his second year in college, Abbas met a girl he knew he could not live without. He could not understand how it could have happened, because America was his people’s enemy. How could he fall for an American girl? He was at a loss to explain his feelings. Feelings he thought he had forever lost when his father died. She was in his classes and always sat close by; the more he tried to resist his feelings, the more he was attracted to the girl. It took a few tries before she finally agreed to accompany him to dinner. Abbas was in love. She was almost as tall as him, not that he was tall, but he liked the way she carried herself. He enjoyed talking to her and she seemed to know and understand many issues, but most of all, she understood his people’s struggle. She sympathized with the Palestinian’s plight, though she could not understand how they could justify killing innocent people. She could not understand that there were no innocent Jews. Her name was Tina. She was around five feet five, just a couple of inches shorter than he, with flaming red hair.
A year later Abbas and Tina were married and a year after that she bore him a son.
Abbas, for the first time since his father’s execution, was truly happy, and when he finally graduated from college, he contemplated reneging on his promise to join the CIA, but he was pressured into it on the urging of Agent Hamilton.
When he graduated from the CIA training course, he was required to return to Lebanon. It was a nightmare. He hated that place and everyone in it, but had no choice but to comply.
He returned after an absence of seven years. During that time he had managed to save a good sum of money. He was able to live comfortably on the income provided for him by the CIA, meanwhile, the full amount transferred to his Swiss bank account by the Palestinians had been building up and growing. He had never had to touch any of it.
The entire time he was in America, Abbas had kept track of the news of his people. They were not doing well; as a matter of fact they were doing downright miserably. One thing he learned for sure, he had got to know and understand Americans. He had them all wrong. The entire Moslem world had them wrong.
Abbas had come to know that for the Palestinians to accomplish their objective of having their own homeland, they would have to change their policies. They would have to accomplish a complete turnaround in their attitude towards the Americans. He did know, however, that the present generation was too set in its ways to ever attempt that. He no longer wondered why America and Americans supported Israel so much. The Jewish community understood Americans. They understood their innate decency and their support for the underdog.
Were the Jews that much smarter than the Arabs? When he was young, he had formed a picture of Americans as they had been explained to him. How many times he was told that by killing them or taking them hostage, America would get on its knees and give into their demands. How wrong his people were and still are. They needed to understand that all they would accomplish by killing Americans would be to strengthen their resolve.
He knew Americans. He would develop a completely new strategy if he had the chance. He would even try to advise Arafat if he could. Not that it would do any good. His people had chosen a path and to change objectives in mid-stream would be almost impossible.
His first objective must be to establish a residence for his family, Abbas thought. Thank God he had an understanding wife. She had no objections to moving and living in Lebanon. Their son was four years old now and his family was Abbas’ whole life. He wanted to reward his wife for doing such a wonderful job raising their son. Of course, she had no idea that he worked for the CIA. She did wonder and ask a few questions as to why he majored in Political Science, yet had decided to start a business. She was content with his answer, that he had taken business as a minor. He would tell her that the opportunities in business were a lot better than a career in politics.
The CIA agreed to set him up in the import-export business.
Abbas enrolled his son in the American school in the north of Lebanon after buying a house in the most prosperous area of Tripoli, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
He wanted to give his wife and son the best, and the view from their house would pacify the most discriminating.
Abbas was bewildered at to how everyone accepted his fortune without any questions. After all, he was an American and aren’t all Americans rich? These people had no idea that America and Americans are like everyone else. Just by being an American, it was accepted that you had money, and that only played into his plans.
For a couple of years, Abbas worked at his business like any other businessman, building his fortune, but things were not going as fast as he would have liked. He also started attending some council meetings, even though he realized that no one really wanted to see him return. He did find out that the organization was still plagued by an ever-increasing number of traitors and every time they planned an operation, the Israelis were waiting for them. Israel’s jails were full of young Palestinian men captured during incursions. He even passed along some information to the Americans, which in turn went to the Israelis. He felt bad doing it, but not bad enough to put a hold on his plans.
*****
During the 1980’s the Al-Qaeda organization was establishing a reputation. With the support of America they fought the Russians in Afghanistan and were growing into a considerable force. Their leader, Osama bin Laden, was establishing his own reputation and terrorist organization, with the fortune he had inherited; he built it into the most feared group in the world. One thing the man was doing right, he abstained from killing Americans, and that kept his name from appearing in media circles. The only people who knew of his existence and growing power were those in the various intelligence communities.
In the 1990’s things changed. The Russians were no longer in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden needed an enemy to keep his troops busy. So, with America as the chosen enemy of Moslems around the world, he decided they would fit the bill. In the beginning, it was not out of any deep conviction, but when you preach something for long enough, expecting your followers to believe you, you can start to believe it yourself.
To increase his force with volunteers, he had to get involved in a fight somewhere and have a few Moslems killed. It was a strategy that had worked for decades and he figured it would continue to do so.
It started in Somalia. When the United Nations moved in, with US troops constituting the bulk of their force, Osama bin Laden saw an opportunity for recruiting.
The first fight, in October 1993, took the lives of 19 Americans and better than 1000 Moslems and that played right into Osama bin Laden’s hands. When he convinced people that America went running with its tail between its legs after only one fight, Moslems by the droves started enlisting in his Madrassas or religious schools. Then, to increase the recruitment even further, he promised Moslems to take the fight to America itself.
Osama bin Laden’s next operation was at the World Trade Center in New York City. Over a thousand Americans were injured and the floodgates for volunteers opened up.
Just like with any petty criminal, the lack of accountability and punishment made them bolder and the crimes grew. Abbas could not understand why the current US administration had decided to take a passive role, even after all the operations that took many Americans lives pointed directly to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
*****
The CIA gave Abbas a free hand in Lebanon. All they required of him was to establish himself as a trusted Palestinian and pass on any information he could. They also understood that he might not be able to give them much without exposing himself, hence they did not expect too much of him and figured they would use him if and when the need arose. Things were going well for Abbas. He would have preferred to stay in the US, but this
