The Beijing conspiracy

CHAPTER 25

T he secret service agent outside the entrance to the Oval Office in the West Wing nodded politely to Jerry Buffett, one of the President’s most trusted advisors on domestic and foreign policy. The Reverend Buffett was a frequent but unpublicised visitor to a White House where regular prayer sessions and the word of the Lord held sway.

‘Jerry, come on in,’ President Harrison said, getting up from behind his desk and taking the evangelist warmly by the hand. ‘Dan Esposito, you know,’ he said, as his advisor also proffered a hand in welcome.

‘Thank you, Mr President, thank you.’ Despite the relaxed rapport and an absolute trust between them, Jerry Buffett always stuck with protocol. Unless they were alone or in prayer and he was asking God to bless the Presidency, he never addressed the President by his first name. ‘These are difficult times, Mr President, but a lot of folk are praying for you and we all think you’re doing a first class job,’ he added encouragingly.

‘Well I appreciate that, Jerry. Sometimes it’s not easy but I get a lot of strength from the Lord.’

‘Amen to that, Mr President, Amen to that.’

‘Take the weight off your feet,’ the President said, sitting down on one of the two lounges and gesturing towards the other.

‘What do you make of this latest threat from Khalid Kadeer and al-Qaeda, Jerry?’ the President asked after the secret service agent had left the room.

Jerry Buffett nodded gravely and leaned forward, lowering his deep southern drawl, which seemed an entirely unnecessary precaution in what was arguably the most secure office in the world.

‘We should be doing something about this threat before it overwhelms us, Mr President. It isn’t the false prophecies of the Qu’ran that we should be concerned about here but the real prophecies in the Bible. We face one of the most serious times in the history of mankind and that’s why God has put you in this office. Yours is a mission from God,’ he said, making sure he emphasised his point, ‘and there are two separate threats, Mr President. The greatest threat will come from the Chinese and the massive armies of Gog, as Ezekiel makes clear, but that will come later. The more immediate threat will come from the false religion of Islam. The Muslims are demanding that the Palestinians be given their own State, Mr President, but that will only be a small start. They want nothing more than for Israel to be pushed into the sea. But the Bible tells us, Mr President, that before Christ can return, all of the biblical lands must be returned to the Israelites, all of them,’ the Reverend Buffett said determinedly. ‘The Palestinians must be relocated to Jordan and any other country that will take these pagans. In Ezekiel, God says to us “But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly”. God has also warned us that in the last days, Mr President, just before the return of Christ, the Muslims will try and destroy Israel and Jerusalem.’

President Harrison looked thoughtful.

‘The Bible is quite clear, Mr President,’ Jerry Buffett pressed on. ‘Attacks on the United States by Islamic terrorists are predicted in both the Old and the New Testaments. What we’re seeing is the beginning of the end times that herald the return of Jesus himself, and I very much fear that Khalid Kadeer will carry out his threats, exactly as it’s been laid out for us in the Bible.’

Dan Esposito was sitting at the opposite end of the President’s couch and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. First that little shit O’Connor from the CIA and now this meddlesome preacher, both espousing the view that the threats from Kadeer were genuine. It was not a line that he wanted aired in public but for the moment he said nothing. Esposito knew that, for now, he needed Buffett to galvanise the voters in the southern bible-belt and in the swing states like Ohio. If Buffett’s preachers urged them to vote for a godfearing President who took his guidance from the Lord, they would turn out in droves.

The Reverend Buffett reached inside his soft leather briefcase and pulled out his well-thumbed Bible. ‘God has told me that the Muslim nations are preparing to strike our nation, Mr President, and our Lord revealed how they would do this when he spoke with John on the Greek island of Patmos.’ Jerry Buffett turned to the Revelation to John. ‘“And I saw a pale horse and its rider’s name was Death.” The Greek for pale is chloros, which stands for disease. The Bible could not be more clear, Mr President. It’s there in Daniel, in Matthew and in Revelations. I have no doubt that these Muslims are planning to launch an attack that spreads disease and that can only be a biological attack.’

‘The State Department and our Intelligence agencies don’t think they’ve developed that capability yet,’ the President said, glancing over at Esposito.

‘Our State Department and our Intelligence agencies all do an excellent job, Mr President, no doubt about it, but unlike you, they don’t have a direct line to a higher authority. Like Hitler, Kadeer speaks of a final solution. As God’s man in the White House, Mr President, you’re privy to the greatest source of intelligence there is. There can be no higher authority than the word of the Lord and the Holy Book. We not only need to prepare this country against a devastating Islamic biological attack, Mr President, we need to deter them from even thinking about launching one. The only thing that prevented the Soviet Union from launching a nuclear attack during the Cuban missile crisis was our own nuclear capability. Khrushchev knew that if he attacked, his own country would be annihilated. We need to develop our own biological weapons, Mr President, and leave the Muslims in no doubt that if they attack us we not only have the means to destroy them, but we will not hesitate to use them.’

‘I hear you, Jerry,’ President Harrison replied, his mind wavering, ‘I hear you, but it would be a very big step to re-introduce that research.’

‘These are desperate last days, Mr President, and you need to get yourself into a position to strike first. If you strike in the name of the Lord you can rest assured that God will be on your side.’

The Reverend Buffett was using the same persuasive bible-based rhetoric he used on his centre’s big stage back in Atlanta; skills he had spent a lifetime perfecting. After pausing for more thought, the President nodded in agreement, as he reflected that the urgings of the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense may well have been God’s way of getting his message through; a message that was now being confirmed by his spiritual advisor.

Before he left, Jerry Buffett joined hands with the other two men and led them in prayer. ‘Lord Jesus, we thank you for this godfearing President that you have placed in the White House, that your will might be done here on earth. We ask that you continue to protect this President, that he might overcome the Islamic forces of evil in this world. We ask that you will guide all those who are tasked with the preparations for our defense, that your light might shine forth from this nation to illuminate the world. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.’

Earlier in the day, and some 900 kilometres to the south, evil of a more sinister nature had been gathering strength.