Chapter 1    The Sword of Allah

 Mohammed Alturah put down on his desk the file he was reading, leaned back in his chair and smiled. He didn't get to smile often, and Mohammed found himself savoring the moment.

He saw the final rounds approaching in the long fight against the great Satan, America. Now to the surprise of everyone who knew about the plan, which was a very small circle, Alturah was ready to initiate the plan which would apply a death blow to America.

To think it all began more than twenty-five years ago with the invasion of Kuwait by his predecessor Saddam Hussein . A perfectly executed attack, if not for the intrusion of the United States and that insufferable George Bush. The United States insisted on intruding, spoiling the plans of that lunatic, Saddam. Yet, the great Satan still bore responsibility for his country’s suffering that continued even today.

Mohammed reflected on the misery continually heaped upon his country, of which, ironically, the United States had been instrumental in assisting him in becoming the supreme leader. This did nothing to alleviate the feeling for revenge that Alturah was determined to obtain at any cost. After the debacle of Kuwait, the first humiliation to come to Saddam and his country came at the hands of the American Army and their Allies. Nevertheless, the defeat of the Iraqi Army hardly came as a surprise to Mohammed. There had never been a doubt in Mohammed’s mind that the Americans were a superior force. At the time he'd been extremely upset that Saddam did not have nuclear weapons ready for use against the great hordes of hell bent on destroying Iraq. Now he could clearly see that it was a good thing that Saddam didn't have the special weapons. Now Mohammed understood that Allah was again watching out for him and leading him down a path to greater glory and providing for him the way to become the leader of Iraq.

If the armies of the great Satan could have delayed another four or five months in their attack - then Allah would have blessed Saddam with the nuclear weapons to use in the struggle. And the records that Mohammed had examined since coming to power gave every indication that Saddam would have used the destructive power against his foes. It would not have mattered that the war was so very close to his  country. Saddam would have eliminated the Israeli State with one powerful blow. However, Mohammed could see now the Allied powers would have returned the favor, and Iraq would not have been around to enjoy the victory over Israel. The wisdom of Allah provided for Saddam at that time just as it had always shown Mohammed the way. The appearances of what seemed like defeats, were simply hills in the way of victory.

Of course, Mohammed thought, now there is no need to complete the development of nuclear weapons. The humiliating U.N. inspections inflicted on his country after being forced out of Kuwait had put an end to that dream. And things had only gone downhill for Saddam from there. The event known as 9/11 brought an end to the reign of Saddam Hussain. It almost brought about the end of the Iraqi State as a whole.

Still, even as things were looking really grim, Allah again showed the way over the mountain to Mohammed. After many years the Iraqi people became much more connected to their faith allowing the Sunni minority to once again rise to power after the United States had finally gotten most of their combat troops out of the country. It seemed that the only answer to the ever present threat posed by the Shia dominated Iran was to bring back Sunni rule. And Mohammed was more than up to the challenge. Strangely enough it was with the help of the Americans that he was able to re-establish firm Sunni rule. More importantly, Mohammed was able to restart a secret small biological weapons program that was geared toward a very specific goal. Biological weapons proved easy to hide from the still present inspectors and remaining American military forces, moving them temporarily to avoid discovery.

The pressure he applied to the international community and the U.N. with the pictures and reports of the starving and dying children in his country did great things for his cause. During a critical stage in late 2013, Mohammed managed to finally force the removal of all remaining U.S. troops and stop the U.N. inspections completely for five critical months. At that time, his scientists had said crucial human trials needed to be performed. Of course the experiments also reduced the prison population by around 250 to 300 people during the ninety-day trials.

The construction of Mohammed’s secret weapon, a biological virus was now complete. The assembling of all the pieces of the complex puzzle had begun. Now, Mohammed thought, his scientists and operatives were inserting the final pieces of the puzzle in their proper places. He leaned forward in his chair, staring at his personal computer screen. The screen displayed an e-mail message waiting to be sent. The message consisted of just one line. Mohammed reviewed the line again to make sure he’d typed it in correctly according to the established code. This one message he wasn’t going to delegate to any staff or assistant. Mohammed was anxious to finally get the revenge that was due him and his country. This vengeance would be so sweet that tonight he would go to a mosque to pray and give thanks to Allah, something he hadn't done in years. As he hit the enter key to send the message, Mohammed thought about how ironic it was that the United States which was responsible primarily for his rise to power would be the first to feel the effects of that power as he was prepared to repay them for the humiliation and abject terror that they had inflicted on Iraq in the name of fighting terrorism. While grateful that the lunatic Saddam was out of the way and that the course to power had been provided to him by Allah, Mohammed was still consumed by the extreme anger and hatred that he felt towards the United States for the unwarranted destruction that Bush the Second had brought to his beloved Iraq. For what, Mohammed always asked himself? Iraq had nothing to do with that fool Bin Laden and the 9/11 plot. It had been sheer arrogance and abject hatred that had provoked Bush the Second into attacking Iraq. The United States would now find out that when it came to holding onto hatred, that Mohammed was more than a match for these infidels. There could be no redemption for the United States, only total destruction could be in the future of the Great Satan. He was sure that his namesake, the prophet Mohammed, would have wanted him to destroy America. With this strong conviction behind him  Mohammed realized he had a lot to be thankful for. He watched until the computer indicated that the one line communication had been sent to its electronic mailbox:

Initiate "The Sword of Allah"

The final stage was now beginning.