“Theology?”
“Our theology is our policy. Our theology requires destruction. It’s the only way for the Mahdi to return. So Mister Smart American Navy man… would you like to sit down and negotiate with us on theological terms? Or perhaps you think you can change our theology with sanctions?”
Camp was quiet.
The cave complex was right where Omid said it would be. Alpha Team had made good time and arrived four minutes ahead of schedule. Three members of each team cleared the caves as the rest of the team hugged the rock walls of the frozen Hindu Kush. The team quickly unrolled and climbed into their sacks for four hours of rest.
Camp couldn’t shake the despair. He reflected on his schooldays when his father assured him he could talk his way out of every fight. Camp had never even considered the notion that one could be lured into fighting an inferior opponent because that opponent had a death wish.
Camp reached over to Omid’s bed roll and touched his arm.
“Omid,” he whispered. “What makes you so sure that this — right now — is the Age of the Coming? Why not in five years, in 50 years or even 500 years?”
Omid pushed himself up on his elbows.
“Signs and technology, analysis from the Hadith and the promises of the Ulema, our religious leaders, all point to The Coming.”
“Technology? You mean nukes?”
“Partly. One intercontinental ballistic missile can only kill thousands. We don’t have unlimited missiles. But biological weapons can kill millions, and we have the technology to put them into the air you breathe and the water you drink.”
“You’re crazy, Omid. Your people are crazy. There’s no way on God’s green earth that your little Safir ICBMs are going to hit the US. Your calculations are way off.”
“We don’t need to attack you, Captain Campbell. You will attack us, and it will take only 10 minutes.”
“What the hell?”
“Imam Ali said it best… Waging war against enemies with whom war is inevitable, and if they might attack Muslims, then war is a duty of Muslims. The Holy Koran says in Albaghara 2:191-193: And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution of Muslims is worse than slaughter of non-believers … and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah.”
“Since 1979 we’ve been dealing with you when the Shah was exiled and our Embassy was attacked. Now you think we’ll just lose our patience with you in 10 minutes?”
An eerie glow from the snow and the morning light breaking into the cave covered Omid’s face. His steel brown eyes pierced Camp’s face.
“The calculations are in place. The plan has been created. It will take us eight-minutes and 53-seconds to destroy Israel.”
Camp was sick to his stomach just hearing the words spoken with calm and ease. “Why are you telling me this?”
“We’ve been telling you for years. You just don’t listen.”
Camp knew that the radicals controlling Iran had more than 1,000 missiles. They were close to achieving success in their designs for intercontinental delivery technology. If there was a secret military program, on a parallel path with the domestic energy program, then Iran could have enough enriched uranium for at least three to six nuclear bombs.
“Armageddon? Really! Just to pave the road for the Twelfth Imam?”
“You did us a great favor in Iraq. You eliminated Saddam.”
“You’re welcome.”
“For when the Islamic Messiah returns, he will set up his reign in Iraq. That’s why we were so involved in the Iraq War. Now Iraq is free and waits for the Twelfth Imam.”
Camp closed his eyes and tried to soak it all in. Nothing was logical. A suicide bomber that welcomed martyrdom was not a logical enemy. There was no diplomatic track with a suicide bomber hell-bent on mutual destruction, all in the name of God.
“Iran is a suicide bomber, Omid. How does anyone stop it?”
“There are only two answers, Camp. Reformation. Islam needs a reformation, a Martin Luther who will lead Muslims to a new way of viewing God.”
“Great, that only took about 200 years.”
“Or shoot the suicide bomber before he detonates.”
“After Iraq and Afghanistan, the Americans are sort of tired of wars, Omid. I don’t think we have any plans to shoot you first.”
“That’s because you don’t know what you’re looking at. You don’t understand that you are looking at a suicide bomber. The vest is on. The button is ready to be pushed.”
“America won’t do it,” Camp said shaking his head at the insanity.
“Then perhaps Jericho 3,” Omid said in a hushed whisper.
“Israel? If your president keeps threatening Israel, you may give them no other choice. The Jericho 3 is their newest missile and I’m sure they’re pointed at every hot spot in Iran this very minute.”
“Is that your logic or our theology? Israel would not attack our people. They would drop their Jericho missiles on our nuclear sites and weapons factories. It would delay the Age of the Coming. It would delay the Shoeib.”
“Who?”
“The prophets said the role of the Shoeib is to be the deputy, the one who prepares the way for the Mahdi. He is the mythical figure in centuries-old Hadiths, Shoeib-ebne Saleh, and he is the Islamic commander who attacks Israel in the Age of the Coming to set the stage for the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam. The Hadith says that the preparers will come from Yemen, Lebanon and Iran. The annihilation of the Zionist regime and the conquering of Beitol Moghadas are of the most important events that must happen in the Age of the Coming.”
“Beitol what?”
“Beitol Moghadas. It’s our word for Jerusalem.”
“Is President Ahmadinejad a Twelver?”
Omid nodded. “You heard him speak of the aura he witnessed when he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly. He is not quick to admit it, but we know, we all know, that he is part of the Hojjatieh Society, and he is a close follower, maybe even protected by, the most dangerous hardliner in Iran, Ayatollah Yazdi of Qom.”
“So Ahmadinejad is a Twelver, but that’s hardly shocking,” Camp said as he pulled his blanket up. “He’s a certifiable nut job, denies the Holocaust and advocates the annihilation of Israel. One missile on Tel Aviv, and his precious Tehran will be a smoldering pile of rubble.”
“There’s your logic again, Captain Campbell. It won’t be one missile; it will be one thousand within 8-minutes and 53-seconds. Your first missiles — Israel’s first missiles - will fall on Iran… 10 minutes after we have fired everything we’ve got.”
Camp’s fingers started to tremble in spite of the cold.
“The suicide bomber accepts death, if he can kill the enemy as well,” Omid said.
“Do all Muslims believe this? Do they all want this?”
“Many Muslims are Twelvers, but only some believe the apocalypse will trigger the Mahdi’s return. Many Islamic countries are content to wait in peace for the Mahdi’s return. And many Muslim governments are afraid of Ahmadinejad too. They know what he believes. They know what he wants. They know what this self-proclaimed deputy of the Twelfth Imam is willing to do.”
“Do you want to stop him, Omid?”
“Did some Germans want to stop Hitler? Let’s just say we do enough to slow him down every now and then. Sometimes a mysterious man on a motorcycle pulls up next to the car carrying a nuclear scientist. Within seconds a magnetic bomb is placed on the car and detonates 30-seconds later as the motorcycle disappears down an alley.”