Buffalo looked at George. Oh no, here we go again. “Yeah,” Buffalo responded so that George could preach to Lannis. “Mutually Assured Destruction. Kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Those were the days when it meant something to serve on a boomer.”
“It sure did,” said George, taking his lead from Buffalo. “In my opinion, of the three legs of the U.S.’s strategic defense triad—land-based ICBMs, long-range strategic bombers, and ballistic missile submarines—the submarine force played the primary role in deterring nuclear attack during the Cold War. Missile silos and air force bases could be destroyed in a nuclear first strike, but boomers patrolling in secret locations could not. It was clearly the survivability of our boomers that kept the ‘Assured’ in the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction.”
“Well, MAD is dead,” said Buffalo matter-of-factly. “Teats on a boar hog.”
“Not entirely,” Lannis responded. “We still have enemies or potential enemies out there who could hit us with long-range ballistic missiles. What about China and North Korea? Our boomers are still a deterrent for those guys.”
Buffalo responded, “Well North Korea hasn’t shown they can really do it yet, and China is more of an economic rather than a military adversary now. The Chinese economy has mutated to one with more and more capitalism and free enterprise over the years. They’re becoming communist in name-only in a lot of ways.”
“Yeah, MAD is dead all right,” George continued undaunted, “because political correctness prevents our country’s leaders from acknowledging what is really going on—a holy war between radical Islamists and the rest of the world. For MAD to work today, we would have to announce that in response to any terrorist attack with a weapon of mass destruction, we would target our nuclear weapons on something really valuable to the radicals—something so precious, the threat of its destruction would back them down.”
“Like what?” asked Lannis sarcastically.
“Well, the only thing they consider precious is their religion; so maybe if Muslim holy sites and major Muslim cities were targeted then we might get their attention.”
“That’ll never happen,” ventured Buffalo.
“I know,” said George. “Our own fanatical belief in freedom of religion prevents us from targeting any particular religious group, even when the basic teachings of that group are counter to religious freedom. Besides that, we probably have too many Muslims in the U.S. already for our leaders to get away with it. U.S. citizens are perfectly free to convert to Islam, and millions have. In addition, our liberal immigration policies have allowed millions more Muslims to legally enter the U.S. on a permanent basis. So a MAD policy directed toward Muslim holy sites would probably cause a second civil war, most likely carried out by millions of so-called peaceful Muslims using terrorist tactics throughout the country.”
“Yeah, well it’s easy to point out problems,” said Lannis as he started back to his office. “When you have a solution,” he called out over his shoulder, “let me know.”
The SUBLANT staff filed into the large, semi-darkened briefing room, and the officers took their seats around a configuration of tables arranged to form one large U-shaped table. Whenever the briefing began, Admiral Yates would sit in the center of the base of the U with his officers distributed around him and down each side of the table. The enlisted staff members, including Petty Officer Harris, sat in a row of chairs behind the officers. A presenter’s podium was positioned facing the admiral, between the far ends of the table at the top of the U. Next to the podium was a large screen where a projector, suspended from the ceiling, would project computer-generated slides and other visual aids prepared by each presenter. A few of the staff members made small talk as they waited for Admiral Yates, but most looked over their notes, preparing mentally for the briefing. Finally, the admiral entered the room, and they all jumped to attention as his aide called, “Attention on deck!”
“Seats, everyone,” said the admiral, taking his seat at the head of the conference table facing the podium. “Let’s get started.” At six feet and 175 pounds, Admiral Rowdy Yates was in excellent physical condition. He personified the classic description “lean and mean,” but he encouraged all his staff to keep themselves “lean and agile.” His short-cropped hair—much shorter than required by navy regulations—made George think the admiral would have been better suited for the Marine Corps. He was a no-nonsense leader—the picture of efficiency. He ran a tight ship, and that included a fast-paced, well-choreographed briefing.
Intel went first in order to present background information, current events, a threat assessment, and the current disposition of known submarines in the Atlantic.
George watched Lannis strut to the podium. Here we go! Lannis is about to get skewered and fried!
“Good morning, Admiral,” Lannis began. “Given the urgency of what we all know has transpired with the new videotape from al-Qaeda, may I suggest that we change the order of the briefing today and move straight to Ops—since time is of the essence in passing our response plan to higher authority?”
George almost laughed out loud, but stifled it with some degree of difficulty. How could anyone be stupid enough to get up at the admiral’s briefing and tell Admiral Yates he should change the briefing order? George glanced over at Buffalo who, like all the other members of the staff, seemed to be in total shock, looking at the admiral as if waiting for a volcano to erupt.
Holy cow! This time the admiral’s going to give it to him right up the…
“Good idea, Commander Wayne,” said Admiral Yates. “Let’s get Ops out of the way so Commander Adams can get things moving while we finish up the briefing.”
George couldn’t believe his ears. He was flabbergasted! He clumsily grabbed for his notes, which were spread out over the table in front of him, and muttered, “Aye-aye, sir.” George unsurely made his way to the podium. As he passed Lannis, George swore he saw a smirk on Lannis’s face.
“Uh…good morning, Admiral,” George began. “We have all heard the news that al-Qaeda has released another videotape, this time threatening to hit the U.S. with one or more nuclear weapons. For our part, we’ll concentrate on a plan to increase the number of sub patrols off the coast. We’ll maximize the number by accelerating some maintenance activities and getting as many attack boats on station as we can muster. We may also…”
The admiral interrupted George and asked, “How do we think they’re going to get this weapon into the country?”
“Uh,…I have no idea, Admiral,” George stammered.
“Do we know if they intend to come in through our area of responsibility? Maybe they’re going to bring it in from the Pacific, or through Canada, or Mexico.”
“I don’t know, Admiral.” George couldn’t believe this was happening. These were INTEL questions! Lannis should be the one up here taking the heat, not George. But George stayed true to his Academy training and resisted the temptation to point the finger at Lannis and to say, “He’s the one who should be answering these questions!” Instead, George continued to honestly admit he did not know the answers to the admiral’s penetrating questions. Out of the corner of his eye, George could see Buffalo, shocked at first, but now looking at Lannis as if he was ready to rip the intel officer’s miserable little head right off his shoulders! Lannis continued to stare at his notes, avoiding all eye contact with George or Buffalo.
“What about the time frame? Any idea there?” Admiral Yates continued.
“No, sir.”
“Commander Adams,” the admiral began…
“Yes, sir?”
“Aren’t all of these questions things you should be looking into? How can you put together an Ops plan without knowing anything about where, when, or how the threat might be implemented?”
George was floundering. This briefing was going downhill fast. The scene flashed before his eyes of his initial interview with Admiral Yates upon being assigned to the SUBLANT staff. Admiral Yates had looked at George with penet
rating blue eyes and bushy eyebrows longer than his hair and had bluntly stated, “I expect officers on my staff to demonstrate superior performance in all aspects of their duties. If you are one of those officers who think, ‘If the minimum wasn’t good enough, it wouldn’t be the minimum,’ I have no place for you on my staff. Understood?”
George had understood, and that’s why he had such a sinking feeling now. “I’m just generally increasing the number of patrols to make it more difficult for anyone to get through, no matter where or when they attempt it, sir.” In a last-ditch effort to salvage something from the briefing, George added, “One thing we could also consider, Admiral, is using some boomers in the attack role to increase the number of boats we have in our defensive line. Because that might be how the DC nuke—”
Admiral Yates, looking as though George had just said the stupidest thing the admiral had ever heard, cut him off midsentence.
“George,” said the admiral, tossing aside formality and addressing George as if he were talking to a small child, “we have just established the fact that you have no idea what threat you are trying to counter. Consequently, your so-called Ops plan is an extremely inefficient use of valuable resources. Now you want to pull our strategic assets out of their patrol areas just when other forces in the world may perceive we are the most vulnerable? I suggest, Commander, you get whatever information is available, and get back to me ASAP with a more realistic plan.”
“Aye-aye, sir,” said George as he grabbed his notes and gathered up his other materials.
“Okay, Commander Wayne, what does Intel have for us?” asked the admiral, dismissing George with a wave of his hand.
As George walked to the door, he heard Lannis begin, “Admiral, I’ve done some extra research today about the Wahhabi/ Salafi ideology, which is the Islamic fundamentalist ideology, which underlies al-Qaeda’s terrorist operations. I think it would be beneficial for all the members of the staff to understand this material. It may give us some insight into what al-Qaeda may be plotting. After all, before you can beat your enemy, you have to know your enemy.”
As George closed the door behind him, he heard Admiral Yates respond, “Very good, Commander. Let’s hear it!”
“Shit!” said George. Lannis was truly an asshole. He had intentionally done this to make George look bad, and now all he was doing was parroting back exactly what the admiral just said. He was just changing the words a little and throwing in a cliché here and there to make it sound like they were his own time-tested ideas. Surely the admiral is smart enough to see through that!
George headed straight for the men’s head. He felt like throwing up!
Chapter 9
“Admiral, the terrorists follow an extreme and perverse ideology known as Wahhabi/Salafi ideology,” Lannis continued, following George’s departure. “It is a minority fundamentalist religious cult, distinct from mainstream Islam, but growing. Islamic scholars say Islam teaches one to be lenient toward others and to understand their value systems. The essence of Islamic tolerance, they say, is summarized in the words of the Qur’an, ‘For you, your religion; for me, my religion.’ The so-called fundamentalists, however, have perverted Islam into a religion of intolerance. Through hatred and violence, they attempt to intimidate and ultimately conquer anyone who does not share their extremist views, even other Muslims.”
“Let’s refer to them as radicals rather than fundamentalists,” said Admiral Yates. “If Islam is fundamentally lenient, then fundamentalist is a misnomer.”
“Aye-aye, sir.”
“How widespread is this radical ideology?”
“As many as ten to fifteen percent of Muslims may subscribe to it to some degree. While relatively few Muslims are willing to shed blood themselves, it seems countless millions of others either sympathize with the funda—I mean radicals—or sit silently by and do nothing. Over the years, despite efforts in the War on Terrorism, this situation has only gotten worse.”
“Wait a minute,” said the admiral. “You said as many as fifteen percent of the Muslims in the world may believe in this radical ideology to some extent…how many is that?”
“Well, sir, with about one point three billion Muslims in the world that equates to about a hundred and ninety-five million.”
“So you’re telling me there are almost two hundred million radical Muslims spread around the world?” asked the admiral in a skeptical tone, raising one of his bushy eyebrows as if to punctuate the question.
Lannis’s left knee began to jerk nervously as he stood at the podium. He took a deep breath trying to control it. “Not exactly, sir. First of all, I said ten to fifteen percent of Muslims may subscribe to the Wahhabi/Salafi ideology to some degree. It’s only an estimate, and while some of them may buy into it totally, others in this number may accept only some of its tenets. Second, the radicals are not uniformly spread around the world. In some Muslim countries the radical ideology is king, while in other countries it’s practically unknown.”
“Thank you for the clarification, Commander. It’s still a huge number.”
“Yes, sir, it is, and the situation is exacerbated by the fact that the majority of mainstream Muslims, the other eighty-five percent, seem to be doing nothing to help resist, isolate, and discredit this dangerous ideology.”
“Why would so many Muslims sit quietly by and let these radicals hijack their religion? Certainly these people can see that the rest of the world is likely to interpret their inaction and their silence as complicity with the radicals. So why don’t they do something? Why don’t we see marches against terrorism by millions of Muslims around the world? Why aren’t they demanding that their own Islamic governments find the terrorists within their borders and eliminate them?”
“Well, sir, I think there are several possible explanations,” ventured Lannis. “These are just guesses on my part, but I’ll just throw them out on the table for discussion. I think some of them can be discounted immediately while others are real possibilities.”
“That’s fine, Commander Wayne. After all, you are an intel officer, and most of what you guys say are wild-ass guesses! Let’s hear yours!”
Lannis chuckled, enjoying the verbal bantering with Admiral Yates.
“First, a rather frightening possibility is that the so-called silent majority agrees with the Wahhabi/Salafi ideology but is not ready to take any action themselves. I hope and think that possibility can be quickly discounted.”
“I agree, Commander. Let’s throw that one out.”
“Second, they may think this radical ideology is a legitimate interpretation of the Qur’an, but just not their interpretation. If they follow the Qur’an’s teaching, ‘For you, your religion; for me, my religion’ then their attitude toward the radicals may simply be, ‘For you, your brand of Islam; for me, my brand of Islam’.”
“That’s only slightly better than the first one. If we believe Islamic scholars when they say Islam is a peaceful religion, then we have to throw this one out as well. Otherwise, there would be no brand of Islam that supports violence.”
“Yes, sir, I agree.”
“Okay, what other possibilities do you have? I don’t like any of these so far.”
“Well, another possibility is that mainstream Muslims don’t even realize that the Wahhabi/Salafi ideology is a perversion of Islam. They may not know enough about Islam themselves to know the radicals are wrong. We hear from Islamic scholars that the radicals are wrong, but the great masses of Muslims are probably not as familiar with the detailed teachings of the Qur’an as the scholars are. As a result, many may blindly accept what the radicals are telling them.”
“Interesting. Is that all?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So which one is your favorite theory, Commander?”
“I believe it’s probably a mixture of all of the above, Admiral. However, I find the last one to be most compelling, and it probably explains why most of the silent majority sits back and acquiesces. My own experience wit
h people of other religions here at home has been that when you ask them detailed questions about their religion, they can’t answer them. It seems that most people don’t really know or fully understand the teachings of their own religion.”
“That’s true,” said Admiral Yates. “I’ve noticed that in my own church, but never thought about it in terms of Muslims.”
“With Muslims, the problem is probably even worse because unlike religions such as Christianity, there has never been any centralized control of Islam. There are no official statements made by religious leaders providing Muslims with guidance. There are no equivalents to the Apostles Creed or Nicene Creed in Islam. Every mosque’s imam is on an equal level with every other and can interpret the Qur’an as he sees fit. We hear of radical imams every day who get up and preach to their congregation that it is okay to murder infidels. It’s no wonder Muslims are confused, and it’s no wonder the ranks of the radicals continue to grow.”
Buffalo, who had been listening intently to the banter between Admiral Yates and Lannis, interrupted at this point to make an additional point. “Excuse me, Admiral, but I believe there’s another possibility for why the silent majority is acquiescing—one that may make more sense to me than any of those just proposed.”
“Okay, Commander Sewell, what’s your theory?”
“Well, sir, to put this in a context closer to home, let’s assume Commander Wayne is from Chicago. He’s very proud of Chicago and the Cubs or the Bears or whatever. Then the Mob moves in and perpetrates a series of violent crimes and announces to the world that Chicago is a Mob town. Anyone who resists them is gunned down. The vast majority of citizens, of course, don’t like this and want the Mob run out of town, but the police seem to be helpless to stop it or protect anyone who crosses the Mob. Got the picture?”
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