Who Killed Daniel Pearl?

It's notable that the negative critics of this book are Pakistani; clearly, M. Levy has touched a nerve. It's notable, too, that the person who evaluates Levy's reporting as terrible is unable to correctly report the author's name, nor spell it correctly. It's "Levy," not "Henry-Levi." This also strikes me as indicative of the nature of the criticism of Levy -- he has so thoroughly made his case that there is nothing left to counter with but personal insult. It's the tactic used by Pakistani President Musharraf before the Canadian Parliament just a few days ago, when he commented angrily on the book. This amazing book is doing something no diplomat nor journalist has been able to do -- make people look at the frightening situation in Pakistan. Theories? Hypotheses? Yes, this book abounds in them. What in the world is wrong with that? This is the world's leading philosopher, after all, and his hypotheses are fascinating, intelligent, and backed by powerful evidence gathered at great risk. And note: Part of the very point of the book is that proof of the facts isn't always available to Westerners. Look at what happened to the last journalist who went after them: Daniel Pearl.

What Bernard Henri Levy does so well is to combine his interior monologue, his diaristic stream of consciousness, the appreciation of small details, little perceptions, with a larger journalistic expose, a "j'accuse" directed against the powers that be, and in the end, a very personal posthumous tribute to someone he never met--someone who BHL mythologizes, in fact, to give meaning to a life lost young. It is indeed possible that Daniel Pearl was not investigating what BHL has exposed in this book, that Pearl really was just an unwitting victim carelessly caught in a trap, and killed for who we was, rather than what he was doing. But by "imagining" Pearl's story BHL has found the perfect device for travelling layer by layer through the various worlds, the circles within circles that make up international terrorism--for the book is really a portrait of his killer, Sheik Omar, not Pearl at all. It is in a sense a perfectly wrought book, an immediate literary classic, penned by a genuine French man of letters, a philosophical provocation and a journalistic coup. It is several books in one, operating at numerous levels of meaning, perhaps the best book of 2003, certainly among the most important.

For some time I was planning to review this book but did not know how to go about doing it. Well let me start on its literary merits. The only other book of similar intensity that I have read is Garcia-Marquez' "News of a Kidnapping". But I find this book more disconcerting and chilling because the author was always in the danger of meeting the same fate as Daniel Pearl. Being a Jew, a journalist, an Indophile and also someone with a history of opposing Pakistani military can be extremely dangerous when you are investigating Muslim fundamentalists in a shadowy state where an arm of the federal government is a benefactor of these fanatics. In the absence of Danny Pearl, BHL had to rely on his imagination to reconstruct Pearl's last days. Since he couldn't meet Omar Sheik again he had to rely on third person information to fathom the evil depths of this fanatic. While the reconstruction of Pearl's last days has been done with sufficient pathos, I am not particularly fond of the way he tried to sort out the character of Omar. Instead of treating him like the sinister scoundrel, BHL sometimes, much to his own anguish, portrays Omar as a tormented evil genius, a man bound to his beliefs however misguided they might be, making him more like an anti-hero than a villainous monster.On a political scale it indicts the Pakistani government that is being overrun by fundamentalists, as the more moderate people (and I am sure there are many of them) stand back as mute spectators. From its president, who himself is an enigma, to its secret service that is as dangerous as it is mysterious, one cannot say who is responsible for the current state of affairs. It has been well documented that far from being a moderate Islamic state as it wishes to be, Pakistan of late is fast becoming a refuge for al-qaida, taliban and their ilk. This book exposes the link between elements within the government and these terrorist groups, that may or may not be taking place with the knowledge of its executive body. Read the chapter on the money trail, read the chapter on his investigation of the fundamentalist organizations and their spiritual leaders, his visit to Binori town mosque..it is a chilling and terrifying description of an unstable nation that is armed with nuclear weapons and is being overrun by fanatics. When this book was first published in French, a leading Pakistani journalist Irfan Hussain wrote " Every country maintains a secret service, but few of them flout the laws of the land as freely as the ISI seems to do." It is a terrifying read but a necessary one if someone wants to know what's going on in that part of the world.

This is the most unusual, moving and interesting book I've ever read. It seems to be part philosophy, part political discourse, and part -- a big part -- thriller. I truly couldn't put it down. This book details all kinds of stuff that's been essentially unanalyzed and certainly uncontextualized in the American press -- namely, the rising of militant jihadism, starting with Bosnia. Levy manages to not only contextualize it, but make it fascinating and exciting stuff. I'm also filled with admiration for the author, who, like Pearl, put his life on the line to tell the moving story of a brave reporter. Early reports on this book make mention of its speculative aspects -- but what's wrong with speculation? The evidence, acquired at great personal risk, is here, and Levy only does what the best investigators or cops should do: He tries to piece together its potential meaning. It amounts to a number of theories and hypotheses, and doesn't make claims to simplistic, yes or no answers. In short, it makes you think. A marvel, and, right now, a necessary one at that.

I don't usually write reviews on here, but I'm very confused and surprised by another review that accuses this author of Pakistan-bashing and I have to come to his defense. Clearly, when Levy talks about Pakistan as a politically dangerous ally for the US, he is pointing toward verifiable evidence that officials in the Pakistani secret service have connections with Al Qaida and with nuclear arms trading. He isn't condemning the average hardworking Pakistani who wants to make a good life for his family . . . he is condemning the extreme Islamic fundamentalists who preach hatred not only of the West, but also of moderate, peace-loving Muslims.BH Levy is one of today's most stimulating philosophers and it's shocking to me that he isn't more well known in this country. Europe has long recognized this great mind. Whether or not you agree with his conclusions about the Pearl murder, Levy's work must be taken seriously by policy makers and by anyone who actually cares about the future of our country. In this age of terrorsm, political alliances cannot be taken lightly.