Path of the Assassin

CHAPTER 3

President Jack Rutledge’s National Security Council was waiting for him with a mixture of cautious apprehension and professional unease when he entered the secure conference room beneath the White House known as the situation room. Being called in at such an ungodly hour and on a weekend had everyone on edge.

“Please be seated,” said the president as he took his place at the head of the long cherry-wood table. “Thank you for coming in so early and on a Saturday.

“As you all know, the fallout from the terrorist attack on the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina has been every bit as bad as we feared it would be. The Israelis are experiencing a surge in homicide bombings, and imams and mullahs throughout the Islamic world are encouraging additional retaliation. And, just as we had anticipated, the rhetoric has been ratcheted up by Muslim extremists who are now calling for attacks on the United States because of our support for Israel.

“To make matters worse, the Israelis are reacting to the latest attacks on their people by going after the Palestinians with a tremendous amount of force. That force is making life extremely difficult for the chief Palestinian negotiator, Ali Hasan, whom we all have seen is quickly becoming one of the key players in the peace process and somebody who will be very involved in the future of Palestine. While Hasan’s people, and much of the Arab world, are yelling for blood, he is one of the few voices calling for a peaceful resolution.

“As for the Hand of God organization, Israel claims to be investigating, but says it has no knowledge of any such group and, contrary to reports in the Arab press, is in no way supporting it. We have some reservations as to how forthcoming the Israelis are being with us, and with that said, I’d like to invite CIA director Vaile, to present his report.”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” said Vaile as his assistant passed folders to each attendee around the long table. “As you all know, the CIA has been actively investigating the terrorist attack in Medina over the last week. In particular, we have been interested in uncovering the identity of a heretofore unknown terrorist group calling itself the Hand of God. We have confirmed that the missile used in the attack was, indeed, an Israeli-manufactured TOW 2 Short. In addition to the president’s report of the growing unrest in the Islamic world since the attack, the CIA feels it is important to point out the surging popularity of the Hand of God throughout Israel. There appears to be an increased vigilante fervor among the Israeli public that their government is doing very little to put down. In fact, while most Israeli officials have half heartedly condemned the attack in public, privately they’re praising it, which has caught the interest of our analysts over the last week.”

“Are you suggesting the Israeli government was actually involved in the attack on Medina?” asked the Homeland Security director, Alan Driehaus.

“We have no concrete proof of that, but—”

“Well, what do you have?” asked Jennifer Staley, the secretary of state, as she leafed through the folder that had been handed her.

“After the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, along with several high-ranking Israeli officials, intended to send a message, not only to those involved in the Munich massacre, but also to anyone contemplating future attacks on Israel, that such behavior would be met with deadly reprisals.

“To send the message, a covert action team from the Mossad’s assassination unit was assembled. There were to be no arrests, no trials, no appeals. Their goal was simple — kill every single person they could get to, whether their involvement in Munich was direct or indirect, and let the rest live in fear, never knowing when their time would come. And it didn’t matter where the terrorists were hiding. The team was authorized to hunt them down anywhere in the world.”

“I remember that,” said the secretary of state. “What did the Israelis name their group?”

“The Wrath of God,” said Vaile. All of the attendees who had been perusing the folders in front of them now raised their eyes and locked them on the CIA director.

Homeland Security director Driehaus moved uncomfortably in his chair for a moment before speaking. “Are you telling us you believe the Israelis have reactivated this unit to terrorize the Arab world?”

“We don’t know yet, but we’re putting a lot of resources into getting to the bottom of it. When it comes to covert operations, the Israelis are one of the best. If they don’t want anybody to know they’re behind something, most of the time they can make that happen.”

“What diplomatic channels have we tried?” asked the secretary of state.

Vaile glanced at President Rutledge before responding. “The president has put the question point-blank to the Israeli prime minister, and he has denied that his country has any involvement with the Hand of God.”

“So what, in fact, do we know?” asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

“What we know is that the timing of this couldn’t be worse. If you’ll permit me, I’d like to explain why the president has called this meeting,” said Vaile, who then asked for the lights to be lowered as he activated his laptop. Two, large flat-panel screens at the front of the situation room came to life with the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency as the director began his presentation.

“Before Osama bin Laden appeared on the world stage, the spotlight rested largely upon Abu Nidal, a man who not only wrote the book on international terrorism, but published it as well.

“The Abu Nidal Organization, also known as the Fatah Revolutionary Council, or FRC, has carried out over ninety terrorist attacks across twenty countries, resulting in the death and injury of more than a thousand people. At one point, the State Department classified Nidal and his people as the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. His targets have included the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab nations. The organization’s number-one priority after the creation of a Palestinian State is the destruction of Israel and then America—”

“Wait a second. These people have been off the radar screen for years,” said the secretary of state. “I thought we were operating under the assumption that Abu Nidal had been assassinated in Baghdad.”

“The CIA is inclined to agree with you,” responded Vaile.

“Then what are we talking about?”

“This,” said Vaile as he advanced to the next slide of his presentation. The long list of Abu Nidal’s terrorist activities, including masterminding the Rome and Vienna airport massacres, as well as the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, disappeared and was replaced by an empty silhouette. “Ladies and gentlemen, meet Hashim Nidal. Abu Nidal’s son.”

“But there’s nothing there,” replied the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

“And therein lies the greatest threat facing our country at this moment,” replied Vaile.

“Director Vaile,” began the Homeland Security director, “are you telling us that despite the vast resources of the CIA, you don’t even have a picture of this man?”

“Unfortunately, that’s correct. Abu Nidal went to great lengths to keep the fact that he even had a son hidden. All we’ve been able to ascertain thus far is his name. Roughly translated from Arabic, Hashim means, ‘crusher of evil.’ ”

“Well, that’s lovely,” said the secretary of state as she closed her folder and pushed it away from her. “Are you suggesting, Mr. Vaile, that Abu Nidal turned the reins of the organization over to his son?”

“Based on the intelligence we have received, that’s exactly what we’re suggesting.”

“And what is this intelligence?”

“According to our sources, Hashim Nidal has united an international network of Islamic terrorist organizations including Hamas, Hezbollah, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the remnants of Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines… The list goes on and on. He has been able to convince them that their service to Allah can best be carried out by joining forces. He knows their strengths, as well as their weaknesses. They have been sharing strategies, intelligence, and even training. There’s a deep religious underpinning within all the groups, which Hashim Nidal is using to supercede their political beliefs. For all intents and purposes, he has united them behind a common cause — the destruction of Israel.”

“And the threat to the United States is…?” asked Driehaus.

“Extremely serious. According to their doctrine, the destruction of Israel will be immediately followed by the destruction of the United States.”

“What’s pushed this all to center stage?” asked the secretary of state.

“There’s been a conflux of events — increased telephone chatter picked up by the NSA, FBI probes into suspected sleeper cells here in the U.S., and a significant breakthrough by the CIA,” said Vaile, with full knowledge that his agency needed to appear two steps ahead of terrorism for once instead of two steps behind.

“And what exactly was this significant CIA breakthrough?” asked Driehaus.

“With the help of the NSA, we’ve been monitoring communications among several of the most serious Islamic terrorist groups. Someone code-named, Ghazi, which is Arabic for ‘the conqueror,’ has been repeatedly referenced as the great father of the organizations. Ghazi has also been discussed as masterminding an upcoming event that will begin the shift of world power to the true believers of Islam.

“Now, last night, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad was picked up in Beirut. Under interrogation, he identified Hashim Nidal as the person referred to as Ghazi, but said he’d never met him in person and couldn’t provide a description of him. He indicated that Nidal’s upcoming event was imminent and would unite the Arab world, once and for all, in decimating Israel, followed by the United States.”

Even the most seasoned poker faces around the situation room table couldn’t mask their shock and disbelief.

“Does the CIA actually believe this Hashim Nidal has the wherewithal to pull something like this off?” asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

“We can’t afford not to believe,” answered the president. “We’re going to need everyone working together on this. Hashim Nidal has to be stopped and his organization dismantled before he can launch any attacks within or against the United States. We also want to prevent anything that could start a war between Israel and the rest of the Arab world.”

“Without knowing what this guy looks like or where he is, how do we even start?” asked Director Sorce of the FBI.

“The CIA has already put the wheels in motion, and we’re tracking down several leads. We’ll find Hashim Nidal, and we will stop him,” replied Vaile.

Most of the people around the table, including the president, wished they could be as confident in the CIA as its director was. He was flying completely blind and they all knew it. Only a miracle would allow his agency to pull this operation off. The question was, where would they find one?