Escape by Robert K. Tanenbaum Page A

good-looking blonde of about forty years, immodestly dressed in pants and a cotton shirt that accented her breasts. But even Jabbar deferred to her.
    "You may call me Ajmaani," she said. "You will do exactly as I say, when I say it."
    Despite her gender, no one voiced doubts about her intensity. Someone later said he thought she might be from Chechnya, "one of them little countries over there by Russia where the Muslim brothers are trying to break free. I hear they're vicious motherfucking holy warriors; they cut the throats of any Russian soldiers they catch."
    At first, they'd trained like any new military recruits. They learned to address their superiors—Ajmaani and Jabbar—in a respectful manner and do as told without comment or question. They were taught to disassemble, clean, and reassemble a variety of weapons, and they studied tactics for fighting inside a building.
    Each man was taught how to create vest bombs for the purpose of killing as many people as possible while seeking martyrdom. ("We do not say 'suicide,'" Jabbar had instructed them. "Suicide is prohibited by the Qur'an. You are seeking martyrdom. These are martyr's vests.") The vests were lined with C-4 plastic explosives and filled with ball-bearings; they were triggered by yanking on a cord attached to a small detonator that would in turn ignite the explosives.
    They were instructed to keep the vests handy in their homes in case they were called upon to make an impromptu sacrifice, or if the police showed up. If the latter, they were to strap on the vest before the police could come through the door, and then yank the cord.
    As the group trained, they became more and more curious about the mission and this mysterious leader who would be arriving to take command of what was to be a two-pronged attack. Ajmaani wouldn't talk about either mission specifically, but she did reveal a little about The Sheik.
    The Sheik was indeed "the successor" to Osama bin Laden, who was a great warrior but whose value to jihad was diminished because he was hiding in the mountains of Pakistan. "He served Allah well and now waits for glorious martyrdom," Ajmaani said as Jabbar stood behind her, nodding sagely.
    "But his time has passed. This is a new era that requires constant adjustments to counter the enemy's strategies. It is time to move beyond merely shedding the blood of infidels, though that still is an objective, toward the primary goal of destroying the United States. But such a blow will take more than talk, it will take a man with a greater vision than Osama. The Sheik is such a man." Jabbar added that The Sheik would lead the Muslim world to the establishment of a single Islamic state that would stretch from Spain to China as it had in the past. "Which will be the next step toward the ultimate victory of Islam over the West."
    As he listened, Khalifa day-dreamed of what the event might entail and his role in it. Perhaps he would receive flight training and destroy a building. Or maybe it would be a poison gas attack in the subway system. His name would live forever, his son would be proud of him, and his wife would come to understand that he'd done what needed to be done for the glory and praise of Allah. Someday they would meet again in Paradise, and she would apologize for the bad things she'd said.
     
    However, with just two months to go, Allah's plan for Khalifa took, an unexpected turn after he got into another fight with Miriam. He'd never told her what he was doing, afraid that she'd try to talk him out of it or report him to the police. Instead, he told her he was taking special classes to become an Islamic scholar, possibly even an imam someday. She'd happily congratulated him. At least imams were paid by the congregation—not much, but it would be more regular, and more honorable, than providing security for Imam Jabbar, whom she did not like.
    However, the next time he told her the lie, Miriam started asking why class was being conducted at such a late