explained, “We would probably have to inform him of his right to remain silent, and that’s exactly what he’d do. Plus, of course, his parents are all lawyered up. So…”
Right. Mr. al-Darwish as an American citizen with the right not to be taken to a secret location and waterboarded was a problem. Therefore, as I’d guessed from the beginning, Bulus ibn al-Darwish had to be terminated. End of problem.
Chet moved on to the subject’s college years and said, “Despite the bastard’s problems in public school, he did well academically and got accepted to Columbia University, which as you know is one of the best schools in the country.”
I asked Chet, “Where did you go to school?”
“Yale.”
I pointed out, “So you and the subject terrorist have something in common. You both went to Ivy League schools.”
Chet ignored that and informed us, “He actually has a genius I.Q.-top two percent of the population-and he could have joined Mensa, but he didn’t join anything in college except a campus Muslim group and a mosque.”
I wondered if the subject asshole was smarter than me. I don’t think I’ve ever met or killed anyone smarter than me. This could be interesting.
Chet continued, “Being a genius doesn’t make you smart, happy, or successful. In fact, sometimes the opposite. Studies have shown that people with genius-level I.Q.s are often unhappy, alienated from the society around them, impatient with people of lesser intelligence, angry at how stupid and ignorant the world is, and generally self-absorbed and untrusting. In fact, they only trust themselves and they rarely take the advice of others.”
Why is everyone looking at me?
Chet went on, “As this relates to what may or may not happen in the next few days, we believe that Bulus ibn al-Darwish will ignore any advice or warnings he gets from his aides or advisors about the meeting with Sheik Musa. He is driven first by hate and what he sees as revenge against America for our attacks on Islam, and by the American military presence on the sacred soil of his country and other Islamic countries. And somewhere deep in his subconscious he’s remembering all the shit he got from his schoolmates in Perth Amboy, and this is payback time.” Chet added, “The Cole was payback, too, but that was impersonal. He wasn’t even there to see the Americans die-and as you know, he didn’t even get to see a videotape.” Chet let us know, “But this time… Well, this is his chance to get his hands on five live Americans-his former compatriots-people who remind him of all those years of misery and loneliness.” He let us know, “If you-we-ever did fall into his hands, don’t expect a quick death.”
I already knew that. In fact, what we could expect was months or years of brutal captivity, until The Panther got tired of playing with his captured mice, then he’d saw our heads off. I glanced at Kate, Buck, Brenner, and Chet, and thought about spending years with them as a prisoner. I mean, The Panther wouldn’t even have to torture me; a few weeks with Chet and Buck would be torture enough.
Chet continued, “The subject’s college years were unremarkable, but this is the period when he seems to have become radicalized.” Chet informed us, “As you may know, Columbia has a large Jewish student body, and it’s generally understood that these Jewish students, and in fact most of the students at Columbia are, let’s say, overly tolerant and empathetic toward the relatively small Muslim student body.” He speculated, “You’d think that this would have opened al-Darwish’s eyes and mind to the idea that not everyone was against him or against Muslims. He could have fit in very well in college, and gotten happier and made non-Muslim friends. Instead, he ignored the generally open and liberal atmosphere on campus and withdrew into a narrow world of like-minded Muslim friends on and off campus.” Chet also informed us, “Interestingly, to appease his father, he majored in economics, but he minored in Middle Eastern studies.”
Ironic that he learned about his culture at an American university.
“He also took Arabic-language classes to improve his proficiency in the language,” Chet went on, “and he lived off campus in an apartment with other Muslim students, American and foreign-born, who were observant of the calls to prayer, the dietary laws, and other strictures of the religion.” Chet added, “He studied the Koran… I guess you’d say religiously… and did well in class.”
Young Bulus wasn’t exactly Joe College. I mean, every American knows that you go to college to get drunk, get laid, and give your parents heartburn. But this idiot actually studied. I’m surprised he didn’t come to the attention of the FBI as a possible subversive. But maybe he did. I asked, “Any problems with the law?”
“Just once. The girlfriend.” Chet explained, “He was dating a European Muslim lady from Bosnia, who had become Americanized. She was secular, liked a drink now and then, dressed Western, and apparently had sex outside of marriage. This was interesting, because in every other way Mr. al-Darwish was a strictly observant Muslim. But he became involved with this lady who was not exactly the ideal Islamic woman by Mr. al-Darwish’s standards.”
I was happy to learn that even fundamentalist Muslim men think with their dicks. A ray of hope in the war on terrorism.
Chet informed us, “We interviewed this lady where she lives in Manhattan, but she wouldn’t say much except that her college boyfriend, Bulus, was not a barrel of laughs.” He added, “They dated for two semesters, then she broke it off and began dating a non-Muslim. A Christian. Well, Mr. al-Darwish became violent and he physically assaulted her in her apartment, someone called the police, and they came and arrested him.” Chet let us know, “She refused to press charges and the case was dropped.”
Right. Before I was a homicide detective, I responded to dozens of domestic violence cases. Most of the guys involved would turn up again in one way or another, usually another violent crime. Mr. al-Darwish, too, had turned up again-big-time.
Chet went on a little about the subject’s college years, and truly there was nothing remarkable about his four years at Columbia. One instructor described him as “brooding,” another as “quiet.” One Muslim student, however, described him as “seething.” Most of his classmates couldn’t remember him at all. Not exactly big man on campus, and not a campus troublemaker. Interestingly, no one recalled him ever making anti-American remarks, or anti- Semitic statements. In fact, the impression I got was of a young man who was quiet in public, but filled inside with bad stuff. Like a ticking time bomb.
Chet also told us, “This brush with the law-arrest, the booking procedure, which probably included a strip search, the night in jail-seemed to have a profound effect on him. A few college classmates said he became even more withdrawn and went into a deep depression.”
Right. For the average middle-class kid, this was a traumatic experience. The upside was that most of them got scared straight and kept their noses clean. But as I said, when you’re frightened you later get angry, and you look for payback. If I fell into this guy’s hands, I should probably not mention that I’m former NYPD. But I’m sure he already knew that.
Chet continued, “Interestingly, although al-Darwish apparently visited a number of radical websites, he did not seem to be under the influence of any specific fundamentalist or radical religious mentor as many of these radicalized young people are. Our profilers and behavioral science people believe he saw himself as his own inspiration, and quite possibly he believed then, and believes now, that he’s being guided from above.”
Right. Like, I hear voices. I’ve had a couple of those. Scary people.
Chet added, “But we don’t know if he’s that kind of nut job. And we’ll never know.”
“Well,” I pointed out, “if he walks into the trap we’ll know that no one from above warned him.”
Chet conceded, “Good point.” He continued, “If you study the lives of men who’ve gone on to become powerful dictators and mass murderers, you’ll discover that many of them were like this bastard-angry, driven, obsessed, and sociopathic-but they were also quiet as boys and young men, as though they were biding their time until they could break away from the restraints of society and the law.” Chet continued, “It was almost inevitable, in retrospect, that al-Darwish would go to Yemen, a country that shares many of his beliefs, and also a country that’s dysfunctional enough for him to gain some power. In other words, he was a zero in America, but here in Yemen he filled the void in the power vacuum and blossomed into a feared and respected leader.” Chet added, “Ironically, being an American-or as the Arabs say, al-Amriki-gave him some cachet and credibility. And some respect.”
Right. Everyone else here was born in this shithole and lived and died here. Bulus ibn al-Darwish came from Amrika to save and serve his people, and they thought that was pretty cool. It
