of Mission: Impossible , which greatly annoys Bob Ritter. You Are in Command Now : Bill Shaw ends up becoming the new FBI Director upon Emil Jacobs's death. And Jack Ryan, with Admiral Greer in the hospital and eventually dead, becomes the new acting Deputy Director Intelligence (head of the CIA's analysts).

:: Indexes :: Movie Review - - FILM REVIEW; Ryan Spies Again, This Time as C.I.A. Battles Drug Lords - NYTimes.com FILM REVIEW; Ryan Spies Again, This Time as C.I.A. Battles Drug Lords By JANET MASLIN Published: August 3, 1994 Taming the eyeball-glazing prose of Tom Clancy's "Clear and Present Danger" with the same brisk efficiency they brought to "Patriot Games," the makers of this latest espionage thriller have made their first-rate work look easy. And clearly, it was anything but. No amount of exercise under the hot sun will beat the workout involved in following this story, with its dozens of locations, interchangeable-sounding character names (Cutter, Ritter, Clark, Ryan, many more) and high-tech military jargon. A film with a "cellulose encased laser-guided bomb" for a conversation piece is not to be watched casually. Yet "Clear and Present Danger" (photographed crisply by Donald M. McAlpine and scored by James Horner) looks so lean and moves so vigorously that it actually seems streamlined most of the time.

As directed by Philip Noyce, who also did "Patriot Games," this becomes another fast, gripping spy story with some good tricks up its sleeve, and with a much more economical style than that of Mr. Clancy's best-selling novel. Three distinctive screenwriters -- Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List"), John Milius ("Apocalypse Now") and Donald Stewart (co-writer on "Patriot Games" and "The Hunt for Red October") -- deliver dialogue that is both colorful and swift. Harrison Ford, making only his second screen appearance as Mr. Clancy's heroic C.I.A. agent, Jack Ryan, has already become Old Faithful in this role. Mr. Ford may be the most reticent of American movie stars, but he brings considerable subtlety to the job of humanizing Jack Ryan. In a film that opens with the sight of a waving American flag, subtlety may not be foremost on anyone's mind. But Mr. Ford's wary intelligence does wonders for a potentially one-dimensional character. Jack's heroism on screen has much broader appeal than it does on the page. Jack is now deputy director of the C.I.A., once his much-admired superior, Adm.

James Greer (James Earl Jones, giving a touching, unmannered performance), becomes gravely ill. And one of this film's minor pleasures is the sight of Jack flashing his prestigious C.I.A. business cards at some of the Latin American drug lords who set the story in motion. "Clear and Present Danger" begins with the discovery of a yacht whose passengers have been murdered, a crime that turns out to be the drug lords' handiwork. Complicating this event are the facts that the principal victim made off with huge sums of money belonging to a drug cartel, and that he was a close friend of the President of the United States. The President, played by Donald Moffat with a Reaganesque mixture of caginess and imperfect hearing, tacitly authorizes a bit of payback. Unbeknown even to most top C.I.A. personnel, a covert Latin American anti-drug operation is instigated by Cutter, the National Security Adviser (Harris Yulin), with the help of Ritter (Henry Czerny), a rogue C.I.A. man. Mr.

Czerny, a Canadian actor who will eventually be familiar to American television audiences when he is seen starring so effectively in "The Boys of St. Vincent," makes a perfect spook. Fidgety, intense, loaded with menace, he becomes the worthiest and most sinister of Ryan's many adversaries in this story. One of the film's cleverest sequences pits these two in a computer espionage battle, as Ryan and Ritter both try frantically to access Ritter's top-secret files while they also make small talk on the telephone. ("You play tennis?") Only in the brave new world of Mr. Clancy's techno-thrillers does this sort of thing define the meaning of suspense. Another standout episode, and one of the few here to involve graphic bloodshed, finds Ryan and a group of colleagues suddenly ambushed on a narrow street in Bogota. Equally effective (if a bit less personal) is the scene that follows a smart bomb through the clouds until it hits a drug czar's villa. The villa is one of dozens of varied, sharply evoked international settings here, from the mountains of Colombia all the way to the Oval Office.

The film pays great attention to the lavish, family-oriented home life of Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval), who along with his henchman Felix Cortez (Joaquim de Almeida) represents the forces of evil, debonair foreign division. Any similarity to the real drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar, whose death occurred while "Clear and Present Danger" was being filmed, is as fortuitous as it is grim. Also figuring prominently in "Clear and Present Danger" is a tawny, physically imposing Willem Dafoe as Clark, the mysterious C.I.A. field operative who figures prominently elsewhere in the Clancy canon. The ambiguity of Clark's character suits Mr. Dafoe intriguingly, since it goes so far beyond the ordinary villainy to which he has often been confined. Scenes between Mr. Dafoe and Mr. Ford have a special edginess, since one of them has been so deeply misled about what the other is up to. There also happen to be a few women in "Clear and Present Danger," but their roles (Hope Lange as a Senator, Ann Magnuson as a hapless pawn in the drug cartel's game) are small.

The role that's not small enough is that of Cathy Ryan, the wise, smiling, insufferable wife played again by Anne Archer. Only Cathy seems out of sync with the tough, muscular manner of this story. Cathy doesn't quite ask Jack whether he's remembered his galoshes when he goes off on a dangerous C.I.A. mission, but she comes close. "Clear and Present Danger" is rated PG-13 (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes violence, most of it discreet, and occasional profanity. CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER Directed by Phillip Noyce; written by Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian and John Milius, based on the novel by Tom Clancy; director of photography, Donald M. McAlpine; edited by Neil Travis; music by James Horner; production designer, Terence Marsh; produced by Mace Neufeld and Robert Rehme; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 142 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. WITH: Harrison Ford (Jack Ryan), Willem Dafoe (Mr.

Clark), Anne Archer (Cathy Ryan), James Earl Jones (Admiral Greer), Joaquim de Almeida (Felix Cortez), Henry Czerny (Robert Ritter), Harris Yulin (James Cutter), Donald Moffat (President Bennett), Miguel Sandoval (Ernesto Escobedo) and Benjamin Bratt (Ramirez).

Question: Who wrote the 1989 novel A Clear and Present Danger?
Answer: Tom Clancy