The Panther

“Only one that we know of.”

“There’s the problem. He wasn’t getting laid enough.”

“John, please.”

Who said that?

Chet agreed, “Young men without women are a problem in this culture, and that often leads to male aggressiveness and other abnormal behavior.”

“Right.” When I get horny, I get mean.

Chet continued, “It may not seem necessary to know all of this, considering that we’re going to terminate the subject. But I thought you’d find this interesting, maybe for future assignments. And maybe you’d also just like to know what’s inside the head we’re going to blow off.”

I would. And I’d also like to know what’s going on in Chet’s head.

Chet continued, “Also, if you know how al-Darwish got to where he is, and who he is, you’ll see why I think he’s going to walk into that meeting with Sheik Musa and get himself killed.”

Chet, as I said, was a small breath of fresh air after my four years with the FBI, which, as part of the Department of Justice, needed to at least sound legalistic. Ergo Howard. And Kate, too. But I was working on Kate. The CIA, on the other hand, made few public statements, and therefore they had not developed a politically correct vocabulary for public consumption. Maybe I should consider asking Chet for a job. I was sure I could explain about my wife killing one of his colleagues.

Chet informed us, “The subject, as he is called in this report, was born in New Jersey to Yemeni-born parents. As I said, he has a younger sister, Hana. His father, Jurji, was and is a successful importer and wholesaler of Mideastern goods, and he commutes to his office in Newark. He uses the name George, which is Jurji in Arabic. The mother, Sabria, is a stay-at-home housewife. They live in a large Victorian house in the waterfront section of Perth Amboy, which is more affluent than most of the working-class city.”

Right. The house I’d seen in that photo.

Chet said, “FYI, Bulus means Paul, but the subject never used Paul to identify himself to non-Arabic speakers.” He added, “We shouldn’t make too much of that, but it’s interesting that his father calls himself George, and mother’s and sister’s names are nondescriptive-Western-sounding.”

Right. A shrink would have a field day with that. More importantly, in a few days Bulus would be known as Mayit-Dead.

Chet also told us, “The al-Darwish family and the wife’s family in Yemen are city dwellers-Ta’iz-and they remain there. We have asked the PSO to keep these families under surveillance, but nothing has come of that.” He added, “I’m sure the suspect doesn’t go to Ta’iz for family visits. The senior Mr. al-Darwish, George, sends money to his and his wife’s relatives, and he used to visit now and then on business, but since the Cole, George hasn’t set foot in Yemen.”

Right. War separates families and divides loyalties, and for the emigrant, the fatherland can become a dangerous place. As for jihadists like Bulus, who do come home, they discover they can’t pop in on Uncle Abdul for a cup of tea. They are alone. Except for their new friends with AK-47s.

Chet continued, “The family in Perth Amboy kept a halal home, read the Koran, and attended a storefront mosque in the downtown section of the city. The mosque has not come to the attention of the authorities and neither has the al-Darwish family.” He added, “Mr. and Mrs. al-Darwish have been known to have a cocktail or two with Christian friends.”

I hoped they reciprocated with a khat chew.

Chet flipped a page and continued, “The subject terrorist attended the public schools and had few friends in grade school or high school, possibly because he lived in a non-Muslim community. The people we interviewed claim, however, that the subject’s social isolation was his choice and not a result of any prejudices in the community. As possible proof of this, most of those interviewed confirmed that the subject’s parents and sister had friends and social contacts in the non-Muslim community.” Chet speculated, “If we believe that, then maybe the subject wrongly perceived prejudice and animosity, and reacted accordingly, and that reinforced his social isolation.”

Right. Little Bulus was an angry, unhappy, and weird kid, and this made him a prime target for other kids. And that’s why he wanted to be a terrorist when he grew up.

Chet continued, “The subject seems to have ignored the fact that his parents and sister were integrating well into the community, and the analysts believe that this shows the subject’s tendency to exclude any realities that don’t fit his preconceived beliefs.”

Kate suggested, “That describes half the world’s population.”

Chet nodded, but said, “The subject takes it to an extreme.” He also said, “But to be objective, we need to concede that the subject, being a Muslim, may have experienced some degree of prejudice.”

Right. But it’s how you handle it that determines if you’re going to move on and live the American dream or if you’re going to become the American nightmare.

Chet went on, “Bottom line on this is that the subject could never see himself as anything but an outsider in American society, and he had no attitudinal loyalty to the country of his birth. His alienation and anger were, of course, reinforced by the daily news, which gives extensive coverage to foreign and domestic acts of terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our strained relations with Islamic countries, and so forth.”

Unless you listen to NPR.

Chet reminded us, “Young people are impressionable and sensitive and there is a whole generation of American-born Muslims who are growing up in what some of them perceive as a hostile environment, especially after 9/11.” He added, “Ironically, their foreign-born parents are better adjusted because they have voluntarily made the decision to become Americans. Most of them are happy with that decision, and if they’re not, they can move back to wherever they came from. Children don’t have that option, and the children of Muslim immigrants sometimes feel trapped and blame their parents for bringing them to America or for having been born in America. In contrast to earlier immigrants, these children sometimes romanticize their ancestral land and think they would have been happier if they’d never left there.” Chet concluded, “We think this is what happened to Bulus ibn al-Darwish, based on statements he’s made, letters and e-mails he’s written, and long, rambling audiotapes that he’s recorded and distributed.”

“So,” I said, “this is all Daddy and Mommy’s fault.”

“For starters.” Chet added, “He became completely alienated from his parents in college, which is very unusual in this family-oriented culture.”

Brenner commented, “But al-Darwish must know that his parents are trying to save his butt.”

Chet replied, “Doesn’t matter. He doesn’t thank them for the opportunity of a better life in America-he blames them for coming to Christendom and living among the infidels.” Chet also informed us, “The parents actually did screw him up, but not in the way he thinks.” He told us, “As their only son-a rarity in traditional Muslim homes- they spoiled and indulged the little bastard the way most Western parents do with their children. Possibly the parents felt guilty about their decision to live in America, and they overcompensated by not pushing the kid to go play baseball or something.”

Kate commented, “We see a lot of that in our work-young Muslims who are caught between two worlds.” She added, “American culture does not fit them as well as it fits other immigrants, and their response is alienation, which eventually leads to radical websites and then radical friends.”

Right. Plus, America is the superpower, and America makes war on Islam, so Muslim Americans think of themselves as the neighborhood face of the enemy. And sometimes they’re right.

The aircraft droned on as Chet flipped through the dossier and also droned on a bit about little Bulus’s boyhood and adolescence. Chet concluded, “The subject was treated like a prince at home, an outsider in school, and a target on the streets of Perth Amboy. He was headed for trouble, but not the kind of trouble we usually associate with an angry, alienated male.” He added, “You can take this analysis for what it’s worth. If the subject was ever brought to trial, you’d hear the same crap in the courtroom, and the media would dutifully report it. Therefore, no one will ever hear how and why the defendant got his head messed up by a cruel, uncaring, and prejudiced society.”

I agreed that it was probably better to terminate the subject rather than apprehend and prosecute him-for sure it was the easier thing to do. But I asked, for the record, “Doesn’t he have info we can use?”

Chet replied, “Lots. But his legal status as a U.S. citizen puts him and us in an awkward situation.” He