Dragon's Fury - Dragon's Breath Part 23

Christmas 2005 Throughout Christendom, the festive, joyful atmosphere was in full swing. All across Europe and North America, record purchase volumes had been set as shoppers visited the malls and their favorite stores and shops to purchase gifts for their relatives and friends. Christmas day dawned bright and cool across the better portion of North America and Europe, although in the northern sections a lingering snow cover from snowfall several days earlier made for a white Christmas nonetheless.

The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Britain made a joint, Christmas Day appearance to troops in the Mid East who were still stationed there as a result of the hostilities that had occurred in early November. Both men made a morning appearance on the ground in Kuwait to their Army and forward deployed Air Force personnel. Then, later in the afternoon they made appearances on board two s.h.i.+ps in the Persian Gulf. President Weisskopf visited the USS s.h.i.+loh (CG 68), an Aegis cla.s.s guided missile cruiser (CG) of the US 7thFleet. The British Prime Minister visited the HMS Argyll (F 231), a Duke cla.s.s, Type 23 FFG and flags.h.i.+p of the United Kingdom's 6thFrigate Squadron.

Both s.h.i.+ps were deployed, along with several others, in the Persian Gulf to supply radar warning, additional anti-air defenses and fire support to allied ground and air forces should it be required. No major capital s.h.i.+ps such as American or British aircraft carriers or large amphibious a.s.sault s.h.i.+ps were being allowed into the Gulf. With the GIR's proven willingness to launch ma.s.sive air a.s.saults and take tremendous casualties, the confines of the Persian Gulf made the prospect of these large s.h.i.+ps and their embarked air wings and expeditionary ground forces too risky.

Security for these visits was extremely p.r.o.nounced. No fewer than fifty interceptor aircraft were in the air at all times in conjunction with the Presidential and Prime Minister's visit. Although there had been some threats from specific terrorists groups which created a corresponding higher alert status at each of the bases. No untoward incidents occurred.

Meanwhile, a potential inter-Arab crisis and condition was developing along the border of Syria and the GIR, at the former Iraqi border. The Syrian Army and Air Force were conducting exercises south of Turkey along that border. Syria indicated through diplomatic channels that these exercises were needed for its armed forces and were also meant to send a strong message to the GIR to respect Syria's borders. Although Syria had not taken part in Operation Iraqi Freedom and had been warned by the United States not to attempt to help Saddam Hussein or his Ba'ath party at that time, Syria had partic.i.p.ated earlier in Desert Storm on the side of the allies. Many western a.n.a.lysts viewed the current military posturing by Syria as a much needed and strong signal to the GIR and Hasan Sayeed. They presumed it indicated that Sayeed's influence did not extend to all of Islam, including some of those states viewed as very fundamental and faithful to the Islamic faith.

The exercises themselves involved upwards of one hundred thousand personnel as three full divisions practiced armored a.s.sault, mechanized advance and air a.s.sault operations. Syria's logistical supply operations were also exercised in support of these operations. In addition, close air support and combat air patrol operations were held in support of the armored and mechanized exercises.

The GIR communicated many warnings to the Syrians regarding these exercises throughout the week between Christmas and the New Year. Hasan Sayeed personally warned the Syrian King to ensure that no encroachment occurred by the one thousand tanks, twelve hundred armored personnel carriers and four hundred military aircraft involved in the exercises. Most of this equipment was newer and perceived as a significant threat. T-72 and T-80 tanks, BTR-80 and BMP-2 armored personnel carriers, Mig-29, Mig-27 and SU-22 aircraft and HIND-E attack helicopters were all employed.

Mediation by various members of the Arab League was attempted as the GIR beefed up its own forces in the areas along their northern border with Syria. This involved transferring some of the forces that had been deployed around Irbil and Karkuk after the defeat of the Kurds. As part of the GIR 1stArmy group that had been pulled back deeper into the GIR began mobilizing for movement, negotiations and calls for caution were issued by the European Union, the Security Council of the United Nations and by the United States.

On December 30th, Jien Zenim announced that the People's Republic of China would lead a delegation of several of the Coalition of Asian States to the region during the first week of January in an attempt to negotiate and defuse the crisis. Jien's close confidant and ally, Li Peng, would head the delegation on behalf of the PRC and the CAS.

New Year 2006 As the people all around the globe rang in the New Year with celebration and festivities, the world also anxiously awaited the resolution of the crisis brewing between the GIR and Syria. While the delegations were preparing for the Chinese brokered summit, and while Syrian and GIR troops by the hundreds of thousands faced each other over what appeared to be a very tense frontier, other disturbing developments were coming to light on the international scene.

North Korea's annual military exercises were the largest in its history. Over three hundred thousand North Korean combat troops and their equipment were gathered right along the DMZ conducting exercises meant to simulate the North's capability to invade the South. These exercises and the numbers of troops partic.i.p.ating meant that the US forces and South Korean forces were placed on their highest state of alert. Recognizing that an outbreak of hostilities on the Korean peninsula would almost certainly end up involving them, j.a.pan and Taiwan also placed their forces on their highest state of readiness.

All of this added substantially to the overall unease felt around the world, particularly in the west and in those nations of Asia that had not become a part of the CAS. Markets were down sharply, particularly the high tech and petroleum markets that depended on these regions for their production.

While this was occurring, the CAS continued experiencing growth and prosperity. This prosperity was enjoyed by all of its member states, but particularly China, India and the GIR. Russia was also benefiting immensely from her relations.h.i.+p to the CAS through the exclusive exploitation of Siberia, and through its blossoming arms sales to members of the CAS and the GIR. By January 1st, 2006 the number of nations that had officially joined the CAS included China, Cambodia, India, Mongolia, The Greater Islamic Republic, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, North Korea, and Bangladesh.

The GIR was itself growing and reaching ever further towards the Imam Hasan Sayeed's goal for a unified Islam. By January 1st, 2006, the GIR included all of the former states of Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq.

This amounted to an Islamic population of over two hundred and seventy million citizens who looked to the Imam Hasan Sayeed as their political, military and spiritual leader. The developing Islamic Republic, like its predecessor Iran, was a fundamental Islamic state where freedom of religion was not recognized and freedom of speech and the press was severely suppressed. The fact that most of these people were choosing to live in such conditions was mystifying to the west, but alluring to other Islamic nations that leaned towards fundamentalism.

January 5, 2006. 16:00 local time Foreign Ministry press room Damascus, Syria "All I can tell you is that we have reached a very delicate stage of the negotiations. The Syrian and GIR military and diplomatic representatives have requested to continue meeting and negotiating behind closed doors. Thus far we have made tremendous progress which the various news services have witnessed in open meetings of the last three days. Now, the time has come for more delicate issues to be discussed which will be pivotal in having the two armed forces back away from their high levels of alert and move away from their borders. I have every confidence that within the next few days we will be successful in those aims.

"I will take a question or two. Yes, the young lady on the 2ndrow."

As Li Ping motioned to the ABS reporter who had raised her hand, he briefly thought about the status of the meetings to date. Things were going just a Jien Zemin and Hasan Sayeed had planned. This very news conference had been a part of that elaborate planning, and here were all of the major news services of the world, particularly of the western world, hungry for the story. That hunger was represented in all of their eyes and their clamoring to ask their questions. The ABS reporter he had chosen first, Linda McPherson, was a well known journalist whose dislike and disdain for the current US President was well doc.u.mented.

"Mr. Li, you indicated that great progress had been made thus far at this summit. Can you outline for us what that progress consists of?"

Excellent question, thought Li.

"I would be happy to, though you will understand if I do not delve deeply into specifics at the moment.

Syria is clearly reacting to the presence of so many troops near its borders as a result of the unfortunate hostilities in the area last November. Although the GIR stated in plain language that it had no intent to violate any other nation's sovereignty or borders, nonetheless, one can understand Syria's prudence when there is someone with a big stick standing outside your unlocked and largely undefended back door. This is particularly true when the individual carrying the stick is confused for a bully who has been known to wield the stick at weaker neighbors in the past.

"This prudence has invoked a similar reaction from the GIR, whose new borders also need to be secure.

When they see large forces on their doorstep, they naturally move a countering force nearby, just in case.

"The most important progress to date has been our ability, as respected mediators and friends of both nations, to point out that the old bully on the street is no longer there. That both neighbors need to cautiously realize that miscommunication, presumptions and historical fears have led to the current situation. In essence, that the two nations and forces really need not fear each other. To realize that the most likely situation that would lead to hostilities in this particular situation is the proximity of the forces and their high degree of alert-not a pre-determined desire or plan to violate the border of one or the other. I believe we have arrived at that understanding, which places us in a position to move forward."

"Next question. There, in the third row on the left, the young man with the brown blazer."

The leading Middle East correspondent for WNN stood up.

"Yes. Without going into any specifics of the "delicate" portions of the current negotiations, can you tell us what your preferred time table would be, and what general steps could lead towards a stand down by both forces?"

Li decided that this would be an opportune time to release some leading information. Information the "free press" would surely take up and spread abroad. Information that would be used to pressure politicians in a manner congruent with the long term plans of the CAS.

"Well, the short answer on the time table portion is: as soon as possible, or as you Americans say ASAP.".

Li paused for the laughter that rippled through the press room. When it had died down, he continued.

"But, more seriously, I expect we can arrive at a detailed plan for bringing the border regions into a normal mode within three to four days. Once we achieve that understanding, and develop non threatening logistical plans towards that end, we can then proceed to lower threat and alert levels, reduce combat air patrols and move forces back away from the border itself. I hope this gives you a general feel for where we hope to take these negotiations. One last question. Yes, you here on the back row."

JT Samson could not believe his good fortune. His Internet news site, SierraLines, had been in operation almost eight years. Up until last year, it had operated on a shoe-string budget, barely earning enough to keep his few employees paid, and have enough left over for living expenses. In fact, had it not been for his wife's medical practice, which was really what was putting bread on the table, SierraLines would have gone under long ago.

But all of that had changed during the last presidential elections. At a fund raising dinner in Denver, it had been JT's microphone which had caught now President Norm Weisskopf's unguarded and now famous remark about "wrestling" with the husband of his opponent, a former President himself, who had commented on Weisskopf's age.

That brief recording and its subsequent publication on his site, had brought him all of the notoriety and advertising and news contracts he needed to turn SierraLines into what was now considered the pre-eminent conservative news site on the internet. It had given him the time and the money to travel and chase after major news events all over the world-and JT had proven quite good at it. The fact was, he hadalways been good at it, he just needed the opportunity.

So here he was, chasing his instincts. He remembered seeing the video of the event he had in mind, the m.u.f.fled crack of a single gunshot and then the security forces riding Hasan Sayeed to the ground. He had seen it only once on the networks...and then no more. Yes, he had a question for Li Peng, an individual JT recognized as an "insider" in the PRC leaders.h.i.+p; and that question wasn't related to the current Syrian "crisis" at all.

"Mr. Li, is it true that you and the PRC leaders.h.i.+p are privy to information that during Hasan Sayeed's recent pilgrimage to Irbil, before he successfully negotiated the inclusion of the Kurds into the GIR, that he was the victim of an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt? Do you, or do you not have clear evidence that the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt was conducted by the United States CIA and was foiled by none other than Jabal Talabari, the former leader of the Kurd military and the current leader of the GIR military in this crisis?"

As the question had been formulated, the pleasant smile on Li Peng's face had slowly given way to a guarded incredulous look. The room had gone deathly silent, a silence that lingered for a few pregnant heartbeats as Li prepared to answer.

Then, bedlam as the room erupted into a deafening chorus of shouts, questions and attempts to get Li's attention. All hands were raised, most reporters were on their feet. Li looked around, wondering how the mood and the focus of the meeting could have turned so drastically. Finally, he raised his voice loud enough to be heard over the din.

"I cannot comment on any such report. The security forces of the GIR and their investigative agencies are in the best position to answer such allegations. Thank you all. This concludes the press conference."

January 10, 2006. 14:00 local time General People's Congress Tripoli, Libya Premier Mubarik al-Shamik stood and walked to the podium and the microphones. The People's Congress had voted and the voting had been unanimous, just as their leader, Muamar Abu al-Qahdafe had predicted it would be. Now, it was left to him, Premier Mubarik Shamik to make the historic announcement.

"My brothers, citizens of Libya, today we are becoming part of history; part of a divine destiny. It is with great pleasure and pride that I present you with the results of the historic vote. Let it be recorded that today, Monday, January 10, 2006, the General People's Congress has voted unanimously to unite ourselves with the Greater Islamic Republic and to proclaim the Imam Hasan Sayeed as our Mahdi."

"The recent revelations regarding the Great Satan's, America's, role in the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the Imam have hastened this decision. We, as the faithful in Islam, must unite to stave off these insidious influences and attacks by the west."

"In addition, I am further pleased to say that as I speak, concurrently in Algiers, Algeria; N'Djamena, Chad; Khartoum, Sudan; Sanaa, Yemen; and Muscat, Oman similar announcements are being made."

"It has become an irresistible force as sure as the pull of gravity and it is sweeping all of Islam. Our people and faith are being united into a greater whole and the Imam Sayeed is G.o.d's instrument in making it happen. I urge all Islamic people to join with us. Our revolutionary leader, Muamar Qahdafe was the first to sign this doc.u.ment and he has authorized me, on his behalf, to endorse our unification in the holy name of Allah."

As a roar of approval erupted from the congress, Premier Shamik returned to his seat. He sat down and contemplated the coming struggles. With today's announcement, enough members of OPEC (four out of eleven) were now a part of the GIR to be able to hold up almost any measure they desired. The west would understand the meaning of this. In addition, almost one third of the Arab League (seven out of twenty-two) was now a part of the GIR. If things worked as the Imam had planned, soon a much higher percentage of both organizations would be a part of the GIR.

Shamik was relatively cynical. He had been involved as a politician and a leader under one of the most ruthless Muslim dictators in the world and had therefore seen his share of purges and elimination, faithful follower of Allah or not. Yet, despite this, he was himself a man of faith and it took his breath away to contemplate the coming together of so much of the Muslim world: Iran, Tajikistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Chad, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Oman, Libya.

All of these were now one nation! Could it be true? Would it hold and allow Allah's will to be manifest through them? Shamik felt that much of that depended on the Arab states that were resisting. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, The United Arab Emirate, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon had still not made any definitive move. In fact, some of them were openly hostile. Those states and how they reacted to coming events would be the key for the realization of the long awaited dream, Shamik was sure of this.

January 12, 2006, 15:25 Salt Lake City International Airport Salt Lake City, UT "Ladies and Gentlemen, Delta Airlines welcomes you to Salt Lake City where the local time is 3:25 p.m.

Mountain Standard Time."

The landing was smooth and Hector Ortiz was awakened from his nap only by the roar of the engines operating in reverse thrust and the customary arrival announcement by the flight attendant. Ortiz looked out the window and saw the mountains to the east of the airport in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. His flight had begun in Monterey and having already cleared customs at Dallas-Forth Worth, he antic.i.p.ated a quick stop at the Avis counter and a short drive to his hotel. Tomorrow, he had a number of appointments to keep in both the Salt Lake and the further south, Utah valleys.

While Hector Ortiz enjoyed his frequent trips to the United States, the home of his customers and the source of his income, he had no love for the American people or their system of government. He hoped, and worked for the day, that the map of the American continent would be very different. Secretly, he had rejoiced when the bin Laden organization had successfully attacked America some years ago. He had not let it show then, or at any time since. He was far too shrewd for that, but he had secretly hoped at the time that those events would have toppled the American eagle off of its perch. When it hadn't, he had filed and stored the experience, understanding that without supporting actions such attacks, even as large as those that occurred in September of 2001, had little hope of doing more than momentarily stunning a nation as large and capable as the United States.

Ortiz was engaged in the business of international trade. In its visible activities, his trucking company was one of several which facilitated the burgeoning flow of goods from Mexico to the United States as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The freight manifests of his company showed finished goods of all kinds, including home appliances, hardware, automotive parts and industrial electrical devices which were a.s.sembled in the maquiladora towns for export to "El Norte." This enterprise provided him with knowledge of traps and hazards to be avoided in conducting his shadowy and even more profitable operations-conveying contraband cargo across the long, porous border between the two nations.

Ortiz saw the United States as a land of contradictions. A nation whose economic vitality was born in its traditions of liberty and free enterprise, now America ironically provided profit opportunities to smugglers like himself through its prohibition policies, just as the ban of alcohol had given rise to the gangland entrepreneurs of the early 20thcentury. A land both powerful and yet so very vulnerable, dependent upon its webs of technology and energy. That vulnerability had been very aptly demonstrated back in 2001, and the Americans had attempted to respond, while maintaining their open society. The President at that time had created a new cabinet level position, the "Office of Homeland Security" and many procedures and plans had been established to protect the more obvious targets within America. Plans and procedures had been in place for the last five years, but they had never been tested. Soon perhaps they would be.

Despite his personal financial success resulting from his businesses, Ortiz, who was borne in Ciudad Juarez, was a student of history. He held that the lands of the US southwest were stolen by conquest in the wars of 1836 through 1846 or coerced purchases, and that they rightfully belonged to the Hispanic people. For more than thirty years, Hispanic nationalists within the US had been promoting the idea of Aztlan, a new nation which would be comprised of these lands. Certainly, demographic trends that might be conducive to such a development were already developing in the United States. In addition, the events of the past year involving the Greater Islamic Republic had proven, to an even greater degree than the breakup of the old Soviet Union, that such monumental changes were possible, and perhaps even inevitable.

To that end, Ortiz had been contacted recently by an old friend, an aging head of state, who asked for his a.s.sistance in bringing about similar changes to North America. Hector would use his own resources to study the current state of the infrastructure networks-the pipelines, irrigation systems, power lines and their nodes throughout the spa.r.s.ely populated American West. Then, based on further instructions from his friend, he would put together a number of "projects" related to that infrastructure.

Hector recalled a conversation with Miguel Santos, one of his drivers from the early days when his business was small, but who had risen to be a trusted senior member of Hector's inner circle. Miguel had told him of working in the United States in the mid to late 1990s as a range land fire fighter. Once, over two thousand fire fighters were brought in to fight a brushfire in an isolated area of the state of Utah where brushfires are usually left to burn out behind a fire line. Miguel mentioned that an electric power substation some fifteen miles from the town of Fontaine was the junction point for transmission of 10% of the electric power required for southern California. The men had been brought in to ensure that this juncture was not damaged and they had been ordered to keep the fire from it at all costs.

That had been a number of years ago, and the firefighters, who had camped in the Fontaine, Utah, City Park, had in fact saved the transmission station. Now, in conjunction with the a.s.signment from his employer, Ortiz had already done substantial research on this facility, along with many others, and the Bonneville Power Administration Company that maintained and administered it. He had used on-line resources princ.i.p.ally, but since his friend funded this effort so well, he had also purchased SPOT satellite images of the station. This had revealed much to him about the substation and how it had been designed and placed generally.

However, as he had learned from his underground business, there was no subst.i.tute for first hand, close up observations. Ortiz was committed to making those observations over the next two days between and after his legitimate business appointments. Those observations would also include an a.s.sessment of how America's "Office of Homeland Defense" may have inst.i.tuted policies that would prevent or inhibit his plans out in these rural areas, over the next two days.

January 16, 2006. 19:38 White House Situation Room Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

The mood was tense. They had been meeting here for over four hours, and for the President of the United States, four hours was huge block of time. Conditions warranted it.

"OK, then all of SIGINT data and all of our NRO images are indicating then that the GIR and Syria are moving away from one another, but NOT standing down?"

Jeremy Stone paused before answering the President's question.

"Mr. President, that is essentially correct, but I believe that the flavor John Bowers is putting on this is much closer to what the real picture could shape up to be.

"We have two very large forces, who we believed, up until a few days ago, were potentially belligerent towards one another. But, the positions they are moving towards along the Turkish border, and the disposition of their logistics trains are causing our War College and think tankers a lot of concern. I guess I can best sum it up by quoting what one of junior a.n.a.lysts quipped the other day before the direction and disposition became clear. I believe his exact words were, "Boy, if those two forces were on the same side, now that would be one h.e.l.l of a pincer about to employ into Turkey." This quote opened a lot of eyes and led to our current concerns Mr. President."

As the President digested the magnitude of what General Stone had just said, John Bowers, the National Security Advisor to the President contemplated the ramifications.

Simply put, they had been suckered and led around like an animal with a ring in its nose. The Syrians had over one hundred thousand combat troops moving west along their border with Turkey. The Greater Islamic Republic had over one hundred and twenty thousand troops moving east along their border with Turkey. Between them, they had over 2,300 main battle tanks and almost 3,500 armored personnel carriers in those two army groups, not to mention some 850 combat aircraft. If they somehow could coordinate their activities and move, pincer-like into Turkey-well, Turkey's total military strength comprised about 390,000 of which 340,000 were draftees. Turkey had almost 4,000 tanks, but only 1,000 of them were modern. The entire Turkish Air Force consisted of only 350400 modern aircraft.

This could get very dangerous, very quickly.

"Jeremy, Tim and John: how quickly can we, or the Turks have forces in place to counter a move should the Syrians and/or the GIR invade Turkey?"

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs fielded the question.

"Mr. President, we have staffed down significantly in terms of ground troops. Incirlik has a strong air wing and we could start ferrying troops in there fairly quickly. But we are many weeks away from having a large enough blocking force in place with the equipment to effectively block such an operations. The Turks are certainly watching this, but their total Army is barely larger than these two forces combined.

They could block maybe one of these thrusts if they started today and the GIR and Syrians held off for at least a couple of weeks. Otherwise, there would be serious loss of ground before a defense could be set up."

It didn't take very long for the President to make up his mind.

"OK, let's get the 82ndAirborne headed for Turkey. I want the orders cut and the initial people in the air by tomorrow. Tim, work with General Stone and follow that up with planning to place a force in depth there to a.s.sist Turkey as soon as possible."

"Fred, we need to immediately set up a conference call between myself and the President of Turkey.

We need to apprise him of our concerns and suspicions and coordinate a meeting ASAP between our military people and Turkey's. Make sure we include NATO in this as we are looking at a potential NATO response should there be any hostilities. Tim, please ensure that all of our military people are hooked tight into this very quickly."

"Fred, also get me a conference call with Hasan Sayeed, we need to make our intentions and commitment with respect to Turkey very plain."

"Finally, Tim and Jeremy, please have the basic ingredients of your plan for the defense of Turkey prepared to discuss with the Turkish government and any NATO personnel during the meeting that Fred will be setting up."

"Let's meet back here tomorrow morning at seven o'clock a.m. to work out the details of the schedule for all of this. Ladies and gentlemen, with these developments in Turkey, the developments along the DMZ in Korea, the continued build up of Red China and the political and military encirclement of Egypt, we face a developing crisis as large as that preceding World War II. We must face it with the same level of gravity and commitment."

January 17, 2006 07:30 local time Pope Air Force Base Flight Line Ft. Bragg, North Carolina On the flight line of Pope Air Force Base, the first group of C-17 Globe Master III Heavy Lift Transports were spooling up and preparing for departure. The C-17 military airlift aircraft could carry payloads up to 169,000 pounds anywhere in the world to land on small, unimproved airfields. In this case, they were going to be carrying their payload to the recently repaired airfield at Incirlik, Turkey. The payloads could include these troops and their equipment, up to and including HUMMV's, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Sheridan Tanks and M1A1 main battle tanks. In this case, the initial flights would be heavily laden with troops and some of their supporting equipment, princ.i.p.ally HUMMV's and some of their APC's.

This early winter morning, long lines of soldiers carrying their personal equipment and effects were strung out next to each aircraft as elements of the 1stBrigade of the 82ndboarded. Their collective breath could be seen rising in small clouds as the temperature outside was hovering at twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit.

These troops would be arriving in Turkey in eighteen to twenty hours as the initial phase of the United States response to the looming threat of the Syrian and GIR forces ma.s.sing on the Turkish border.

Away from the flight line, crews were in the final stages of preparing attack helicopters from the 1stBattalion of the 82ndAviation Regiment for transport to Turkey. The 82ndAviation Regiment was the only Army attack and support helicopter unit prepared to deploy anywhere in the world within eighteen hours notice. Right now, they were feverishly preparing their OH-58D and newly delivered RH-66 Comanche helicopters, and their UH-60 helicopters for transport and combat.

As the first C-17 Globemaster lifted into the air and crossed the outer barrier of the base, a small Fiat sedan parked just off the base in an area frequented by military enthusiasts, started its engine and drove away. Inside, Jabeel Suma, a twenty-three year old Arabic student at the local community college in Fayetteville, North Carolina, closed his notepad and set it on the seat next to him. He drove into Fayetteville, in an area fairly far removed from his apartment, near downtown where he stopped and got out of his car. He walked into the city park.

Five minutes later, from a bench in the middle of the city park, Jabeel used his cell phone to send a coded message. The message gave the details of the deployment of the 82ndAirborne Division to his primary contact, an attache to the Greater Islamic Republic amba.s.sador to the United Nations in New York City. From there, the information was transmitted to Tehran and Damascus and then routed to the Syrian and GIR headquarters along the Turkish border. That message, detailing the time and initial quant.i.ties of C-17's involved in the take off arrived at those headquarters within four hours, fully fifteen hours before the C-17's arrived in Incirlik.

Over the next two days, seven similar messages would be sent as more elements of the 82ndAirborne Division departed Ft. Bragg and flew to Turkey. But, it was that first message that had the most telling effect.

January 18, 2006 21:30 local time Presidential Press Room Tehran, Greater Islamic Republic "...therefore, as of 8:00 p.m. this evening, a state of war exists between the Greater Islamic Republic and those Islamic Nations which have broken the faith, which have embraced the infidel western societies and wh.o.r.ed our collective resources to them, who are destroying our faith, the very foundation of our culture and society. These nations include Turkey, Kazikstan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirate and Morocco. The sword of Allah hangs over them and they shall be brought into alignment with the faith."

"Concurrent announcements are being made in the capitols of the following member nations as I speak: Iran, Tajikistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Chad, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Syria, Oman, Libya, Jordan, Sudan, and Ethiopia."

"Today's announcement includes four new names, who themselves are announcing a solidarity and unification with the Greater Islamic Republic, Syria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Jordan."

"To the western nations, particularly the United States, NATO and Israel, we say: do not interfere and you will not be interfered with. We seek to live at peace with the rest of the world and will allow you your faith, your commerce and your culture, as faithless and as corrupt as much of it is."

"But, make no mistake, we will answer the call of our brothers and sisters in Islamic states who are being disenfranchised and destroyed by governments that have a solemn duty to uphold and defend their faith. The nations I have spoken of all fall into this category and it is to their governments that we solemnly proclaim: cease your whoring, cease your desecration, cease your persecutions of the faithful for we will humble you if you do not do so at once. To the faithful in those countries we say, rise up and join with us.

Our armies, your faithful brethren will soon be amongst you and will bring you all into the fold. This concludes my remarks."

January 18, 2006, same time Approaching Turkish Air s.p.a.ce Off the coast of Turkey over the Mediterranean Colonel Newhouse glanced at his Multi-Functional Display (MFD). He was in navigation mode while his co-pilot monitored various other aspects of the aircraft and their surroundings. The aircraft, carrying the command element of the 1stBrigade of the 82ndAirborne Division and its security detachment, was about fifty miles off the coast of Turkey and still some three hundred miles from Incirlik Air Base.

Colonel Newhouse's C-17 Globemaster was the lead element of a flight of fifteen Globemasters strung out over one hundred and fifty miles. There was approximately ten miles distance between each aircraft in this first flight of fifteen. Additional flights of C17's and C-141's, carrying the entire 101stAirborne were strung out all the way back to North Carolina. All of the flights represented a veritable river of men and materiel flowing towards Turkey. They had refueled over the middle of the Mediterranean and had plenty of fuel for their approach ad landing at Incirlik.

The Colonel was contemplating the rapid turn around he was scheduled to make at Incirlik when he was contacted by the AWACS aircraft, code named Skyman, controlling this final leg of the trip. Skyman also controlled the four F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft that were escorting the Colonel's flight of C-17's into this potentially hostile air s.p.a.ce.

"Greyhound one, come to bearing 135 degrees angels 10. Many unidentified aircraft approaching from the southeast, range 225 miles. Bogies are going supersonic. Incirlik had declared an air emergency and is under heavy ballistic missile attack at the current moment"

Immediately Colonel Newhouse and his co-pilot snapped to. Warning lights were flashed to the loadmaster and the pa.s.sengers in the cargo and carrying area. The "pa.s.sengers" immediately took their seats and strapped themselves in. The co-pilot switched to the defensive system option on his MFD while Colonel Newhouse maneuvered the aircraft.

"Roger that Skyman, 135 degrees, angels 10."

Switching to the command frequency, Col. Newhouse continued.

"Dave, contact the entire flight and have all aircraft immediately wave off from Incirlik and divert to Izmir, then get me on the command frequency to Izmir. We may only have a few minutes."