Rejection and Revenge: An alternate 9/11 timeline

I.

The United States Director of Central Intelligence, William Webster, revealed in an interview before he resigned earlier this year that the United States has learned that the Soviet central government had begun “looking at what they need to do to be sure that the missiles do not fall into unfriendly hands, that they are moved if necessary, that the systems they have in place to prevent someone from engaging in unauthorized fire are intact and protected.” He added that this new Soviet concern “of course lowers the level of our confidence.”

-Senator Sam Nunn, statement on the Senate floor, November 13, 1991

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Many of the border guards in the southern republics of the Soviet Union were natives, and they had long been put upon by the Russian leaders of their political union. They had their religion crushed, their resources taken, and their independence stifled. They held decades of rage inside, and with the earthshaking changes inside the USSR over the past year, they were more than happy to let a fellow Muslim travel through a corner of their land. It didn’t hurt that he would be spending little time there, and brought gifts and cash for the guards and their families. If they were to get in trouble (and they doubted they would), there wouldn’t be much proof that they’d done anything wrong, or missed anything.

He was a bitter, angry, young man, and those are the worst sort to deal with. This man, though, had access to hard currency, and the people coming to meet him were going to want that. Their country was imploding beneath them, and soon they would likely be out of work. That sort of fear makes people desperate, but these desperate people worked on nuclear weapons, and who would miss a few low-yield weapons when their nation was frantically trying to secure its ICBMs?

He watched as the Soviet GAZ-66 made its way to their meeting point on the border with Kyrgyzstan. Technically not a border, as it was a Soviet Socialist Republic, it would be in a month, when the Soviet Union disintegrated. These men did not know that was going to happen then, but they did know it was coming. That was why they were here, to accept money from a man that, a mere three years ago, had been fighting their countrymen in Afghanistan. It was that war that helped bring about the circumstances that allowed this angry young man with money to make his way to the Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border.

With him were several loyal veterans of the jihad in Afghanistan, who had come with him as protection. They waited in silence as the GAZ-66 came to a stop. Two Soviet guards, ethnic Kazakhs, stepped out first to verify that things were as they should be, and then three well-dressed (for Soviets, anyways) men stepped out, one of them bespectacled. He was the one who stepped forward.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the spectacled man said. “We have looked forward to this meeting.”

“I am glad to be here,” said the angry young man. “You are facing very troubled times, it seems. I cannot say I am unhappy to see that happen, but I am pleased that it has allowed us to meet.”

“We are pleased for the assistance you are giving us, despite being an enemy of ours once,” the spectacled man replied. “We just have one condition: that what we are giving you not be used against our people or the Russians. We will still need them for many goods even after the Soviet Union breaks apart, and if they were to be attacked, they won’t hesitate to respond against us”

“I give you my word, as a believer, that these devices will not be used anywhere in the Soviet Union, or a future Russia, or the southern republics. You are not the enemy, and the Russians are no longer our enemy,” the angry young man assured them.

“Then we have a deal,” the spectacled man said. “Let us complete our transaction, as we do not have much time.”

The Afghans brought forward two suitcases, filled with a mixture of America dollars, British pounds, and some gold bars, even. The Soviets handed the Afghans five cylindrical backpacks. While on the outside they appeared to be nothing more than military carrying gear, on the inside were five weapons that represented the deadliest threat to mankind, a threat that many on the planet were considering to be on the decline. The angry young man smiled, his teeth glinting in the darkness, because he knew that those people were all wrong.

Osama bin Laden had just acquired five nuclear weapons.

II.

“Mr. President, it is vital and urgent you sign this bill. Sam and I agree, if we don’t move on this fast, there could be a ton of loose nuclear weapons, and I’m sure there are some remnants of that failed coup that would love to lob a few at us,” said Senator Richard Lugar. Lugar was the minority ranking member on the Senate Armed Services committee, and Sam was Senator Sam Nunn, the chairman of that committee.

“I don’t disagree with you, Richard, I’m just concerned about sending a message to President Gorbachev that we’re planning to move into his country and start taking their nuclear weapons before they’ve decided how to handle their future,” replied President George H.W. Bush. “He barely survived that coup in August, and had the plotters been smarter, we could’ve been facing a retrenchment from the Soviets.”

“I understand, sir, but if we don’t plan for this, and the Soviet Union breaks up next week, there will be a small window to reach agreement with the various republics on this before they decide they might want to keep them for leverage. You need statutory authority to move ahead when that moment comes.”

“Okay, Richard, just please let me work out some agreement with Gorbachev and Yeltsin first. He’s likely to take Mikhail’s spot, and we need to be on his good side for this to work.”

“Yes, sir, I respect that, and I will keep our people in line so they don’t make any inflammatory statements. Bob will do the same. We’re on the same page when it comes to these things. The idea of even one missing nuclear weapon makes our skin crawl,” Lugar assured the President, and he gathered up his briefing materials and left as Bush sat down behind his desk.

1991 had been a very trying year for the President, and the strain was showing. First was the Gulf War, leading a UN coalition against Saddam Hussein and Iraq, then reveling in one of the most one-sided military victories of all time, as Iraqi forces were crushed by American air power and Gen. Barry McCaffrey’s soon-to-be legendary drive across the Iraq desert with the 24th Mechanized Division, destroying everything in his path for over 300 miles.

Then came August 18th, breaking the good mood. Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, had flown to his dacha by the Black Sea, only to be placed under house arrest, all outside communications cut, as a coup was launched against him by revanchist elements inside the Soviet government, including the supposedly liberal Marshal Sergey Akromeyev, KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, and Defense Minister Marshal Dmitri Yazov. For three days, the Soviet Union teetered on the brink of civil war, as Boris Yeltsin led protestors in the streets, and the coup plotters were uncertain of how to proceed, perhaps unwilling to fire on so many of their fellow countrymen. It was an ill-bred coup, and it showed when it fell apart on August 21st, greatly relieving Bush and his national security advisers, who were having to make plans for many scenarios, none of them pleasant.

The economy had gone into a slump during the year, and Bush had been accused of being too focused on foreign affairs while Americans were being laid off. How could anyone understand, though, that while Communism had fallen apart and the Soviet Union was soon to be no more, that the safety of the United States was perhaps more in peril than it had been five years ago?

It was a pity that Bush didn’t know just how perilous things had become.

III.

It had been a quiet drive back through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan. The Afghan veterans knew their leader was excited, but also still smarting from the blow dealt to him by his homeland’s leaders just over a year before. He had been rejected by them when he had offered his assistance and that of his Afghan followers, who had fought a successful jihad against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan, driving the hated invaders from their land. And when Saddam Hussein, a heretic, led his Iraqi army into Kuwait and menaced Saudi Arabia, bin Laden’s homeland, he jumped at the chance to defend the Holy Land in the same way he’d defended Afghanistan from the infidels of the Soviet Union.

It hurt, badly, when the royal family rejected his assistance, insisting that he had nowhere to hide in the desert, unlike the mountains of Afghanistan, and that his men would be crushed by the Iraqis. Even worse, they invited the Americans! Infidels, descendants of those who’d led the Crusades against Muslims, brought into the Holy Land, brought near Mecca itself! It was the worst sort of infamy, and Osama bin Laden had been told that he should desist in his statements against the royal family or find himself deported.

Bin Laden was determined to stave that off, but would take his fight elsewhere if necessary. With his family’s fortune, he had millions of dollars at his disposal, and the ability to raise more from like-minded Muslims. He was readying the formation of Al Qaeda (The Base), from which he could wage jihad against anyone. Or any nation.

“Commander?”

Bin Laden was jolted from his thoughts by the question. “Yes?,” he replied.

“We’ve arrived back in Afghanistan, Commander,” said the driver, who was the leader of the small group that had accompanied bin Laden on his trek to Kazakhstan. He had been one of the first to take up arms against the Soviet invaders, and bin Laden had found him a bright and courageous fighter when introduced to him in 1985. He chose to stay with bin Laden after the war with the Soviets ended, feeling more loyal to his leader rather than the tribal feuding that was slowly tearing apart Afghanistan in the aftermath of its victory. His name was Ahmad, and he had meticulously planned his commander’s journey. Ahmad was pleased that they had successfully completed their mission, and although he was unaware of what types of weapons were in the large, bulky military packs, he knew they delighted his commander, and that was enough for him.

“Thank you, Ahmad. You have done very well these past few days. I am quite grateful for your work and planning,” said bin Laden.

“It was my pleasure, Commander. Allah was surely with us on this journey, though,” Ahmad replied.

“He certainly was, Ahmad, and he will continue to be with us as we continue on our next mission.”

“What mission is that, Commander,” Ahmad asked. Bin Laden’s reply was succinct.

“We are to build a new Caliphate, but before we can build, we must first destroy. This mission gave us the means. For the next, we must plan how and when.”

__________________________________________________

“I’ve gotten the President on board, Sam. He’ll sign it once this bill passes the House, and I don’t doubt it will. There’s plenty of anti-nuclear people there. They’ll love this bill and what it does,” said Lugar to Nunn, back in the Hart Senate Office Building.

“That’s great news, Richard. I know we don’t share the same party and all, but I’m a lot closer to him on foreign affairs than I’ve been people like Dukakis and Mondale. Jesus, if we haven’t been shortsighted with our nominees the past two elections,” replied Nunn. “And I don’t know who the hell we’ve got with any gravitas to take on Bush next year.”
“Well, Sam, that doesn’t bother me too much, with the way Yugoslavia is falling apart, and the trouble we’re going to see when the Soviet Union falls into its grave soon. We need a President who understands this stuff, and Bush is as good as anyone. He’s been on the international scene a long time.”

“Yes, he has, and he handled Panama, Berlin, the Gulf, and that coup in Moscow just fine. I’m worried that it’s wearing him out, though. He’s seemed awfully tired lately, Dick. A tired man makes mistakes, and we can’t afford any of those right now.”

“I know, Sam, but he’s got good people working for him and giving him advice, and he’s going to sign our bill, so if we can get the Russians and the republics on board, we’ll be able to quickly secure those nukes before someone can smuggle them out. If there’s one thing the Soviets would’ve done, it’s keep a solid inventory of them. There’s no way they’d let any disappear. They fear nuclear war more than we ever did, even if they did think it’d be winnable somehow.”

“I hope you’re right, Dick. If even a few go missing, we would need an army of Sherlock Holmes to track them down before some place became a mushroom cloud. The thought has been keeping me up an awful lot of nights lately.”