We estimate the wave will be approximately 150 feet high when it rolls through New York Harbor and straight through Wall Street, until it engulfs Manhattan. It will almost certainly keep going for 20 miles inland across New Jersey, before finally breaking and sucking back over the land towards the coast. However it will be followed by another wave similar in height and then another. Possibly a total of fifteen in all, each of them more than 80 feet in height.
No city could possibly withstand such an impact from the ocean, and I fear there will be little left of your eastern seaboard when this mega-tsunami is finally over.
You may be doubting our capability to cause such havoc. But it is quite simple, it has happened several times in the history of our planet.
There are various places where such an effect on the ocean could be caused, but we have chosen one which could not fail. I am sure you will agree that if we can explode the biggest volcano in the United States, we can probably arrange a large rockfall into the deserted ocean. Have no doubt, Mr. President.
Which brings me to the objective of this letter. In order to prevent us from carrying out this threat, you will undertake the following actions:
1) You will evacuate all U.S. military personnel, and remove all stockpiled artillery, bombs, missiles, ammunitions, and other materials of war from your illegal bases in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Djibouti. All warships and aircraft will leave Bahrain and the British-owned base at Diego Garcia. All three of your Carrier Battle Groups, and all other Naval forces afloat in the Gulf of Iran and neighboring seas, will depart the area immediately. You will remove aircraft and support equipment from the Turkish Air Base at Incirlik.
Our time frame is not flexible. We expect to see immediate movement of troops, ships, and aircraft within seven days. We expect final withdrawal to be complete within six weeks, even if this means abandoning matériel.
2) There will be immediate recognition by the Israeli Government of an Independent, Democratic, and Sovereign State of Palestine, based in the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, occupied by Israeli forces on and since June 4, 1967. There will also be agreement to take immediate steps to withdraw all Israeli troops from the occupied territories. We also require an immediate undertaking from the Government of the United States to make Israel comply with the Hamas demands without delay.
Failure to comply with the above conditions will mean the certain destruction of your great cities of Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., as well as the remainder of the East Coast of the United States.
We are assuming you receive this document on August 21. You have until midnight, Thursday, October 8, to enter the final stages of your total evacuation from the Middle East. Unless we see clear signs that this is happening, we shall cause the tsunami within twenty-four hours of that date.
I am certain your experts will confirm for you the absolute feasibility of our intentions. We are perfectly capable of causing a landslide, sometime on October 9,2009.
Do not delay. With the great Allah fighting with us, we wish you out of the Middle East forever. Only He can grant us victory. We will stop at nothing to achieve our objectives.
— Hamas
President McBride sighed. “Bob,” he said, “this letter is from a nutcase. He came up with the bright idea of claiming to have exploded Mount St. Helens — after the fact, of course. Which anyone could have done.
“Then he used the absurd notion that someone might have believed him, in order to press home these outrageous demands. But I doubt even he is crazy enough to think we might start evacuating the entire military force of the United States from the most volatile part of the world. Just because he has threatened to drown New York City.”
“I guess so, sir,” replied Hatchard. “But, Christ…you don’t suppose this guy could be for real, do you?”
“Hell, no. Let me tell you something. Anytime there is a natural disaster — volcano, earthquake, flood, fire, or famine — you get a spate of letters from deranged people claiming to have caused it, started it, inspired it, or forecast it.
“Billy, no one takes notice of these crank communications. It’s not as if someone called the day before and announced, I’m going to blow Mount St. Helens tomorrow at around 7:30 in the morning. And then did it. Because that might prove pretty difficult. Nutcases like this wait till something happens, and then say, Oh, right, that was me.”
“Okay, sir. If that’s your decision. Meantime, you want me to have this letter copied and sent around to various interested parties in the military and in Intelligence, maybe the Defense Secretary, Secretary of State, perhaps?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Bob.”
“Okay, sir. But a word of caution. In the million-to-one chance that someone actually did explode Mount St. Helens, and is now planning to drown the East Coast, how about I just circulate this document, with a short cover letter? You know, informing people you are inclined to dismiss the entire thing as a hoax? But you are open to guidance? That way, we’ve covered our asses. I know it’s not going to happen, but if it should, well, then, it won’t be your fault. It’s the useless military for not taking care of it in the early stages…In politics, always cover your ass…right, sir? You stick that document in a file, and then it happens, there’s no one to blame but you. Why take that chance? Trust me, sir, let’s cover our ass…”
“Okay, buddy. But if we suddenly have the entire office filled with raging Admirals and Generals champing at the goddamned bit to attack Arabs, I’ll blame you.”
“Fine, sir. You can do that.”
Bob Hatchard retreated and had copies made of the Bandar Abbas letter. He dictated a short memo to each recipient that read:
The President believes this to be either a hoax, or from a straightforward crank. He notes the writer’s claim to have erupted Mount St. Helens did not come until a few days AFTER the event, and has asked me to inform you that, at this time, as Commander in Chief, he has no intention of evacuating our entire military presence from the Middle East as requested.
Nonetheless, he wanted you to see this, for what it’s worth, and he will keep you informed, should there be a further communiqué.
Sincerely,
Bill Hatchard, Chief of Staff.
The document was sent to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, who both agreed entirely with their leader. It was also sent to Admiral Morris, who did not; to General Tim Scannell, who had read Lt. Comdr. Jimmy Ramshawe’s brief, and to Adm. Alan Dickson, the Chief of Naval Operations, who, in agreement with Scannell, most definitely did not go along with the President’s assessment.
Adm. Arnold Morgan was not on Bill Hatchard’s circulation list. But he received a copy by courier from George Morris. Alan Dickson sent a copy to Adm. Dick Greening (Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, CINCPACFLT), to Rear Adm. Freddie Curran (Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, COMSUBPAC), and to Rear Adm. John Bergstrom (Commander Special War Command, SPECWARCOM).
By midafternoon (EDT), all high-ranking U.S. Navy personnel with major responsibilities in the Pacific operational area had been instructed to read the Ramshawe brief, before reading the latest communiqué from Hamas.
To a man, they considered the coincidences to be too great. There was, no doubt, ample evidence for linking the assumed Hamas terrorist leader Major Ray Kerman to the current volcano problem. According to Ramshawe, Admiral Morgan had actually photographed Kerman in company with leading Iranian volcanologists, on top of Cumbre Vieja, which most realized after reading Ramshawe’s brief was the most likely target for the kind of event threatened in the letter.