“In an attempt to combat al Qaeda and involve the Sunnis, General Petraeus created Awakening Councils — forces of armed Sunnis willing to fight the extremists. Instead of integrating these 100,000 moderates into the Iraqi army and police force, Al-Maliki opposed the program. Fearing a coup, he purposely kept his army weak. He later accused his Sunni vice president of being a terrorist, all of which only further served to alienate the Sunni population.”
Senator Renzulli signaled to Chairman Gibbons. “I wanted a yes or no answer about the last administration’s handling of ISIS; instead I’m getting a history lesson on the Iraq war.”
Adam Shariak interjected. “I’m about to answer you, senator. After U.S. forces killed Zarqawi, he was replaced by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who merged his al Qaeda forces in Iraq and Syria and announced the creation of ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. His first target was Mosul, a Sunni Arab city located in Northern Iraq, home to two million people. Having been abused by al-Maliki’s government for five years, Mosul’s Sunni population practically welcomed the Islamist radicals into their city. Al-Baghdadi then declared ISIL’s territory a caliphate — a state governed in accordance with Sharia law. The Islamic State is very well organized, with four separate security services that keep both the jihadist and civilian populations in line. Each of these services reports to an emir, who in turn follows the orders of the men whose faces are always cloaked in black.
“Senator, these cloaked men who are the true leaders of Islamic State are, in fact, members of Saddam’s former Ba’athist army, the ones Paul Bremer dismissed back in 2003. Just as they are doing now, these same officers in the Fedayeen carried out similar campaigns of terror under Sadaam. With Syria’s President Assad waging war on his own people, and President Obama pulling our troops out of Iraq, the Ba’athist commandos saw ISIL as the perfect vehicle from which to retake Iraq and rule the region. They essentially overran Syria’s military bases, took all of Assad’s Russian-made tanks and weapons, and used them to take control of Syrian oil wells and refineries. Using their knowledge of the smuggling networks developed under Saddam back in the 1990s to avoid U.N. sanctions, these former Ba’athists have been selling the crude at discounted prices while raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. And who is buying the oil and the stolen Syrian artifacts, Senator Renzulli? We are.
“You asked me about President Obama’s initiatives. Before you evaluate his administration’s policies you need to understand the Islamic State’s endgame. The Fedeyeen wearing the black cloaks want control over the region. To get that, they are unleashing the jihadists — the religious radicals in the Muslim faith. Their goal is to convince the rest of the Islamic world that an apocalyptic process is underway which will lead to a confrontation between an army of Muslims and the Western crusaders… equating us with the Romans. Everything they do, from these public beheadings to the terror plots in Paris, is designed to elicit violent responses from the West that keeps moving us down the road leading to Armageddon. President Obama understood that.”
“If that’s true, Captain Shariak, then why did his policies fail?”
“They failed because Saddam’s former Ba’athist officers are running Islamic State’s territories like a business, generating several billion dollars which the jihadists want to use to purchase weapons of mass destruction. To prevent that from happening, we need to cut off the flow of funds coming from Turkey. Iraq may be salvageable if we can convince Baghdad that they need to have new elections to establish a coalition government with a place at the table for Sunnis and Kurds. As for Syria, that’s more complicated. Assad has to go, but it’s a mistake to support the Syrian rebels, most of whom are affiliates of al Qaeda. While President Trump scored points with Putin by calling out Turkey for buying oil from ISIL; the real supporters of Islamic State are the Saudis. Unless you force our biggest supplier of oil to stop funding terrorism and its messages of hatred which target Israel and the United States, we’ll never defeat radical Islam.”
The half-empty chamber broke out in a smattering of applause.
Joe Rangel was seated in one of the upper rows, out of range of the C-SPAN cameras. He glanced down at his iPhone screen as a new text message appeared:
GOTTA LOVE THIS GUY. I’M WAITING IN THE BULL PEN.
5
Adam Shariak followed the press secretary past a security checkpoint and through the West Colonnade, his left sciatic nerve slightly inflamed from the long walk from the parking lot. Entering the West Wing, they were intercepted by Kelli-Lynn McDonald, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff.
“Mr. Under Secretary, President Trump apologizes. He’s been in a photo shoot and breakfast get-together with the Clemson Tigers… I guess you know they won the 2016 College Championship.”
“I may have heard a rumor.”
“Well, there’s a game tonight between the Cubs and Nationals and the president wants you to join him in his luxury suite. Be sure to arrive thirty minutes early so you two can talk.”
Located in the Naval Yard section of Washington, D.C., Nationals Park seated a cozy 41,500 fans, while offering a view of the Washington Monument and Capitol Building from the first baseline bleachers.
Adam had attended more than fifty games since the new park had opened back in 2008; many with his brother, Randy who had season tickets along the third baseline. Jessica preferred the back and forth pace of hockey — after the first two innings she had spent the rest of the game texting on her iPhone.
He arrived at 5:40 p.m. for the 7:05 start. Access to the luxury suites was from a private entrance beneath the stadium. After swiping his ticket, the attendant called for a personal concierge — an older Caucasian man in his eighties who went by the name of “Pops.”
“Pops, Suite 18.”
“Eighteen it is. Sir, if you’ll come with me—”
He followed the spry man onto an awaiting elevator and up to the suite level which featured a private mezzanine that looked like a Las Vegas-style sports bar, every wall covered in giant TV screens.
Pops led him to the first suite by the elevators where two stadium security officers were posted outside the metal door, the outside of which was receiving a new numbered plate and corporate sponsor’s logo from a maintenance man.
“Here you go sir, allow me to show you inside.” Using his pass key, the old man unlocked the door and held it open for Adam, who entered.
“Nice…”
The suite was divided into a kitchen and dining area, card tables, sofas and recliners, a pool table, and two levels of luxury seating in front of an unencumbered view ten degrees down the third base side of home plate.
Pops pointed to the two rows of buffet tables lined with empty metal trays. “You’re a bit early. Food arrives in about forty minutes, along with the bartender and waitresses. Bathrooms are to the right. If you need anything, just pick up the service phone. Secret Service should be by anytime, I’m guessing.”
“Thanks.” He reached into his wallet for a tip, but the concierge waved him off and left.
Adam glanced at the wall clock… 5:56 p.m.
For the next few minutes he watched the players stretching and jogging in their warm-up jerseys while the first group of Nationals prepared to take batting practice. Bored, he moved to the pool table and selected a cue stick from one of two wall-mounted racks.