PROLOGUE

OVER THE PERSIAN GULF NEAR ABU MUSA ISLAND, IRAN
12 FEBRUARY 1997, 0314 LOCAL TIME

The attackers were first spotted on radar only twenty miles from Abu Musa Island; by the time the chief of the air defense radar unit issued the air defense alert notffication, they were seventeen miles out. Be- cause this was the morning of Revolution Day in Iran, only a skele- ton crew was on duty at the Islamic Republic Pasdaran-i-Engelab Revolutionary Guards air squadron base, and the preÄRevolution Day celebrations had ended only a few hours earlierÄresponse time, therefore, was very slow, and the attackers were within missile range long before the Islamic Republic Air Force F-5E Tiger II fighter crews could reach their planes. The order to commit the Pasdaran's

British-built Rapier antiaircraft missiles and ZSU-23/4 antiaircraft artillery units was issued far too late.

Four three-ship flights of British Aerospace Hawk light attack jets streaked in at treetop level, launched laser-guided Hellfire mis- siles on the six known Iranian air defense sites, then dropped laser- guided incendiary bombs and cluster munitions on the island's small airfield. One unknown Rapier site launched a missile and destroyed one Hawk, but two trailing Hawks flying in the "cleanup" spot scoured the area with cluster bombs where they saw the Rapier lift off, receiving a very satisfying secondary explosion as one of the Un- launched missiles exploded in its launcher. The cluster bombs also hit the U.S.-built F-5E fighters on the ramp, destroying both and damaging two hangars where another F-5E was parked, the control tower, and some sections of taxiways. One adjacent empty hangar was left untouched.

The second punch arrived just a few moments later. Four flights of four SA-342 Gazelle and SA-332 Super Puma attack helicopters swooped over the island, firing laser-guided Hellfire missiles and AS-12 wire-guided missiles from as far away as two milesÄwell out of range of the few Pasdaran soldiers who were firing blindly into the sky with handguns and rifles at any aircraft noise they heard. Each attack was quickÄlaunch on the move, no hovering in one place. The next two flights did the same, swooping in and destroying tar- gets; then the first two waves came in again to kill any targets they'd missed on their first pass, followed by the second two flights making a second pass.

The attacks were fast and chillingly accurate. In just a few min- utes, the attackers had claimed the prizes for which they had come looking: six Iranian HY-2 Silkworm and four SS-22 Sunburn anti- ship cruise-missile launch sites, several Rapier antiaircraft missile batteries, and a handful of antiaircraft artillery sites, plus their asso- ciated munitions storage and command-control buildings. All were either destroyed or severely damaged. The Silkworm and Sunburn missiles had been devastating long-range weapons, capable of de- stroying the largest supertankers or cargo vessels passing through the Persian GulfÄtheir presence on Abu Musa Island, close to the heavily traveled international sea lanes, had been protested by many nations for several years. Other missile attacks had claimed a large portion of the island's small port facilities, including the heavy-lift cranes, long-boat docks, and desalinization and petroleum-handling facilities.

But the big prize, the real target, had also been destroyed: two Rodong surface-to-surface missile emplacements. The Rodong was a long-range missile that had been jointly developed by North Korea, China, and Iran, and could carry a high-explosive, chemical, biolog- ical, or even nuclear warhead. From Abu Musa Island, the missile had had sufficient range to strike and attack targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and most of the oil fields in eastern Saudi ArabiaÄabout two-thirds of the oil fields in the Persian Gulf region.

The Hawk, Gazelle, and Super Puma crews were incredibly ac- curate, almost prescient. A building that supplied power to the com- munications and military base facilities was destroyed by two missiles, but a virtually identical building just a few yards away that supplied power to the housing units was left untouched. A semi- underground Silkworm missile bunker with a fully operational Silk- worm inside got a Hellfire through its front door, yet an adjacent empty bunker undergoing refurbishment but identical in every other respect was left undamaged. Although nearly half a billion dollars of weapons, equipment, buildings, and other infrastructure were dam- aged or destroyed, out of the more than two thousand men stationed on the island, only five unlucky Pasdaran soldiers, plus the F-5E pi- lots and their crew chiefs, lost their lives, and only a handful more were injured.

From the nearby air defense base at Bandar Abbas on the main- land, just 100 miles to the northeast, Islamic Republic Air Force MiG-29 fighters were scrambled almost immediately, but the attack- ers had hit their targets and were retreating south toward the Trucial Coast and the United Arab Emirates long before the Iranian fighters arrived. The MiGs tried to pursue, but Omani and UAE air defense fighters quickly surrounded and outnumbered them and chased them out of UAE airspace.

As the surviving Pasdaran troops scrambled out of their barracks and began to deal with the devastation of their island fortress, five black-suited two-man commando teams silently picked up their gear, made their way to the shoreline of the one-square-mile island, clicked a tiny wrist-mounted code transceiver, then slipped into the warm waters of the eastern Persian Gulf after their leader cleared them to withdraw.

Before departing, one member of the lead commando team took a last scan around the area, not toward the military structures this time but northeast, toward the Strait of Hormuz. Peering through the suitcase-sized telescopic device he and his partner had been op- erating, he soon found what he had been searching for. "Man, there's that mutha," he said half-aloud to his partner. "That's what we should've laid a beam on." He centered a set of crosshairs on the tar- get, reached down, and simulated squeezing a trigger. "Blub blub blub, one carrier turned into a sub. Bye-bye, Ayatollah baby... ."

"Get your ass in gear, Leopard," his partner growled under his breath. In seconds they had packed up and were out of sight under the calm waves of the Persian Gulf.

The object of the young commando's attention was cruising six miles northeast of the island. It was an aircraft carrier, the largest warship in the entire Persian GulfÄand it was flying an Iranian flag. It was the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; flagship of the Islamic Re- public of Iran's new blue-water naval fleet. Once the Russian aircraft carrier Varyag, and now the joint property of Iran and the People's Republic of China's Liberation Army Navy, the carrier dwarfed all but the largest supertankers plying the Gulf. Not yet operational and used only for training, its officers and crew had only been able to look on helplessly as the missile batteries on Abu Musa Island ex- ploded into the night.

Leopard and his partner, along with the rest of the commando teams, followed tiny wristwatch-sized locator beacons to small Swimmer Delivery Vehicles anchored to the muddy bottom, and four divers climbed aboard each SDV. There they changed air tanks for filled ones, and followed their watertight compasses south and west to the marshaling point, where all five SDVs rendezvoused. They traveled southwest together, surfacing for a few seconds in ran- dom intervals to get a fix from their GPS satellite navigation receiver. An hour later, still submerged, air tanks just a few minutes from ex- haustion, they motored up to the hull of a large vessel, and ham- mered a code onto it. A large section of the port center side of the hull opened, and one by one, the five SDVs motored inside, surfaced inside the chamber, then hooked onto cranes that hoisted them out of the water onto the deck, where the crewmen disembarked.

Each two-man team handed up their scuba gear and personal weapons to the deck crews, along with forty-pound, suitcase-sized devices. These were their AN/PAQ-3 MULE (Modular Universal Laser Equipment) portable telescopic laser illuminators. Tuned to a predetermined frequency and set on a target up to a mile away using electronic low-light telescopes, each invisible laser beam had re- flected off its target and then been received by an airborne sensor, thus "illuminating" the proper target and allowing the missiles to home in and destroy the target with pinpoint accuracy. Although each aircrewman had been well familiar with the area and could have found most of the targets without help, the commando teams had known precisely which buildings were important and which were not, and had made each shot fired by the attack aircraft count. Not one precious shot had been wastedÄone missile, one kill.

A thin, non-military-looking gray-haired man in civilian clothes greeted the crewmen as they emerged from the SDV, shaking their hands and giving each of the exhausted, shivering men a cup of soup and a thick towel with which to warm up and dry off. Tired as they were, however, the commandos were still excited, chatting about the mission, congratulating one another. Finally, the last two men emerged from their SDVs, turned in their equipment, and met up with the civilian. One man was tall, white, and powerfully built, with cold, fiery blue eyes; the other was slightly shorter, black, and much leaner, his eyes dark and dancing. The tall man moved silently, with slow, easy grace, while the lean man was animated.

"Man, what a ride!" he exclaimed loudly. He quickly stepped down the line of commandos in the dock area, giving each of them a slap on the back or shoulder, then returned to do the same to his partner. The men quietly acknowledged his congratulations, but did not return the enthusiasmÄin fact, they looked at him with wary, almost hostile expressions. The cold shoulders didn't seem to dampen the young commander's exuberance, though. "It was great, man, awesome!" he exclaimed. "How'd we do, Paul? We kick ass or what?"

Retired Air Force colonel Paul White, operations commander of the top-secret U.S. Intelligence Support Agency team code-named Madcap Magician, nodded reluctantly. Both he and the tall com- mando had noticed the looks from the men, but did not mention it. "You kicked ass, all right, Hal," he replied.

And he was right, they had. In an unprecedented act of regional military cooperation, the Intelligence Support Agency, a cover- action organization of the CIA, had just teamed up with the seven Arab member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council's military arm, called Peninsula Shield, to attack a disputed Iranian military position in the Persian Gulf. It was the first time in White's memory that the CIA had actively supported an Arab military mission, albeit secretly. Sure, these guys were happyÄtheir mission had gone off without a hitch, a potential enemy had been crippled, and the good- will they had built by joining with their Arab friends might last for many years.

White's team had been the spearhead of the attack. Most Arab countries had little or no air-combat experience, especially at night. White's job had been to guide the Arab pilots and gunners to their targets accurately enough so that key targets could be destroyed quickly and efficiently, with minimum loss of life on either side. It had been important for Peninsula Shield to score a major victory in its first military mission, especially against one of the very nations that it and the Gulf Cooperation Council had been formed to defend againstÄthe Islamic Republic of Iran. Of course, White's other mis- sion had been to see to the safe return of his commandos and the se- curity of his vessel.

"Ten divers out, ten divers back, and this rust bucket is still afloat," Chris Wohl, the tall man, said in a low, slow voice. "That's a success."

"Damn straight!" Hal Briggs crowed. "So let's celebrate! Let'sÄ"

Just then, another of the commandos walked up to the three Americans. Briggs stopped abruptly, and his face went limp and dazed, as if he had just been shot full of painkillers. The commando was much shorter than Briggs, but was just as wiry and powerfulÄ and she filled out a Mustang suit much better than he. Her name was Riza Behrouzi, and she was the commander of the Peninsula Shield security team. A Peninsula Shield commando had gone along with every Madcap Magician commando to assist and to secure the area while the targets were lazed. "All Peninsula Shield operatives pres- ent and well," Behrouzi reported. "On behalf of the nations of the Gulf Cooperative Council, I wish to thank you all for your help."

White was about to accept her thanks, but Briggs interjected: "It was our pleasure, Major Behrouzi.. ."

"Riza, please," Behrouzi said to Briggs. Wohi and White got the impression they had instantly been forgotten. "I know it is against your rules to give us your real names, but I have no such restric tionsÄabout names, or about this." She stepped closer to Briggs and gave him a full kiss on the lips. "Thank you."

"It was nothing. . . Riza," Briggs said, apparently having diffi- culty catching his breath.

"Okay, Leopard," Wohl said irritably. "You want to celebrate, go aheadÄafter you clean and stow your gear, conduct the post- mission briefing, see to it that your men are fed, and prepare your re- ports for the National Security Agency and the Director of Central Intelligence. And I believe you have the morning watch, so you bet- ter get some sleep. And since you're within eight hours of your watch, you're off the sauce. Other than that, you can celebrate all you want."

"Gee, Mondo, thanks," Briggs said dejectedly. "You're a real party animal."

"I would be happy to assist you, Leopard," Behrouzi said. "We shall conduct the briefing and see to our men together."

"I like the sound of that," Briggs said, instantly perking up. "I tell ya, Riza," he said as they headed out, "I had that Iranian carrier in my sights for a sec out there. It might've taken the entire UAE air force full of Hellfires, but I woulda loved to see that big bad boy roll over and die." He may have just returned from two hours of scuba diving and six hours of crawling on his belly, but he sounded as hyper as before the day started.

"Leave it to Briggs," Wohl said. "Ten thousand miles from home, in the middle of the Persian Gulf, and he still manages to find the pretty girls." Catching no response, he looked at White. "Every- thing OK, sir?"

"Yeah, fine," White replied noncommittally. "Ah.. . Briggs didn't really laze that Iranian carrier, did he?"

"No. He's cocky and a smart-ass, but he's a good troop," Wohl said. "He's not stupid enough to ignore orders, no matter how easy the target of opportunity might be. The carrier's safe. It launched a few choppers, but none of its fighters and no missiles. Intel was rightÄthe fighters and weapon systems aren't operational on that thing yet. Still can't believe Iran has got an aircraft carrier. We're gonna hear from that thing one of these days, I know it."

"The guys don't exactly seem enthusiastic about Hal," White observed. "In fact, they're pretty much ignoring him. .. ."

"It's tough for a team that's been together for so long to accept a brand-new commanding officer right away," Wohi said. "This is Briggs's first mission with the teamÄ"

"SecondÄyou're forgetting the Luger rescue mission in Lith uaflia...

"On which Briggs just happened to be one of the passengers, along with McLanahan and Ormack," Wohl said. "It turned out that Briggs was better prepared, very close to our standards. But he wasn't one of us, and he sure as hell wasn't our leader. . ."

"But he is now."

Wohl stopped and glared at White, then shrugged. "Hey, I was never the real commander of the ops group of Madcap Magician," he said. "You asked me to be reassigned to you because you needed a commanding officer, and I accepted because I was tired of pushing papers at Parris Island. It was only a temporary billetÄ"

"That lasted three years," White said. "The men bonded to you right away. You brought them together like no one else could."

"Because I knew all these guysÄI trained them all, even Briggs," Wohl said. "We're all Marines firstÄexcept Briggs, of courseÄthen ISA operatives. . ."

"So Briggs being ex-Army and exÄAir Force, he's not going to fit in...?"

"Depends on him," Wohi replied. "He's got a much different style than me__emotional, energetic, touchy-feely. Briggs rewards guys for good performance and `counsels' them when it's poorÄI expect good performance and loudly kick ass if I get anything but. And he's an officer, too, a young field-grade officer at thatÄyounger than some of the guys on the teamÄand after all the years I've spent bad-mouthing officers in general and field-grade officers in particu- lar, he's got a tough road ahead.

"He's a good troop, but a good commanding officer...? Too early to tell. The guys aren't sure how to respond to him yet, that's all. Whether he succeeds is totally up to him. They're the bestÄ whether or not he can lead them is the question only he can answer."

White nodded absently. Wohl studied him for a moment, then asked, "If everything's so OK, Colonel, why the hangdog look?"

"Because I've had some reservations about this operation from the start," White said. "We just kicked over a big hornet's nest out there tonight, ChrisÄand we did it on Iran's Revolution Day, their Fourth of July."

"Shit, I didn't know that," Wohi said. "I thought it was in No- vember sometime, when they took over the embassy in `79."

"No, it's todayÄand I should've known that. I never would've recommended executing this mission on that date," White said.

"Obviously the GCC knew what day it was."

"Which you know will make this attack sting even more in Tehran," White said. "And it'll be the U.S. that takes the brunt of Iran's anger. We keep on saying this was a GCC action, but you know damn well that Peninsula Shield isn't going to be leading the fight when the Iranians retaliate for this."

"How do you know they're going to retaliate?"

White looked at him grimly. "Because Iran has been preparing for exactly this attack for years, ever since the end of the Iran-Iraq War. We just justified all the billions of dollars they've been spending on modern weapons for the past six years. They aren't going to rest until someoneÄuntil everyoneÄis punished for what happened today.. . ."

TEHRAN, IRAN
THIRTY MINUTES AFTER THE ATTACK ON ABU MUSA ISLAND

General Hesarak al-Kan Buzhazi was supreme commander of the Is- lamic Republic's Armed Forces and commander of the Revolution- ary Guardsand this was the first time in his career that he had ever been admitted to the residence of the leader of the Islamic Revolu- tion, the Ayatollah Mi Hoseini Khamenei. And to tell the truth, he was scared. But as scared as he was to be in the presence of a man who, like Ruhollah Khomeini before him, could by a single word muster the lives and souls of a quarter of a billion Shi'ite Muslims to his side, it was even more exciting to consider the simultaneous dis- aster and opportunity that had befallen him that morning. This was one opportunity that could not be missed.

Buzhazi bowed deeply when shown into his presence, and kept his head bowed until the Faqih spoke. The door was closed behind them. "Your Eminence, thank you for this audience."

"Some disturbing news has reached me this morning, General," Khamenei said quietly. "Allah has told me of a great threat to the Re- public. Tell me what has happened."

Buzhazi raised his head and stood solemnly, his hands respect- fully clasped in front of him as if standing at an altar or at prayers. Khamenei was in his late sixties. While his predecessor, the Imam Khomeini, had been tall, gaunt, and ethereal, Khamenei was short, with a round face, a short, bushy dark beard, and large horn-rimmed glasses, which gave him a scholarly, professional, quick-witted ap- pearance. This man before him was the nominal Faqih, the font of jurisprudence of the Islamic Republic and the ultimate lawmaker, whose word could overrule the Parliament and any cleric, any lawyer, any scholar in the Twelver house; he was also the named Marja Ala, the Supreme Leader and spiritual head of the Shi'ite Muslim sect and the keeper of the will of the twelfth Imam, who was hidden from the world and would soon return to call the faithful to Allah's bosom for all time.

But for all that, he was a man, not a saint or a prophet. Buzhazi had known Mi Hoseini Khamenei when he had been nothing but an ambitious, backstabbing know-nothing firebrand from a wealthy pro-Shah cargo shipping family from Bandar-Anzalt on Iran's Caspian coast. Little more than a spoiled rich kid back then, Khamenei had wanted to impress his friends and rebel against his parents by joining up with the wild, shrill-voiced fundamentalist Shi'ite cleric named Ruhollah Khomeini. He had joined the Kho- meini revolution because it was cool and tough to do so, not because he'd had any particular holy vision like Khomeini, but as time went on, he became deeply committed to Khomeini's theocratic ideas. Khamenei held many high positions in government serviceÄsoldier, first commander of the Revolutionary Guards, even president of the republic. Now he was the Supreme Leader. But he was still just a man. Buzhazi had seen this holy man angry, and sad, and drunk, and just plain stupid.

Buzhazi knew a lot more about Khamenei's shadowy past. Khamenei was a well-trained soldier as well as an accomplished politician, and throughout his rise through the ranks of power, he'd left a lot of bodies in his wake. Iran was nearly being overrun by Iraq at the beginning of the nine-year War of Retribution; when the pres- ident, Aboihassan Bani-Sadr, accused the then-commander of the Pasdaran, Khamenei, of not doing his job and failing the country, suddenly the Ayatollah Khomeini dismissed Bani-Sadr. When a rival politician, Muhammad Mi Rajai, was elected President in 1981, he and his Prime Minister were mysteriously killed in a bomb blast in the Cabinet roomÄKhamenei somehow survived. Time after time, Mi Hoseini Khamenei was able to fight off challenges to his author- ity by strange combinations of shrewd political infighting and unex- plained and well-timed disasters.

So now, he told himself to overcome his fears and apprehensions and remember exactly who he was dealing with here, relax. Take command of this situation, he ordered himself. Take charge now!

"The Republic has been betrayed, Eminence," Buzhazi began. He knew that word betrayed would arouse Khamenei's attention. "My orders were countermanded, and because of this, our main is- land protectorate in the Persian Gulf, Abu Musa, has been attacked by Gulf Cooperative Council air forces."

Khamenei seemed surprisingly relaxed as he heard the newsÄ well, probably not surprising. It wasn't from divine inspiration that he'd first heard about it, Buzhazi knew, but from his contacts in the VEVAK, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security. Buzhazi had no control of that groupÄthey reported directly to the Council of Guardians and to Khamenei. "What kind of damage was sus- tained? What casualties?" Khamenei asked.

"Few casualties, thanks to Allah, and only a handful of injuries," Buzhazi said dismissively. "The attack was directed against the Silk- worm and Sunburn anti-ship missile emplacements, and the major port facilities. Unfortunately, the attack caused some damage."

"My information says the damage was considerably more than that," Khamenei said.

It had been less than an hour since the attack, Buzhazi reminded himself, and Khamenei already had a briefing from his intelligence peopleÄvery efficient work for a pious holy man. This man did not sit contemplating his navel in an ivory tower. He was fully engaged in the operation of the government. "Regrettably, that is true," Buzhazi said. "But island defenses will be restored by the end of the day, and until then, we have naval and air forces on the scene to maintain security." "How fortunate," Khamenei said, almost in a whisper, like the hiss of a snake's tongue. "But your defensive strategies for Abu Musa seem to have been somewhat shortsighted. . .

"Eminence, with all greatest respect, that was not the case," Bu- zhazi said. "The defensive systems I placed on the island were de- signed to protect the defensive anti-ship missile emplacements from high- and low-altitude air threats as well as massed maritime threats. The island was under surveillance by long-range radars from Bandar Abbas and by short-range radars from Abu Musa Island itself. In ad- dition, we have seven thousand troops on that island to defend against amphibious assaults, all very much aware that our enemies were seeking to destroy those weapons and take those islands from us at any time. All island defenses were fully functional and on full alert."

"And so why were these defenses so easily destroyed, Gen- eral . . . ?"

"Because President Nateq-Nouri countermanded my general or- ders to launch on alert," Buzhazi said angrily, "and instead ordered that, unless the island was unmistakably under direct attack, that all launch orders be issued by the Defense Ministry in Tehran, not by the on-scene commanders. It was madness! I argued against that policy and appealed to reverse the order. . ."

"The Council of Guardians has not received any such notifica- tion or appeal," Khamenei pointed out.

"I was going to present my arguments in person with your representative at the next meeting of the Supreme Defense Coun- cil," Buzhazi lied, knowing full well that Nateq-Nouri had never countermanded any of Buzhazi's orders. The policy of "launch on alert"Äfire without warning on any vessel or aircraft that crossed Iran's claimed borders or boundariesÄhad never been an official peacetime policy of the Iranian government except over Iran's most highly classified research centers, bases, or over the capital or the holy cities. The simple fact was that Iran possessed few trained individuals and workable air defense systems for very low-altitude air threats; even if the forces on Abu Musa had had "launch on alert" orders, they probably wouldn't have been able to stop the attackers.

"It appears to be a moot point now, does it not, General?" Khamenei commented.

"My point, Eminence, is that I should be given the tools to do my job if I am to defend the Republic properly from attack by our enemies," Buzhazi retorted. "Abu Musa Island and Greater and Lesser Tumbs belong to Iran, not to Sharjah or the so-called United Arab Emirates or the Gulf Cooperation Council or the United Na- tions or the World Court. I was given the task of defending the Re- public, but my hands were tied by a President, his Cabinet, and a parliament afraid of stirring up resentment and hatred overseas, afraid of losing investors and popularity. What more do we surren- der? Do we surrender Kermanshahan and Kurdistan to the murder- ous Kurds? Do we surrender the Shatt al Arab to the Butcher of Baghdad? Perhaps Turkmenistan would like the holy city of Mashhad?"

"Enough, General, enough," Khamenei interrupted, with a weary tone in his voice. "Why do you not take this matter up with President Nateq-Nouri? The task of commander-in-chief was dele- gated to him by His Holiness the Imam Khomeini."

"Eminence, the President's inaction in defense matters is plainly obvious to everyone," Buzhazi said. "He has reduced the budget of the Pasdaran to less than what we need for training and proficiency, and chosen to give it instead to the Basij militias as a form of public welfare and to buy votes for himself. We purchase advanced weapons, but no money is spent for spare parts or for building our own military infrastructureÄagain, the money goes to public-welfare programs to bribe factory owners and wealthy landowners who sup- port him. Military base construction is at a standstffl because he cod- dles the labor unions. The outcome was inevitable, despite all my warnings and precautions: Abu Musa Island's defenses have been destroyed, and the base is in danger of being retaken by American and Zionist sympathizers."

Khamenei could obviously recognize Buzhazi's flowery exagger- ations, but he paused in thought. The conflict between the military and the civilian government had been brewing for some time, he thought, and this early-morning meeting was perhaps the wake-up call to action he had been anticipatingÄperhaps dreading. It was time for Iran's clergy to take sides in this dispute: Support the gov- ernment or support the military?

The Grand Ayatollah had known All Akbar Nateq-Nouri, the former speaker of the Majlis-i-Shura, Iran's Islamic Consultative As- sembly, and former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's handpicked suc- cessor, since before the Revolution, and had watched General Buzhazi's meteoric rise in power, and so knew that the only differ- ence between them was their uniforms. Both men were intelligent, opportunistic, single-minded, power hungry, and ruthless. Both gave lip service to the role of Islam in the government, but neither truly believed that the clergy should have a strong voice in day-to-day af- fairsÄan opinion that happened to be shared by many in Iran. "What is it you would have us do?"

"I have spoken of my plans many times, Your Holiness," Bu- zhazi said. "First and foremost, Iran and its territories must be pro- tected. This is our most important goal, and we must do all we can to ensure it is done." He paused, then said, "We must prohibit all non- Arab warships from entering the Persian Gulf. No aircraft carriers, no guided-missile cruisers, no submarines carrying Tomahawk mis- siles. These are all offensive vessels, designed to wage war on those who call the Persian Gulf home.

"The Khomeini carrier group must be made fully operational and deployed immediately to the Gulf of Oman to screen for foreign warships," Buzhazi went on. "As we have seen, even with proper warning, it still takes far too long for land-based aircraft to respond to an attack on the islands-only the carrier can properly defend the islands against very low-altitude attackers."

"The Chinese aircraft carrier? The rusting piece of flotsam in the harbor at Chah Bahar?" Khamenei said scornfully. "I thought we were using that to house the Chinese advisers, prisoners, Basij volunteers, and jihad members working on the base-construction project."

"The Khomeini is operational, and it is ready to help defend our rights," Buzhazi said. "We have a full complement of sailors, fliers, and weapons aboard, and the carrier's escort vessels are also ready to set sail. I had ordered the carrier to Abu Musa Island to assist with island defenses, but as all of our military forces, they were unpre- pared for this treacherous attack."

The Ayatollah Khamenei paused to consider that request. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini aircraft-carrier project had been a pie- in-the-sky project from the very beginning. The Russian aircraft car- rier Varyag had been laid up at Nikolayev, Ukraine, since 1991, completely stripped of all essential combat systems; it had no radar, no communications, no aircraft, no weapons, only its nuclear power plant, a flight deck, and more than three thousand watertight com- partments. The People's Republic of China had purchased the 60,000-ton vessel and made it an operational warship, but the world's political consternation at China owning and operating a nu- clear-powered aircraft carrier in the fragile South China Sea and Sea of Japan region had been too greatÄif China had a carrier, Japan wanted five, and the United States wanted to base five more in the regionÄso those plans were shelved.

At the time, Iran had concluded a $2 billion arms deal with China, and relations between those two countries had been at an all- time high. The carrier had been moved to Iran's new military and oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman called Chah Bahar, where it had once again been laid up in floating storage. No definite plans had emerged for the ship: some said it was to be cut up as scrap, then as a floating hotel, then as a floating prison.

General Buzhazi had other ideas. Over the next eighteen months, the Iranians had begun to install new, relatively modern weapon systems on board the ship, including Russian anti-ship mis- sues, Russian aircraft, and state-of-the-art sensors and equipment from all over the worldÄall the while insisting to the world that they were "experimenting" or "assisting" China with its plans to convert the carrier for other uses. Then Iranian MiG-29 and Sukhoi-33 fighter crews had begun practicing carrier landings. Since early 1996, both Chinese and Iranian crews had been training aboard the Varyag in carrier deck and flight operations in the Persian Gulf. At the same time, Chinese and Iranian crews had begun firing anti-ship missiles from the carrier, including the huge SS-N-19 Granit super- sonic missile, which was designed to sink a carrier-class ship over 200 miles away. In effect, both countries shared the cost of a com- pletely combat-ready aircraft carrier.

"This aircraft carrier, it is ready to fight?" Khamenei asked.

"It is, Eminence," Buzhazi replied. "Twenty fighter aircraft, six helicopters, twelve long-range anti-ship missilesÄit is one of the most formidable warships in the world. With our new Russian, Chi- nese, and Western surplus warships as escorts, the Khomeini can en- sure that we will not lose our rights to the Persian Gulf."

"It will cause much fear among those who travel the Gulf," he pointed out.

"If it is Allah's will," Buzhazi responded. Normally he didn't care to use the real religious fundamentalist expressions with others, but of course it was necessary and proper to do so with the mullahs. "We fear only Allah, Holiness. Let others fear the Islamic Republic for a change. Your Holiness, we have a right to defend what is ours, and the Khomeini is the best weapon with which to do so. It has been in shakedown status far too longÄwe are ready to put to sea. Give the command, and we shall need worry no longer about protecting our Gulf from attack."

Buzhazi paused for a moment, then added, "Oil prices will of course be affected by this, Eminence." That got Khamenei's atten- tion. His political fortunes were tied directly into the price of oil, and for the past several years both had been in a steady decline. "Even if we are not ultimately successful in closing off the Gulf from all for- eign warshipsÄif the Majlis and President Nateq-Nouri conspire against your wishes and the loyal people of the Islamic RepublicÄ we will stifi benefit from the rise in oil prices. Iran can of course con- tinue to ship oil to its Gulf of Oman terminus at Chah Bahar, but oil shipments from Gulf Cooperative Council states will be greatly cur- tailed."

Khamenei paused once again, but he had decided. The insur- ance companies would double, perhaps triple the premiums on su- pertankers transiting the Gulf, and the shortage of oil would shoot prices to heaven. The rewards would be great. But the risks. . . The Faqih nodded. "It shall be ordered," he said. "But we must be in the right always, General. World public opinion may favor Iran because we have been attacked by the oil-hungry West and their Gulf lap- dogs, but we must not allow the world to ostracize us once again. We are for peace, Buzhazi, always peace."

"Motashakkeram," Buzhazi said, bowing as he gave thanks. "Your Holiness, I believe so strongly in this, that if you give the com- mand, I shall take full and complete responsibility for the conse- quences. You may say that I was the mad dog, that I gave the order, and you may disavow all knowledge of my actions. I know in my heart that it is right, and I stand with Allah because I know he will stand with me. . . ."

"Will you stand with the thousands of our brothers who will be slaughtered by the forces of Satan when the world declares war on Iran for what it has done?"

"Eminence, war appears to be upon us already," Buzhazi pointed out. "I believe we will avert further conflict by executing my plan. The world will fear Iran once again. It will be hesitant to start a con- flict that might escalate into real death and destruction at our hands. Give the command, Holiness. I stand ready to defend Islam and pro- tect the Republic. I have the strength to do it."

Khamenei hesitated, then turned his back on BuzhaziÄso the general could not see the look of concern on his face. But he said, "Inshallah, General. So by the will of Allah, let it be done."

"ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS"

"Iran's Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Mi Hoseini Khamenei, blasted the Gulf Cooperative Council, the union of six pro-West Persian Gulf nations, today for what he claims was an at- tack on a, quote, `defensive security and safety installation,' unquote, on a small island in the Persian Gulf in the early-morning hours, and has called on a `holy jihad' against the GCC.

"Khamenei claims the attack by what he terms `terrorists and saboteurs' of the Gulf Cooperative Council's action group called Pen- insula Shield killed several dozen workers while they slept, and heav- ily damaged the island's electricity, fresh water, and living quarters.

"The island, identified as Abu Musa, is one of three small islands that sit very close to the oil transshipment lanes through the Persian Gulf. The islands were claimed by Iran in 1971 but were under joint jurisdiction of both Iran and the United Arab Emirates, one of the member nations of the Gulf Cooperative Council, until 1992, when Iran claimed all of the islands for itself.

"Spokesmen for the Gulf Cooperative Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, declined to comment, except to say that the GCC has often been blamed for actions by anti-Iranian government forces, notably the Mojahadin-i-Khalq, in an effort to stir up resentment and funda- mentalist fervor against Iran's Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf region.

"A U.S. State Department spokesman says he knows no details of the incident, but says that Iran has heavily fortified Abu Musa Is- land over the past few years with modern offensive anti-ship and antiaircraft weapons, and has resisted all efforts by the United Na- tions International Court to mediate the dispute. The State Depart- ment says no oil tankers or any American vessels or aircraft are in danger and says the Martindale administration is looking into the matter.

"Back in a moment."

IN THE GULF OF OMAN, 124 MILES NORTHWEST OF MUSCAT,
OMAN, SOUTHEAST ARABIAN PENINSULA
15 APRIL 1997, 0109 HRS. LOCAL (14 APRIL, 1639 ET)

The U.S.-flagged rescue-and-salvage vessel Valley Mistress was riding high and fast in the water these days; very few patrol boats had both- ered to stop her as she made her way from the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, down the Red Sea, and across the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Oman. Salvage-and-construction vessels were usually hard to search, they rarely had anything fun for customs officials to look atÄjust a bunch of cranes, tanks, chains, dirt, and nitrogen- and booze-soaked roustabout crewsÄand U.S.- registered and -flagged vessels rarely carried exciting contraband like drugs, weapons, or humans. In any case, with its U.S. Naval