CHAPTER 19
Thursday, February 5 – MD minus 110 days
As the sun came up across America, sanitation workers in seven cities made gruesome discoveries of young dark skinned men’s bodies thrown in with the garbage in dumpsters behind schools, shopping malls, and office buildings. The bodies all showed signs of being killed execution style; one was shot through the back of the head, hands still tied behind his back. As police units separately struggled to obtain identities, motives, and suspects, they found nothing. No state or federal agency had any record of fingerprints or dental records for any of the victims. There was no identification on the bodies. These men did not exist as a matter of record.
Throughout the day, medical examiners would determine that these were all young Arab men from unknown Middle Eastern countries. Slowly the routine murder investigations turned to the obvious concern of why these unidentifiable young Arab men were in the United States. When that threshold was reached, calls were made to Homeland Security, who began to patch together a pattern. The news caused those with knowledge of the agenda real concern. As feared, the operatives were already here.
Meanwhile in Williams and Washington
The morning was greeted in Williams by groups that gathered together in preparation for the day’s anticipated activities. Officer Sally Johnson and Tom Campy had again gathered in her patrol car outside of Petersen Elementary School. There were now four, as others had joined – one more from the police force and one more from the Citizens Militia. They were as yet unaware of the discoveries of the executed men, even though one of the murders had occurred in a large adjoining city.
The Bookseller was up early, praying and seeking guidance for what was next. He had a real sense that God still wanted to use him and he wanted to be careful not to step out on his own. He was excited, but fearful for the nation and disappointed at the seeming lack of response to the call to pray. It seemed the nation was still asleep, particularly those who called themselves Christians. What would it take to awaken believers? He did not know but knew that whatever it was, God would allow it to happen if Christians did not change.
In Washington, Tom Knight and David Barnes had just completed a time of prayer with President Strong. Their prayers for wisdom and discernment to be enabled, to understand the threat and to know how to respond, along with a cry for protection of the nation had been interrupted by a sense of sadness over the Middle East and a feeling of ultimate powerlessness. Feeling helpless, yet without shame or embarrassment, President Strong had humbled himself while praying by lying down on the floor prostrate over the Great Seal of the United States. He understood that he might be the most powerful man on the face of the earth, the leader of the only remaining superpower, but he could not overcome the darkness and hate encamped against America. He could launch a military or nuclear strike, but he could not change a heart. His cry for God’s help came from a deep recognition of the need for divine intervention if there was to be any hope of stopping the never-ending assault of terror and hate. He knew that whatever generated that level of hate was beyond this world.
Later as he got up and sat across from the others on a couch, he said, “During our prayer I was reminded of what one of Israel’s kings prayed in a moment of great crisis. King Jehoshaphat, who faced a massive army he did not believe he could defeat, prayed, ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.’155 That is how I feel, only worse because we do not even understand the extent of the threat. All I know in my heart is that it is there and every bit as real as the army Jehoshaphat faced.”
“Not everyone would agree with you, Mr. President,” Tom Knight added. “Yesterday at the end of the meeting, Commissioner Matthews took us all to task for overreacting to the perceived threat. He got pretty vocal in his objection that we have no concrete evidence and should back off. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the source of the George Murphy story in the Daily Times this morning, which asked where the press secretary has disappeared to and what is the secret commission he now heads. How do you want us to deal with that? Do you want me out front again as press secretary?”
“I will tell you exactly what I want you to do: ignore the story and keep working on the commission. The press doesn’t run this administration. All they want to do is to criticize and take us down as part of the election campaign. I am not running and I don’t care what they say about me or about what we are doing. Proceed with what we know is right and history will clean up the mess they are making to sell a few papers. When it is time, I will go public. Until then we have nothing to say in response to that story or any others. I want the response to be, ‘No comment.’ ”
“Respectfully, Mr. President, that will just feed the fire. If we seek to avoid this, they will push all the harder for information. They will turn the investigative reporters loose and our opposition-led Congress will not be far behind.”
“Tom, I don’t care. We have to address the threat and cannot be diverted by this crowd or any other. Events will drive when we go public and I am frankly concerned that may have to be sooner rather than later. It is time to get real and quit playing the game. Politics is destroying our ability to govern this country. The poll-driven mentality which forces policy has been nothing less than a disaster. Long-term policy is impossible in a daily news cycle-driven environment. Politicians are too concerned about today’s opinion and appearance to lead.
“John Kennedy used to retell a Chinese proverb which said, ‘There go my people. I must find where they are going so I can lead them.’ That is a perfect description of the media and poll-driven America of today, and I will not become a prisoner of the polls or the media. We will lead and they can follow where we are going or get out of the way while we persevere onward.”
The discussion was broken up by a knock as National Security Advisor Troy Steed, Homeland Security Director Stephen Hollister, and CIA Director Crenshaw entered to give the daily security briefing. It was unusual for all three to come, which indicated there was significant news.
“Tom,” the president continued. “I want you and David to stay for the briefing this time since it will impact the commission’s work.”
“Mr. President, there is news from Iran,” Director Crenshaw began. “We have not gotten the detail we wanted, but we may have some better idea of timing and on who these people are. The Iranian operative was excluded from the planning for the attacks in America but was asked to prepare attacks in the Middle East against Western interests and to tie down the US military there in coordination with what they intend to do here in the States. Our best guess is something akin to the Tet Offensive156 on as broad a front as possible to create chaos and as much damage as possible. There are no particulars because we believe that plan is only now being made.
“On the timing issue, the Iranians believe that the attacks on the US are ninety days out at the most. They base that on the knowledge of how much time it will take to prepare for such a massive attack in the Middle East. The terrorist planners would not give their man a timeline until closer to the date for the attack in the US. The Iranians are preparing their own mischief for Israel based on a ninety-day timeline which assumes that they believe the US would be unable to come to Israel’s assistance either militarily or logistically. That affirms that the attacks in the US are intended to paralyze the country and make it impossible for us to respond elsewhere in the world to threats.”
That comment was followed by sober silence as the six men in the Oval Office tried to take in what this could mean. The cogs turned rapidly in David Barnes’ head as he processed the magnitude of the situation, finally thinking out loud he said, “The agenda, remember, ‘Timing – MD’? Could ‘MD’ be Memorial Day? That’s about ninety days from today. It would be a different approach from the past. They would not be planning an attack based on a Muslim historical event, but would be desecrating an American holiday. Wait a minute. Like the 9/11 attacks were on symbolically significant buildings, this time the attack would be on a day honoring American military. I think the Iranians may be right. The target date may be Memorial Day.”
“Memorial Day, despicable, sounds just like them,” inserted Troy Steed, “take our day to remember the sacrifices of our military for our country and turn it into the day of the greatest destruction since Pearl Harbor.”
“Pearl Harbor is a good reminder of what we need to do and what we need for God to do,” the president added thoughtfully. “Remember, our government had numerous warnings of the Japanese intentions which were ignored until it was too late. The only reason the whole of the West Coast was not opened to an unchallenged amphibious invasion was that our carriers were not at Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning. How many times in history has God saved us from ourselves? I sure hope that old man at the press conference was wrong and we are still living under at least some level of divine protection.”
“Mr. President, you have to stay away from religion in dealing with this threat,” Director Hollister warned. “You have already pushed it pretty far with your introduction of prayer at the commission. The congressional leadership will crucify you if you bring religion into this. With the temperament on the Hill, there is no telling what kind of firefight public statements invoking God would cause. The leadership in the Senate is trying to figure out how to make that old man a criminal under some new extension of the hate crimes law. It isn’t worth the political capital that you are going to need to mobilize a response.”
“You don’t get it, do you,” the president responded angrily. “I don’t care about political capital. I care about protecting this nation and I cannot do that independent of God. Those children dressed up in suits playing games and dancing to the lobbyist tunes up on Capitol Hill can’t see beyond their name in today’s newspaper. I have had it with them! I intend to lead as I believe God would have me lead and they can follow or fight me. I believe that the people will follow if they see me seeking to follow God. End of discussion. Now, what new insights did we learn from the Iranians about these people?”
“Really more of the same,” answered CIA Director Crenshaw. “They are described by the Iranian operative as ‘white collar planners who have no blood on their hands, unwilling to risk themselves to kill the enemy.’ He despises them, but will cooperate to hurt us in a coordinated attack.”
“I cannot believe they don’t know something,” Troy Steed said incredulously. “The Iranians have their own issues with Al Qaeda and ISIS. They are not going to let this go and not find out what the terrorists intend to do. Remember, they have been threatened and they are going to want to know the exact nature of the attacks, the anticipated damage and the day and hour. They have their own agenda they would like to push if they know the US is incapacitated, and that agenda is spelled I-S-R-A-E-L.”
“You are absolutely right,” Crenshaw joined in. Our agents believe that is exactly what Iran will do if they really believe we will be incapable of a response other than nuclear.”
Still thinking, David Barnes added, “That will be a measure for us as we get closer to MD. If we gather evidence that the Iranians are massing for an attack on Israel, either alone or in cooperation with other Middle Eastern nations, we’ll know they believe we are going to be hit and rendered effectively unable to respond offensively.”
“When do we tell Israel?” the president asked.
“Not until we are sure of what we face and what they will face,” Crenshaw answered. “If Israel feels threatened, they will strike first with whatever level of force they believe is required to eliminate the threat. They will not be in the dark. They have a much more sophisticated intelligence network in Iran than we do. We can wait a month if Barnes is right about the date but no more.”
“This raises the nuclear question to a whole new level,” the president added. “We need to be sure what we are facing in 90 days is not nuclear and that the Iranians will not have nuclear weapons to use against Israel either. Steve and Tom, I want a report on my desk by Friday on what we are doing to monitor the possibility of nuclear devices coming into the country or already here in major population areas.”
“Mr. President, the kind of attack which it appears we face does not lend itself to a nuclear weapon. If the intelligence is correct, they are not trying to kill masses of people, but destroy the ability to sustain our existence as a nation,” David Barnes added.
“David, I understand the intelligence, but we don’t get a second chance on this one so follow the nuclear possibility as well as whatever else makes sense. Have we gotten any closer to knowing the targets and how they intend to inflict such massive damage?” the president asked.
“All I can tell you right now, Mr. President, is that we are working on it,” Chairman Knight answered. “Frankly, I feel stupid and afraid.”
“Good,” the president responded, “at least I’m not alone.”
The phone rang and the White House operator announced an urgent call for Homeland Security Director Hollister. “Take it here,” the president insisted.
One side of the conversation was enough to get everyone’s attention. “What! How can that be? Seven young Arab men dead in seven different cities, all killed execution style and we have no information on who they are or where they came from or how they got here? Gather the forensic evidence as quickly as possible and release it to all our allies to see what they might know about these people. Absolutely no press, keep this top secret.”
Turning to the group gathered in the Oval Office, Director Hollister reported what he had just learned of the seven young Arab men killed execution-style in seven different cities. “That confirms they are already among us as we feared, but I wonder why these men were killed,” asked Chairman Knight.
“It would have to be discipline,” Director Crenshaw answered. “Can you imagine the difficulty of keeping a large number of suicide operatives hidden and inconspicuous for months waiting to die killing their enemies who are all around them? They probably don’t yet know the plan like how many of the 9/11 operatives did not know they were going to die. If this thing is really ninety days away, they obviously are having difficulty controlling their people and are trying to send a message to the others by executing the most unreasonable.”
“How could they have coordinated this, all killed on the same day and even the same way?” asked Director Hollister.
“I think I have a partial answer,” said David Barnes. “Let me grab my notes a minute. Yes, here it is. You remember those messages we pulled from the website? One was, ‘Some Gs crave delay and are cautious. Give them life recklessly and in public. J-14.’ ”
“I don’t know what ‘G’ means, but it must be a reference to their operatives. The rest of the message is clear through. They have simply reversed the meaning of the words. This leader, ‘J-14’ instructed the leaders of the cells to do that. Here is my translation, ‘Some operatives (?) demand an immediate attack and have become reckless risking the mission. Kill them carefully and privately.’ Remember that was sent from Iran while the planners’ meeting was going on.”
“I think you’re right, David,” the president said. “What about the other message from the website?”
“The other message was, ‘0-1 later. J-10.’ Obviously, the ‘J-10’ is a different leader, which could mean either a geographic division of leadership or perhaps a different focus or plan. Maybe we are dealing with more than one kind of attack. The ‘0-1’ is probably a reference to a place. The ‘later’ means that whatever is to happen in 0-1 is to happen soon. That was like a launch code. If we have this right, we are going to experience some kind of attack in a single city soon, whatever soon means.”
“Look, I don’t know whether David has it all right, but we cannot take a chance,” the president instructed. “Tom, I need options on how to get this information in a useful form to local law enforcement so they can be prepared. We don’t want to start a panic, but we have to respond. We have seven bodies which tells us this is more likely true than false. Get back to me in the early afternoon.”
“Mr. President, one more thing,” Director Crenshaw added reluctantly. “I wouldn’t bother you with this, but it is important to our Iranian operatives for some reason and I want to be able to tell them we complied with their request. However, since it is so unusual I wanted your clearance.”
“What is it?” the president asked curiously.
“They have sent a sealed message for the old man, the one who raised the issue at the end of the press conference in Williams. They saw a replay of that event on cable TV and have a message for him. I know it breaks all protocol, but I didn’t feel I should open it and have no idea what the message is, but these men are key to everything we have learned to date and I believe that we should deliver the message as requested. I trust that if it was intelligence we needed, they would have already shared it with us. They have never done anything to make us question them and communication with the old man seems harmless.”
“I agree. Don’t open it and have the message delivered today,” the president instructed. “I trust that old man’s heart and our Iranian team. Should the old man want to send a response back, have it taken. I feel that communication between those three will benefit us, and nothing material will be withheld.”
“Now, unfortunately, my schedule says I must meet with former President Cox and a crowd from the Senate that wants to create what they are calling the UNA out of Mexico, the US and Canada. They want something like another United Nations – and I am sure they have other things on their mind. I need to maintain my schedule and appear that things are business as usual. We don’t want to make them suspicious. You all have plenty to do in response to what we’ve learned. Let’s get to work.”