Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [45]
“I want you to think about this: while our population of thirty-one million people is small by global standards, we are large in many other important ways. Our kingdom is equal in land size to all of Western Europe, and we stand at the strategic crossroads of three continents—Europe, Africa, and Asia. Our proven oil reserves dwarf those of all other nations, and we have the unique ability to ramp up production even more. Our economy is powerful, and we have the most modern armed forces in the Middle East. We also have in our possession five nuclear bombs with delivery systems capable of hitting any target within 2,500 miles, as well as a supply of radioactive material sufficient to make good on our dirty bomb attack threats.”
He refrained from mentioning that he himself had used his vast fortune to purchase nuclear weapons from North Korea and Pakistan on the black market, but they all knew the source of financing. They were warming to Prince Mustafa’s briefing.
“Our most immediate enemies are, of course, the infidels from the West and their puppet, Israel. But, we are also challenged by Shiite apostates from Iran as they try to hijack the international Muslim community and use their nuclear weaponry to threaten other Arab nations. Iran is also trying to dominate OPEC, even though we produce almost five times the oil they do. Through our revolution and the jihad that follows, we will settle old scores and reestablish the supremacy of Allah in the hearts of all. It starts here in our homeland, but this will be nothing less than an international holy war—the mother of all jihads. There is no middle ground once we start. We either triumph or perish, and we will do anything and everything to accomplish our ends. May Allah be with us!”
Mustafa’s fervor stirred the passions of his brothers, and he wanted to maintain their excitement and energy as he reviewed the plan. He gazed a long moment at each person in the room before continuing.
“Once I give the word, you must be prepared to act within forty-eight hours. We must overthrow the regime within twenty-four hours of our first move. If not, the government will have had time to call on their American and Chinese allies for help.” He paused to let this point sink in—everything depended on it.
“Our great revolution will start with special covert operations conducted by Commando Unit 22,” Mustafa said with obvious pride in his elite force of five hundred special-ops-trained mercenaries. “About half of this force will be deployed to plant dirty bombs in Saudi oilfields. Once that task is completed, we will notify the world that any attempt at a counteroffensive will result in the detonation of the dirty bombs, an action that will make the oil fields a radioactive wasteland for the next fifty years and spell doom for all oil-starved industrial economies. We will shortly thereafter explode an atomic bomb in the southern desert to prove that we possess nuclear weapons and to show our serious intent.” He waved off another comment and continued, thinking, Why must they always interrupt me?
“Concurrent to the dirty bomb emplacements, a number of Commando Unit 22 assassination squads will be deployed to take out designated leaders of the royal family and military unit leaders at a brigade or higher staff level. Unit 22 commandos will be equipped with Israeli and American weapons and carry identification linking them with Zionists and the American CIA. Their casualty rates will be heavy, and a search of their dead bodies will suggest that this is a threat against