History Headscratchers / TomClancy

[[AC:Patriot Games]]
* [[Tropers/{{Jarmatus}} This Commonwealth of Nations troper]] would like to know how in God's name Jack Ryan acquired a knighthood ... no, scratch that, why he's called by the title 'Sir John' in the United Kingdom, even though he can't accept the knighthood at all, despite Clancy's HandWave ... no, scratch that, what I really want to know is how Jack Ryan gets to be so bloody rude to a CaptainErsatz of Prince Charles and get away with it.
** In fairness, Jack knew he was being an ass, and knew he'd be hip deep in shit if it backfired, but he was basically trying to use shock tactics to prevent said CaptainErsatz from slipping into a HeroicBSOD because of his failed IJustWantToBeBadass moment. It winds up working out well enough, but he does get called out for the rudeness later on, albeit comically.
** As for how he acquired a knighthood in the first place -- well, as mentioned in the story itself, its been a ''long'' while since an heir to the throne was single-handedly saved from certain death under such circumstances, and the Crown's dignity sort of requires an appropriate reward to be handed out when someone does.
** Also, it's acknowledged in the book that while the knighthood is technically honorary, as a US citizen can't hold one under US law, it's treated as being a legitimate, full one as far as personal interactions in the UK are concerned, as a show of respect for Ryan. See also the knighthoods given to Nimitz, Eisenhower, and some other US flag officers of major commands during WorldWar2, plus other US citizens in RealLife who've been knighted.
*** If we're going by commonly accepted US law ''(or at least the current Constitutional interpretation)'', then Americans ''are'' allowed to accept knighthoods or titles from foreign dignitaries, but are not allowed to accept any of the more tangible benefits that come with such grants, like lands or incomes. So it's okay for Jack Ryan to accept a knighthood, maybe with a nice framed commission or plaque. But if Her Majesty were to offer him a lordship for whatever reason, then we'd be running into trouble.

[[AC:Red Storm Rising]]
* This has always bugged me: The US goes to war w/ Russia and the Russians battle plan doesn't include striking the resupply bases on the eastern coast of the US that will supply the need logistics for the US to fight the battle? Huh?
** Sinking ships is less of a cause for escalation than attacks on US soil, for starters. Also, the main reason for the whole Soviet plan was the Middle Eastern oil fields. The conflict in the book was only a preparation for that, and they didn't expect for things in Europe to get dragged out long enough that doing more than sinking the cargo ships would be necessary. Shortsightedness fueled by believing your own hype about how successful your military is "guaranteed" to be is hardly a new phenomenon.
** That's true..it was a feint to disguise a drive into the Gulf oil fields. It just seems impractical to think that you'd allow your enemy to resupply their lines unmolested.
* Here's another one: The US detects the Russians building up a massive force to enter the Fulda Gap and nobody on our side thinks about a first strike?
** NATO isn't a first-strike organization, by its charter and rules. Without breaking their own rules ("good guys", remember?) they can't.
** Good guys or not, removing the first strike (which don't believe NATO ever has) was tactically and strategically foolish.\\
Do you have a source for the no first strike policy?
** The closest thing I could find, without more digging than I care to do at oh-dark-thirty, is Article I of the [[http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm NATO Charter]]. "The Parties undertake, [...] to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." It's possible I'm misremembering or misinterpreting the whole "no first strike" issue, though.
** A first strike with ''what''? The Soviets deliberately timed their attack for NATO's lowest point in their readiness cycle, and the political misdirection was successful enough that it was less than a week before jump-off date before the clues finally became unambiguous; the Russians were coming.

[[AC:The Sum of All Fears]]
* A nuclear attack in the US by an Islamic group made to look like a Soviet sneak attack? Really? Who would buy a Russian attack like that?
** A paranoid National Security Adviser having a nervous breakdown and a president that thought he could ignore international affairs, for starters. Also, the Islamic connection was unknown at the NCA level until Clark and Chavez caught Qati and the other guy. All the NCA knew was that they had apparently credible reports of missing nuclear weapons and instability in the Soviet government that threatened to send the country into a civil war. The readers knew neither was actually the case, but the characters didn't, outside of Ryan and a few people who weren't exactly first on the Fowler administration's Christmas card list.
** The entire ''plot'' is based on the premise of the President not being up to the job; when isolated from all of his competent advisors and left to rely solely on the incompetent one, of ''course'' he's going to make a horrible judgement call.

[[AC:Rainbow Six]]
* Is it just me, or does Clancy forget how to count several times? During the World Park assault, Team-2 is told that there are only eight terrorists in the control room (one's on the roof, and Andre left to go to the courtyard), but once the shooting starts, I definitely counted at least nine separate kills in the control room. And then when the PIRA attacks Hereford, somehow the group that got flash-banged by Connoly was ignored in the after-action count, and during the action; it was stated that out of the fifteen that attacked the hospital, only six were alive: there's Grady, the one from Paul Murphy's truck, and O'Neil's group of four that surrendered inside the hospital, Connoly's three were ignored. Plus, the total count was sixteen: 3x3 in the trucks, Grady and Sands, O'Neil plus four.
** See WritersCannotDoMath
*** Still, it's rather odd considering the level of technical detail in his novels. And let's not forget that he's a former ''insurance salesman''. You can't sell insurance without knowing maths.

[[AC:The Bear and the Dragon]]
* Exactly what was Zhang's position in the Chinese government between ''Debt of Honor'' and ''The Bear and the Dragon''? When he's first introduced in ''Debt of Honor'' he gives off the vibe of being an intelligence officer, which would put him several levels below Politburo status. In ''Executive Orders'', while presiding over the negotiations after the Airbus shootdown, the Foreign Minister seems to defer to him, giving the impression that he's at least Politburo level. But then suddenly, in ''The Bear and the Dragon'' he becomes a senior Politburo member with little to no explanation. Did Clancy just put him in some ambiguous category with no definition this whole time until it seemed convenient to have him become TheManBehindTheMan in ''The Bear and the Dragon''?

[[AC:Dead or Alive]]
* Why would Clark be worried about the ADDO learning about the drug dealer murders he committed in ''Without Remorse''? As of ''Executive Orders'', he has a Presidential pardon for that signed by Jack Ryan. Said event could potentially end up being embarrassing to Ryan's reelection campaign (Which didn't exist at the time that this issue was brought up), depending on how Kealty attempts to spin it if he learns of it, but Clark can't be prosecuted for that.
** Having not read DOA, this may have been addressed, but the President cannot pardon state crimes. Clark killing the drug dealers were all Maryland state felonies with no statute of limitations, so unless the Governor signed off on it (and a call from the President probably would have done that), he's still on the hook.
* At the beginning of ''Teeth of the Tiger'', [=56MoHa=] murders a Mossad agent in the men's room of a restaurant. At the end of the book, Jack Jr kills [=56MoHa=] in the same restroom. The knife that [=56MoHa=] used to kill the Israeli is found on his body, with some traces of the victim's blood still on it. Said knife was sent for DNA testing. That means that it is quite likely that the Italian public ''knows'' that an Israeli diplomat was murdered in a restaurant, and that his killer died of an apparent heart attack ''in the exact same room'' a couple months later. Why didn't anyone comment on this in ''Dead or Alive''? Why didn't the Emir come to the conclusion that this was no coincidence and that the Mossad was sending him a return message?
** Most likely because said Emir assumed that the killers weren't Mossad--the Israelis might have realized the identity of the COS's killer only after Mohammed Hassan al-Din died.
*** And nobody else came to the highly plausible conclusion that the Mossad had done it? If nothing else the Mossad would probably ''want'' the world to think that they had avenged the murder of an Israeli diplomat.
* Is it me, or do parts of the novel itself have the feel of "events prior to ''Teeth of the Tiger''?" [[spoiler:Fa'ad living--himself having been shredded by a streetcar after being poisoned, Yuriy's execution--he was already dead in ''Tiger''...]]

[[AC:Ryanverse]]
* Teeth of the Tiger puts a big emphasis on being "post 9/11." This doesn't make sense to me because WAY WORSE THINGS HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED IN UNIVERSE! Denver was NUKED! It was so bad that they got rid of ICBM's. Why does 9/11 get attention in light of this?
** This can be easily explained. Clancy has often gone on record with the fact his books are an allegory to the time they were written, and if given a choice between canon consistency and getting his point across, he often chooses the latter, though it doesn't diminish the validity of the argument 9/11 would be far less horrifying than the nuking of Denver or worse, the biological terrorism Daryaei used in ''Executive Orders'', which does get referenced in TOTT.

** This can be easily explained. Clancy has often go on record with the fact his books are an allegory to the time they were written, and if given a choice between canon consistency and getting his point across, he often chooses the latter, though it doesn't diminish the validity of the argument 9/11 would be far less horrifying than the nuking of Denver or worse, the biological terrorism Daryaei used in ''Executive Orders'', which does get referenced in TOTT.

* Teeth of the Tiger puts a big emphasis on being "post 9/11." This doesn't make sense to me because WAY WORSE THINGS HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED IN UNIVERSE! Denver was NUKED! It was so bad that they got rid of ICBM's. Why does 9/11 get attention in light of this?

** In fairness, Jack knew he was being an ass, and knew he'd be hip deep in shit if it backfired, but he was basically trying to use shock tactics to prevent said CaptainErsatz from slipping into a HeroicBSOD because of his failed IJustWantToBeBadass moment. It winds up working out well enough, but he does get called out for the rudeness later on, albeit comedically.

Teeth of the Tiger puts a big emphasis on being "post 9/11." This doesn't make sense to me because WAY WORSE THINGS HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED IN UNIVERSE! Denver was NUKED! It was so bad that they got rid of ICBM's. Why does 9/11 get attention in light of this?

[[Ryanverse]]

* Is it me, or do parts of the novel itself have the feel of "events prior to ''Teeth of the Tiger''?" [[spoiler:Fa'ad living--himself having been shredded by a streetcar after being poisoned, Yuriy's execution--he was already dead in ''Tiger''...]]

** Most likely because said Emir assumed that the killers weren't Mossad--the Israelis might have realized the identity of the COS's killer only after Mohammed Hassan al-Din died.

* [[{{Jarmatus}} This Commonwealth of Nations troper]] would like to know how in God's name Jack Ryan acquired a knighthood ... no, scratch that, why he's called by the title 'Sir John' in the United Kingdom, even though he can't accept the knighthood at all, despite Clancy's HandWave ... no, scratch that, what I really want to know is how Jack Ryan gets to be so bloody rude to a CaptainErsatz of Prince Charles and get away with it.

* At the beginning of ''Teeth of the Tiger'', [=56MoHa=] murders a Mossad agent in the men's room of a restaurant. At the end of the book, Jack Jr kills [=56MoHa=] in the same restroom. The knife that [=56MoHa=] used to kill the Israeli is found on his body, with some traces of the victim's blood still on it. Said knife was sent for DNA testing. That means that it is quite likely that the Italian public ''knows'' that an Israeli diplomat was murdered in a restaurant, and that his killer died of an apparent heart attack ''in the exact same room'' a couple months later. Why didn't anyone comment on this in ''Dead or Alive''? Why didn't the Emir come to the conclusion that this was no coincidence and that the Mossad was sending him a return message?

* Is it just me, or does Clancy forget how to count several times? During the World Park assault, Team-2 is told that there are only eight terrorists in the control room (one's on the roof, and Andre left to go to the courtyard), but once the shooting starts, I definitely counted at least nine separate kills in the control room. And then when the PIRA attacks Hereford, somehow the group that got flash-banged by Connoly was ignored in the after-action count, and during the action; it was stated that out of the fifteen that attacked the hospital, only six were alive: there's Grady, the one from Paul Murphy's truck, and O'Neil's group of four that surrendered inside the hospital, Connoly's three were ignored. Plus, the total count was sixteen: 3x3 in the trucks, Grady and Sands, O'Neil plus four.

** A paranoid National Security Adviser having a nervous breakdown and a president that thought he could ignore international affairs, for starters. Also, the Islamic connection was unknown at the NCA level until Clark and Chavez caught Qati and the other guy. All the NCA knew was that they had apparently credible reports of missing nuclear weapons and instability in the Soviet government that threatened to send the country into a civil war. The readers knew neither was actually the case, but the characters didn't, outside of Ryan and a few people who weren't exactly first on the Fowler administration's Christmas card list.

** The closest thing I could find, without more digging than I care to do at oh-dark-thirty, is Article I of the [[http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm NATO Charter]]. "The Parties undertake, [...] to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." It's possible I'm misremembering, though.

** Good guys or not, removing the first strike (which don't believe NATO ever has) was tactically and strategically foolish.

* A nuclear attack in the US by an Islamic group made to look like a Soviet sneak attack? Really? Who would buy a Russian attack like that?

** Also, it's acknowledged in the book that while the knighthood is technically honorary, as a US citizen can't hold one under US law, it's treated as being a legitimate, full one as far as personal interactions in the UK are concerned, as a show of respect for Ryan. See also the knighthoods given to Nimitz, Eisenhower, and some other US flag officers of major commands during WorldWar2, plus other US citizens in RealLife who've been knighted.