Posted on 06/05/2007 8:46:24 AM PDT by pacelvi
"Right. And to identify the murderers, to successfully prosecute them, what do you need to prove?" [Israeli Major to American]
"Sherlock Homes would say means, motive, and opportunity." [American to Israeli]
"The means was our Bible. Without it, Muhammad wouldn’t have been able to form a sewing circle, much less start a religion. Islam’s credibility comes entirely from the Judeo-Christian scriptures."
"Yeah. That’s what I said back in Afghanistan. It’s obvious."
"The m-motivation for killing is even more obvious. When we infidels called Muhammad on the c-carpet for the absurdity of his pronouncements, he got p-pissed."
"Sir," Josh interjected, "if you were to put the Qur’an in chronological order, you’d see that Muhammad started off as a wannabe Jew. In Mecca he prayed facing Jerusalem; he worshiped on our Sabbath. Most every character in the Qur’an comes from the Torah."
Yacob was eager to contribute. "The moment Muhammad was forced out of Mecca, his revisionist ‘scriptures’ were exposed to Jewish scrutiny. Our brothers in Yathrib were insulted, and that changed everything."
The Major pulled rank. "For example, there were over a hundred quasi-peace-loving verses ‘revealed’ to Muhammad when he was hanging with the Meccans. They were all abrogated - cast into oblivion, in Allah-speak - when the Yathrib Jews defied the Messenger. In Qur’an 9:5, Allah says, ‘Fight and slay the infidels wherever you find them. Seize them, beleaguer them, using every strategy of war.’ Hate is a powerful motive, my friend."
"And you [America] gave them the third thing - opportunity." Josh rubbed his bruised chest. "By refusing to acknowledge who the murderers were, and failing to ascertain why they killed, you have made your family vulnerable. To use Moshe’s example, it would be like leaving the thief in your home with your daughter while you go and consult with the criminal’s friends and neighbors. While they confuse you with talk of peace, they tell one another that you had it coming. In their eyes, the killer was justified because their Prophet commanded him to terrorize you. Given the chance, they’d all slit your throat."
"That’s a p-problem. The murderer has a billion neighbors, and they’re taught to hate you. So what do you do? Do you brick up your doors and windows with the k-killer inside? How many bricks will it take before you’re worn down and l-living in the dark? Or, I know, why not invite the murderer’s largest benefactor over for a tour of your r-ranch? Tell him you like his plan to reward m-murders and abandon your friends."
"Okay boys. I get the point. We can’t wall ourselves in any more than we could’ve prevented World War II by sealing our borders or randomly profiling non-combatants." [American]
The [Israeli] Major agreed. "What would have happened if you had sent your fleet to South America and your planes to South Africa rather than to Germany and Japan?"
"We’d be eating sushi and sauerkraut," Thor guessed.
"If you want to get serious and stop terror, then you need to take the battle to the source," Isaac concluded.
"That’s not so easy. America doesn’t have a leader capable of understanding these things, which means we’re condemned to fight this foe on our soil," Thor acknowledged grimly. "So how do you suppose they’ll attack next?"
"They’re p-probably going to make you s-sick and then blow you to pieces." Moshe surveyed his battered hand. "Anthrax and nukes."
"Swell. Mind if Sarah and I stay here with you for a while? Suicide bombers seem a lot less menacing."
"Yacob smiled. "Me Ka’aba es su Ka’aba." His Spanish was no better than his English.
Thor sighed. "Do you think they can make enough anthrax to take the battle beyond mailboxes and office suites?"
"Sure. I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way to infect whole cities. You guys have already caught them studying crop dusters. Why do you think they did that? Seen any terrorist farmers recently?"
"You really believe they’re gonna try to spray anthrax on us like it was a pesticide - infidel poison? You think they’re going to drop it on us like it was confetti in some twisted tickertape parade?"
"Yep. Stock up on Cipro. You’re gonna need it," Isaac prophesied. "But that’s the least of your problems."
"Nukes?"
"Dirty bombs first, fission next." Yacob guessed.
"From what I’ve read, ‘radiological dispersion devices’ as the call them, aren’t all that lethal." Thor raised an eye, checking Isaac’s expression.
"If they use americium from smoke detectors, or barium from enemas, no. But cobalt 60, used in food processing plants, and cesium 137, used in X-ray machines, would kill a lot of people."
"Those elements are prevalent and available in America, sir. In fact," Josh warned, "your own Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that 835 devices containing radioactive material disappeared over the last five years."
"I don’t suppose you’re making this up just to make me feel better."
"’Fraid not," Josh continued. "Many contained cobalt 60, which is a gamma-emitter. It’s highly radioactive, with a half-life of five-point-three years. It’s especially lethal, permeating the skin and causing immediate cell damage, ionizing fleshy atoms. The rays weigh nothing and travel at light speed. Those who come in contact with cobalt 60 get cancer, mostly leukemia. Their immune systems will fail. The only good news is that it won’t last long, so it has to be used right after it’s stolen."
"But that’s nothing compared to what would happen if they got their hands on strontium 90," Isaac said. "It’s a beta-emitter with a half life of twenty-eight years. Beta rays are like light - they have both wave and particle properties. They’re ideal for dirty bombs because they can be contained within relatively light aluminum vessels. Gamma-emitters like cobalt need several centimeters of lead to control the radiation."
"And how would they get strontium?"
"Russian power plants. It’s a byproduct of fissionable uranium dioxide 235. They also produce plutonium," Yacob said. "Which is why energy-rich Arab nations are having the French and Russians build nuclear power plants. The first was Pakistan, followed by Iraq, Iran, and Libya. Anyway, a core reactor will have two hundred and fifty one-centimeter pellets per assembly and two hundred assemblies per core. The fission process of radioactive isotopes creates new substances like strontium. A measuring-cup load of this stuff would contaminate a city beyond salvation."
"The good news is, it’s a s-suicide mission. Would-be t-terrorists exposed to the isotope apart from its shielding wouldn’t live l-long. And the best materials are the hardest to h-handle. At 300 REMs they’d lose their hair and screw up their blood, hemorrhaging internally. At 600 REMs it would be all over. Eighty p-percent would die a miserable death."
"And as bad as all this sounds, sir, if they get their hands on a real nuke - fission - a million people could die. Especially if they put it in just the right place." Yacob looked down at the table.
Isaac explained another problem. "The two fissionable isotopes are uranium 235 and weapons-grade plutonium. They have half-lives of millions and billions of years. You could make a pillow out of the stuff and it wouldn’t affect you. That makes ’em hard to detect."
"But they can’t just waltz in here with it, can they? We have detection gear at critical points of entry. It’s not like they’re going to paddle up the Potomac and surprise us."
Moshe, the hardened warrior, looked pale. Unwilling to make eye contact, he seemed to be searching for something in his espresso cup. "I pray you’re right," the atheist mumbled.
In this section, some American buerocrats are in Israel meeting with the Mossad , after a massive Anthrax attack in NYC and Washington.
Obviously he's no wordsmith, but the point of this isn't the characters, it's what they are saying.
That statement alone makes the hair on my neck stand up.
Thanks. Bookmarked and sent to friends as well.
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