CHAPTER THREE - The Brotherhood

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base

The tired and nervous passengers gawked in silent awe as the bus convoy passed the aircraft boneyard containing thousands of American planes. Their moods turned to fear as they approached the guardhouse with four tough-looking, weapon-brandishing, Afghan-style Jihadists standing in wait. Their fear heightened when one approached to inspect the buses while carrying a grenade launcher strapped to his chest.

The Jihadist soldiers were not strangers to the travelers. Years earlier, the bearded ones had appeared in their villages with their strange dress, religious beliefs, and customs utterly alien to those of the poor farmers and laborers.

Their appearance and tactics resembled the Jesuit Order of the 14th century when Franciscan and Dominican monks attempted to convert the indigenous peoples of South and Central America to Catholicism by using local Indians to cause conflicts. The Latin American countries had expelled the Jesuits in 1767, but could not do the same with the radical Islamic activists.

The reason was in large part due to the hardships brought by the EMP attacks elsewhere and the resulting nuclear winter from the bombs that followed. While most never experienced the EMP, its worldwide effects had brought extreme hardship. The ensuing nuclear winter had forced those surviving starvation and crime to migrate to less affected areas. Each time they settled in, the radiation storms followed and forced them to move again. This group was migrating to the Arizona farmlands in the United States.

Two of the Jihadists, with their head and face covered in black cloth with only their eyes visible, entered the first bus and moments later stepped out and waved it through. They turned their attention to the next bus in line. They entered the bus and stopped at the front where they shouted in Arabic for everyone to have their papers on hand for inspection.

The scene resembled a hostage situation where the male passengers did not understand the soldiers’ language. The men looked at them in confusion while the children and female passengers looked frightened and made a point of not looking at the guards.

In silence and with piercing attention to detail, the bearded and heavily armed guards intently examined the documents of each passenger and then stared at the holder with the same intimidating intensity. One could almost smell the fear of those waiting for inspection and the relief of those passing muster. The guards finished and left the bus to repeat the process with the next bus arriving.

Almost overnight and justifying Captain Bronson’s concern about the squelch break on the radio, the Davis-Monthan AFB had grown from a handful of Brotherhood members to two thousand. Members emerging from nuclear winter shelters throughout South and Central America arrived by the hour. The families appeared tired, dirty, and scared after traveling for four days along the desolate highway through Mexico. The wives and daughters, in particular, acted cowed from being beaten or seeing other females beaten by soldiers wearing the black attire of Salafi Jihadists.

The beatings for infractions of Sharia Muslim law were not new. Even before the EMP, Islamic radicals often kidnapped young girls as young as nine years old for slavery and forced marriage.

The EMP attacks around the world had isolated most Central and South American countries to create a vacuum swiftly filled by the Jihadists seeking to convert the countries to Islam. Religious police enforced Sharia law that required men to grow beards and the females to change their culture drastically to that of Islam.

Beatings and stoning of females for the slightest infractions was the norm and had escalated during the long, tortuous trip. The Jihadists’ brutality took away the joy and long-held dreams of coming to America.

Colonel Bradley had predicted the arrival of immigrants surviving the EMP in other countries. However, Bradley had predicted refugees, not converts to Islam brought to the United States by the Muslim Brotherhood as a movement. Instead of refugees seeking to survive, this was a settlement process. The intent was to establish a civilization jihadist mission to eliminate and destroy the Western civilization from within. Once they developed food sources, the masses would follow.

The new arrivals were mostly poor farmers from the Central Americas fleeing their homelands with promises of a better life farming in America. The man’s wife and daughters had no say regarding the cruel fate that awaited them when told to prepare for a Hajj, a journey.

They had learned quickly during the trip to America to abide by laws that brought beatings for merely removing their head covering. An even worse offense was a female being in close to someone of the opposite gender, not her spouse or relative. They quickly learned that this was an offense under Islamic law and enforceable because they converted to the Muslim faith.

Those arriving on one bus still reeled from witnessing the beheading of a teenage girl two days earlier for speaking back to a man. The man beat her for kissing a boyfriend known since childhood.

The Jihadists were desperate characters, intent on the punctual fulfillment of every observance established in strict conformity with all the usages of the old orthodox mode of Islamic life in their former country.

The three Pakistanis leading this jihadist invasion of America had escaped the nuclear annihilation in the Middle East by their being in Central America converting peasants to Islam.

Stranded in Central America, they had taken advantage of the locals struggle to survive the ensuing nuclear winter, offering them paradise in the United States if they converted to Islam.

In the beginning, the Jihadists used goodness with the population to attract the people, and they provided them with what they needed to attract them quickly because they suffered so much after the EMP.

Once the Jidahists succeeded in attracting people, they changed dramatically, from being good to being cruel and harsh. You're either with me or against me! There is nothing in between."

In all the towns and villages it controls, the Jihadists implemented its very conservative version of Sharia. Strictly enforced rules on appearance required a beard for men and the full veil for women in the whole population.

Today, the three dressed in Taliban style attire and carrying military weapons stood at the open entrance to a large hangar watching the arrival of their new Jihadist army.

Omar Khalid Khurasani had dark eyes, noticeably long lashes, heavy eyebrows, and a medium chin hidden beneath a bushy, coal-black beard, and wore a flowing gray robe and a white turban wrapped around his head. The new arrivals sensed him being mean-hearted, a man with a sour demeanor, entirely lacking in stateliness.

Khurasani had gained fame for seizing a Sufi shrine and renaming it to honor the Red Mosque in Islamabad. Following that, he had become a ruthless leader after a deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan before leading a bloody campaign that killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and security personnel.

He stepped away from the other two leaders with an unpleasant gleam in his eyes and snarled at a man for no reason. He focused his mean glare on his Jihadist soldiers, in Arabic, ordered very loudly, and very aggressively, “Herd them into the hangar.”

'Herd' was precisely how the Jihadist soldiers moved the confused immigrants into hangars, one for the women and children and one for the men, this one containing an inscription on the wall that read, “Mosque of Martyrs” and “there is no other God but Allah.”

Swathed in a white turban and robes, the confused and scared new arrivals clustered in groups according to their sect or ethnicity wondering what to expect. They looked uncomfortable in their Arab deshabille, wearing beards and Muslim clothing issued them before embarking on their migration to the United States.

Unlike the Arab leaders, they smelled sweaty from the four days of travel. Khurasani, and his officers, on the other hand, smelled heavily of perfume. They used its scent because the intuition, like with dogs and wild animals, warned them that their real smell aroused unconscious antagonism.

One could see the banging sound of a large hangar causing nervousness among those assembled. Their agitation increased when Khurasani walked along the west wall to the hangar’s center where he spread a prayer pad. Turning, he stepped to a podium containing a microphone, its amplifier powered by a portable generator outside the hangar. He blew into the mic to get the attention of those milling before him. Speaking in Arabic guttural consonants mixed with Spanish, he began with, “I speak to you for Allah, the compassionate, the merciful.”

His voice strengthened in intensity, sounding like he was laying down an eye for-a-eye law. “This is a reminder that the second Pillar of Islam is prayer. Allah commands you, as Muslims, to pray five times daily to worship, and give thanks to God for what he has provided you. In prayer, you will focus your mind and have personal communication with Allah. You will not see him, but he will be standing directly in front of you. You must learn the prayer verses from the Quran and recite them in Arabic. Until then, you may recite your prayers in your home language” He paused briefly for emphasis and said in a commanding voice, “You will pray to Allah five times a day. Allah will award your prayers in both this life and the afterlife.”

His audience remained silent as he returned to his prayer pad. Almost on cue, a large set of speakers behind him sprung to life, blaring out the Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer. He raised hands up and said, "Allah Akbar" (God is Most Great). He folded his hands over his chest and recited the first chapter of the Quran in Arabic, raising his hands up, exclaiming, "Allah Akbar."

He dropped to his knees and lay prostrate on the prayer rug with his long beard touching the floor. He recited three times "Subhana Rabbiyal A'ala."

The hangar floor resembled a sea of robes as the immigrants followed suit in the prayers. The more experienced and devoted Muslims conducted their ritual, much the same as their leader, but not in sync with his movements. The newer converts watched to see what to do, those reacting too slowly, often feeling the sting of a punishing whip of wandering soldiers acting as Sharia religious police.

The sea of robes followed Khurasani’s actions when he rose to a sitting position with a chorus shout, "Allah Akbar.” The sea of bodies became prostrate again in the same manner as before saying, "Allah Akbar,” which concluded one rak'a unit of prayer. They performed a second rak’a after which they remained sitting after the prostrations and recited the Tashahhud. They turned to the right, saying, "Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah" (Peace be upon you and God's blessings). Turning to the left, they repeated the greeting to conclude the prayer ritual.

Khurasani picked up his prayer pad and returned to the other two leaders likewise securing their prayer pads. He nodded to indicate it was their turn to address the new arrivals.

Khan Fazillah, a former South Waziristan wing leader of the TTP, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, had gained fame as a merciless, experienced fighter from the Mehsub tribe in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan while fighting to overthrow the Pakistani government and install a hard-line form of Islamic law.

His white robe flowed in the draft of air as he briskly walked to the podium and faced the new arrivals standing before him.

He began by sweeping his piercing eyes over those before him before speaking like a prophet of old rebuking blasphemy. “You come here from many countries with bad customs. You are now Muslins, so you will now adapt to Islamic ways. You will not eat pork. You will not eat tacos or any of those other awful foods of sin. Your women will prepare Halal foods, foods that Muslims are allowed to eat or drink under Islamic Sharia.”

He looked upward as though seeking Allah’s prompting before continuing. “Most animals have died here in the United States because radiation and season change altered the food chain. We will bring animals from your countries to replenish them. You, as Muslims, must know a well-sharpened knife is the prescribed method of slaughtering the animals according to Islamic law.”

He gestured with a swiping hand across his neck. “You make a swift, deep incision that cuts the front of the throat, the carotid artery, windpipe, and jugular veins. Only a Muslim can perform the slaughter, and you will do it invoking the name of Allah, saying, "Bismillah" ("In the name of God") and three times "Allah Akbar" (God is the greatest). The animal must not suffer. You will slaughter your animals using Muslim halal methods with the head aligned with the Qiblah. You must utter the Islamic prayer in the name of God while slaughtering the animal. Lastly, you must drain the blood from the veins.”

The third robed leader, Mullah Sayed, a heavily bearded activist gained fame for his once leading a wing to the northwest Swat Valley, spreading fear among residents by forcing men to grow beards, preventing women from going to the market, or girls obtaining an education, which he avoided by blowing up schools. He joined Fazillah at the podium where he leaned into the microphone rather than adjust it for his taller height. “There is much more than all of you recently joining Islam must know. We saw much sin and disobedience during your travel to this new frontier of Islam.” His voice changed to a shout into the microphone to stress his point. “You will live by Sharia law. If you commit adultery, you will be stoned. Thieves will have their hands cut off. If your spouse is unfaithful, she will die by stoning. If your daughters dishonor your family, she must die.”

The audience before him appeared about evenly split as they realized the extent Sharia law was changing their previous ways of life. With his eyes, he focused on those acting confused or expressing mental conflict, strengthening his fanatic rhetoric against disobedience to Allah’s will and teaching the Quran.

In this new land of Islam, you will live by Sharia Law. Criticizing or denying any part of the Quran is punishable by death. Criticizing or denying Muhammad is a prophet is punishable by death. Criticizing or denying Allah, the moon god of Islam is punishable by death.”

The tone of his voice became shrill as he passionately listed the penalties of death.

A Muslim who becomes a non-Muslim is punishable by death. A non-Muslim who leads a Muslim away from Islam is punishable by death. A non-Muslim man who marries a Muslim woman is punishable by death.”

Fazillah recognized that Sayed’s harshness was becoming embarrassingly radical and respectfully took the microphone. In a much milder tone, he said, “Our police reported many cases of your women sinning during the trip to America. They observed many of your women speaking to a man, not her husband or relative. You must control your women if necessary beat them into subordination. You are now Muslim where a man can marry a 9-year old girl and consummate the marriage. A woman can have one husband, but you can have up to four wives. You can unilaterally divorce your wife, but she must have your consent to divorce.”

Fazillah’s voice elevated with passion as though he spoke from experience. “Testimonies of four male witnesses are required to prove rape against a woman, and a woman raped cannot testify in court against you. Even regarding property issues, a woman's testimony in court carries half the weight of yours. You must control your women or our police will.”

Khurasani had listened to the others admonish the new arrivals about the consequences of disobeying the will of Allah and the Quran teachings. He approached, and the other two backed away from the podium in a show of respect for their leader. Khurasani gentled his tone when he again addressed those before him.

As my colleague said, we must import farm animals to our new land. You have seen our fleet of American planes and vehicles. Thanks to the infidels, you will have kosher food until your cattle, your goats, and sheep arrive. The Americans elected a president sympathetic to the needs of Muslims serving in its military. He ordered the Defense Logistic Agency's Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia to order kosher and halal MREs. When the Americans left this base, they left behind over 2 million cases that we will distribute to you as you continue to your destination.”

The mention of destination perked the interest of all those standing before him. “It makes me happy to announce that you will be asserting Islamic dominance over a fertile farming area fed by a river often called America's Nile. I speak of the Colorado River that feeds the water necessary to irrigate more than 800,000 acres not far from here in what the Americans called the Gila Project. We now control the electricity generators at Hoover Dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada to provide a large amount of power required to pump Colorado River water to Arizona. We also control the Colorado River carrying the water needed to irrigate your fields. You are the Brotherhood’s vanguard and its domination of a new Islamic frontier. Millions of your brothers will follow, and it is you who will feed them. I proudly lead those of you chosen by Allah.”

Khurasani looked at Sayed and Fazillah who had voiced concern about not hearing from their people at the dam. Before coming to greet their newly arrived Brotherhood members, Khurasani, having not heard from their hydro and security people on the ground or the missing plane, had ordered their military commander to investigate the goings-on in Nevada.

All heads turned to the hangar’s open doors at hearing the jet engine of an F-18 Hornet jet aircraft roaring to life.

 

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