Chapter 31 Summary and Analysis

Saul tells Tim enthusiastically war is near. Tim at "Pistachio" base in the foothills and his team at "Jonestown," on the mountaintop, feel stranded. Reports flow in too fast to evaluate and transmit but Saul demands ever more detail and verification. The brothers and the Pope worry about detection and PUK adversaries are harassing them. One day, a ROCKSTAR is captured during a call and appears days later on television, clearly tortured, to confess his treason. Owning a Thuraya phone becomes a capital crime, and 30 of the 87 owners are never heard from again.

On March 8, Rice learns from David Manning, Blair's NSA, the British press is calling the Prime Minister "Bush's poodle," and Blair makes it worse by comparing himself to Churchill standing up to Hitler. Blair's Labour Party holds 413 seats in Parliament to the pro-war Tories' 166. They might be tempted...