President Bush also stressed that the tortures were the acts of only a “few soldiers” while Congress viewed thousands of photos and hours of video the Pentagon offered. No one asked the obvious questions: How could only a few make so many videos and photos? And the more disturbing question was what else had happened to the prisoners that the soldiers and generals were smart enough not to record? What else was the Pentagon hiding?
This was not lost on bin Laden, Sharafan, or any of the others that followed him. He said, “Now the Americans prosecute their own to cover up their crimes. They will do it so fast to appease us that their own soldiers will never trust them again.”
Then an American was beheaded and Bush quickly sent Powell to do damage control. On the news, including CNN, Powell said, “Torture of any kind is unacceptable, and Arab leaders need to look at what’s happening to their own societies. They need to reform their societies.”
The Arab countries became angry. Powell continued. “When you are outraged at what happened at Abu Gharib, you should be equally, no, doubly outraged at what happened to Mr. Berg.”
Many Middle Easterners were silent. Again Sharafan noted this and wondered why the obvious question on all of their minds hadn’t been asked. Why should they be doubly outraged at an American being murdered over an Arab being murdered?
Bin Laden waved it off and pointed to Powell. “He is but a puppet to the American regime. They are on a witch hunt but there are no witches.”
Over the next few years, strong and dependable companies had crumbled, while the stocks tumbled. And the president never stopped passing out the money in huge chunks. Just like bin Laden told Sharafan, the president made dynamic speeches and granted tax cuts while at the same time increased expenditures for war that were more than ten times the amount of the cuts. The deficit grew in leaps and bounds. America was going broke and didn’t know it or didn’t care. More lives were destroyed and money lost in this fashion than Al-Qaeda was able to accomplish through terrorists acts. And the terror never stopped. Still the United States was strong, and the only way the United States could be defeated would be if it were crippled. As Sharafan had said to bin Laden, “I could never beat a World Champion Boxer, and no one could ever beat the United States in battle. But — let me break the boxer’s arm before I enter the ring and I will win.”
“And how do you break America’s arm?” Bin Laden asked.
“We will bring the United States to its knees financially. In less than ten years we can make the United States a financial cripple.”
“They destroy themselves; how can you add to that?”
“Terror,” laughed Sharafan. “Every time a letter has white powder or someone threatens a game or a holiday or a national shrine, the Americans will spend millions to protect themselves out of fear. If we never do another thing except make them think something is about to happen, their president and politicians will spend money defensively out of fear and will eventually spend all they have. America’s president spreads more terror to his own people in one month than we could do in a year.”
Then Sharafan laughed and added, “But we will also continue to kill Americans in their own country. They will be afraid to go to the store to buy milk. The fear in America will become an uncontrolled epidemic, and thus hasten America’s demise.” Knowingly, bin Laden nodded his approval. Terrorist acts around the world continued and like that of his father’s, President Bush’s popularity waned. Only months before the Presidential election, and with his reelection in jeopardy, President Bush relayed a message to the people of the United States that his intelligence forces had learned terrorist acts in America were about to begin again.
The president also noted that Syria was harboring terrorists and making Weapons of Mass Destruction so he levied sanctions against them. In a desperate move to seize the Latin American vote, he tried to rally the people of Florida when he issued sanctions against Cuba.
In May of 2004, President Bush warned of imminent al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorist attacks that would be carried out on American soil. In a desperate effort to get re-elected he used the age-old ploy of country, and managed to get more than a majority of Americans to rally around the flag again. Middle Eastern countries became angry as American military continued to hit innocent targets, and Israel used missiles, tanks, and aircraft to kill Palestinians and destroy their homes.
Although Kerry tried to mount a charge against the money machine of President Bush and his wealthy supporters, he might have had a chance if not for what happened in the latter part of the summer before the election. A war hero, Kerry was branded a coward and immoral.
Osama bin Laden was prepared for attacks on the United States but stopped Sharafan. He explained that President Bush was spreading his own personal terror across America and making a dangerously high deficit beyond a point of recovery. Bin Laden understood that at the rate Bush increased the deficit, another term under Bush’s regime could quit possibly bankrupt the United States. Sharafan understood and delayed attacks in the United States until after Bush was re-elected.
With the world against the American people, U.S. citizens did just as bin Laden suspected. The president’s popularity soared and there was much flag waving. Almost all American homes brandished an American flag on the exterior of their houses. Another thousand American soldiers died in Iraq.
With a platform of ethics and morality, Bush was reelected. Defense spending accelerated. Promises were broken and more troops were sent to the Middle East. Declared an imminent danger, Iran and Syria were threatened and accused, but again no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found and all the accusations proved to be false.
Then something happened in America to aid Sharafan in his quest at the same time change American opinion of their government. Katrina. A tropical storm, Katrina hit New Orleans and showed the true ability and power of the United States. For the first time Americans saw their government unprepared for any emergency, contrary to the 9/11 promises of President Bush. Americans became angry and bitter. Slowly the flags began to disappear from the fronts of American homes. The next four years found the National Debt soaring to over eleven trillion dollars.
Terror continued. Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the ineptitude at finding the terrorists. While both sides pointed fingers and tossed accusations at each other, the terrorist network quietly shipped Russian-made SA-7 surface-to-air missiles and U.S. made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles obtained from former American allies. While ships were checked when they landed in American, this was not true in Mexico where the missiles were sent. When the deadly cargos landed in Mexico and were simply driven across the border in large trucks. The NAFTA treaty prevented a thorough inspection of the freight when it crossed the border. The missiles were distributed across the United States.
When a truck load of the missiles were accidentally discovered the truth shocked America. It was too late but just knowing they had been shipped created fear. However, fear of what might happen ended for all Americans when the missiles were used during heavily traveled holidays on July 4th and Christmas. The American government spent billions trying to find the missiles. They did find some, but not all. Terror spread quickly and the financial collapse accelerated.
With the help of Sharafan and many others like him the Coalition had survived. Over the next few years, when bin Laden’s Coalition received opposition from local groups or leaders, the solution was easy. Leak their location to American intelligence and make sure the word “terrorist,” “Al Qaeda,” or “biological warfare” was linked to the group. Within weeks the area would be destroyed by American attacks. This worked as a double-edged sword for bin Laden. First, Americans eliminated the opposition and, second, those that remained would most times join the Coalition just to kill an American. Financially the United States began to crumble. Within eight years of the New York disaster, the United States Government was spending or giving away nearly a trillion dollars a year for defense or to help allies fight terrorism. Many times those same countries given assistance or money turned on the United States.