“Why, Comrade General, would they consider such plans as you have proposed with glee?”
“They would rejoice because of the destruction, or at least the interruption of, competition in heavy manufacturing. The American steel and metals industries have suffered for decades from cheap, competitive imports. Americans do not even manufacture their own clothes or footwear. We manufacture most of these items for them. Most of their consumer electronics goods are made overseas or are assembled overseas from parts manufactured in a variety of countries. By the mid 1980s, over 40% of the electronic components of American weapons systems were manufactured overseas. Today, that is much closer to 80%. We manufacture a great deal of them ourselves, as subcontractors for the major American defense companies. In point of fact, we manufacture the great majority of the computers in use in the United States, at all levels, from home use through the highest Department of Defense supercomputers. These people would see the possibility of a return of heavy manufacturing to the United States, especially steel, automobiles, appliances, and others. This translates into jobs in their sagging economy. In the 1980s, American economic theorists surmised that their economy would shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. They were right in that regard, but they were wrong in the outcome. They predicted the service economy would be more than capable of providing adequate employment for all. Indeed, they even predicted that more jobs would be created than there are workers to accept them. We all know that this turned out not to be the case. In the 1990s, service jobs began to migrate in large numbers from America to overseas locations as well. Financial services, communications, and processed foods were especially affected. Many of them went to our province of Taiwan, our Southeast Asian neighbors, Central and South America and their offshore islands. Labor is cheaper there, even for service employment.
“There is one other interesting psycho-social factor that is now being expressed by a few minor sociologists and psychologists in the United States. They have begun to ask: for what will America fight? Americans are no longer tied to the land, with the great majority of Americans now in urban and suburban environments. They have no allegiance to anything higher than their own materialism and economic well-being. Some of the more adventurous political scientists in the United States are even predicting a breakup of their country along regional-economic and racial lines in less than fifty years, perhaps much sooner than that. Already, strains of regional conflict are evident and growing if one cares to carefully look for them.”
“Comrade General, you do not see this as potentially devastating the American market for our goods? You know they are by far our biggest market. We must not do anything at all which will disrupt our trade with the Americans.”
“Comrade, where will they go? They have few other places to trade for even their basic needs other than food. Europe? Europe is hardly in a position to complain or to take our place. They are almost as reliant upon us Asians as the Americans are. South America? Half of South America is in the hands of drug lords who employ private armies to grow, refine and transport drugs for the American and European markets. With South America’s growing population, they are more concerned with growing food than manufacturing. Many of the South American countries are suffering borderline instability. Several of their national governments are expected to collapse within the next few years. None have significant military resources. No, it will take years for America to restore their manufacturing capacity. In the interim, they have no choice but to continue to trade with us. By the time they even make the decision as to how to respond, our endeavors will be over. No doubt that a great public debate will occur as to how to best approach the situation. It would not be unreasonable to expect demonstrations, even riots in the streets of America. America is no longer a unified country. They have many cultural centers, many beliefs, and now many histories and languages. There are no longer any unifying factors in the United States. The current political leadership is far less decisive than in the recent past.
“Even if the Americans choose to militarily respond, they have few forces capable of doing so, at least as regards to our main objectives. After the Americans left Iraq in 2005, so many of their military personnel, especially in their Reserve and National Guard units, left their armed forces that they have not been able to reconstitute their reserves. The majority of personnel that remained in the armed forces are, for the most part, considered to be of mediocre quality, and they are stretched very thin in their current commitments. That is not to mean that they don’t have some quite brilliant people; they do, but the mass of enlisted personnel is not of the same quality. Their only significant option is nuclear, and they will not let that genie out of the bottle. No, Comrade, the Americans will realize they have no choice and acquiesce to our strategic plans. After all, this momentous effort will guarantee us the resources we so very much require in order to continue trade with both America and Europe. If America goes to war outside its own borders again, it is as likely to go to the aid of Israel as anywhere. I shouldn’t even mention the threat that an unstable Mexico poses. The Americans made a secret treaty with the Israelis to come to their aid if the Egyptians and other Arab countries attacked them when they reduced their foreign aid program to both nations.
“What, Comrade Commissar, will be the decisive factors in America not resisting us are, first and most importantly, the lack of a national will and secondly, the inability to adapt to our countermeasures to their supposed technological superiority. In fact, we are very close to them in the technological aspects of their concept of the Revolution in Military Affairs. We can already easily counter their technological weapons, neutralize them, so to speak, today.
“Another subtle but very significant factor occurring in American society is what they call the cultural war. Indeed, that is what it is, with political overtones. The American middle class is the primary tax paying class and has some religious beliefs and values. The elitists, of whom I just spoke, do not necessarily share that middle class value system. This class war is sometimes expressed as political correctness. The elitists have been, for years, attempting to remold American society through legislation and the courts as they think it should be. In so doing, they are attacking the religious, cultural and economic bases of the middle class. As one banker put it in economic terms, ‘The rich and the poor gang up on the middle class to pay the taxes. The rich aren’t going to pay them, and the poor cannot.’ It is most evident when their movie stars make forty million dollars a motion picture, while an average family struggles trying to pay all the bills on thirty thousand dollars a year and cannot afford health insurance. The parallels between the United States today and Rome in its last few decades are amazing.”
“Comrade General, will this plan not unite Islam against us?”
“No, Comrade Commissar Chen, I do not believe it will. In fact, I anticipate that it will initially unite the Muslim world behind us. Islam is not a cohesive force. There are many sects, and the major divisions of Sunni and Shiite revile each other. Only three things tend to unite Islam. The first is the perceived threat that western cultural values have upon Islam. The second is a united hatred of Israel. Third is their hatred of Russia. To a lesser extent, is the belief held by many older Muslims, especially in Europe and America, that although they are not ready to take up the sword, so to speak, that no religion other than Islam should exist on the planet. I would point out that the Madrassas, funded throughout the world by the Saudis, have taught that there are three demons, Jews, America, and Russia. The nations of Southwest Asia have no economies other than the export of petroleum. They are being overwhelmed by their own population growth. Saudi Arabia’s population growth exceeds 3.5% a year. Over 50% of the population of the Muslim Middle East is less than twenty years of age. They have little education outside of the Madrassas and no jobs. Our surreptitious funding of militant Islamic groups through various front organizations has bought us temporary friends. They have used these resources to wage guerilla warfare against Russia, against the Hindus of India and Kashmir. The resources that we have provided have been much too modest to be any significant factor in resisting us.”
“As you pointed out, General, the Mongol invaders of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries slaughtered Muslims by the millions. Will they not regard this invasion in the same light?”
“That is possible, Comrade Commissar Chen, but I do not think so. The Central Asian Republics are composed of diverse peoples, Mongols, Turkic peoples and others. They are fractious among themselves. Our goal here is not to conquer peoples as a resource, but rather to eliminate them as obstacles. They are too weak as individual nations to offer us much resistance, and they have never been able to unite to form a strong coalition for opposition.
“All of the populations of the Central Asian Republics exceed ninety percent Muslims. Our own Uighers have looked to them for guidance. Elimination of these irritating populations at the same time would be favorably considered in some western circles. The terrorist war Muslims have carried out against the western powers, particularly the United States, Great Britain and France, has generated a considerable anti-Muslim backlash in these countries. Indeed, Muslim American organizations have even sued the U.S. Attorney General and the American Government for perceived bias. Unlike Germany, which expelled its Turkish immigrant workers, the elitists in control of the legal system in America demanded, and the U.S. continued, to accept Muslims immigrants from countries essentially inimical to U.S. interests. Why they have done so escapes me and any logic. Nevertheless, they have in their midst a classic fifth column. Most of them are in supportive roles, supplying money, intelligence, hiding places and weapons to the active terrorists. Many Europeans will cheer, along with Americans, at what they perceive as a reduction in the power and the threat from Islam.
“Egypt, largest of the Islamic nations, is in turmoil, disintegrating with ethnic strife. Radical Islamism rules, with food and water shortages, massive over population, a very youthful population of young men in their teens and twenties who are unemployed and unemployable, suppressed women, and a government that is barely functional. In an attempt to appear even-handed, the United States reduced its commitments to both Egypt and Israel under the previous administration. The Egyptians were receiving conquerable amounts or were close to Israel in the amount of foreign aid they received. This reduction in aid has resulted in a tremendous outburst of anti-U.S. sentiment. Israel has had to fortify Gaza as a result, to deal with constant infiltration attempts. With no settlement on the West Bank or Gaza, Egypt is boiling over against the United States and Israel.
“The only potential difficulty I see is interference by Iran. Our nonaggression pact with them has lowered their guard. It has allowed us to put thousands of our people within their territory for development of their resources and aid in their manufacturing. These are a truculent people who have been warlike throughout history, before the days of Xerxes. They continuously interfere, intervene, and disrupt the internal affairs of their neighbors. They have sufficient unrest within their own population, in spite of their attempts at crushing their internal dissenters over the last few years. Most importantly, our presence there has supported internal turmoil and civil strife by funding various factions within their society. Indeed, we have funded and supplied small arms to both the hard line mullahs and those who wish a more open society. As you are aware, they have begun to kill each other in the back alleys. The mullahs remain in control and still believe in establishing a puritanical Islamic state throughout the world. Our agents in Africa report that the Iranians even have active agents in several countries. It is possible, even likely, that they will declare a Jihad against us at some point in time. If they do come against us, it will be our pleasure to send them to meet Allah. They will find that they do not have the resources to guard the Persian Gulf, threaten their neighbors, and resist us all at the same time. They have a limited number of nuclear weapons, of small yield size, some of their own that they have built, and some they have acquired on the black market from somewhere in the former Soviet Union. If they attempt to use biological weapons, we will respond in kind or with tactical nuclear strikes ourselves. They do have rockets capable of delivering such weapons to a range of one thousand kilometers. That is not sufficient to reach major targets in our country. Our resources are scattered to some extent. While much of our manufacturing is located close to our shoreline, much has also been dispersed throughout the country in the last fifteen years.
“What they have is sufficient to threaten all of their neighbors and the U.S. forces positioned offshore. Indeed, they are potentially a greater threat to us than the United States, as they are not afraid of their own deaths or certainly not of killing infidels. Iranian Islam is something of an unknown in terms of our proposed endeavors. The Iranian mullahs are unstable, and therefore unpredictable. Should they choose to interfere prior to our reaching their borders, I do not think anyone will come to their aid. They are the true pariah of the western world. There will be no nation from the east capable of helping them by that time.
“The Muslim world has no idea of our designs. Once the Arab part of the Muslim world realizes that all of the U.S. forces are tied down in response to our initial actions, or more appropriately, those of our allies, it is conceivable that they will briefly unite to launch an attack on Israel; if they do, so much the better for us. The United States cannot fight a two-front war, one in the western Pacific Littoral, and one in the Middle East, if they choose to fight at all. I am confident that they will not. In that regard, Islam is more likely to, at least initially, consider us an ally.”
“Do you consider it likely, Comrade General, that the Arabs will attack Israel at this point in time?”
“No, Comrade Commissar, I think it is most unlikely but not out of the realm of possibility. If it occurs, it will be fueled primarily by Iran and Syria but conducted by Egypt.”
“Will you inform the Arabs of this plan, Comrade General?”
“Most certainly not, Comrade Commissar Chen. The Arabs are utterly untrustworthy. They have historically been known to change sides in the middle of a battle, according to who pays the highest bribe. They have no honor. They have no central organization. Rather, they are organized into movements based on their religious sect and/or cause. These organizations are often at odds with, and fight, each other. If the Arabs know of our plans, the western governments will soon know of them as well. No, we will not rely on any support activity by them, but if it occurs, we will regard it as most favorable to us.”
“Comrade General, why do you believe that the Muslims will not wage guerilla war on our rear areas as they did to the Americans in Iraq? How will you stabilize your lines of communication?”
“Comrade Commissar, there will be no guerilla operations on our lines of communications simply because there will be no one to conduct such operations. One of our primary objectives is the annihilation of potential adversaries. There will be no civilian population to support any such activities. We will leave no enemies behind. We will consume everything in our path. There will be no food, fuel, haven, or civilian population to support them. They cannot hide without starving or freezing, there will be no bases for them from which to operate. Quite simply and bluntly, this is a true scorched earth campaign that will leave no conquered people. They will simply cease to exist as they did under Timur the Lame.”
“And what of other Asian nations, Comrade General?”
“Your policy that began in the closing decade of the twentieth century that continues to this day has served us very well, indeed, Comrade Commissar. Our political leaders over the last twenty years have successfully wooed on an individual basis all the nations of Southeast Asia. By pointing out American perfidy, the lack of will and resourcefulness, that America has only been here on a transitory basis, when it serves their economic interest and advantage, you have undermined any further strategic alliances that the United States might have forged and eroded previous ones. The ‘China is here forever’ strategy has been enormously successful. We have won many friends in Southeast Asia by declaring war on the rampant piracy on the South China Sea, the Philippine Sea, in the straits of Malacca and the Yellow Sea. Our naval forces that patrol these waters and attack these pirates have made shipping so much safer and cheaper that many are indebted to us and look upon us as a big brother.
“America’s Asian allies fail to agree in theory or practice for concerted defense. The Philippine Republic has been fighting a two decades old guerilla war with Muslim insurgents with little success. They are initiating negotiations with the Muslims. The United States has abandoned the Philippines in disgust to prevent another version of Vietnam for them. Singapore has no army, Myanmar, or Burma if you prefer, is a basket case. Vietnam is modestly militarily strong but economically and politically very weak. Due to AIDs, drugs have replaced sex as the primary economic commodity in Thailand. They expelled the Americans because they interfered too much with the drug trade. Who will survive against us?”
“Comrade General, this Committee demands that you keep us informed of your plans as they progress. Is there any difficulty you see in complying with that demand?”
“Of course not, Comrade Commissar. The People’s Liberation Army Navy is absolutely forthright with the Security Council of National People’s Congress. We will keep you informed as plans unfold.” Like hell we will, silently thought General Chang, Mao Lin.
Chapter 2
“Holy Mother of God, Jesus, where do you find such toys?”
Jesus Gonzalez just grinned. Jesus Gonzalez wasn’t his real name, of course. He really wanted to be called El Diablo, but he hadn’t achieved anywhere near the necessary recognition for that. No, early in his criminal career, he had been a petty thief, graduating to a drug runner, then a coyote smuggling aliens from Mexico, Central America, and the Far East across the American border. The last endeavor was far more difficult than the others. It had become dangerous since American citizens living along the border had begun to shoot wetbacks on sight, no questions asked. Local law enforcement generally looked the other way, now that the shootings had become so widespread. The federal agency boys still frowned upon it, but after some embarrassing moments in which they were brought to task by local vigilante groups, and two of them were shotgunned, they generally turned a blind eye to the shootings. The governments of the border states were not very supportive of those elitist Yankees sending their storm troopers, that is, the FBI, down and interfering with the security of their citizens under the excuse of protecting the civil rights of illegal aliens.
Jesus made good money smuggling illegal immigrants. He knew the desert pathways and the way of the desert. He occasionally lost a few along the way, those who strayed, those who complained and suffered a bullet in the head for their complaints, but overall, he was one of the better coyotes along the border. His organization had grown from fifteen disgruntled Mexicans to more than fifty. Now, he intended to expand his operations. His new friends had provided him with many toys. These included not only firearms, but devices such as night vision goggles, bionic sound detectors, infrared binoculars and radar detectors of various radio frequencies.
The vehicles, the vans, pickups and sport utility vehicles were nondescript on the outside but were carefully overhauled to make them extremely rugged and dependable in the desert environment. Each had oversized tires, four-wheel drive, limited slip transmissions, heavy duty suspension systems, extra gas tanks, and gun racks. Inside, each vehicle carried four five-gallon jerry cans of water and a case of Meals, Ready to Eat, colloquially called MREs in the American Army. These can be purchased commercially in the United States, which is exactly what he did. Several members of his band had jobs just across the border. Their job was essentially intelligence gathering. Some were women. Each day, they trudged back and forth, from Mexico into several small towns, such as Nogales, Arizona, where they had day jobs. At night, they returned to Mexico, usually carrying food, whisky or other supplies. They came to know the border patrolmen manning the gates, who allowed them to pass without question. Most carried their lunches with them. Occasionally, there was a small packet of heroin hidden in a sandwich, or bottom of a thermos, or in the hollow heel of a shoe. While small, it provided ready cash to purchase those items not readily available except on the black market.
“Each man will be provided with a new AK-47, Luis. We have plenty of ammunition. I expect them to learn their new toys in a week. We will have a class on the basics of the rifle, on rifle shooting and on safety in the morning, and practice in the afternoon, just before the sun goes down. The day after, we will have another class on field stripping and cleaning and care. I want no failures because someone did not know their weapon. Of the rocket propelled grenades, we will have a class on them, too, as well as the machine guns and the hand grenades. I do not want to lose any men to accidents or stupidity. For now, issue each man one rifle, one magazine, but no ammunition. They are not to load the rifles. They are, however, to carry them at all times, and even sleep with them.”
“What, Jesus, do you plan to do with all these weapons?”
Jesus grinned. “My friend, when the time comes, you will be among the first to know. For now, pass out the guns. No one is to leave this camp until I say so. Our brothers who are in other locations are not to be informed of our new toys or our plans.”
Now, thanks to his new friends who had given him new ideas, as well as new toys, Jesus Gonzalez was about to launch his new career as El Diablo. As the evening faded into darkness one week later, he called his band together in the open packing shed of his Mexican farm that served as their headquarters in Chihuahua. On a tripod he had a map of Ruidoso, Texas, which is a very small town on state highway 2810. His advisor had strongly suggested he start out small, and as his success grew, so would his fame and fortune. Such a small village seemed an ideal starting place.
“We will enter the town from the north, east, and south. Luis, you are responsible for Highway 2810 as it enters the town. No one is to enter or to leave. If anyone causes you any difficulty, they are not to be given a second chance. You can rob any vehicle attempting to enter the town. If you like the vehicle, you can confiscate it as a war prize. The occupants are not to be of any concern to you. You can indulge yourself with them as you choose. Hermosa, your orders are the same as Luis’s. You will block Highway 170 as it enters the town from the south. Miguel, you are to do the same from the north. It is not likely anyone will come from Candelera, but it is best to be safe. Each of you will be a team commander. There will be two vehicles under your command for each team. The van will have a machine gun mounted in the rear, such that when the doors are open, you have a free field of fire. The second vehicle will be a pickup truck or a sport utility vehicle. Keep all of your weapons out of sight as any vehicle approaches. Let them think that you are a group of braceros looking for work that has broken down on the road. Park such that you are blocking the road. When they stop, have several of your men who have been hiding along the edge of the road approach their vehicle from the rear. Make the occupants get out of the vehicle and sit in the desert so that they cannot escape and give any alarm. Search them for any cell phones and weapons as your first measure. You can release them after we have finished our business in Ruidoso, that is, if you want to release them. Consider that they will have a good look at several of you. Bring none of them with you when you depart, which will be on my signal on the citizens band radio in each vehicle. Also, you are to cut all telephone lines leading into the town. Communications in and out of the town must be kept to a minimum.”
No one said a word. Jesus continued, “We have several targets in Ruidoso. There are several rich Americans whose homes we will visit. There is a sporting goods store which will have firearms and ammunition. There is a food store that also has liquor. Francisco, you will be a team leader. Pick three men not already chosen. Your objective is the sporting goods store. Take the guns and ammunition, GPS units, binoculars, radios, knives, camp stoves, fuel and lanterns. Fiero, you are also a team leader. Your job is to fill your pickup with food. Get a mix of canned foods, fruit, both fresh and canned meats, and several cases of liquor. We must have a party upon our triumphant return. I will lead three men to visit our rich American neighbors after we have disposed of the county sheriff and the border patrolman who live there. They are my first targets. Do not hesitate to defend yourselves, or to shoot anyone who even appears to attempt to resist our efforts. I want all aspects of the operation completed before noon. Questions?”
“What of the women, Jefe? It is very lonely out here in the desert.”
“Hernando, you and women! There will not be time to pick and choose. There will probably not be any time at all to enjoy such delights. The best opportunity to enjoy a woman is if one is stopped on the road. The greatest possibility of that will be on the highway to the east, coming from Marfa. Therefore, you are to be on Luis’s team. Any other questions? Then see that the vehicles are filled with gas, that there is plenty of water in the jerry cans, and the radiators are full. There is to be no drinking of alcohol or smoking anything other than ordinary tobacco from now until the raid is over and we have returned to camp. Everyone must have a clear, cool head. We will have a light breakfast and leave before dawn. We have a long day, starting with a three-hour drive ahead of us.”
The wounded were the first to arrive at the Presidio County Hospital in Marfa around four o’clock in the afternoon. They came in ones and twos, driven in sport utility vehicles and vans by family and friends. They came to the Emergency Department entrance, with horns blowing. Several women jumped out of the passenger seat simultaneously, bolting for the door.
Juanita Garza dashed through the door and to the desk, followed by Deborah Wagner close on her heels. Jan Johnston stood up with a look of alarm from her place behind the admittance counter.
My husband has been shot, so have many others! John is in the back of my truck, and he is bad!”
“What happened?” asked Jan, her countenance changing.
“You ask what happened when I tell you my husband is bleeding to death in a car outside? Idiot! Call the doctors! There are others, I don’t know how many, but I know of at least eight that have been shot. Call the doctors.” Juanita turned, and spying a clean gurney pushed against the wall, grabbed it and started pushing it out the door as fast as she could to bring her husband inside.
Jan, in exasperation, punched the hospital paging button. “All physicians report immediately to the Emergency Department. We have a mass shooting! All nurses who can be spared immediately report to the Emergency Department. Bring gurneys.”
Juanita was desperately trying to get her husband, John, who could not stand, on the gurney. A passerby ran over and, putting his arm under John’s shoulders, lifted him onto the gurney while Juanita struggled with his legs. The woman companion of the man gave Juanita a hand. The emergency room began to fill with nurses and the two physicians present. The hospital administrator came out and instructed Jan to call the third physician of the town and to bring their nurses.
