by Klaus Marre
“Okay, we all have work to do,” the president said, indicating that the meeting was over. “Remember to stay in close contact and keep me in the loop.”
McClintock and Stevenson were shuffling out when Sweeney stopped them in their tracks.
“Chris, can you give my chief of staff the names of the people who found the stuff at Hassan's house and your forensics people. I want to get a message from the White House to them thanking them for their fine work.”
Sweeney turned to his Director of National Intelligence.
“Bob, do the same with whoever found out that the terrorist is not in the country anymore. Also, stick around for a few more minutes. We should probably still go over the China matter now that you’re here.”
***
After the major networks had also aired their copies of the taped confession and America got a look at Hassan al-Zaid and heard his voice for the first time, the White House demanded that the president be given time to address the nation. All networks happily obliged.
“My fellow Americans,” the president began, speaking this time from the Rose Garden. His advisers had thought that it would look better for Jack Sweeney to be outdoors. It would give the country the appearance that he was not hiding and that there was nothing to be scared of.
“Earlier today, many of you probably heard from Hassan al-Zaid, the man who took responsibility for yesterday’s cowardly terrorist attack.”
Sweeney's bright blue eyes looked straight into the camera. His good looks, according to polling, had once helped him notch a come-from-behind win in a key primary state over a dour opponent. At the time, young women had turned out overwhelmingly for him. He was still very popular among that demographic, a fact his wife frequently teased him about.
“Let me be frank, I wish that video had not been aired. It aims to divide us at a time when we need to be united. It asks some Americans to pick up arms to fight against others at a time when we have a common enemy hiding away in a cave somewhere. So, I wish this man had not been given the platform to promote his message of hate. But for us to allow his tape to be aired is exactly one of the many things that sets us apart from oppressive regimes and terrorists like Omar Bashir. They hate the idea of an America in which people are allowed to speak their mind without fear of prosecution and where people can worship freely. So maybe there is something good that will come out of Americans listening to this message of hate. It should serve all of us as a reminder that we are better than that. Now is the time for us to prove again that terrorists underestimate and do not understand America.
“In the long history of our country, this is the first time that an American Muslim has turned on the United States and engaged in an act of terrorism against their home country. Just one, out of the millions of Muslims who, every minute of every hour of every day, are doing their part to make this country great. So, while the terrorists would like nothing better than for American Muslims to take up arms against their country or for some of our citizens to take up arms against the Muslims in our midst, I call on all of you to show them that they have once again misjudged us.”
Jack Sweeney shone in situations like this, even though his speechwriter had felt the remarks ran a little long. Handsome and distinguished, he was a president Americans were largely fond of, even those who disagreed with his policies. He had always been successful in rallying the country around the flag when the need arose. The president loved addressing the nation and had the ability to make it seem to people as though he was speaking only to them.
“Let’s also remember that these terrorists do not represent Islam. Islam is not a religion of violence and hatred, but that is exactly what the terrorists are offering. Later today, I will attend a memorial service for the victims of yesterday’s attack at a mosque here in Washington. I ask all of you to do something similar. Visit a mosque, get to know a Muslim neighbor a little bit better or simply go to the White House website where you can see what kind of accomplishments and sacrifices Muslims have made to make America the great country that it is. For example, there are currently thousands of Muslims serving in our Armed Services and many others work for the government.
“Let’s show the terrorists that they have again misjudged America. Let’s show them that we stand united against the threat they pose and that we will not allow anybody to divide us. May God bless all Americans and this great nation of ours.”
In a classic law enforcement “good cop, bad cop” routine, the Justice Department, immediately following the president’s speech, released a statement letting Americans know that any crime against members of another religious group or ethnicity would be punished to the fullest extent of the law and could also be prosecuted under recent hate crime laws, which would call for even more severe punishments.
***
At the Hoover Building, Stevenson was sitting on the couch in his office, his feet resting on a coffee table, looking at classified pictures that appeared to show Hassan al-Zaid at the immigration desk in Nassau. The photo's time stamp indicated that it was taken the previous day – just a few hours after the bombing.
According to a package of documents that DNI McClintock had sent over, the terrorist had entered the Bahamas with a fake Canadian passport on a flight from Dulles airport. There was also a picture from a Dulles security camera of a young man wearing a baseball cap pulled deep into his face. There was no way to determine that it was Hassan al-Zaid, but the guy in the photo from the U.S. was wearing the same clothes as the one entering the Bahamas.
He picked up his phone and asked to be connected to DNI McClintock. It took just a few seconds until he heard the voice of the Director for National Intelligence.
“What do you think?” McClintock said. “Looks like he flew the coop right after the bombing. And your hunch on Toronto seems to be right. They have some excellent forgers and he might have picked up his passports there.”
“Well, that hunch doesn't do us any good now,” Stevenson grumbled. “I assume you don't think that he’s on the Bahamas anymore.”
“I doubt it. It's just the quickest way out of the country and planes go to all parts of the region from Nassau. My guess is that he didn't stay there longer than a couple of hours. However, nobody using that passport has left the country. We already checked that. I really don't think somebody who planned his escape so well would think that the Bahamas is the best place to hide.
“The president has seen the same information and the State Department has already contacted the Bahamas to give the FBI unlimited access,” McClintock added. “There is also a possibility that he used a boat to leave the country, so the Coast Guard and the Navy are moving some resources that way.”
“How does a 21-year-old plan all this?” Stevenson said, vocalizing the thought that kept haunting him. It was not so much a question directed at McClintock and more a way for the FBI director to voice his frustration that the terrorist had managed to slip out of the country. “My daughter is in college and she can barely get her passport renewed or any other part of her life in order without me helping her. Yet somehow this guy managed to get a fake passport that is good enough to allow him to leave this country hours after a terrorist attack. Heck, even I would have no idea where I would get great false documents.”
Stevenson threw up his hands.
“It just all makes me think that he must have had accomplices. Also, someone who flees the country normally has a destination they are trying to reach. Where do you think he is going to go?”
“If I were him, I'd try to get as far away as possible,” McClintock said. “His parents are cooperating with us. They were even more rattled after watching the video tape their son made and I think it shattered any hopes they had that their son was not involved in this. We are flying them back here as we speak or they may already have arrived back stateside. En route home they gave our guys a list of all of their relatives living abroad. We have people covering them and tapped their phones just in case he tries to contact th
em.”
Stevenson pulled a folder from his desk.
“I have something for you, too. I just got something from our computer guys who went through al-Zaid's laptop. It looks like he had a hotmail account that he stopped using a while back. But right after he lost his scholarship and was hot stuff on some of the more radical chat rooms and message boards, it looks like he tried to contact some of the people who praised him. Back then, it appears as though he was looking for like-minded folks in the LA area. I'll make sure it has been sent to you.”
“Interesting,” McClintock said. “I'm sure we have some databases that we can crosscheck this against. There are a lot of fairly radical Muslims in LA that we have our eyes on. For the most part they are just talking or raising small amounts of money but maybe some of them could have pointed al-Zaid in the right direction if he was trying to contact as-Sirat.
“I'll have my guys check this out immediately and then get back to you. If we flag somebody, how do you want to proceed? Knock on their doors and rattle them or watch and listen?”
“I guess it depends on what we find. I don't want to scare them into running if we don't have any hard evidence, but if we do, I think we should take them in quickly and put as much pressure on them as possible.”
“Well, we'll probably know pretty soon what kind of contacts these guys have had abroad,” the DNI said. “If they are on any of our lists, I can tell you by the end of the day who they have been talking to.”
Stevenson smiled to himself and shook his head.
“Must be nice,” he said. The FBI director always marveled at the sweeping powers and lack of oversight that the intelligence community enjoyed. On the other hand, he would not want to have the same authorities domestically because they would completely erode civil liberties.
“I hope you come up with something. Let's say we speak again at 3:00.”
“Sounds good,” McClintock said and hung up.
Stevenson leaned back and rubbed his eyes.
“How does a 21-year-old do all this by himself?” he asked the empty office, thinking again of his daughter and the way she was struggling with something like a grad school application.
Maybe one of the LA contacts would turn out to be an accomplice he thought. Fighting back his fatigue, he reached for the phone and called for more coffee, wondering all the while where the terrorist was now.
Thursday, 11:09 am
Somewhere over the Atlantic, Hassan al-Zaid was trying to stretch his legs. He had left Bogotá with no trouble and was now just a couple of refueling stops away from his final destination. He had been airborne for a few hours already, but his trip to Pakistan would take many more. With a baseball cap pulled over his eyes, he tried his best to get some more sleep but he was not one to be able to rest easily on airplanes. In addition, the enormity of his endeavor was sinking in more and more. Knowing that he was finally on his way to Pakistan and the nervous excitement of hopefully connecting with as-Sirat kept him up. But taking any sleeping aids was out of the question because he could not afford drowsiness.
Countless scenarios of what would happen upon his arrival kept swirling around in his head and prevented him from dozing off. His thoughts again went to his parents, hoping that they would be okay. Hassan knew that the shock must have been hard on them and he didn't want them to suffer. But in any war there was collateral damage.
***
Because the news was so significant, one of the couriers had brought a video tape of al- Jazeera broadcasting Hassan al-Zaid's confession to Omar Bashir right away. The as-Sirat leader retreated to his private quarters deep below Andan and watched it twice, stunned by what he was seeing.
For his purposes, the tape was priceless. Though as-Sirat recruited its fighters predominantly in Muslim countries, every now and then there were Europeans who joined the cause. His group had had success with Muslim populations in the United Kingdom, and Andan also sometimes housed fighters from Chechnya and the former Yugoslavian republics.
But this was different. The United States was the great devil, the main enemy. To have a normal, young American not only wanting to join the cause but also carrying out an attack against his country on his own was truly a gift from Allah. While there had been Americans arrested for allegedly wanting to strike against their own country, none of them had been associated with as-Sirat and, much to Omar Bashir's regret, none of them had been successful. While he wanted as-Sirat to remain the largest and most dangerous group fighting the United States and prided himself on being America's enemy number one, he really did not care who struck the great Satan. As long as U.S. citizens were killed, he was happy.
Early on, after the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, there had been one young American caught with the Taliban, but he was just a dumb kid who had not known what he was getting into. Any other subsequent efforts to recruit Americans had been unsuccessful.
This was different. This was a young American making an informed decision after the battle had been waging for years.
Just as the United States had been completely unable to infiltrate as-Sirat and only occasionally managed to get someone involved with the Taliban to give up relatively useless information, Bashir and his group had been largely unable to penetrate from within the fortress that was America.
It had always been much more difficult to get his men into the United States than any other country, especially after the attacks of 2001. While Europe's immigration policies had allowed a small but steady stream of his men to legally move there, the same had not been true for the U.S..
Still, there were a handful of as-Sirat sleepers in the United States, pretending to live normal lives while only waiting for a chance to give theirs in the fight against America. These men had to be extraordinarily careful and communicating with them had become very difficult because of the surveillance of phone networks and the Internet. Omar Bashir's thoughts again turned to the loyal soldier who would soon lead his group's greatest attack yet. He had just had the latest message sent to this man. In it, he had raised the possibility that the Washington attack would cause a delay of their own plans. If America was on guard, it would be more difficult to carry out the strike, so it would be better to wait until the great devil was sleeping again.
The as-Sirat leader closed his eyes and allowed his mind to envision what would happen if others were to follow Hassan's appeal to Muslims. Maybe this young man's heroic act would finally give as-Sirat a foothold in America. Instead of smuggling in fighters illegally through Mexico and risking that missions would be derailed by the immigration police or false documents, as-Sirat fighters with American passports would be able to inflict untold damage on the United States. Omar Bashir and his lieutenants had drawn up plans for several attacks, hoping to exploit vulnerabilities, such as the one they believed to have discovered at nuclear plants. Finding more people like this young man would allow the fight against the main enemy to be taken to another level. As-Sirat would be able to strike more often and at a grander scale.
It would also force the enemy to spend more resources within its own borders as opposed to now, when the entire might of the U.S. counterterrorism apparatus was focused on fighting as-Sirat abroad. If there would be a greater threat from within the United States, money and manpower would have to be spent to combat it.
The as-Sirat leader called his deputies to his chamber and together they watched the video again.
“Allahu Akbar,” mumbled Khalid el-Jeffe, as-Sirat's second in command. “Allah has given us a great gift.”
Though it was already late at night in Andan, the five men deliberated for hours on how they could best capitalize on the latest development.
Thursday, 2:57 pm ET
East Lansing, Michigan – While most people in the United States were shocked and outraged at the bus attack, Shareef Wahed was not among them. Of course he had loudly lamented the bombing and condemned Hassan al-Zaid.
“That is not what Islam is about,” he had said repeatedly ove
r the past 24 hours when conversation inevitably turned to the attack. Several of his fellow graduate students had expressed their sympathies, telling him that it was unfair that Muslims like Wahed might feel a backlash because of the actions of one member of his faith.
“It is good of you to think of me at this time,” he had responded in his accented English, “but let's all pray for the victims and their families.”
On the inside, though, Shareef Wahed had first rejoiced when he had heard of the attack and then spent a sleepless night worrying about how the bombing would affect his own mission.
After his morning class, a lecture on advanced physics, he had driven the nearly 90 miles to Detroit, which had one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. The as-Sirat sleeper was careful to obey all traffic laws and parked his car at a mall far from the city center. He then took a bus to a completely different area of the city and made his way to an Internet cafe.
There, he logged into a hotmail account. There was a new account each month to avoid being tracked. No e-mails were ever sent or received by any of them. Instead, when he wanted to get a message out, he simply typed it up, using code language, and then saved it as a draft. The recipient would then log onto the same account, read the message and delete the draft. Every account was used just once a month, always on the second Thursday, and they rotated among several providers of free Internet e-mail accounts.
For this month, the login name was [email protected]. The code was to use the first name and first initial of the last name of all male Nobel Peace Prize winners in order, starting in 1901, and then adding the year in which they had won the award. The password was the last name of the winner spelled backwards plus the year in which they had won minus 14. In this case Aselaw1969.
Shareef Wahed opened the saved draft.
“Dear Andrew, the doctors said that it may be too early to allow Uncle Bryon to travel. Maybe we should push the visit back a month or so and see how he is feeling then. I am sure the others will understand.