A Deadly Tango by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

{1} Federales: Common popular term to designate members of the Mexican Federal Police.

{2} Svoloch: ‘Bastard’ in Russian.

{3} Spetsnaz: Popular abbreviation for the Russian words ‘Spetsialnovo Nazhacheniya’, meaning ‘Special Purpose’.  Title given originally to Soviet special forces units of the GRU, the Soviet military intelligence department.

{4} Hijab: Shawl covering the head and used by Muslim women.

{5} ISIS: Islamic State in Irak and Syria.  Also known as ‘Daesh’ and as the ‘Islamic Caliphate’.

{6} Urdu: Principal language spoken in Pakistan.

{7} DGSI: Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure, or Internal Security General Directorate, the French counter-espionnage apparatus. 

{8} NSA: National Security Agency.  A highly secretive U.S. government intelligence agency in charge of intercepting and listening to all kinds of electronic signals from around the World, including cell phone conversations, radio messages and Internet communications.

{9} Echelon: A highly sophisticated, computer-controlled signals analysis system used by the NSA to single out electronic signals containing key words chosen by NSA analysts.

{10} Merde: ‘Shit’ in French.

{11} NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.  Founded after World War Two, the NATO alliance had as its initial main goal to help counter the military threat represented by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.  Both the U.S.A. and France are members of the NATO alliance.

{12} The Great Satan: An expression used by Iranian leaders to describe the United States.

{13} Harb: Arabic word for ‘war’.

{14} Eiqab: Arabic word for ‘punishment’.

{15} National Reconnaissance Office, or NRO: American intelligence department in charge of satellite-based imagery and sensors intelligence.

{16} SIRÈNE ARGENTÉE: Silvery siren in French.

{17} PUFO: Pack Up and Fuck Off.  Old military jargon used to signify a sudden and rapid departure.

{18} SNCF: Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer, or ‘National Railways Society’ in French.

{19} ISI: Inter-Service Intelligence.  The Pakistani military secret service.

{20} Groupe d’Action Opérationel, or GAO: Operational Action Group in French. Action and arrest unit of the French DGSI.