GOLAN: This is the Future of War (Future War)

by FX Holden

  “We also have evidence that the nuclear warheads we believe are now being fielded by Iran were provided to it by North Korea, with the knowledge of, if not support from, technical experts from Russia. As many as six warheads have been tracked from North Korea into Iranian hands. Any claim by Iran that these weapons are intended only for the defense of Iran is given the lie by its decision to place them aboard warships or submarines such as the Besat and sail it into foreign waters from where it could strike US bases across the Middle East – from Saudi Arabia, to Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq or, if it so chose, even to strike US bases and capital cities in Europe.

  “These offensive acts constitute an explicit threat to the peace and security of the USA and our allies in NATO, and are a deliberate breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which Iran has been a party since 1970. This action also contradicts the repeated assurances of the Iranian regime, both publicly and privately delivered, that in return for reopening of trade relations with the USA and treaty signatories, they would cease research into the development of nuclear weapons. The advanced nature of the weapons placed aboard this submarine shows years of research and planning, and thus years of deceit.

  “Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation’s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and supersonic cruise missiles are so swift that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against US forces, or those of any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from this world.”

  Henderson paused, making sure of himself as the teleprompter changed to show one of two sets of sentences that had been prepared for him – one in the case of the submarine capture going right, the other if it went wrong.

  He read a few words ahead, and then continued smoothly. “Therefore, today I gave our Navy orders to board and take control of the Iranian submarine in the Red Sea to prevent any likelihood its weapons can be used against US or allied bases, cities or citizens. This has been achieved, and the Iranian submarine will be placed in quarantine in Port Sudan. Its crew are unharmed, and will all be returned to Iran in due course.”

  Henderson paused and made a show of changing the speaking cards in front of him to signal he was making a slight change of topic.

  “This is not the only matter of grave concern I have to share with you tonight. Earlier this morning, we received word that a large Russian and Iranian naval fleet is currently moving out of the Black Sea and into the Mediterranean Sea with the stated intention of making port in Latakia, Syria – putting it within cruise missile attack range of Israel. As you may have also seen, and as we have watched with concern, Syrian armored forces, backed again by Iran and Russia, have marshaled on the western borders of Israel.

  “Since 1974, United Nations peacekeeping troops have been monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights. The United States has voted numerous times in the United Nations to continue this important mission, as recently as in May of this year. US troops are currently stationed with the UN peacekeeping force.”

  Carmine looked at her watch. The Marine chopper should have touched down by now. So, yes, technically another ‘just-in-time’ truth.

  “The decision by Syria, Iran and Russia to conduct military operations in the area of the Golan Heights poses a grave threat to the peace of this region, and we cannot be so blind as to think these events, the entrance of the Iranian and Russian fleet into the Mediterranean, Syrian tanks on the Israeli border, and the discovery of nuclear-capable missiles aboard an Iranian warship, are unrelated.

  “Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation that leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required, it is underway, and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not hesitate to act in defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the resolution of the Congress on the prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately…”

  You could have heard a mouse fart in the room at that moment. Even Carmine found she was holding her breath, even though she knew what was coming.

  “First: To prevent the deployment by Iran of nuclear weapons at sea, a strict quarantine on certain Iranian naval shipping is being initiated. All Iranian shipping, commercial or naval, entering the Mediterranean Sea or the Red Sea from whatever route may be subject to search and, if found to contain nuclear weapons, will be escorted back to Iranian territorial waters. If it refuses to be searched, it will be regarded as hostile and may be destroyed.

  “Second: I have directed the United States Navy, Air Force and the Aviation Wing of the US Marines to provide such support to US and UN peacekeeping forces in the Golan Heights as is necessary to secure the continuation of their important duties. Any hostile action by any nation, which in any way threatens the safety of US or UN troops or the peaceful conduct of their duties, will be regarded as an act hostile to the United States and will result in a retaliatory response by our air and naval forces.

  “Third: It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear weapon launched by Iran against any member of the United Nations as an attack by Iran on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response.

  “Fourth: We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Signatories to the Iran Nuclear Arms Control Agreement, including the Governments of Iran and Russia, to resume discussions as part of a special session of the United Nations Security Council, to be convened immediately.

  “My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous time. No one can see precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. In the days and weeks ahead our patience and our resolve will be tested – you will hear threats and denials from those opposed to peace which will only serve to reinforce the dangers we face. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.

  “The cost of freedom is always high – and Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose is the path of passive submission in the face of evil. To paraphrase US President John Kennedy’s words at a similar time in our history, Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right – not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, in that far hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.

  “Thank you and good night.”

  As Henderson finished speaking and waited for the cue to look away from the camera, Carmine’s telephone started buzzing. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket and looked at it, expecting it to be one of the ExComm members with a view on what Henderson had done right or wrong … but she frowned when she saw the message from Tonya Dupré.

  Contact lost with US Embassy Jerusalem and consulate Tel Aviv. Nudol anti-satellite missiles fired by Russian cruiser in Mediterranean. All Domain Attack Phase 1 has started.

  All Domain Attack: Ground

  Iranian Quds Force base, Damascus, Syria, May 17

  “Thanks for the lift. Good night,” Abdolrasoul Delavari told the commandos dropping him back at the Iranian Quds Force base outside Damascus. Delavari was berthed with an IRGC infantry officer who was the best company Delavari had shared a tent with in any war in his long military career. Advi Yazd was a Zoroastrian, a member of an ancient religion that predated Islam, and he surprised Abdolrasoul by explaining his religion was not only still alive in Iran, but also officially
recognized, with its adherents even guaranteed a seat in the Iranian parliament. He was educated, literate, worldly and, like Delavari, had strong family values. He was a mechanical engineer who had started his career after university working for the Iranian Defense Industries Organization on a project to update its Saher 14.5mm anti-materiel rifle to make it suitable for Russian-made smart munitions. It was a given, then, that he would be put in a tent with Delavari, the only shooter in the Quds Force certified to use the new Klimovsk smart rounds. He had been trying to persuade Delavari to take a modified Saher into the field, and Delavari had promised Yazd he’d try it out on a routine mission, if he was ever given one.

  As he walked into their tent and dumped his gear on his bunk, Delavari saw the Iranian hastily close down a program he’d been watching on his cell phone and shove the phone under his pillow. He turned eagerly to Delavari. “So, how did it perform?”

  “The Israeli microdrone? Like a damn guided missile. The army will no longer need us specialists if all you have to do is shoot a hobby plane into the air with a picture of the target in its memory.” He sat on the bunk.

  “A shame it was the only example we have. I would have liked the chance to reverse engineer it.”

  “I still have the guidance unit,” Delavari said, taking the remote out of his bag and handing it to the engineer.

  “Thank you. It’s something, at least.” He turned it over in his hands, flipping up the viewing screen. “I would like to see their faces when they realize it was their own weapon that was used against them.”

  “I suppose that was the whole point.” Delavari nodded at the man’s pillow. “What were you watching? Video from home?”

  “No. We are close enough here to pick up Lebanese news services. I was watching the US President address his people.”

  “Ah. And what did the Great Satan have to say?”

  Yazd flinched. “There are no evil nations, only evil men,” he said.

  “I was joking, Advi. What did he announce?”

  “He asserted that Iran has nuclear weapons and announced a naval quarantine. Any Iranian ship in the Red Sea or Mediterranean approaching Israel will be stopped and searched. If it is found to carry nuclear weapons, it will be escorted to Iranian waters.”

  Delavari slapped his thigh. “That is a laugh. And how will they enforce it? With a strongly worded press release? They would not dare try to stop an Iranian warship on the high seas.”

  “They already did. They have boarded one of our submarines in the Red Sea and taken control of it.”

  “My God, that’s an act of war,” Delavari found himself saying before he stopped his line of thought. And what was your last mission if not the same, Abdolrasoul? Delavari had seen the huge 12-wheeler tractor trailers with their ballistic missile launchers moving into and then out of the Quds Force base. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Do we … have you heard any talk of nuclear weapons?”

  “No. If the famous ‘Lighvan’ doesn’t know, then there’s no reason they’d tell a shitkicker like me.”

  “But you believe it.”

  “I hope … with all my heart … that it is true. We are lambs living in a forest full of wolves. The Israelis have nuclear weapons and the Americans sail their nuclear-armed warships along our shores, fly their nuclear-armed bombers close to our borders. We will never be safe until we can meet force with force.”

  “You surprise me, Advi. You are a weapons engineer, but in your heart I had you down as a man of peace.”

  “Zoroaster teaches that war and courage have done more great things than charity,” Yazd said. “Danger must be defeated, it cannot be wished away.”

  Delavari pointed at the Saher rifle Yazd had standing against the wall next to his cot. “Well, you and I may not have nuclear weapons but we have 14.5mm Klimovsk smart rounds. How about tomorrow morning you take me out and show me what your guided missile rifle can do?”

  Buq’ata township, the Golan Heights, May 18

  “Yozam, do me a favor? Check the 9G router?” Amal Azaria called out to her brother’s shop assistant.

  Her workshop was behind their two-story house on the outskirts of Buq’ata, but she preferred to use the airconditioned office in the back of her brother’s furniture repair shop in town when she was working with her design software. The wifi connection there was much faster. Mansur had not been happy when she’d told him she was going into town alone, but he was still in bed and Raza was sleeping. He’d become even more protective of her, and she knew why. The drums of war were beating louder by the day, as evidenced by the military traffic moving through Buq’ata at all hours of the day and night. Many Israeli citizens had already evacuated to the west, but the majority of the population of Buq’ata was made up of Druze like themselves, so they had stayed put.

  She had tried to calm Mansur, telling him she would only be a couple of hours, and she could help his assistant Yozam open the store.

  Speaking of Yozam, where was the man? When there was no response, she called out again. She was working on a new design for a mother drone that could lift a heavier payload. She just wanted to send the latest project update to DRD, attach her new drawings, then get back home, get some breakfast into her and go out into the early morning sunshine to play with Raza before it got too warm. But her computer was telling her she had no wifi connection. Suddenly her computer monitor died and the lights in the furniture shop cut out completely. OK, so, it was more than a wifi problem.

  “Yozam?! Can you check the fuses?”

  Still no answer. She sighed and walked out of the office to the stairs leading down to the shop. She could hear the radio on downstairs. “Amal, get in here!” Yozam yelled.

  The old Druze carpenter was hunched over the radio in the shop’s small kitchen. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Quiet! Listen…” he said, looking at her wide-eyed.

  “… civil emergency broadcast. The government has declared a national emergency. Stay indoors unless ordered to leave by police, armed forces or emergency services. All armed forces personnel or reservists are to report in person to their base immediately. This is not an exercise, this is not a rehearsal. This is a government of Israel civil defense emergency broadcast…” They stood, stunned, listening as the message repeated. Mansur changed the radio channel. It was the same message being played on every single Israeli radio channel.

  “The power is out,” Amal told him. “The internet is down.”

  “We should leave,” Yozam said, looking around himself wildly. “I’ll lock up here, you get back to your house. Grab whatever we can and…”

  Amal heard car horns outside on the main road that went past their window. Their shop was in Buq’ata’s central shopping district, an intersection with a war memorial commemorating the fallen in the 1973 conflict. As she pulled the curtain aside, she saw that traffic was already jammed, and people were standing outside their cars yelling at each other.

  “I’ll call Mansur.” She dialed and held the phone to her ear. It returned a busy tone. She frowned and looked at the display. “No coverage? The cell phone network is down too?”

  “It’s why I turned the radio on,” Yozam explained. “I was on the phone to a supplier. The line went dead. I tried to call him on the message app, but there was no wifi either. I turned on the television, but there was no signal on any of the channels, just a message saying ‘signal failure’. Like the transmitter wasn’t there anymore. Then the power went out. Then that message on the radio.”

  “I need to get home, get my bag, get to my unit,” Amal said again. Next to the shop door on a coat rack was her handbag, the green IDF jacket and X95 rifle she’d started taking with her everywhere. Yozam had moved past her to the door, and stood watching people arguing outside. “Look at this idiot, stopped right in the middle of the intersection.”

  She heard shouting and walked to join him at the door.

  With a heat like the doors of hell had been thrown open, a blinding flash lit
the street outside and they were thrown back into the shop in a hail of glass.

  Acting Golani Brigade Brigadier General, Zeidan Amar, had only managed to get about a mile from Mount Hermonit to the village at the foot of the hillside, El-Rum, before he ran into the first military convoy, stopped at the crossroad as a platoon leader, a captain, stood in front of his truck, arguing with someone on the radio. As he couldn’t pass in his Storm utility vehicle, he climbed out, the small crowd of soldiers parting as they saw who he was. The captain looked up and paused his conversation as Zeidan approached. Zeidan didn’t recognize him. He was from a different battalion, but he was Golani Brigade.

  “What’s going on?” he asked the man.

  “We were supposed to move up to the outpost at Hermonit. Now we’re being told to return to Camp Shraga.”

  “That’s right,” Zeidan told him. “I am Colonel Amar, Reconnaissance Battalion. General Weinberg has ordered the entire brigade to pull back to Shraga.”

  “But…” the man frowned. “Is it true? Colonel Tamir?”

  “Is dead. Yes. Peace on his soul. Now turn your men around. We are needed on the border with Lebanon. Not here.”

  The man frowned again. “We overtook tanks from the 7th Armored on the road outside Kfar Blum, five miles back. They were blocking the crossroads, refusing to let traffic pass, so we went around them.”

  “Why?”

  “Some religious dispute. We heard they ordered all female personnel in the unit to hand in their uniforms and weapons and go home!”

  Zeidan suppressed a smile. He’d been ordered to sow as much confusion as he could and, at the very least, order his own battalion to withdraw from its positions in the Golan Heights. He’d heard a rumor there would be other attempts to disrupt the Israeli mobilization. Iran and Syria had spent many, many years getting all of their agents in place for exactly this day.