Joel C. Rosenberg
The Last Days
This book is dedicated to our Arab and Jewish friends
in and around the Middle East who are pouring out their very lives
for the peace that passes all understanding.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my incredible wife, Lynn — my hero and best friend. You constantly amaze me with your grace and discernment, your kindness and stamina. I don't know how I'd survive without you. Every day we walk together I learn something more wonderful about you. I love you so much. Thanks for loving me and doing this adventure together. We're living our dreams, and this is just the beginning. To Caleb, Jacob, and Jonah, my prayer warriors and "traveling buddies." I love being your dad. I love seeing your faith, hope, and love growing day by day. Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, Jerusalem — who knows what's next! To everyone in our previous acknowledgments, especially our families, friends, and kindred spirits from Syracuse, Washington, McLean, and Frontline. To our November Communications compadre, "John Black John Black," thanks for all your "air support" and wisdom! To Dan ("Duncle") Rebeiz, welcome aboard; Marcus and Tanya Brackman; the "Posse"; our Spain '03 team; the Stahls; the Rose family; Shirley O'Neill; and the team at World magazine. 1 hanks for your faithful friendship and for making us part of your lives.
Special thanks to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. You sent The Last Jihad into the stratosphere and our lives into hyperspeed with your passion and enthusiasm. We couldn't have been more surprised or had more fun. And many thanks to Steve and Sabina Forbes and Bill Dal Col for your enduring friendship and tremendous encouragement. We're still so humbled and grateful. God bless you guys!
To those who've been so generous with their time, research, and insights, including Allen Roth, Steven Schnier, and their colleagues; Ambassador Dore Gold; Mey Wurmser at AEI; Jim Phillips and Ariel Cohen at Heritage; and to so many Palestinian and Israeli sources who wish to remain anonymous.
To everyone who put together such wonderful book events for us over the last year, and have blessed our lives in so many ways, including Stanley and Gay Gaines; Janet Westling and her family; Bridgett Wagner at Heritage; Jeff Taylor; Nancy Streck, Steve Scheffler, and their team in Iowa; David Keene, Diana Banister, and everyone at CPAC; and even the kind folks who invited me to do the "Pat the Bunny" readings on that beautiful Saturday afternoon— thanks so much!
To Greg Mueller, Leif Noren, Keith Appell, Mike Russell, Peter Robbio, Suzanne Bakri, and the wonderful team at Creative Response Concepts for everything you did for me.
To Tom Doherty, Bob Gleason, Linda Quinton, Elena Stokes, Brian Callaghan, and the stellar team at Tor/Forge Books. You guys are absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for all you did to make The Last Jihad a bestseller and for giving me the opportunity to do what I love. I couldn't be more grate-fill.
And to Scott Miller at Trident Media Group, the best agent in the business. What an amazing year — who woulda thunk it? Thanks again for your wisdom and candor, your willingness to go the extra mile, and most of all for your friendship. Let's hope there's more to come.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
James "Mac" MacPherson
William Harvard Oaks
Scott Harris, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Stuart Morris Iverson, former Secretary of the Treasury
Lee Alexander James, Secretary of Homeland Security
Marsha Kirkpatrick, National Security Advisor
Jack Mitchell, Director of Central Intelligence
Tucker Paine, Secretary of State
Burt Trainor, Secretary of Defense
Neil Wittimore, Attorney General
Jon Bennett, Senior Advisor to the President
Bob Corsetti, White House Chief of Staff
Erin McCoy, Deputy to Jon Bennett and CIA operations officer
Chuck Murray, White House Press Secretary
Marty Benjamin, State Department's Policy Planning Staff director
Dick Cavanaugh, Deputy Secretary of State
Ken Costello, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Troy Moreaux, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, head of ORHA
General Ed Mutschler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Danny Tracker, CIA Deputy Director for Operations
Tariq Abu Ashad, CIA agent
Max Banacci, DSS agent
Dietrich Black, late FBI agent
Hamid, CIA agent
Sergeant Hunt, Navy SEAL
Kyi Lake, DSS agent
Maroq, CIA agent
Donny Mancuso, DSS agent
Nazir, CIA agent
Bud Norris, Director of the U.S. Secret Service
George Polanski, FBI agent
Eduardo Ramirez, SEAL Team Eight commander
Jackie Sanchez, Secret Service agent
Robbie Trakowski, DSS agent
Neil Watts, FBI agent
Jake Ziegler, CIA Gaza Station chief
Ayad Allawi, Iraqi National Accord
Mustafa al-Hassani, Iraqi National Alliance
Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq
Masoud Barzani, Kurdistan Democratic Party
Achmed Chalabi, Iraqi National Congress
Jalal Talabani, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
David Doron, Prime Minister of Israel
Dmitri Galishnikov, CEO of Medexco, Inc.
Dr. Eliezer Mordechai, former head of Mossad
Yossi Ben Ramon, head of Shin Bet
Avi Zadok, current head of Mossad
Uri "The Wolf" Ze'ev, chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces
Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority
Abu Mazen (a.k.a., Dr. Mahmoud Abbas), Palestinian Prime Minister
Marwan Barghouti, Fatah Tanzim leader
Mohammed Dahlan, Palestinian Interior Minister
Tibril Rajoub, Palestinian security chief on West Bank
Khalid al-Rashid, personal security chief for Chairman Arafat
Dr. Ibrahim Sa'id, CEO of Palestinian Petroleum Group
Achmed Qurei, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Yuri Gogolov, Russian co-founder of Al-Nakbah terrorist movement
Mohammed Jibril, Iranian co-founder of Al-Nakbah
Nadir Sarukhi Hashemi ("The Viper"; "Mario Iabello"), terrorist
Daoud Juma, terrorist
Akiva Ben David, founder of the Temple Mount Battalion
Ruth Bennett, mother of Jon Bennett