“Using literally hundreds of millions of dollars generated by the sale of Number Four Heroin, these Latin Islamist cells are now financing the creation of well-equipped and well-trained terrorist armies. Hard intel recently acquired by Commander Hawke’s Service suggests these powerful new al-Qaeda operations may have purchased dirty nuclear weapons from Iran and in other markets. They are almost certainly developing biochemical weaponry in sophisticated jungle laboratories. So, where do they intend to use these awful weapons?
“The new Latin American terror armies are transnational. They are beholden to no single country. But they do have one common enemy. America. They are bringing this war to the very doorstep of our American allies. And I believe they are preparing to move and soon.
“I will conclude my personal remarks by saying that America is challenged on many fronts. We face threats from every point of the compass. But, for the next two days here in Key West at least, we will concern ourselves with only one compass point. A veritable tsunami, boiling up from all points south.”
She paused and gazed out at her audience, her eyes finally coming to rest on Alex Hawke. After a moment, she actually smiled.
“Commander Hawke, welcome to Key West.”
41
L ights and cameras swung in Hawke’s direction as Alex rose to his feet and said, “Thank you, Madame Secretary. It’s an honor.”
The monitors arrayed around the room instantly displayed maps and satellite imagery of Brazil rain forest.
Hawke said, “This the Mato Grosso area of Brazil. I recently had the misfortune to spend a lot of time in this region of the Amazon rain forest. Here is the true epicenter of burgeoning terrorist activity in Latin America. This region is the home of large leftist guerilla army units that include narco-terrorists, criminal gangs, and international Islamist terrorist operations.”
A hand shot up. Hawke saw it belonged to a famous-face CNN reporter, Hardy Porter.
“Why do you say that, Commander Hawke? Since when have Islamic terrorist groups had a foothold in Latin America?”
“Since 1983, when Hezbollah became the first to establish a base here. These were Shiite Muslims funded, armed, and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. These dense jungles were rightly seen as an ideal place to both raise money for jihad and train raw recruits from the countryside. The plan was to forcibly recruit, indoctrinate, and train armed teenage thugs to form a large army of ruthless fighters. The plan has succeeded.”
“You’re saying such camps actually exist? How do you know?”
“I saw work camps with my own eyes. I lived among them for months doing road construction as a slave laborer. These jihadistas are comprised of every nationality, made up of every kind of narco-guerilla and criminal element. The foot soldiers are mere farmboys, recruited with the promise of high pay and cheap narcotics. The officers I saw, however, were Arab and Chinese.”
“Jihadista? Never heard that expression before.”
“I made it up,” Hawke said, suppressing a smile at the ensuing chuckles.
“How do you spell that?” the CNN fellow said, pencil to hand.
Hawke told him. Another hand shot up.
“Sheikhs in the jungle?” someone said. There was some more chuckling from the media contingent. “I thought they preferred desert warfare.”
“Many fled to the Amazon jungles, on the heels of the Lebanese Civil War in the early seventies. During Osama bin Laden’s 1999 visit to Brazil, he spent a good deal of time arousing the faithful. He started terror cells and left his officers in charge. The cells have grown exponentially in ensuing years. One of the men Osama left behind is named Muhammad Top. He poses, I’ve reason to believe, a threat to U.S. security.”
A good-looking newsreader from FOX raised her hand.
“Why the Amazon?”
“It’s a vast, ungovernable area. Little or no law at all. You have a lethal combination of poverty, illicit activity, disenfranchised cocoa farmers and guerillas, and an ill-equipped or nonexistent military. There are countless rural youths, all too ready to enlist. A terrorist’s idea of heaven on earth. Bin Laden knew a good thing when he saw it.”
“These terrorists you unearthed down there, Commander. Are they planning attacks on Rio, Buenos Aires? Bogota?”
“Anything’s possible. Muhammad Top fancies himself as some modern day liberator who would free South America from the Yankee chains. To that end, he is massing armies and training them exhaustively with the latest weaponry. Attacks on the capitals you mention are a possibility. So is an attack on the United States.”
Then the CNN reporter said, his voice dripping sarcasm, “More weapons of mass destruction, Commander? I’d hate to see a replay of Iraq.”
“I can’t speak to that. I saw no WMD with my own eyes. I would certainly not be surprised to learn that they did. They have limitless resources to buy what they can’t build.”
An air force general raised his hand. “How do these armies of yours move around without attracting any attention?”
“Hidden, General. The forest canopy shields them from prying eyes. A huge labor force is building a strategic military highway. It could stretch as far as central America, and ultimately into Mexico. This highway would allow them to transport men and materiel. And, give them access to the southern borderline of the United States.”
“You saw plans for such a highway?”
“I built a portion of such a highway.”
A pretty blonde CBS news reporter raised her hand. “Commander Hawke, can you offer us any proof of this supposed collusion between Latin American countries allied against America? It’s a fairly preposterous charge.”
“As a matter of fact, I can,” Alex said. “Slide, please?”
The monitors filled with Stokely’s underwater images of the Russian-built Yakhont antiship missiles found aboard the sunken airplane.
“These pictures were shot three days ago in the Dry Tortugas. They were shot inside a downed airplane lying in thirty feet of water. This plane is located about twenty-five miles from Key West. These missiles were being transported from Cuba, where they were purchased, to an air force base outside Caracas, Venezuela.”
“Chavez is buying these from Fidel?”
“Yes, indeed. Venezuela purchases weapons from Castro, who buys them from the Russians directly.”
“How did you learn this, Commander Hawke?”
“The Venezuelan intelligence officer who actually purchased the Russian missiles in Cuba told me so.”
“Any idea what Venezuela intends to do with weapons like this?”
“As I said, every crooked strongman in Latin America sees himself as the new Simon Bolivar. Chavez’s stated goal is to reunite all South America. My source indicates he has ties to the Brazilian terror cells. His primary objective, however, is annexing Cuba.”
“What? Could you say that again?”
“Cuba is mired in Venezuelan debt. Should Castro prove mortal, I think you’ll see Chavez move to annex Cuba shortly after the funeral.”
A flurry of hands shot into the air.
“Commander Hawke, do you really think America should feel threatened by a thug like Chavez?”
“Chavez is determined to humble the Yankee imperialists. Venezuela is spending billions on rearmament. President Chavez is buying helicopters, submarines, and high-tech Su-35 fighters from the Russians. Through secret agreements with Castro, he arranges for thousands of Cuban technicians, who know Russian equipment, to relocate to Venezuela and maintain it. Chavez is Castro’s rich uncle dream come true.”
“So. We got Russian anti-ship missiles built to be carried by Russian fighter jets owned by Venezuela. Who’s Chavez going to shoot at?”
“Venezuela and her allies would use the weapons in wartime against U.S. oil shipping in the Gulf of
