And even if that hadn't happened, Bin Laden is always going to see the United States - a secular government and mostly non-Muslim society - as part of the dar al-Harb, a land fundamentally opposed to his vision of the world.
Rejection and Revenge: An alternate 9/11 timeline
- Thread starter wolverinethad
- Start date
And even if that hadn't happened, Bin Laden is always going to see the United States - a secular government and mostly non-Muslim society - as part of the dar al-Harb, a land fundamentally opposed to his vision of the world.
Some of these deals were part of OTL, others have been created. The dialogue is entirely invented across the board, except for the block quote that opened TTL.
Nunn-Lugar, for what it's worth, passed the House and Senate by voice vote in a combined six days, which is record time for Congress. We were very worried about loose nukes at the time, a concern which was amplified after OTL 9/11.
I do not know what Bush actually told Yeltsin and the leaders of the republics, but whatever transpired in his various conversations was enough to convince all of them to turn over the nuclear arsenals to Russia with as much haste as possible, and Yeltsin pushed full speed ahead to dismantle. The only thing I know of for certain is that Congress authorized MFN status and $20 million in credits in the next Defense Authorization Act.
Chapter 6
VI.
He was born to run.
Bill Clinton had been running from the start. Running from an alcoholic stepfather, running for student government at Georgetown, running George McGovern’s 1972 Texas campaign, running for Congress in 1974, Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976, and governor of Arkansas every election since. Clinton was very successful at running, and now he was ready to run for the biggest prize of them all.
The people in the room, though, weren’t much in agreement.
“Don’t you get it, Bill? Bush is untouchable right now! He won the Gulf War, his approval ratings reached the fucking nineties, and he’s still flying high! Oh, and don’t forget, the Soviet Union is collapsing right now, which gives Mr. Foreign Policy another chance to look super presidential. What makes you think you can beat him?” said Betsey Wright, Clinton’s chief of staff. She was red in the face, having argued against this for over an hour now, desperate to not have Clinton torpedo his chances of being president by picking the wrong year.
Clinton was standing his ground, though, while the others, mainly opposed, took a back seat while the governor and his top aide battled it out.
“Betsey, listen here. People aren’t going to give a flying fuck when they’re all out of work. While Bush is being Mr. Foreign Policy, you can’t get a good job to save your life, and auto plants are closing across the Midwest. That’s why I can win! He doesn’t give two shits about domestic policy, because he’s too busy being a world leader to lead his own damn country!”
Harry Thomason, a longtime friend of Clinton’s, stepped forward. “Betsey, I believe Bill. He’s right. Bush is tired. You can see it on his face. He’s had to deal with a lot of shit in a short period of time, and he doesn’t have the focus or the drive to fix the economy. The Cold War is over. People are going to care more about their pocketbook than the big bad Russians. No one of any substance looks like they’re getting into the race. Bill has a ten year track record as Governor. He’s equipped to lead on the economy, because he sees it every day in this state.”
“And what about the woman problem? Dammit, there’s been more women tied to him than to an Elvis impersonator in Vegas! After what happened with Gary Hart, do you really think he can skate on this?” demanded Wright.
“Betsey, I’m his wife. I can promise you that it’s not an issue. Bill stopped that behavior a long time ago, and they can’t paint him as a womanizer if I’m out there denying it as muckraking nonsense, can they?” asked a suddenly vocal Hillary Clinton.
“Alright, fine. We’ll run. I just hope you’re right, and you’d better have your act clean, Governor, or the Republicans will eat you alive out there.” Wright had conceded. Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas for the past nine years and eleven of the last thirteen, was going to run against George Bush to be President of the United States. Provided, that is, that someone didn’t emerge from the Democratic shadows to trip him up first.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.”
A slightly nervous, yet excited, George Bush stepped to the podium in the East Room. He was about to sign the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, otherwise known as Nunn-Lugar, which allowed the United States to offer military assistance to any nation that wished to disarm its nuclear arsenal. It was targeted at the soon-to-be nonexistent Soviet Union and its republics, though, and everyone knew it. None too soon, Bush thought, especially knowing that Yeltsin didn’t have solid numbers on what the arsenal actually was.
“The prospect of a Soviet invasion into Western Europe, launched with little or no warning, is no longer a realistic threat. The Warsaw Pact has crumbled. In the Soviet Union, the advocates of democracy triumphed over a coup that would have restored the old system of repression. The reformers are now starting to fashion their own futures, moving even faster toward democracy's horizon.
New leaders in the Kremlin and the Republics are now questioning the need for their huge nuclear arsenal. The Soviet nuclear stockpile now seems less an instrument of national security, and more of a burden. As a result, we now have an unparalleled opportunity to change the nuclear posture of both the United States and the Soviet Union.
If we and the Soviet leaders take the right steps -- some on our own, some on their own, some together -- we can dramatically shrink the arsenal of the world's nuclear weapons. We can more effectively discourage the spread of nuclear weapons. We can rely more on defensive measures in our strategic relationship. We can enhance stability and actually reduce the risk of nuclear war. Now is the time to seize this opportunity.
I would like to thank Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn for their outstanding work on this issue. These two gentlemen are patriots of the finest sort and have put in countless hours to craft legislation that helps ensure our safety. Therefore, I gladly sign the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, so that we can continue to reduce that threat, both to America and to the world.”
Bush then proceeded to sit down at the table, with Nunn, Lugar, Bob Dole, George Mitchell, Tom Foley, Les Aspin, and Bob Michel standing around him, and signed the bill in segments, so each could get a pen used in the law’s standing. These men believed they had made the world a safer place with this law. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In Sudan, bin Laden sat down with his top lieutenants to discuss how they would utilize their new weapons.
“Sir, we should give one to the Pakistanis. They are loyal Muslims as we are, and they can help us develop more of these, since they’ve already been making missiles to launch against the heathen Indians,” said Ibrahim, a fellow Saudi from the Afghan Arabs.
“No, Ibrahim, not while that Bhutto woman runs that nation. Even though our brothers in the ISI have been faithful, I do not trust their scientists to all be loyal to them instead of her,” bin Laden replied. “We will use these weapons ourselves. I want to come up with a plan to hurt our tormentors the most: the infidel Americans who abandoned the Afghan cause and the Israelis who oppress our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”
A third member then spoke. He was an important recruit years ago to the Afghan cause, and had left the special forces of the U.S. Army two years before to swear fealty to Osama bin Laden. His name was Ali Mohammed. “Commander, I believe I have an idea. If we want to cause the maximum chaos, we can spread our weapons amongst places that will both do a lot of damage and send a message that we disapprove of America’s lack of morality,” Mohammed said.
“I am intrigued, Ali. Please continue,” replied bin Laden.
“I propose five targets for us. The first is the World Trade Center in New York City. We have many people there, and placing a bomb there is child’s play. Their security protocols are weak. We need simply to park a vehicle in the garage underneath it and we can ruin the center of finance for the Americans.
The second is Los Angeles, home to their Hollywood. There are many attractive targets, as it is a large city beset by racial divisions and the police are too busy with its black thugs to notice a mere backpack on the sidewalk.
The third is Las Vegas, the center of American hedonism. People go there to gamble and sleep with prostitutes, and no one ever sleeps there, meaning there is constant traffic. A mere alleyway will suffice. It is corrupt and decadent, deserving of being wiped from the face of the Earth.
The fourth is the American embassy in Riyadh. There is housing behind it that would make it easy to park a vehicle containing the backpack and not have it stand out. While I loathe the idea of killing members of the faithful, we would wipe the infidel presence in the Holy Land away in one fell swoop.
Finally, the fifth would be the port in Tel Aviv. We would cripple the ability of the Israelis to bring in food and military supplies that oppress our Palestinian brothers and sisters, while killing thousands of the oppressors. The park near the port would be the best place for detonation, as it is most easily accessible.
With the Americans paralyzed, and the treasonous royal family without its protection from them, we can begin our onslaught against the traitors in the royal family and return the Holy Land to the true believers of our faith.”
The room became very quiet as the members of this meeting contemplated the plan. Ali Mohammed had been trained by the best military in the world, and was laying out a plan that was breathtaking. None of them had even dreamed of this sort of capability, and now had the ability to kill hundreds of thousands of people and cripple the Americans’ financial heart, if they could pull it off. Could they?
Finally, bin Laden spoke. “I approve your plan, Ali Mohammed. We must begin planning, and speak with our people in America to see if they can do it as we wish and how long it will take them to get what they need to accomplish the mission. Riyadh we can handle ourselves, as with Tel Aviv. I’m sure we have a believer who would martyr himself in jihad against the Israeli oppressors. Finally, we must coordinate these attacks to take place at the same time so that no part of our plan fails. This will require careful planning, and we have all the time we need. ”
Everyone in the room nodded, and left to begin contacting the necessary people. All the meetings would be face to face. No telephones, no paper. There couldn’t be any evidence. Not for this.
He was born to run.
Bill Clinton had been running from the start. Running from an alcoholic stepfather, running for student government at Georgetown, running George McGovern’s 1972 Texas campaign, running for Congress in 1974, Attorney General of Arkansas in 1976, and governor of Arkansas every election since. Clinton was very successful at running, and now he was ready to run for the biggest prize of them all.
The people in the room, though, weren’t much in agreement.
“Don’t you get it, Bill? Bush is untouchable right now! He won the Gulf War, his approval ratings reached the fucking nineties, and he’s still flying high! Oh, and don’t forget, the Soviet Union is collapsing right now, which gives Mr. Foreign Policy another chance to look super presidential. What makes you think you can beat him?” said Betsey Wright, Clinton’s chief of staff. She was red in the face, having argued against this for over an hour now, desperate to not have Clinton torpedo his chances of being president by picking the wrong year.
Clinton was standing his ground, though, while the others, mainly opposed, took a back seat while the governor and his top aide battled it out.
“Betsey, listen here. People aren’t going to give a flying fuck when they’re all out of work. While Bush is being Mr. Foreign Policy, you can’t get a good job to save your life, and auto plants are closing across the Midwest. That’s why I can win! He doesn’t give two shits about domestic policy, because he’s too busy being a world leader to lead his own damn country!”
Harry Thomason, a longtime friend of Clinton’s, stepped forward. “Betsey, I believe Bill. He’s right. Bush is tired. You can see it on his face. He’s had to deal with a lot of shit in a short period of time, and he doesn’t have the focus or the drive to fix the economy. The Cold War is over. People are going to care more about their pocketbook than the big bad Russians. No one of any substance looks like they’re getting into the race. Bill has a ten year track record as Governor. He’s equipped to lead on the economy, because he sees it every day in this state.”
“And what about the woman problem? Dammit, there’s been more women tied to him than to an Elvis impersonator in Vegas! After what happened with Gary Hart, do you really think he can skate on this?” demanded Wright.
“Betsey, I’m his wife. I can promise you that it’s not an issue. Bill stopped that behavior a long time ago, and they can’t paint him as a womanizer if I’m out there denying it as muckraking nonsense, can they?” asked a suddenly vocal Hillary Clinton.
“Alright, fine. We’ll run. I just hope you’re right, and you’d better have your act clean, Governor, or the Republicans will eat you alive out there.” Wright had conceded. Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas for the past nine years and eleven of the last thirteen, was going to run against George Bush to be President of the United States. Provided, that is, that someone didn’t emerge from the Democratic shadows to trip him up first.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.”
A slightly nervous, yet excited, George Bush stepped to the podium in the East Room. He was about to sign the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, otherwise known as Nunn-Lugar, which allowed the United States to offer military assistance to any nation that wished to disarm its nuclear arsenal. It was targeted at the soon-to-be nonexistent Soviet Union and its republics, though, and everyone knew it. None too soon, Bush thought, especially knowing that Yeltsin didn’t have solid numbers on what the arsenal actually was.
“The prospect of a Soviet invasion into Western Europe, launched with little or no warning, is no longer a realistic threat. The Warsaw Pact has crumbled. In the Soviet Union, the advocates of democracy triumphed over a coup that would have restored the old system of repression. The reformers are now starting to fashion their own futures, moving even faster toward democracy's horizon.
New leaders in the Kremlin and the Republics are now questioning the need for their huge nuclear arsenal. The Soviet nuclear stockpile now seems less an instrument of national security, and more of a burden. As a result, we now have an unparalleled opportunity to change the nuclear posture of both the United States and the Soviet Union.
If we and the Soviet leaders take the right steps -- some on our own, some on their own, some together -- we can dramatically shrink the arsenal of the world's nuclear weapons. We can more effectively discourage the spread of nuclear weapons. We can rely more on defensive measures in our strategic relationship. We can enhance stability and actually reduce the risk of nuclear war. Now is the time to seize this opportunity.
I would like to thank Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn for their outstanding work on this issue. These two gentlemen are patriots of the finest sort and have put in countless hours to craft legislation that helps ensure our safety. Therefore, I gladly sign the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, so that we can continue to reduce that threat, both to America and to the world.”
Bush then proceeded to sit down at the table, with Nunn, Lugar, Bob Dole, George Mitchell, Tom Foley, Les Aspin, and Bob Michel standing around him, and signed the bill in segments, so each could get a pen used in the law’s standing. These men believed they had made the world a safer place with this law. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In Sudan, bin Laden sat down with his top lieutenants to discuss how they would utilize their new weapons.
“Sir, we should give one to the Pakistanis. They are loyal Muslims as we are, and they can help us develop more of these, since they’ve already been making missiles to launch against the heathen Indians,” said Ibrahim, a fellow Saudi from the Afghan Arabs.
“No, Ibrahim, not while that Bhutto woman runs that nation. Even though our brothers in the ISI have been faithful, I do not trust their scientists to all be loyal to them instead of her,” bin Laden replied. “We will use these weapons ourselves. I want to come up with a plan to hurt our tormentors the most: the infidel Americans who abandoned the Afghan cause and the Israelis who oppress our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”
A third member then spoke. He was an important recruit years ago to the Afghan cause, and had left the special forces of the U.S. Army two years before to swear fealty to Osama bin Laden. His name was Ali Mohammed. “Commander, I believe I have an idea. If we want to cause the maximum chaos, we can spread our weapons amongst places that will both do a lot of damage and send a message that we disapprove of America’s lack of morality,” Mohammed said.
“I am intrigued, Ali. Please continue,” replied bin Laden.
“I propose five targets for us. The first is the World Trade Center in New York City. We have many people there, and placing a bomb there is child’s play. Their security protocols are weak. We need simply to park a vehicle in the garage underneath it and we can ruin the center of finance for the Americans.
The second is Los Angeles, home to their Hollywood. There are many attractive targets, as it is a large city beset by racial divisions and the police are too busy with its black thugs to notice a mere backpack on the sidewalk.
The third is Las Vegas, the center of American hedonism. People go there to gamble and sleep with prostitutes, and no one ever sleeps there, meaning there is constant traffic. A mere alleyway will suffice. It is corrupt and decadent, deserving of being wiped from the face of the Earth.
The fourth is the American embassy in Riyadh. There is housing behind it that would make it easy to park a vehicle containing the backpack and not have it stand out. While I loathe the idea of killing members of the faithful, we would wipe the infidel presence in the Holy Land away in one fell swoop.
Finally, the fifth would be the port in Tel Aviv. We would cripple the ability of the Israelis to bring in food and military supplies that oppress our Palestinian brothers and sisters, while killing thousands of the oppressors. The park near the port would be the best place for detonation, as it is most easily accessible.
With the Americans paralyzed, and the treasonous royal family without its protection from them, we can begin our onslaught against the traitors in the royal family and return the Holy Land to the true believers of our faith.”
The room became very quiet as the members of this meeting contemplated the plan. Ali Mohammed had been trained by the best military in the world, and was laying out a plan that was breathtaking. None of them had even dreamed of this sort of capability, and now had the ability to kill hundreds of thousands of people and cripple the Americans’ financial heart, if they could pull it off. Could they?
Finally, bin Laden spoke. “I approve your plan, Ali Mohammed. We must begin planning, and speak with our people in America to see if they can do it as we wish and how long it will take them to get what they need to accomplish the mission. Riyadh we can handle ourselves, as with Tel Aviv. I’m sure we have a believer who would martyr himself in jihad against the Israeli oppressors. Finally, we must coordinate these attacks to take place at the same time so that no part of our plan fails. This will require careful planning, and we have all the time we need. ”
Everyone in the room nodded, and left to begin contacting the necessary people. All the meetings would be face to face. No telephones, no paper. There couldn’t be any evidence. Not for this.
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Now that you've said that, not only will Mister bin Laden attack at that time, he will have his minions target you, personally.
Now that you've said that, not only will Mister bin Laden attack at that time, he will have his minions target you, personally.
Well, now, I suppose as master of this universe, I could spare you. I mean, you need to be able to read this wonderful story, right?
A bit of an exaggeration. Three bombs in the US isn't enough to kill it. It will, however (should they successfully come off, and we don't know yet if they will), leave a hell of a dent in New York City and Las Vegas.
No, I haven't even read that. This was a thought that hit me on the drive home from my office. I've been a big fan of the Icarus Falls and Icarus Rising TL's, and part of those is Israel using nukes to save themselves in that TL's version of the October War. My mind then flashed to The Sum of All Fears, and how Clancy had the Israelis lose a nuke in the October War. The idea hit me: what if bin Laden, who in OTL was already pissed at us in 1991, had gotten nukes from a former Soviet republic during the cluster that was the fall of the USSR? The first chapter came together so quickly, I started dictating into my recorder with a headset on the rest of the drive.
I've written for a long time, but this has come together the easiest of anything I've ever done.
Well if New York and LA is gone (or at lease damaged), Chicago would rise up as the nation's financial and population hub.
Bid Laden is pretty stupid. Wouldn't he expect retaliation against him with nuclear weapons? The US would launch nuke into the Middle East (except Saudi Arabia and Israel) like shite.
Bid Laden is pretty stupid. Wouldn't he expect retaliation against him with nuclear weapons? The US would launch nuke into the Middle East (except Saudi Arabia and Israel) like shite.
SunDeep
Banned
Except that they're Soviet nukes. So if the USA immediately lashes out in retaliation, before waiting around for the intel about the specifics of the attacks (because if you've been nuked, what more do you need to know, and what would you want to wait around for?) who do you think they'll be inclined to lash out against first?
I can see it now: Las Vegas has just been hit by a 750kt bomb. Everything for a mile around has been reduced to ash, except for a single figure, standing at what used to be the front door of the Circus Circus hotel and casino. As the enormity of what has just happened begins to sink in, the lucky would-be-guest sinks to her knees, and looks up to see the remains of tens of thousands of people being sucked into the sky in an ever rising plume of fire and smoke. As she tries to process everything, she can only look up and ask "Why?" Unexpectedly, a voice booms from the Heavens!Well, now, I suppose as master of this universe, I could spare you. I mean, you need to be able to read this wonderful story, right?
BECAUSE I NEED YOU TO READ MY FORUM POSTS.
(Also, I decided that Unknown is a woman. I will admit that I could be wrong.)
Chapter 7
VII.
Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin was in a conference room, reading over the reports from the Ninth Chief Directorate officers counting the nuclear weapons stocks. Bakatin was soon to be without a job, as the KGB was being wound down, and the agency was already beginning to be split off into pieces. However, this job was important for the safety of Russia, and Bakatin was ultimately a patriot to his homeland, even though the government was changing.
The reports seemed to indicate that the warheads were all safe, and although there were some minor discrepancies in fissionable material counts, those could be written off due to some greedy scientist selling them on the black market to industrialists looking to make a large profit. It wouldn’t take much to buy off a scientist in an economy that used a monetary standard that was as worthless as Weimar Germany. And even if he wanted to, Bakatin did not have the power to interrogate the scientists anymore. The fearsome Second Chief Directorate, considered the source of Kryuchkov’s coup power, had been disbanded, its officers put on leave in preparation to reassignment to areas that would stay staffed, such as the First Chief Directorate. There was no muscle to use against these thieves, and it wasn’t enough to get worked up about.
Bakatin was relieved that the warhead counts added up. Some of the smaller republics would possibly include leadership members who would want to possess nuclear weapons. He knew that those who aren’t used to having such power in their hands are rather unsuited to controlling it. Thankfully, Russia would soon regain its nuclear arsenal from the republics, and begin the long task of dismantling the majority of it in return for the money it needed.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Mikhail Gorbachev sat dejectedly in his office. He had been informed of Bush’s negotiation and agreement with Yeltsin, and knew it was the final sign that he was finished. Just a few months ago, in July, he had signed the START agreement with Bush to reduce their nuclear stockpiles in return for billions in credit and foodstuffs, and now Yeltsin had traded a portion of sovereignty in return for mere millions.
Bush had signed the Soviet Nuclear Reduction Act, even though that very day, hours before, Russia had seceded from the Soviet Union and denounced the 1922 Treaty of Union. Gorbachev wondered if Bush understood the irony of it. In any case, he knew he needed to leave with whatever dignity he had left. It was time to meet with Yeltsin, and negotiate the handover of power. Gorbachev hoped that Yeltsin had enough gravitas to take on responsibility for the most powerful arsenal in human history, and dismantle it with the proper care. Gorbachev buzzed his secretary, and asked him to set up a meeting with Yeltsin.
________________________________________________________________________________
John Sununu had resigned as chief of staff, but Bush let him leave with a degree of honor instead of firing him as he’d wanted to do. Sununu had been completely out of line. He’d been hired for his New England conservatism and long-term executive knowledge as New Hampshire governor, but he’d apparently lost his sense of morality with the power of the chief of staff’s office. Bush remembered Don Regan and Bob Haldeman, and knew that he’d need someone with organizational skill that didn’t lust for power. That decision could wait a bit, though, because this report that just arrived was more important.
Ambassador Robert Strauss in Moscow had sent a typed report via the diplomatic pouch, which meant it was of the highest sensitivity. KGB chairman Bakatin had been very open with Strauss about the state of matters, seeming to almost be begging for cooperation as the Soviet Union crumbled. Strauss had also gotten word that Gorbachev would be resigning and dissolving the Soviet presidency, which meant that Scowcroft’s advice to seek out Yeltsin’s help had been as astute as always. Bakatin had told Strauss that the warhead counts were accurate, but some of the smaller republics might change their mind and balk at surrendering their warheads to Russia, and he was worried about this. He said he would be out of control soon, because even the Ninth Directorate was going to be spun out of KGB, and he wanted America to be ready to step in and assist with security.
Bush had been dreading this moment, even though he had the ability to do something about it, because America would have to rely on the Russians having gotten accurate information. No nation of this size had ever fallen apart before, and definitely not a nation that possessed 40,000 nuclear warheads. He picked up the phone. “Brent, please call DoE and have them put some NEST teams on standby to travel to Russia. We need to be prepared to possibly locate some nuclear warheads in tandem with the Russians. What ability do we have to take any warheads that aren’t surrendered by the republics?”
On the other end of the line, Scowcroft thought for a minute, and then replied, “We’ve prepared for this scenario with Delta Force before, and a couple of the SEAL teams as well. If necessary, they can go in and transport a warhead out in complete stealth. I would, however, recommend we do our very best to get all of these warheads out cooperatively, Mr. President. We don’t want to increase the chances that somebody steals one away.”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
In Sudan, Ahmad was supervising the completion of a secured storage room inside bin Laden’s compound. The commander had purchased a sprawling, walled-off estate outside of Khartoum with multiple buildings, and it was the perfect place to hide their special weapons. The room was concrete reinforced and lead lined. Two armed guards stood post outside the door at all times, and security cameras were installed inside. A rotating passcode was put on the door lock. It was as secure as one could make it.
Calls had gone out to agents in America, and they were beginning to scout locations. The World Trade Center garage had already been decided upon, because it was completely open to the public, and its location was ideal for wreaking havoc upon America’s financial systems. The blast radius alone would level Wall Street, the commercial banks, and the World Trade Center, and so much fallout would be generated from it to poison most of Manhattan, along with parts of Queens and the Bronx. Locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas had to be decided and vetted. The key in Las Vegas would be putting the bomb out of the way, while Los Angeles had so many inviting targets that choosing one would be difficult. Ahmad hadn’t ventured any opinion on where the weapons should go, because he had little knowledge of America or American culture, but he was pleased to know they would be driving the Americans in Saudi Arabia out and attacking the hated Israelis.
He snapped out of his reverie, stepped out of the secure room, and proceeded to finish inspecting the outside. The moment would come soon enough. It was the waiting that would be hardest.
Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin was in a conference room, reading over the reports from the Ninth Chief Directorate officers counting the nuclear weapons stocks. Bakatin was soon to be without a job, as the KGB was being wound down, and the agency was already beginning to be split off into pieces. However, this job was important for the safety of Russia, and Bakatin was ultimately a patriot to his homeland, even though the government was changing.
The reports seemed to indicate that the warheads were all safe, and although there were some minor discrepancies in fissionable material counts, those could be written off due to some greedy scientist selling them on the black market to industrialists looking to make a large profit. It wouldn’t take much to buy off a scientist in an economy that used a monetary standard that was as worthless as Weimar Germany. And even if he wanted to, Bakatin did not have the power to interrogate the scientists anymore. The fearsome Second Chief Directorate, considered the source of Kryuchkov’s coup power, had been disbanded, its officers put on leave in preparation to reassignment to areas that would stay staffed, such as the First Chief Directorate. There was no muscle to use against these thieves, and it wasn’t enough to get worked up about.
Bakatin was relieved that the warhead counts added up. Some of the smaller republics would possibly include leadership members who would want to possess nuclear weapons. He knew that those who aren’t used to having such power in their hands are rather unsuited to controlling it. Thankfully, Russia would soon regain its nuclear arsenal from the republics, and begin the long task of dismantling the majority of it in return for the money it needed.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Mikhail Gorbachev sat dejectedly in his office. He had been informed of Bush’s negotiation and agreement with Yeltsin, and knew it was the final sign that he was finished. Just a few months ago, in July, he had signed the START agreement with Bush to reduce their nuclear stockpiles in return for billions in credit and foodstuffs, and now Yeltsin had traded a portion of sovereignty in return for mere millions.
Bush had signed the Soviet Nuclear Reduction Act, even though that very day, hours before, Russia had seceded from the Soviet Union and denounced the 1922 Treaty of Union. Gorbachev wondered if Bush understood the irony of it. In any case, he knew he needed to leave with whatever dignity he had left. It was time to meet with Yeltsin, and negotiate the handover of power. Gorbachev hoped that Yeltsin had enough gravitas to take on responsibility for the most powerful arsenal in human history, and dismantle it with the proper care. Gorbachev buzzed his secretary, and asked him to set up a meeting with Yeltsin.
________________________________________________________________________________
John Sununu had resigned as chief of staff, but Bush let him leave with a degree of honor instead of firing him as he’d wanted to do. Sununu had been completely out of line. He’d been hired for his New England conservatism and long-term executive knowledge as New Hampshire governor, but he’d apparently lost his sense of morality with the power of the chief of staff’s office. Bush remembered Don Regan and Bob Haldeman, and knew that he’d need someone with organizational skill that didn’t lust for power. That decision could wait a bit, though, because this report that just arrived was more important.
Ambassador Robert Strauss in Moscow had sent a typed report via the diplomatic pouch, which meant it was of the highest sensitivity. KGB chairman Bakatin had been very open with Strauss about the state of matters, seeming to almost be begging for cooperation as the Soviet Union crumbled. Strauss had also gotten word that Gorbachev would be resigning and dissolving the Soviet presidency, which meant that Scowcroft’s advice to seek out Yeltsin’s help had been as astute as always. Bakatin had told Strauss that the warhead counts were accurate, but some of the smaller republics might change their mind and balk at surrendering their warheads to Russia, and he was worried about this. He said he would be out of control soon, because even the Ninth Directorate was going to be spun out of KGB, and he wanted America to be ready to step in and assist with security.
Bush had been dreading this moment, even though he had the ability to do something about it, because America would have to rely on the Russians having gotten accurate information. No nation of this size had ever fallen apart before, and definitely not a nation that possessed 40,000 nuclear warheads. He picked up the phone. “Brent, please call DoE and have them put some NEST teams on standby to travel to Russia. We need to be prepared to possibly locate some nuclear warheads in tandem with the Russians. What ability do we have to take any warheads that aren’t surrendered by the republics?”
On the other end of the line, Scowcroft thought for a minute, and then replied, “We’ve prepared for this scenario with Delta Force before, and a couple of the SEAL teams as well. If necessary, they can go in and transport a warhead out in complete stealth. I would, however, recommend we do our very best to get all of these warheads out cooperatively, Mr. President. We don’t want to increase the chances that somebody steals one away.”
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In Sudan, Ahmad was supervising the completion of a secured storage room inside bin Laden’s compound. The commander had purchased a sprawling, walled-off estate outside of Khartoum with multiple buildings, and it was the perfect place to hide their special weapons. The room was concrete reinforced and lead lined. Two armed guards stood post outside the door at all times, and security cameras were installed inside. A rotating passcode was put on the door lock. It was as secure as one could make it.
Calls had gone out to agents in America, and they were beginning to scout locations. The World Trade Center garage had already been decided upon, because it was completely open to the public, and its location was ideal for wreaking havoc upon America’s financial systems. The blast radius alone would level Wall Street, the commercial banks, and the World Trade Center, and so much fallout would be generated from it to poison most of Manhattan, along with parts of Queens and the Bronx. Locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas had to be decided and vetted. The key in Las Vegas would be putting the bomb out of the way, while Los Angeles had so many inviting targets that choosing one would be difficult. Ahmad hadn’t ventured any opinion on where the weapons should go, because he had little knowledge of America or American culture, but he was pleased to know they would be driving the Americans in Saudi Arabia out and attacking the hated Israelis.
He snapped out of his reverie, stepped out of the secure room, and proceeded to finish inspecting the outside. The moment would come soon enough. It was the waiting that would be hardest.
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