Free Game Changer by Douglas E. Richards Page B

Critical
roads and highways were closed, and tourists and conventioneers canceled their
visits. Power lines were damaged. Farms were ravaged, including more than three
thousand acres of avocado groves.
    “Commerce ground to a halt. For the better
part of a week, one of the richest and most populous regions in the world was
brought to its knees. San Diego
suffered a devastating blow: physically,
economically, and psychologically.”
    Jafari’s eyes were now alive with righteous
purpose. “Was a nuclear bomb needed to cause this mass destruction, this
unbridled terror?” he barked to a mesmerized crowd. “The answer is no ! Were jumbo jets needed, to smash
into San Diego skyscrapers? Again, no! Did turning eight hundred square miles
of a heavily populated region into a wasteland require expensive equipment, highly trained operatives, or complicated schemes?”
He shook his head vigorously. “ A final
time, no! ” he thundered.
    The Imam paused, and now lowered his voice
to just above a whisper. “No, this was a catastrophe that could have been
brought about by a single child. A terror that could well be recreated with a
few lighters and twenty dollars worth of supplies.    
    “Only now,” continued Jafari, “the same fire would be even more devastating. Cities and suburbs across
America are growing denser every year. Homes are closer and closer together,
and civilization is encroaching more and more on the natural world. Back in 2007,
Southern California was the ultimate expression of this trend. But now this
situation is widespread. So our first slice into the body of The Great Satan will be a trial by fire.”
      His voice rose to a
thunder once again and he held a fist out in front of him. “We will burn their
forests to the ground ! Focusing on
those that straddle their densest population centers. And we won’t do this in
just one state, but in forty-eight !
We will turn this country into a living, fiery hell , a dark, smoldering ruin !”
    The room broke out into cheers, which were
echoed and amplified by the magnificent dome above them as the Imam’s followers
were no longer able to contain their passion.
    “Can you imagine it?” said Jafari when the prayer
hall had become quiet once again. “Thousands and thousands of square miles
across the entire continental United States on fire. Firefighters spread so
thin they have no chance of success. A psychological, physical, and economic
catastrophe that will make the San Diego fire look like a paper cut.”
    He leaned in toward the crowd and raised his
eyebrows. “But there’s more. Once firefighters have their hands full, it will
be time to start even more fires. But this time not in forests. This time in
buildings within the cities and dense neighborhoods themselves. The Great
Chicago Fire — which raged over this
very ground in 1871 — started
when a single lantern was knocked
over. And it killed hundreds, and left a
hundred thousand more homeless. And this was in 1871! I know we can do far better now, in the
most populated cities in this country!”
    The group once again broke out into cheers,
and Jafari allowed himself a beaming smile for the first time. After weeks of
this treatment, the United States would wish it had been hit with a nuclear bomb.
    “We will strike in just over a month,”
announced Jafari. “On July 4th.”
    He paused to let the significance of this sink
in. “On this day, Americans like to barbecue. So be it. On this day, we will
barbecue Americans !” he shouted. “They
want fireworks? We will give them true fireworks! They sing of rocket’s red glare, we will give them all the red glare
they can handle—and more. The day that heralded the birth of The Great Satan will
become the day that we begin to push it over the cliff to its eventual death!”
    The cheers this time were deafening, and
Jafari soaked them in. The truth was, a July 4th start date was a hope, not a
certainty, and he could well change it, but he didn’t