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Wayne Parsons didn’t build a solid, nine-figure security business by being careless. Before the group of fifteen men, including Zachary Blake, jetted off to Damascus, the rescue plan was unveiled and discussed in detail. A ransom demand was communicated to Karim, and as instructed, he advised the terrorists it would take some time to raise the required capital.
Blake was to lead a three-man negotiating team into the lions’ den. Zack’s firm transferred the required funds to a newly created account at the Bank of Syria and awaited further instructions from the boss, who, in turn, awaited further instructions from the hostage-takers.
Parsons opposed the inexperienced Blake taking a lead role in the negotiations but had to concede that Zack was a superlative negotiator. Parsons’ concern was that litigation and terrorist hostage negotiations were two completely different animals. Zack had no experience dealing with terrorists and illegal transactional negotiations. He wouldn’t be permitted to file a motion, consult with a judge, point out rule violations, employ common sense, or expect cooler heads to prevail. One wrong move and the hostages would be in grave peril.
Parsons conceded one other rather important point. Zachary Blake was the boss. The mission was financed, one hundred percent, with Zack’s money. In the security business, like most others, money talked; bullshit walked. Zack could call the shots because he paid the bills.
Parsons was grateful that Zack, while cocky and arrogant, was also a pragmatist. Zack had no interest in calling the shots on matters in which he had no expertise. Hostage rescue was one such area, and he was very pleased to leave the logistics to those with expertise.
The long plane ride was divided into two distinct groups of raid participants, a hostage negotiating team and a hostage rescue team. The negotiating team had only one strategic function: Negotiate for delay. The team was to suggest numbers and terms that might entice the terrorists, keep them at the negotiating table, but delay and ultimately prevent an ultimate settlement.
While these negotiations were ongoing, the ten-man rescue team would sneak up to the terrorists’ camp, implement the plan, and snatch back the hostages.
Parsons was a by-the-book and chain of command type individual. His business success was achieved via his military success. His Washington D.C. reputation and connections were earned on merit, not on any personal or family ties to movers or shakers. He’d conducted numerous hostage rescue attempts and had an outstanding record of success. Experience told him that a successful rescue operation required five basic elements: surprise, intelligence, an experienced and skilled leader, precision, and deception. Parsons firmly believed that if any one element was missing in any operation, it was doomed to fail.
While timing is also an important element, it is also one of the most troubling. Oftentimes, the rescue team does not have the power to choose the timing of the rescue. It is dictated by events in real-time. Ideally, the best time to execute a rescue operation is late in the game. The team has time to prepare, learn its opponents’ objectives, strengths, and weaknesses. Later execution also provides a better opportunity to plan for the most effective window of opportunity. A lot would depend on Zachary Blake and his negotiation skills and strategy. When Blake finally ‘failed’ to resolve the crisis as planned, the team had to be at its highest state of readiness. At this point, Al-Baklavi will have gone from a driven negotiator to a reluctant executioner. His psychological stress might make him more vulnerable.
Parsons opted for a direct action or commando-style operation. The fundamentals of commando-style are speed, surprise, precision, planning, and on-the-fly flexibility if something fails to go as planned. In this case, Parsons was concerned about the terrorists’ motivation. He still wasn’t sure whether this was a kidnapping for ransom or a terrorist hostage situation. The former seeks money—the latter money, power, and, perhaps, other demands.
Parsons did not mention this to Karim when they spoke, but Parsons was concerned about Al-Baklavi’s history of brutality. A kidnapper’s success depends upon the safety and well-being of his victims. A hostage-taker, by contrast, is far more willing to torture or kill for purposes of political shock or maintaining his terrorist aura.
Logistics and intelligence gathering were of vital importance and that concerned Parsons. While the operation was well planned, it was conceived at great distance from the strike site. The team had blueprints, chosen breach points, and diagrams of the terrorist base. However, these were no more than educated guesses from reconnaissance photos. Parsons was hopeful he could send in an advance team to determine whether intelligence gathering was accurate. He especially desired to establish the exact location of mother and child.
Parsons was acutely aware that sniper-observer teams were excellent sources of intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance of the target area. He considered his snipers to be essential to the surprise and precision elements of the operation. A few seconds could mean the difference between success and failure. Parsons wanted to eliminate any opportunity for Al-Baklavi or his men to shoot the woman and child or, worse, detonate an explosive device. Absolute precision was critical to success. Rescuers would rely heavily on those two elements to gain relative superiority.
Parsons’ second in command was Peter Graham, another former SEAL who also happened to be a master sniper. He made a name for himself during the Iraq War when he single-handedly rescued a high-level American diplomat and killed all four hostage-takers at long range, one shot for each terrorist. This operation involved Qassim Al-Baklavi, and no one expected it to be resolved by one long-range sniper. If, however, Graham was able to put Al-Baklavi in the crosshairs, the terrorist’s reign was over.
Al-Baklavi was shrewd. He earned number-two status by being effective and elusive. He successfully completed numerous missions, always managing to escape, often times miraculously. He was equally skilled in sophisticated explosives and automatic weaponry, as well as unsophisticated, hand-to-hand combat, like a knife fight or beheading. No member of the rescue team would underestimate him.
Specialist Jarrod Lane was the team’s hand-to-hand snatch expert. The plan was for Graham and the other shooters to coordinate and employ a sniper attack from three sides. At the same time, Lane and his snatch team would secure and escape with the hostages from behind a tent Avi and Hassan identified as the hostage location. Lane silently prayed for the opportunity to come face-to-face with Al-Baklavi.
The most important part of the operation was, of course, the act of saving the hostages. Parsons’ team had an excellent reputation and record of success. Jack Dylan and Shaheed Ali were two extra hands, if needed, part of the team at Zack’s insistence. Parsons knew these men were also highly trained, with an excellent track record against white supremacist elements. Parsons was uncomfortable because he’d never worked with them, and white supremacists were not as unpredictable as Islamic Fundamentalists. There was no margin for error. An errant shot or explosive charge miscalculation could lead to disaster. Every team member had to have the ability to kill a terrorist upon first engagement, a double-tap to the chest and, for good measure, one to the head. A miss would provide a terrorist with the opportunity to shoot back or, worse, kill a hostage. Ali and Dylan were good men—Parsons could see that. Blake was paying the bill, and Parsons would have to adapt and put these men to good use.
Parsons and his team wore company uniforms, black with grey trim and a grey company logo on the chest. Each wore a company beret bearing the same logo at the front of the headgear. They were a multi-national fighting force—the uniforms would prevent confusion if fighting broke out. They were ready—their presence of mind was such that the impossible was possible; they were unbeatable and indestructible. When the assault began, they would show no fear, dominate the opposition, work as one, and get the job done.
All equipment was state of the art. Each man was provided with Kevlar body armor and would wear headsets with microphones for continuous communication. Each would carry enough firepower, ammo, and weapons to kill or disable an army of terrorists, let alone a small group of hostage-takers. However, if the operation went according to plan, none of this would be necessary. The artillery ramp-up was needed only for the unlikely event that all hell broke loose.
The plane touched down, without incident, at an American military base in Damascus. An Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter stood nearby waiting to take the team to their next destination. Everyone involved, except perhaps, Zachary Blake, knew exactly what to do. It was crunch time—the mission was a go.
The Chinook rose into the air and took off at a high rate of speed. The men and equipment were tossed around inside the copter; Zack found the entire experience exhilarating. He glanced out his window and noticed the base and nearby city had quickly disappeared. All he could see was desert, a few huts, and some dilapidated stone buildings that had obviously experienced a war or two.
Surveillance experts, using weapons’ scopes and binoculars, carefully scanned the area below, keeping a sharp eye out for possible spotters, snipers, or rising smoke and flame, a sure sign of a terrorist with a shoulder-launched missile device.
Their journey was uneventful. The Chinook touched down at a pre-planned location; a bombed-out, abandoned building about two miles from the target site. A Mercedes sport utility vehicle was waiting for them as expected. As the helicopter began its’ descent, Avi and Hassan exited the Mercedes and waved at the approaching team members. At touchdown, Avi and Hassan were introduced to the team members. After the equipment was unloaded, communications specialists began the process of assembling and testing their equipment. The mission would not be successful without comms operating at one hundred percent efficiency.
Team leaders were confident yet cautious about Al-Baklavi’s base of operations. Parsons was surprised that the shrewd terrorist chose such a flat, approachable desert location. On the other hand, assuming the terrorists possessed night vision capabilities, there was very little cover available and no easy means of escape if the rescue team was spotted before it could commence the operation.
One positive development was that Hassan knew the area exceptionally well, and he and Avi knew the precise location of Al-Baklavi’s base of operations. One of the operatives arrogantly suggested Al-Baklavi expected negotiators, not an extraction team, which created very favorable conditions for the mission’s likely success. Graham dressed the soldier down. He warned the team not to underestimate this man and to assume Al-Baklavi expected the assault and was prepared for it. The operative hung his head in shame.
After longer-than-expected time to set up communications, the equipment was tested and ready to go. The sun set, resting comfortably on the desert sand, before disappearing. As darkness began to envelop the building, the men tested their night vision goggles. The air cooled to a delightful temperature, and reality began to set in. The beginning of the negotiations phase of Operation Mother-Daughter was only moments away.
