Blowback

“That I also don’t know. I was never supposed to know. As I said, Akrep never intended to share the inoculation with the Shia. His goal is to rid the Muslim holy lands of all of the Western infidel crusaders, the Shia, and any other groups the Sunnis see as unfit to walk the sacred soil before setting their sights on the rest of the world. It’s no wonder Hitler thought so highly of them. The Ottomans are an amazingly cunning people.”

The Aga Khan knew almost as little as Harvath did about the illness, so he decided to change subjects. “You said there’s an heir to the sultanate. Who is it? Akrep?”

“No, in the Ottoman tradition, the heir has been sent away for safekeeping and will not be called until the caliphate is ready. For lack of a better term, Akrep is the power behind the throne.”

“What power could he possibly have? He doesn’t even have an army.”

“He may not personally, but Turkey does. And after the United States, it is the largest army in NATO.”

“Are you saying the Ottomans can actually call upon the Turkish Army?”

“Eventually they will be able to, but right now it doesn’t matter. They have something much more powerful at their disposal.”

“Which is?”

“Fundamentalist Islam. Wahhabism, to be exact. The radical Muslim movement from which all modern Islamic terrorism has sprung.”

Harvath was all too familiar with the cult of Wahhabism and the sheer devastation it had wrought around the world. “So what are you saying? The Wahhabis are going to do the Ottoman’s work for them?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. The Wahhabis would love nothing more than to see the Islamic world united as a single body, not just religiously, but politically as well. Even before Osama bin Laden became their most recognized adherent, the Wahhabis were calling for the reestablishment of the Muslim caliphate. The attacks of September 11 were a wake-up call to Muslims to rise up and seize power from the corrupt and apostate regimes that govern them.”

Once again, Harvath was transported back to his conversation with Jillian. “I don’t understand. How are the Ottomans going to use the Wahhabis? And what does it have to do with this illness?”

The Aga Khan looked at him and said, “Revolution.”

“Revolution? Where? Across the Muslim world?”

“Eventually, but first they must set an example-an example that will empower Muslims everywhere to rise up. It will happen in the holiest of countries most dear to all Muslims and a symbol of corruption and Western influence- Saudi Arabia.”

Harvath was stunned. “How can they hope to pull it off? The Saudis rule that country with an iron fist.”

“They have been very patient. With the help of al-Qaeda, the Wahhabis have been able to slowly infiltrate the ranks of the Saudi military and security forces. While there are many soldiers and policemen who are not loyal to bin Laden or the Wahhabi faith, there may not be enough of them to make a difference. Time and again in small skirmishes created by the Wahhabis to test the resolve of the military and police, it has been shown that Saudi troops and policemen will not fire on their own people.”

Harvath felt the blood go cold in his body. “And if American troops in the region try to help put down a revolt-”

“ Hannibal ’s weapon will be released on them, as well as in the United States. All the Wahhabis will need is twelve hours, twenty-four on the outside, to wrest power from the Saudi Royal Family and take full and unassailable control of the country. Saudi Arabia is the key to the illness, the revolution, everything. And as goes Saudi Arabia, to amend a quote from history, so goes the rest of the Islamic world.”

Harvath knew he was right. Considering the Wahhabis’ deep hate for America and the vast amount of military hardware the Saudi Monarchy had purchased and stockpiled from the U.S. over the years, the new Saudi Arabia, or whatever the extremists would end up calling it, would immediately join the league of rogue nations.

But that wasn’t all. With the Wahhabis’ well-defined social and religious agenda, their breed of radical, fundamentalist Islam would begin to spread to the neighboring states and sheikdoms. Much as the Soviet Union gobbled up its neighbors, the exact same thing would happen in the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia playing the role of mother Russia and places like Oman, Qatar, and UAE becoming the next Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia.

As the movement pushed eastward, Pakistan would quickly collapse and along with it any hopes of keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of the Wahhabis. As Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, joined and became the new China, the Western world would be plunged into a clash more devastating than anything it had ever known.

One thing was for sure, while the extremists might claim to be using the illness solely as a bargaining chip now, there was no question that when they were ready, they would set it loose it on the rest of the world.

“How did the Ottomans ever get the Wahhabis to agree to all of this?” asked Harvath.