Should al Qaeda kill J.K. Rowling?
Jon Furniss/Getty The Times of London reports that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling will be protected by former British special forces soldiers for an upcoming appearance on U.S. television: Rowling is to be interviewed on Monday by Meredith Viera, from the American NBC television channel. Despite Viera being virtually unknown here, the channel has decided ...
Jon Furniss/Getty
The Times of London reports that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling will be protected by former British special forces soldiers for an upcoming appearance on U.S. television:
Rowling is to be interviewed on Monday by Meredith Viera, from the American NBC television channel. Despite Viera being virtually unknown here, the channel has decided that her meeting with Rowling will make a dangerously tempting terrorist target.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of al Qaeda here. I suppose the logic of a terrorist attack on Rowling would be to get the maximum publicity possible for the jihadist cause. What better way to get your message out there than to assassinate one of the world’s most beloved authors on American TV?
On the other hand, consider the galvanizing effect this would have on the war on terror. And imagine the international outrage if al Qaeda were to have killed Rowling before she finished Deathly Hallows. Thousands of irate Potter-heads would be storming the mountains of Waziristan in no time.
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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