by Adam Yoshida
A reaction also occurred in Israel, as furious Israeli soldiers – sometimes abetted by bereaved or absent local commanders – committed acts of murder against Palestinians. Of course, as it would later be pointed out, these actions were wholly the responsibility of individuals, were stopped and punished by the Israeli authorities, and resulted in under one hundred deaths. However, in covering the events of these days, the global media gave the isolated atrocities committed by Israelis a weight almost-equal to that of the Iranian nuclear attacks themselves. This allowed furious demands for further reprisals to gain strength across the Islamic world.
The leaders of Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria were, of course, practical men. No one survives to rise to the highest levels in politics – let alone in the turbulent politics of the Islamic world – and remains an idealist. Deep down most of them were appalled by the mad actions of the Iranians. Not only were they an atrocity on a human level but, at the same time, they made the jobs of every one of them that much harder because, without Israel, they would now have no easy force to blame for their own internal problems. Like most men who have gained and were now secure in their power, they had a marked preference for the status quo. Worse still, thanks to the reformist trends of recent years, they were now at least somewhat accountable to the voters.
Egypt's President looked at the footage from Tahir Square. During the revolution he had been out there on the streets, a university professor arguing for the creation of a more-democratic regime. From there he had secured a place in the first post-Mubarak legislature a place from which he had been picked by the real powers in the country – the army and the clerics – to serve as President when the first post-dictatorship President had proven to be a bitter disappointment. Never had he expected, though it was all slightly tarnished now that he was very familiar with how the sausage had been made, to receive such an honor. Today, however, he wished with all of his heart that he were back at home and alone among his many books.
"This is a wave," the Air Force's Chief of Staff had told him an hour before, "of the kind with which we are all familiar. Either we will roll with it or we will be rolled by it."
"I don't know," the President shook his head. "It all just seems a tremendous risk. The Israelis are not, whatever we may think of them, cowards or weaklings. They will fight back."
"We have to consider the endgame," the General replied. "The Americans are going to step in at some point. And surely they will be in a position to prevent the Israelis from using nuclear weapons on a non-nuclear state. Indeed, we can simply seize disputed territory for 'humanitarian reasons' and then eagerly respond to any invitation that arrives for us to come to the table at a regional peace conference."
The President eyed his General reluctantly.
"In any case, Mr. President, I am telling you – with full sincerity and the greatest possible level of respect – that the Egyptian people demand action against the Jews at this particular moment and, further, that the armed forces are themselves a creature of the people."
The President sighed and picked up the phone.
"You are authorized to proceed," he said.
President Warren had insisted on holding the E-4B, the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (commonly referred to as a "Kneecap") until his closest advisor, Alexis Jensen, could be found and brought onboard the plane. The military and the Secret Service had both vociferously objected to this decision, however, as the President had pointed out, there was no evidence of any immediate danger, merely "conjecture and worst case scenarios."
Officially Jensen merely held the title of "Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs." In theory she ranked fifth or so, depending on how one reckoned these things, among the White House Staff – behind the Chief of Staff, the National Security Advisor, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Communications Director, and the Press Secretary, at least. In reality, however, she was the single most important member of the President's staff. She and the President had been together so far back as his time as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where she had been a young AUSA, and she had remained with him all the way through his path from there to the office of State Attorney General to the Governor's mansion in Albany. The only reason why she was not the White House Chief of Staff was the objections of the First Lady, who had not been summoned to join the President on the Kneecap but, instead, dispatched to a secure underground location.
"Politically we have a tightrope to walk here," said Jensen. "The Israel lobby will, of course, demand blood. But, on the other hand, the American people will want us to stay out of any war."
"Right. What effect does this have on our domestic agenda for the spring?"
"It shoots it all to Hell. This is going to suck up a lot of time and attention. The Republicans will be all over you about this. They'll call you an appeaser, suggest that you're not supporting Israel..."
"Well, we won't be supporting Israel," pointed out the President.
"No, Mr. President," replied Jensen. "We will be supporting Israel. We just won't actually be doing anything to support Israel. That's a distinction with a difference."
"Ok," said the President, as he slowly began to run his hand underneath Jensen's skirt and up her thigh. "But how do we make that happen?"
"Mr. President," the National Security Advisor announced over the speakerphone, "I think that we begin by rendering all aid short of war to Israel. I've already been on the phone with the SecDef about this and, from what I can gather, we can probably begin to ship emergency supplies over there in less than twenty-four hours, if we mobilize all of the resources of the Air Mobility Command. S&R personnel, likewise. Of course, more substantial forces and resource will have to come by sea, but we've already got a team at the Pentagon drawing up shipping manifests for what that will look like."
"All right," responded the President as he slid his hand under Jensen's panties and began to teasingly glide his fingers from left to right. "We need to make it very clear that we are not getting involved in another war in the Middle East. That much needs to be made crystal clear to the Israelis. Are we in communication with the Prime Minister?"
"They're obviously quite busy," replied Tad Meyers, the Secretary of State, from another speakerphone, "but I've already spoken to both the Foreign Minister and their Ambassador. The Prime Minister will take your call at any time."
"Obviously, Prime Minister, this mobilization will take longer than some others," explained the Chief of Staff, "not everyone is reporting immediately. Some of them won't report at all, if they have a place to hide or a way out the country. Admittedly, with the airports all closed, a lot of those avenues are cut off. More will show up – late, once they've moved their families to as safe a location as they can find."
"The good news is that we haven't see any more missile activity out of Iran. Either they fired off everything in the first round or we got all of them or some combination of the two," added the Air Force Chief of Staff.
An instant message to the Prime Minister's tablet informed him that the President of the United States was on the line. The Prime Minister picked up the call.
"Prime Minister," said President Warren, "please allow me to begin by expressing my deepest sympathies for the horror inflicted against your nation today. The United States stands ready to render any and all necessary assistance in order to aid your recovery from this tragedy."
"Thank you for that, Mr. President," replied Dayan. "What we now require, more than anything else, is a firm commitment from the United States to defend us from further attack. For example, we have expended most of our supply of anti-ballistic missiles in defending ourselves against the first Iranian attack and it will be some time before we can manufacture more. If you were to station several AEGIS ships with anti-missile capabilities off of our shores, that would, for example, serve as a tremendous reassurance and also as a signal to the world of the commitment of the United States to the defense of Israel."
"I wil
l pass that request along to my military advisors and see what can be done," replied the President. "Is there anything else that you need?"
"I am concerned about some of the reports – I haven't see any intelligence yet, just what I've seen on television and on the internet – coming out of Cairo and Damascus, among other places. Not only is our army weaker than it was some years ago but, today, many of our soldiers are not at their stations and many others are going to be required for the relief effort. If the United States were able to commit to the defense of our borders, I suspect that would serve as a powerful deterrent against military adventurism in the region."
"I cannot expect, nor does our intelligence..." the President trailed off for several seconds. "I, don't expect that anyone is going to challenge a nation that just fired off dozens of nuclear weapons in such a way."
"Mr. President, some maniac just fired hundreds of missiles and God-only-knows how many nuclear weapons at my country one morning out of a clear blue sky. I am not betting the future of my country upon the rationality of its enemies."
With a large part of Israel's mobilized forces now devoted to rescue and recovery operations in both Tel Aviv and Haifa, the Israeli Air Force was being asked to take on a great portion of the burden of patrolling and defending the borders of the State of Israel. Major Stern had lost count of how many missions that he had flown during the three days since the first attack. A large portion of the nation's military strength was still digging through rubble, searching for buried and trapped survivors whose odds faded with every passing minute.
No more missiles had followed the first wave in either direction. The Israeli nuclear strike seemed to have wiped out Iran's missile capabilities and, despite the calls of some in the Cabinet, the Prime Minister had so far held off ordering any kind of counter-value second strike that would target Iranian civilians.
"Delta 1, we have multiple bandits incoming," came the call from the AWACS that was controlling Stern and his wingman's patrol.
"Roger that," replied Stern. "Do we have a total count?"
"Not yet, but it looks like several squadrons worth," came the response, which was followed by a terse order: "move to engage."
Stern turned his F-35 to face the incoming aircraft. A dozen other Israeli fighters who were serving as a combat air patrol over southern Israel were likewise ordered to move to intercept.
The squadron of Lightnings soared across the sky, working to swiftly reposition themselves to meet the incoming threat posed by fifty-two Egyptian F-16s.
"Fox Three," Stern called out over the radio as he launched two AMRAAMs in the direction of the Egyptian attackers. In the next few seconds his radio was filled with a cascade of identical signals.
In fifteen seconds the Israeli force expended its entire stock of medium-range air-to-air missiles, the forty-eight AMRAAMs streaking across the sky and claiming twenty-seven Egyptian victims. Stern began to accelerate and mentally prepare to engage the enemy more closely.
"Delta Flight," came the call from the AWACS. "Return to base."
As the Commander of the Central Command (the "Commander-in-Chief" title having been discontinued some years before by those who felt that that title belonged only to the President), General Dylan W. Mackenzie was responsible for all of the American military forces based in the Middle East. Therefore, he thought, it is only fitting that in the middle of the largest war in that region in a generation, I am in fucking Tampa Bay, Florida.
"It appears to be an all-out offensive," Colonel Ryan Casey, his G2, explained.
"Nine complete divisions of the Egyptian Army, spearheaded by three armored divisions, are either already in the Sinai or in transit to the region. The 23rd and 36th Mechanized Divisions are already assaulting Israeli defenses in the south. By some accounts, they've already scattered part of the Israeli Army. The IAF is holding up well – but they're also fighting all across the country. They've taken out a lot of Egyptian hardware, but they've taken losses as well."
General Mackenzie sighed deeply. He hated being so distant from the fighting even if, with the United States not actively engaged, he wasn't entirely sure what his presence would have been able to contribute. At least, though, he would have felt more effectual over there than he was in Florida. In fact, it had taken a direct order from the Secretary of Defense to keep him in place and to still the fears of those who felt that the movement of the CENTCOM commander and staff to a forward area would be "provocative."
Mackenzie was deeply familiar with the realities of that part of the world. As a young Second Lieutenant he had commanded a platoon of Abrams in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the First Gulf War. A decade later he'd led a Company of the 3rd Infantry Division on the march to Baghdad. Finally, after more than a decade of other combat assignments, he had finished up in command of a Brigade of the same Division (after time in a series of staff positions) during the final stages of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. There he had personally led a helicopter-based rescue of a pinned-down Special Forces team, a theatrical action that had won him the disdain of many of his colleagues along with a Distinguished Service Cross that, in his opinion would, but for politics, have been a Medal of Honor.
"All right Case, I get that it's a pretty broad assault – and we haven't gotten to the Syrian front yet. Can they hold?"
The thirty-eight-year-old Colonel paused for a second and brushed her decidedly non-regulation bangs out of her eyes.
"No."
"You have to remember, Prime Minister, that our military strength was somewhat in decline even before the nuclear attacks," General Lieberman began.
"I understand that, General," replied the Prime Minister impatiently.
"The front will break at the present rate – and soon. Note: I did not say that it may or could break. It will break. Our soldiers are very brave and fighting suicidally, but they are hopelessly outnumbered. If we had already been mobilized, perhaps more could have been done... But, as things stand, we cannot hold the present lines. Our best option will be to build a second set of defenses, one concentrating on urban centers."
"In other words, we should fight street-by-street for what's left of our cities?" asked the Foreign Minister.
"With the forces that we have on hand, that is our best option, Minister. I did not say that it was a pleasant one," Lieberman shot back.
The Prime Minister looked at the table with dead eyes and tapped his hand several times before speaking again.
"You're wrong, General," he said. "We have other options open to us."
After forty-eight hours, President Warren had finally been allowed to return to Washington, though the Secret Service and the military both insisted on keeping him within the bunker underneath the White House as much as possible.
The news of the conventional Arab attack on Israel had caught the U.S. intelligence community flat-footed. They had, of course, watched the mobilization of military forces across the Islamic world but, as the Secretary of Defense and others had repeatedly pointed out, that was only to be expected given that there were hundreds of nuclear weapons exploding in their region. In fact, the United States had also mobilized substantial additional military forces as well.
"The only way that the Israelis are going to be able to defend themselves is with direct military intervention on our part," insisted the Secretary of State for the eleventh time during a heated four-hour meeting in the Situation Room.
"We've just seen a hundred nuclear blasts across the region and you want to put American soldiers into the middle of it?" Alexis Jensen shot back. "Do you have any idea what the political implications of that would be?"
"I am offering up a simple assessment of the facts," replied the Secretary. "The balance of forces is against the Israelis. And, might I add, do you really think that the Israelis will simply give up because the military balance goes against them? That does not sync with my opinion of the character of the Israeli people."
"Look," interjected the Preside
nt, "the Israeli Prime Minister has been calling for hours. At some point, we have to respond. Especially given the seemingly hourly deterioration of conditions over there."
"Mr. President, we ran on keeping this country out of war and investing here at home. Now some of these people – whose assessment of the situation I would argue is far too pessimistic – are pushing to get us into a bigger war than any of those that Bush started. This is nuts. We should take this as a chance to build a realistic peace in that part of the world."
Major Stern was somewhat surprised when he saw what was being loaded into his fighter's bomb bay.
Shouldn't, he thought, there have been some sort of public warning first?
But then he thought about it some more. A warning would have allowed counter-threats to be made. It might have led to some very stark warnings, even, from the Americans. Better to act first – and quickly – rather than allow the decision-making process to be bogged down by politics.
The mission itself was simple – almost routine. Escorted by a single additional F-35, Stern flew out over the Mediterranean before looping back towards the Sinai. His target was the 9th Armored Division, now moving towards the buckling Israeli front lines. The stealth features of the F-35, especially when – as it was today – it was configured without an external weapons load, made is very difficult for the Egyptians to intercept.
At a little after 9AM, Stern's wingman made an abrupt turn, leaving the Major alone to continue towards the target. The Major flew on for nearly a minute before arriving at the designated point. As he did he accelerated slightly, before releasing his bomb and then pulling his aircraft into a sharp loop to escape the blast.