“Music?”
Riley smiled. “You’d be surprised how effective a little rap music at prayer time can be. Especially the real raunchy stuff, like Ludacris or Lil’ Kim. It literally drives the detainees nuts. Some have negotiated information for silence. Even the US military plays its games. But the highest level of hate is online. God only knows how they stay active or how the operators stay in one piece, but there are websites that have done more to inflame Muslims throughout the world than anything I can think of. They’re probably not on par with occupying Saudi Arabia, invading Iraq and Afghanistan, or supporting Israel, but they’re close. It’s something you’ll never hear about in the media.”
Ross leaned forward. “Website atrocities?”
“Look, I may be a lowly government employee, but I have a basic understanding of what’s happening in the current geopolitical world. Westerners in general and Americans in particular are not exactly in good standing with a lot of Muslims right now. I think the term is infidel? You do know that Islam strictly forbids anyone to draw or otherwise create, show, or depict a likeness of the Prophet Mohammed, right?”
Ross’s mouth was already hanging open, but he managed a nod.
“Good. The reason we, the infidels, deserve a nonrefundable suite in hell is because we’ve done just that. We conceived ideas, we made videos, we wrote, drew, printed, unveiled, and even chuckled at photographs. In short, we made fun of Islam. Case in point: remember what happened after a Danish newspaper published those eight cartoons? One hundred people were killed in riots in Europe, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. Fast-forward to now. Muslims are surfing the Internet and watching YouTube videos like everyone else. Mohammed’s once forbidden likeness is everywhere, from centuries-old art to comedic satire to utter filth. Zombietime.com has a click-and-view section called Extreme Mohammed. Check it out if you dare, but be advised. The content is far worse than any Danish cartoon of the Prophet with his turban morphed into a fused bomb. It’s really disgusting.
“Once, at a White House press briefing, a news correspondent repeatedly asked US officials about the motivation for Muslims wanting to harm us. Assassins were targeting Americans for death, and she wanted to know why. The answer is in that website, specifically in the Email Response from Readers section. It’s really a titanic clash of two cultures. One touts its right to draw, publish, view, and laugh at virtually anything under the auspices of freedom. And the other culture is absolutely outraged at how those rights are used to the point of blood violence. No disrespect intended, but it’s the revenge, pure and simple. Why? Because a bunch of fools neither sees nor cares about the potential danger. Islamic jihadists are reigning terror upon humanity because their religion is under verbal and artistic attack. Sounds like reasonable thinking to me, but what do I know? I’m the crazy guy who cries wolf. Take a long, hard look at that site, Mr. NTSB. Infidels celebrate their free speech while Muslim extremists seethe. We must believe that their threats are serious. And a certain percentage will turn those threats into actions.”
Ross stared into his drink. “I’m so glad we had this chat. I feel like I could throw up. Either that or move to a remote island…” Ross sat motionless, clutching his side.
“Are you all right?” Riley asked.
“Oh man… I hate that,” Ross finally spoke. “Every once in a while I get a sharp pain, always in the same spot. It comes and goes. I’m fine. Where were we? Oh yeah, a remote island. You mentioned the Florida Keys the other day in your presentation. I heard it’s a great vacation getaway. What’s down there?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“No terrorists, huh?”
Riley chuckled and shook his head. “Like I said before, a lone suicide bomber would blow up a kindergarten class and think nothing of it. But even that kind of ‘damage,’ for lack of a better term, is manageable. Sure, people usually die violently, but so does the terrorist. The super-terrorist will orchestrate the destruction of an entire city and then quietly and carefully move on to the next. That’s the guy I fear. One time in Norfolk, I escorted four Saudi nationals to dinner. Radio technicians. They got in my car, and I politely asked them to fasten their seat belts. They refused. They said if Allah willed that they died in an accident, so be it.”
“How did they get that way?” Ross asked.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Riley replied, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Time for a culture lesson. Put that drink down and listen. No one knows how many radical religious killers there are in the United States. And that’s including those who are Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, and so on. That’s like trying to identify and count the number of people willing to murder. It could be fifty or fifty thousand. No one knows. But just nineteen individuals were responsible for 9/11. Twenty if you count that snake Moussaoui. And they all just happened to be Muslim — followers of the Islamic religion. All Muslims are not jihadists. If 9/11 were committed by radical followers of the Nordic gods Odin and Thor, we wouldn’t condemn all blue-eyed, blonde-haired Scandinavians, right? The problem is, some followers of Islam are perfectly willing to use violence to get a point across. And no sane person would condone that. In America, a museum can display a painting of Jesus with his head covered in feces and the worst that’ll happen is someone will try and revoke their tax-exempt status. If that were a portrait of Mohammed, I guarantee that the artist would end up with no head, and the museum would be set on fire. Religious fanaticism. You can’t reason with it, you can’t change it, and you certainly can’t eradicate it. All you can do is keep fighting on and on and on. So, in answer to your question about stadiums and theme parks, as long as some radical human beings think we’re a threat to Islam, yes, it can happen. And believe me, we’re talking all-out war. You and I go about our daily routines following a life goal to some happy, peaceful end. Contrast that to Mr. Super-terrorist’s goal — to destroy the enemies of Islam. And in case you’re wondering, that’s you and me.”
“I think anyone who plans or commits violence in the name of religion is just outright insane,” Ross said matter-of-factly.
Riley nodded repeatedly and twirled his index finger. “Now finish it.”
“Huh?”
“Your testimonial. Finish it.”
Ross swirled his drink and after a few moments, his eyes widened, and he blurted the answer like an enthusiastic schoolboy. “Anyone who plans or commits violence in the name of religion is outright insane and should be condemned and then stopped.”
“Bravo.” Riley smiled, clapping his hands. “It’s easy to stand up at a podium and tell the media and the world that you condemn something. Our politicians do it all the time. But condemning something without physical action doesn’t mean jack, and our enemies know it.”
“So how do you deal with it?” Ross wondered.
“How do you deal with an airline crash involving hundreds of people?” Riley returned. “I can’t imagine it, but then we both continue to fly, right? You and I have the ability to turn it on and off. Problem is, I don’t believe most people can do that. Americans are simply too nice. We hold feelings high on a pedestal, as though they really mattered to terrorists. Wanna know something? They don’t. Congressional rep Petri is a perfect example. Don’t get me wrong. She may be a nice person, but sadly, she either can’t or won’t accept the fact that the world has dangerous people. And there are still way too many Americans who believe we’re the problem. We need to remember history. Kinder and gentler just ain’t gonna cut it in our future. The bottom line is this: if we don’t or can’t bring war to the terrorists, they’ll bring it here.”