found them was a disaster.
âIt was just blind, stupid, bad luck they were ever discovered,â Arzee said. âThe Toronto port authorities had asked for a demonstration of a new mobile scanning system. They were trying to meet the demands of the Homeland Security Border and Transportation people. The damned system uses some kind of new X-ray technology called Z(R) Backscatter. It was set up at the exit gate and it checked every container that was going out of the port. The truck driver couldnât have turned around even if he had known about the system.
âI checked with our people in Toronto. None of them knew the system was going to be demonstrated that day. The setup that was being demonstrated was packed in a van that just parked next tothe exit. It was just bad luck, there was no way to have foreseen it.â
âBad luck, huh,â Paxtun said. âEverythingâs fucking gone. The guns, the grenades, the missile launchers, the ammo, explosives, everything. A few hundred thousand dollars worth of ordnance just gone with no decent explanation for its being missing, at least not one that Ishmael will be willing to hear. Or do you want to tell him that he wonât get his shipment because of bad luck?â
Arzeeâs face blanched at the idea of telling the terrorist leader any bad news at all. Paxtun could see in his lieutenantâs face that he wanted nothing at all to do with Ishmael, that he was terrified of him. And Paxtun couldnât blame Arzee for his fear.
Ishmael was not the manâs real name. It was a kunyah, an Arabic pseudonym adopted from the names of the Companions of the Prophet and other heroes of Islam. A kunyah was used to disguise the name of a faithful while he was on a mission.
No matter what this manâs real name was, he was dangerous to anyone who blocked his path. As the leader of a major terrorist cell infiltrating into the United States, Ishmael would kill anyone he saw as a threat to his mission. And he would kill them quickly and without hesitation. Paxtun knew the man well because it was Paxtunâs organization that was bringing the cell members into the United States and Ishmael had been one of the first men brought in.
The demand to bring in the terrorists had been made of Paxtun by people that he could not refuse. It wasnât a matter of money, or even of stopping thevery lucrative flow of drugs he was receiving. You refused al Qaeda only once, and that was when you felt tired of living. Failing them was a quick ticket to Paradise.
After the events of 9/11, the Afghan drug traders there expected U.S. reprisals against targets in their country. That fear caused them to dump their stockpiles of heroin and opium before they could be destroyed by U.S. military action. Accepting a low profit margin was considered better by the traders than a complete loss of their stocks.
A large amount of these drugs found their way into Paxtunâs hands. And he took advantage of the situation to build up his distribution network, and profits. The heroin out of Afghanistan was an 80 percent pure narcotic. It was known as Heroin No. 4, or White Heroin, by the addicts who craved it.
Al Qaeda didnât mind the increase in business by Paxtun, they also benefited from the profits of his drug sales. The drugs were simply considered another sign of the decadence of the infidels, another means of attacking them. Osama bin Laden liked destroying the West through its own sins and indulgences. He had specifically financed the development of a new liquid heroin, the âTears of Allah,â to help corrupt the population of the West even faster.
Paxtun, Arzee, and their people had accepted al Qaedaâs help, and their money. Paxtun had proven himself trustworthy by his deeds in Afghanistan and his later actions in Bosnia and finally the United States. He had proven himself so trustworthy that his organization was considered a hawala, part of an ancient
âIt was just blind, stupid, bad luck they were ever discovered,â Arzee said. âThe Toronto port authorities had asked for a demonstration of a new mobile scanning system. They were trying to meet the demands of the Homeland Security Border and Transportation people. The damned system uses some kind of new X-ray technology called Z(R) Backscatter. It was set up at the exit gate and it checked every container that was going out of the port. The truck driver couldnât have turned around even if he had known about the system.
âI checked with our people in Toronto. None of them knew the system was going to be demonstrated that day. The setup that was being demonstrated was packed in a van that just parked next tothe exit. It was just bad luck, there was no way to have foreseen it.â
âBad luck, huh,â Paxtun said. âEverythingâs fucking gone. The guns, the grenades, the missile launchers, the ammo, explosives, everything. A few hundred thousand dollars worth of ordnance just gone with no decent explanation for its being missing, at least not one that Ishmael will be willing to hear. Or do you want to tell him that he wonât get his shipment because of bad luck?â
Arzeeâs face blanched at the idea of telling the terrorist leader any bad news at all. Paxtun could see in his lieutenantâs face that he wanted nothing at all to do with Ishmael, that he was terrified of him. And Paxtun couldnât blame Arzee for his fear.
Ishmael was not the manâs real name. It was a kunyah, an Arabic pseudonym adopted from the names of the Companions of the Prophet and other heroes of Islam. A kunyah was used to disguise the name of a faithful while he was on a mission.
No matter what this manâs real name was, he was dangerous to anyone who blocked his path. As the leader of a major terrorist cell infiltrating into the United States, Ishmael would kill anyone he saw as a threat to his mission. And he would kill them quickly and without hesitation. Paxtun knew the man well because it was Paxtunâs organization that was bringing the cell members into the United States and Ishmael had been one of the first men brought in.
The demand to bring in the terrorists had been made of Paxtun by people that he could not refuse. It wasnât a matter of money, or even of stopping thevery lucrative flow of drugs he was receiving. You refused al Qaeda only once, and that was when you felt tired of living. Failing them was a quick ticket to Paradise.
After the events of 9/11, the Afghan drug traders there expected U.S. reprisals against targets in their country. That fear caused them to dump their stockpiles of heroin and opium before they could be destroyed by U.S. military action. Accepting a low profit margin was considered better by the traders than a complete loss of their stocks.
A large amount of these drugs found their way into Paxtunâs hands. And he took advantage of the situation to build up his distribution network, and profits. The heroin out of Afghanistan was an 80 percent pure narcotic. It was known as Heroin No. 4, or White Heroin, by the addicts who craved it.
Al Qaeda didnât mind the increase in business by Paxtun, they also benefited from the profits of his drug sales. The drugs were simply considered another sign of the decadence of the infidels, another means of attacking them. Osama bin Laden liked destroying the West through its own sins and indulgences. He had specifically financed the development of a new liquid heroin, the âTears of Allah,â to help corrupt the population of the West even faster.
Paxtun, Arzee, and their people had accepted al Qaedaâs help, and their money. Paxtun had proven himself trustworthy by his deeds in Afghanistan and his later actions in Bosnia and finally the United States. He had proven himself so trustworthy that his organization was considered a hawala, part of an ancient
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