by Ron Foster
Janice wished she had Donald around to question on evolving events and get his inputs and opinions. He used to do something called “Red Teaming” in the military and in his college terrorism classes that required him to place himself in different scenarios as an opposing force and figure out basically what he would do in an opposite position to act or react to things. She had read a few of his papers and to be honest, she had difficulty in doing so because his outcomes were always so horrendous and plausible enough to show the holes and failures in the current response efforts planned.
The one outcome that worried her most was a fear that what he had previously predicted was happening now because the Ham operator had said there was a lot of Middle Eastern chatter on the radio.
Donald had a theory that he had described in a theoretical paper that had made her blood run cold to think about. He had said them crazy Iranians were going to use this Solar Storm as a sign to go run amok and start World War III.
What the sneaky bastards were going to do was say to soldiers and citizens that when this predictable storm happened, it was going to be a sort of religious or patriotic sign in the sky that it was time to start a little “Jihad”. Now all this information he had was based on many factual statements he could cite which the country had made published statements about their belief Muslim nations around the world should unite militarily in response to the imminent coming of Islam’s messianic savior – the Mahdi.
Janice remembered the Christian bible had its own thoughts about the signs that we should heed in the sky from Revelations but getting rid of the religious connotations, it made perfect sense to pick an astronomical phenomenon to set a date and time when you know the electrical grid was going to be down.
All it took was some patience and a bit of space weather predicting to bring about an uprising. Oh yea, the Iranian military already had plans on how to bring as they called America “The Great Satan” to its knees by taking the electrical grid out using the so called “scud in a bucket” technology they already possessed.
The ship-launched threat of the so-called "Scud in a bucket" scenariois is as simple as it is horrific. Explode a nuclear device in the air of our eastern seaboard coast. The explosion sends out an EMP, which shuts down all electrical systems in the broad, multistate region below the explosion. In the modern United States, hardly anything works when the electronics go down. No transportation, no heat, no lighting, no communications . . . no nothing. Hospitals cannot function. Food, medical and other supplies are immobilized. In a matter of days, masses of people start dying. EMP attacks could come in any number of ways. Iran's Shahab-3, an advanced scud variant, can carry a 10-kiloton warhead about 1,000 kilometers. It couldn't reach the United States from Tehran, but it doesn't have to. As Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) noted it: "A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead "on target" with a Scud, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in the atmosphere. . . . Just launch a cheap missile from a freighter in international waters -- al Qaeda is believed to own about 80 such vessels -- and make sure to get it a few miles in the air." Iran didn’t even have to do that or get North Korea to give them some help if a Solar Storm did a similar number.
This is no mere theoretical risk. Iran has simulated an EMP attack, conducting tests in the Caspian Sea to determine whether its ballistic missiles could be detonated at a high altitude by remote control. Currently, the United States does not have adequate missile defenses to protect against this type of attack. And that's not the only EMP threat we faced and they knew it.
Iran just cranked the rhetoric up in a little paper they decided to publish to get ready for today and mobilize some forces Donald had theorized. Nine years ago a Revolutionary Guards arm, the Holy Defense, published a book, “The Last Six Months,” in which it describes the conditions needed in the last six months prior to the reappearance of the last Islamic messiah. The book was distributed by the hundreds of thousands to all of their military army bases throughout the country. Islam’s Shiites have this belief that their 12th Imam, Mahdi, will reappear at the end of times and kill all the infidels, raising the flag of Islam in all four corners of the world.
The book, which relies on Islamic hadiths by the Prophet Mohammad and his descendants from centuries ago, describes the 9/11 attacks and the invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq as signs that the time is near for this prediction to come true. But it also prophesies much more significant signs that would launch the six-month time frame for the reappearance of Mahdi: an attack on Syria and then an attack on Iran. The US is not the only one that can stir up some shit with a false flag or mess with folk’s patriotism or religious beliefs. Telling the masses a religious sign is coming to the poor or uncommitted, raising nationalist fervor, etc. is something the orator and chaplain Lindsey Williams said the worlds elite, Illuminati etc., were also capable of. He also said the elite had to warn us before they did it which they have been doing for years.
Janice often told Donald that he dwelled too much on the weird scenarios of his emergency management business too much, but what if he was right with the possibilities of this scenario? No wonder he got into deep dark thoughts or a sometimes anguished mood over what he saw might be possible or what was actually going to happen to his world based on his educated estimations.
Donald had told her as soon as the lights and power went out along with some kind of sign appearing in the sky, that that was when he expected the minions of doom to start dancing. The religious fantastic’s, the war hawks, the political wanna be hope riders would all start plans to put a spin on it and say only they could solve it if you gave up some more freedom.
Religious fervor, patriots, doomers, military and terrorists will start the big board game to snatch and grab the sustenance out of the mouth of humanity for themselves in border wars. Each faction has its own reasons, each has leaders devoted to causes but regular folks will be just struggling to tread water and survive as starvation knocks at their door.
Thousands of terrorist cells consisting of the most loyal nutcases have been placed throughout the world by the Islamic fundamentalists, and they believe Iran will be a key player in creating the circumstances for the coming of a “Jihad” leader all too many will follow.
The Islamic regime had fully expected to be attacked by Israel and the US before this event even occurred. The solar storm that just happened was the equivalent of the Sam Colt six-gun equalizer of men in the old American West and now had reduced the capabilities of the great armies of the world to level out the playing field a bit.
Iran’s leaders believed signs in the sky will happen as foretold in centuries-old hadiths and written in the book “The Last Six Months.” Response contingencies call for either seeing the signs or the country being attacked would call for simultaneous attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, and attacks not only on U.S. bases in the region but the U.S. homeland itself.
THE SOLAR STORM WILL BE TAKEN BY SOME TERROIST GROUPS AS A TRIGGERING EVENT OR CALL TO ARMS!
The trigger has been pulled globally by this solar event and the entire world is now at risk. The sun had already pooped in our corn flakes, but now the friggin Muslims want a last holy war dance with us, not based on the teachings of a religious book but on a twisted political fanatic interpretation and we are in for hell in the near future. Donald had said to be warned of any kind of phenomenon somebody in power could but a supernatural spin or meaning behind.
What exactly did he mean by that warning? Janice thought, mentally flustered trying to recall the
conversation. Oh yea. He said it worked liked the “Goes into process” he used to fix an electronic problem in a radio. Something about a half split process in looking at things. Was that meaning start in the middle of circuit board? No it meant start with what you know. You got power in; you don’t worry about that you look for power out. You got sound in, but no sound out, look for the obvious.
So Iran already has some kin
d of insurgent cells here in the US to create some mischief and mayhem on a given cue. Stay away from Muslim places of worship during these times, that was a given, but she tended to avoid getting near them anyway. Donald had said many people’s minds were somewhat simplistic when following organized religions, people that believe in a higher power will act according to whatever religious leader guidance they take to be true.
He said people that are deceived by false prophets or leaders tend to believe their religious convictions or deceptions ultimately. There is nothing you can say that will change that persons sense of responsibility, but you must recognize it as a threat and attempt to plan for or work around it if its violence that is advocated as part of their belief system.
Planning was the key to awareness, who don’t like me, who wants what I got, what or who is threatening me and why they might think of these things is the education process one must undertake to know their enemies.
According to the Department of State, Hezbollah, with Iran as its state sponsor, is considered the `most technically capable terrorist group in the world’ with `thousands of supporters, several thousand members, and a few hundred terrorist operatives’, and officials from Iran’ has been working in concert with Hezbollah since the 1990s.
A hundred plus thousand yahoos with one bullet each against me in a best case scenario is nothing to sneeze at let alone who they are influencing or are bank rolling to do their dirty work.
Law enforcement can barely control the inner city and international gangs like MS 13 now that threaten us. If they go to work for a country like Iran we really got some problems on our hands.
23
Analyzing the Threats
Donald began sorting through his preps while trying to decide what holster and the pistols he was going to carry concealed for his trip back to town. It was open carry for long arms in the country, but not in the city by a long shot as of yet. There were still plenty of cops on the streets as far as he knew and he didn’t want to run the risk of getting stopped with a loaded shotgun or rifle at a checkpoint in his vehicle. He decided on wearing a belly band for his 9mm Astra A-100 and put a small 9mm Keltec in his pocket holster. Two extra 17 round magazines for the Astra fit in the pockets of the belly band and a extra mag for the Keltec resided in his front pants pocket He had an extra 20 rounds of 9mm stored in his get home bag and if all that ammo wasn’t sufficient to counter a threat, well then he wouldn’t have made it out alive most likely anyways.
LowBuck came into the gunroom and surveyed Donald’s collection of firearms. “Dang man, you got a pretty good assortment of weapons there. You got one for about any task I can dream up. I see you went all out on stocking ammo, too.” LowBuck said as he started reading what kind of shells were in the gun safe.
“Well, fortunately or unfortunately there are 7 full ammo cans out in the prep shed, too. I kind of over did the stockpiling ammo thing and couldn’t resist the latest greatest bullet or some great deal from Sportsman’s Guide or Ammunition to Go.” Donald replied.
“Why do you say unfortunately? I for one am glad you got that huge stash of ammo prepped. Weren’t you the one that said something about how easy it was to burn up several 30 round clips in a concentrated firefight?” LowBuck said looking confused at Donald’s negative thoughts on ammo.
“Well, I really doubt I will need to be burning up more than a mag of .223 or 7.62x39 if trouble starts and I got more 12 gauge double ought and no 4 Buck than I will ever have a use for. No, I wish about half that stash could be converted into food right now and no sane person is going to be trading ammunition for food unless the person holding the food is desperate for ammo and I am not sure I would want make that kind of a deal anyway. I should have spent a lot of that money on acquiring more food preps. The guns I got are all task oriented true enough, but it’s like how many do you need unless you are providing loners to someone and then you got caliber issues. I did do some serious thinking about each one in a task oriented fashion though. If I am going hog hunting I would rather be toting that Ruger Blackhawk .357 or that Sig .45 than a 9mm. I got that Blackhawk single action so I could see the big sights before I could finally afford to have eye surgery. It’s a bitch not having health insurance. It’s more of a bitch when you got to weigh buying food preps over saving up for some eye surgery because the asshole doctor won’t work with you on time payments. I figured it would take me at least a year to save up 3500 bucks and not be prepped or spend 300 a month on preps and be a blind ass prepper with food. I chose the latter and finally came up with a way to get my eye surgery done from doing a couple business deals. Man, I am glad I finally got that done and off my mind. It’s damn scary to have sight issues to begin with. But having that concern, while planning on the poo hitting the fan, can be downright nerve wracking. In a massive social collapse, law and public order break down and the truth about human rights is revealed: An individual has rights only as long as he can defend them. Second guessing ones marksmanship capabilities do not make for a very secure feeling.” Donald said fiddling with a leather sling he wanted to swap out for Michael on the SKS Chinese sniper rifle.
“I still say if we are going to survive the challenges and changes we are facing that all that ammo might come to be pretty handy. What are these used for? I never have seen 12 gauge ammo like this.” Bubba said holding up a box of shot shells.
“I bought those shells because I thought they were cool and might give me an extra edge when I was having vision problems for distance shooting. They have two sixty five caliber balls in them. It would put a hurting on something that’s for certain and has about a six inch spread at 75 yards, my favorite poison of choice though ended up being Centurion Buck and Ball. That is a 2 3/4 12 gauge shell with one .65 caliber lead ball, and six #1 buck pellets.” Donald said showing him an unopened box of them.
“Wicked, sounds like that shell is pretty handy for hunting deer or adjusting attitudes. Mind if I get me a few of those to load my own weapon with?” Lowbuck said holding up two boxes of shotgun shells.
“Sure take what you need, better yet, those extra camo nylon ammo pouches are full of them, that bandolier you got your shotgun carry ammo on will be dropping shells soon enough in this heat and as the elastic loses its stretch just from age or use. I got an extra pistol belt if you need it but I don’t have any extra suspenders. I guess if I am going hunting in these woods I might as well get back to being used to wearing full battle rattle in the field. I got my old military Load bearing gear which I prefer over the modern crap, it’s not as hot in this weather to wear as a vest.” Donald said going over to the corner of the room and pulling his field gear out of an old GI duffle bag.
“I have an extra military surplus canteen belt I can hang those pouches off of, but I think I will give Cat the use of your spare one if you don’t mind. She can use that Keltec 9mm carbine of mine and carry her mags on it. Does your Mom shoot, Donald?” LowBuck asked envisioning an elderly women wearing LBE if Donald had been crazy enough to talk her into dressing up in it.
‘No, she has got a thing about guns, but all that’s about to change I hope. I am going to attempt to lay the law down to her and tell her she is absolutely not going to stay in the city if I have to work and she not be armed. Hell, I want I want her armed down here also, but she can be pretty darn stubborn in her opinions.” Donald said, contemplating how that conversation was going to go when he told his mom some cold hard facts and the need for her to learn about firearms and safety.
“I don’t blame you, I think you would have a lot more peace of mind leaving her here with us, but I don’t know how she would fit in without you around to explain things to her.” Bubba said broaching a subject he knew Donald had a lot of concerns about.
“Well, she would be as safe, that is as safe as one can be these days, but she would most likely drive herself and you and me crazy until we got some kind of routine existence established that she could wrap her head around. She will be appearing around here eventua
lly though to move in for the duration and I guess take over my bedroom and that puts me on the futon if you and Cat are using that trundle bed this winter in the other bedroom so you can stay warm by the wood heater unless that motor home of yours has some kind of alternative energy heater.
Our sleeping arrangements are going to get more than tight enough around here as it is, but Janice is also supposedly coming to bug out and maybe bring along whomever else she might feel to be necessary to consider taking in. You and Michael need to help me figure out how to install that Great Northern portable wood stove I got in the prep shed if we are going to be needing some extra gathering room or sleeping space. It was on my need to buy before doomsday list to get some fire retardant cement so the roof didn’t leak around the chimney pipe if I had to cut a hole in the roof to install it but that’s hind sight now. Man, I got about one million things missing some little extra part or item I didn’t prep, or wish I had been able to financially come up with, or maybe even had got around to trying out for usability or function possibly before it was needed. Well, we will just have to make do with what we got and I will be on the lookout for the rest of our needs when I am in town if I can find some way to acquire it, let alone purchase it with our limited cash or maybe I can find something extra or duplicate in my preps to barter with. We are kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place with a best of times, worst of times scenario going on here. On the one hand, we are sitting pretty for months to come regarding food stores, on the other hand unless that trap line we are running produces an overabundance and I doubt that it will, food will not be a barter item for me and I doubt for anyone else around here. Not for love, money, gold, guns or bullets, all the food available is now pretty much of a priceless and irreplaceable commodity.” Donald explained trying to impart a sense of how desperate of a situation it already was now, let alone what it was going to become in the future.