It was very early in the morning, but the wires were still full of news about the tragedy in Washington. Some commentators feebly speculated the Yellow Line disaster might be linked to America's crumbling infrastructure. Most questioned whether this could possibly be another terrorist act. The evening editor at Al Jazeera received a claim of responsibility from Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula within minutes of the event. But this attack was dramatically different than recent Al-Qaeda attacks. The editor picked up the phone and dialed a local number.
"Nadir?"
"Yes, who is calling me in the middle of the night?" The voice on the phone sounded irritated and confused, like someone being roused from a deep sleep.
"It's Khalid from Al Jazeera. I hope I didn't disturb you." The editor smiled knowing that whether Nadir was sleeping or busy with one of his wives or mistresses, he was disturbed. He said, "We got a message via the usual sources about the train attack in Washington. It seems like you are stepping up your campaign, and I wanted to see if you wanted to make any specific comment before we go to print? As always, you would not be identified." There was an uncharacteristically long pause before Nadir responded in a clipped voice.
"I will call you back."
Khalid drummed his pen on the desk and then sat back in his chair. Nadir's response was certainly not what he expected. Usually, he had a well-rehearsed script and talking points at hand, and such calls turned into a one-way press conference. The editor knew full well that Al Jazeera served as Al-Qaeda's bullhorn to the rest of the world. It was reality and he'd gotten over it. Real journalism had disappeared from the landscape and would not be appreciated by the masses anyway. Entertainment was today's stock-in-trade. The state of journalism and reporting aside, Khalid sensed Nadir was not on his game tonight. Nothing concrete could be gleaned from his response, but his long pause seemed strange. He dismissed the possibility of Nadir not being aware of such a large scale attack and filled his cup with American coffee left on the burner for hours. Strong and bitter, it would keep him alert until Nadir called back.
"Khalid?" The question came as the phone was answered.
"Yes."
Now fully engaged, Nadir rambled on for several minutes cursing the United States and exclaiming that the infidels just witnessed the first of many such attacks which would be coming to America's heartland. He ended the statement with one of his classic lines.
"Make no mistake; Al-Qaeda's strength and reach are growing daily. More people are ready to sacrifice everything for our holy cause. We are everywhere. You remember Paris in November last year? The worldwide caliphate is now a reality. My friend, how many more Yellow Lines will it take for America to wake up to the reality that they can never win this fight?"
Nadir delivered the diatribe in the familiar angry voice Khalid expected.
"Do you want to make any specific comments about this specific attack? The wire reports are projecting 300-400 casualties," asked the editor evenly.
There was another pause before the phone went dead.