Free Hadassah Covenant, The by Tommy Tommy Tenney, Mark A

last six days,” Meyer continued, “four civilian homes have been destroyed in various parts of Iraq. They all have certain things in common. First, neither the authorities or the Western military command had any warning of the raids, or why they might have been committed. Second, every one was considered a normal civilian Iraqi family. Third, the raids were designed to ensure that every member of the family died. And last, every one had a Star of David posthumously marked somewhere on the ruins. What initially appeared to be a random car bombing was actually carefully researched and planned.”
    “You’re forgetting one last thing,” Libyon prompted. “From our end—after the fact—each family name has been linked with this genealogy.”
    The Defense Minister on the left of the Prime Minister swore viciously under his breath.
    “You mean . . . ?” began ben Yuda.
    “Yes, sir. The hidden Jews of Iraq are being targeted for elimination. It’s a modern repeat of Haman’s ‘ultimate solution,’ on the very same piece of ground.”
    The Prime Minister leaned downward and massaged his eyes for a long moment. Then he looked up, his expression grim. “No! I cannot authorize covert action in Iraq. I gave the Americans my word. Not to mention, it’s simply too dangerous. Everything could blow up, literally and figuratively, if we were discovered. It’s bad enough now. But if we take unilateral action—”
    “Sir, the Americans know about this situation already,” Meyer offered.
    “How is that ?”
    “Well, my cover is as a British scholar, liaison to the Italians. My initial discovery came after a raid on a large artifacts cache in which numerous casualties were sustained. The Americans were called in for a briefing.”
    “Besides, sir,” Libyon inserted, “we at headquarters instructed Meyer to tell the Americans he had accidentally leaked this to an Israeli. We did it to give him cover and an opening for dialogue on the subject. It was hardly a surprising disclosure to them, although its repercussions alarmed them. After all, as you said, they know of our presence in Iraq.”
    “So, Joseph, do you think they’re expecting to hear from me?” “I would say so. At least an ambassador-level contact, if not higher. They know how aggressively we protect our own, so they must be prepared for some kind of contact from us and have a response ready.”
    “What do you think they’re prepared to do?” “Well, certainly not to allow us in. I think they expect us to do something. You see, the Americans have a dilemma. They know that most of the factions in Iraq are violently anti-Semitic, even the onesthey publicly support. And the thugs carrying out these attacks know that we recovered the original list in the raid. So any direct action to punish or prevent this genocide will be detected and its motives known immediately. If the Americans are involved, then Washington will be accused of carrying out Israel’s wishes and being a Zionist puppet. Iraqi officials will feel obligated to denounce the American action in order to maintain public support, even if they privately sympathize. U.S.–Iraqi relations will be weakened at the most vulnerable time, when the new Iraq is just beginning to take control. The whole Middle East house of cards could collapse.”
    “So you think the U.S. will do nothing to stop these killings?”
    “Sir, I believe that at best, they will debate and vacillate and play turf wars between the Pentagon and the State Department for so long that by the time they reach consensus, the last Jews in Iraq will be dead.”
    “So you’re recommending we bluff them and take action anyway?”
    “It depends on how much these surviving Iraqis mean to you,” Joseph answered, looking the Prime Minister directly in the eye. “A pragmatic case could be made that it’s hardly worth risking the lives of every Israeli in a regional war for the sake of who-knows-how-many families.”
    “Certainly,”