The base’s unofficial mission is somewhat different: USMA Forward Attack Squadron Wildcat is deployed to protect the oil-rich Emirates from Iranian invasion.
Because its personnel serve six-month tours punctuated by month-long rotations back to their home base at Beaufort, South Carolina, the installation, which is totally isolated from any contact with the indigenous population, must supply its own entertainment. Thus it maintains extensive sports facilities, including two indoor basketball courts and a sixty-foot swimming pool, access to some 300,000 books and videos via the Department of the Navy’s Online Library, and—aside from CNN—the full panoply of US television stations serving coastal South Carolina. There is not a burglary in the city of Beaufort that is not hometown news at Marine Air Forward Attack Squadron Wildcat.
Perched overlooking Iran’s western flank, the base’s pilots tend to watch CNN with interest. Their hearts may be in Beaufort, but their minds are alert to any change in the regional political situation: if things are heating up in the Persian Gulf, these airmen want to know about it.
In the duty room, three pilots watch with fascination as anchor Damian Smith narrates a special report called Hell in Tel Aviv. Once part of the international press’s anti-Israel front, like most other news outlets CNN now finds itself in the unfamiliar position of rooting for the Israeli underdog in an update of the original David-and-Goliath story, except this time David lies mortally wounded on the Mediterranean coast.
The special report is little more than a visual dirge narrated by the normally upbeat Smith. “Thousands of Jewish refugees continue to stream into Israeli-controlled Tel Aviv,” Smith reads as footage from Al-Jazeera shows rivers of refugees filling the highway past a sign that says TEL AVIV 30KMS, then footage of former Israel Railways carriages, now crudely stenciled over in Arabic and English ISLAM RAIL, with Jews packed tightly within and riding between the cars and on top.
“Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, the Islamic Liberation Force has confirmed the destruction of the Western or Wailing Wall, the single remnant of the Holy Temple, said to be, to have been, the single most sacred spot for Jews everywhere.” Grainy images show the massive stones of the Wall tumbling down in a cloud of ancient dust as Arab soldiers dance in celebration, then footage of weeping Orthodox Jews in New York rending their garments in mourning. “In London, when the destruction of the Wall was announced, Britain’s chief rabbi, considered by many Jews to have inherited a mantle of authority from the chief rabbinate of Israel, now defunct, called on Jews around the world to begin a week of fasting, prayer, and repentance. Destruction of the Wall was met by harsh criticism from most Western leaders, including the president, who termed it ‘an act of violence against Jews, Christians, and peace-loving Muslims everywhere.’
“In Tel Aviv, widespread looting is reported to have broken out as an estimated six million Jews search desperately for food and water. Arab control of Israeli airspace and access from the sea has cut off the city and, some say, sealed its doom. From nearby Cyprus, Connie Blunt in the port of Limassol.”
Perky as ever, Blunt does a stand-up against the background of fishing boats lined up romantically at Limassol harbor, a classic Mediterranean view that could just as well have been painted on. Her attire is vaguely nautical and clearly not inexpensive. Unlike earlier generations of female correspondents, who felt they must prove to be as tough as their male colleagues, Blunt does not travel light. As well, CNN is contractually bound to pay for her on-screen wardrobe. “Damian, from reports by Israelis who’ve escaped from what is being called Ghetto Tel Aviv, mostly in small boats, a few in private planes, the rump state of Israel has only weeks, perhaps days, before its population starves to death. Think of Manhattan Island, quadruple its population, cut it off from food, and you can imagine the mounting fear and very real chaos in the once-thriving metropolis, known as the White City for its unique 1930s Bauhaus architecture and lit-up nightlife. It used to be said of Israel’s three major urban areas that Haifa works, Jerusalem prays, and Tel Aviv plays. Now both Haifa and Jerusalem are ghost towns, and in Tel Aviv, nobody is playing. The people of Israel are dying, and the State of Israel with them.”
“Connie, a moment ago you compared Tel Aviv to Manhattan. We should point out that Manhattan is an island, surrounded by fresh water. Sources in Washington tell us that water is in extremely short supply in Tel Aviv. Can you confirm that?”
“Yes, Damian. I can. With me here in Cyprus is Dr. Heinz Wortzel, head of emergency relief for the International Committee of the Red Cross, who tells me the water situation is very bad indeed and becoming worse, not least because Israel’s National Water Carrier, the pipeline system which supplies drinking water from the north of the country, has been disrupted. Dr. Wortzel, isn’t this an act that some would term genocide on the part of the Arab conquerors of Israel?”
Blunt’s cameraman pulls back so that the television screen in the ready room of Marine Aviation Forward Attack Squadron Wildcat shows her standing with a tall, thin man in rimless glasses, a lightcolored suit and tie. He speaks with a Swiss-German accent at once dour and surprisingly musical. “In my professional capacity, I regret that I can neither confirm nor deny that the lack of potable water in the city of Tel Aviv is caused by purposeful tampering or redirection of the National Water Carrier. Such a speculation is not within my purview. Also it appears that the city of Tel Aviv is without electricity, as coal to power its generators is now terminated. This alone could be a factor of significance—water must be pumped, you see. However, it is a fact that the population of Tel Aviv is not in a good condition, which becomes worse every day.”
“Dr. Wortzel,” Connie asks, “what can be done to relieve the city and bring in needed supplies to avert a humanitarian disaster?”
“Since three weeks we have been in daily contact with the Red Crescents of the Arab nations concerned to find a way round many complex logistical and political obstacles.”
Blunt becomes aggressive. “And how is that working out, doctor?”
“Under the circumstances, we are doing our best. These efforts will, of course, continue.”
“Has the Red Cross been permitted to visit Israeli prisoners of war who are said to be—”
“Because of the many armies and political entities involved, we have not yet succeeded in this.”
“I’m told over four hundred thousand Israeli POWs are being held in overcrowded camps, with no shade, little to no food or water, and no medical care at all for the sick and wounded.”
“Having not visited these facilities, I am not in a position to comment. In coming days my colleagues and I hope to—”
James Boatwright, the pilot they call Jimbo, cuts off the sound with the remote control. That it is in his hand is a measure of his status among his fellow airmen. He is one of the few black graduates of Annapolis in Marine Aviation. These few spots are limited to those in the top ten percent of each class. Jimbo graduated third overall, first in English, Spanish, and French. However, despite his unerring linguistic abilities, when among his fellow pilots Jimbo prefers to affect the down-home accent that reflects his early childhood in Atlanta rather than his later education at Choate, the New England prep school that specializes in supplying wealthy white boys to the Ivy League. When it comes to his identification as a Marine, Jimbo is a reverse snob. A Marine, he likes to say, ought to talk like a Marine, and a Marine don’t talk like they mouths is wired shut.
“You be all right, Stanny?”
A captain like the others, Stanley Field, whose father (born Greenfeld) was a decorated Marine helicopter pilot in Vietnam, grew up dreaming of Marine Aviation. “Why the hell shouldn’t I be?”