Rogue Forces

“Our unit there reports the Americans launched an unmanned combat aircraft to support their detail examining the plane,” Cizek said. “The American private security chief, McLanahan, explained it was a long-range loitering aircraft capable of releasing multiple types of precision and area munitions. It was apparently brought in on that Boeing 767 freighter that evaded our interceptors.”

“McLanahan. Yes,” Cizek said. “He is the wild card in all of this. Remember he commanded a very advanced bomber unit in the United States Air Force, and he was known for quite daring and successful operations—many of which were apparently done without official sanction, if we can believe the American media pundits. Now apparently he works for the Iraqis. I would guess if he says he has a cruise missile, he does, and probably more than one. The question is: As a tool of the Iraqis now, would he use it against us?”

“Hopefully we’ll never find out,” Cizek said. “I would have liked to get a look at that reconnaissance aircraft, though. The American secretary of state said our plane was disabled by a laser self-defense system, not a radiation weapon. That had to be a powerful laser. If we could get a peek at that system and cross-engineer it, we’d be decades ahead of most European and all of the Middle Eastern armies.”

“I agree,” Hirsiz said. “Have another try at bringing that plane back to Turkey. Fly as many troops as you can in tonight by helicopter. Send the entire First Division in if you have to. They don’t seem to be having any trouble in their area of responsibility; it’s the Kurdish regions that have me concerned, not the Arab ones.”

“But what about the Iraqi Nahla brigade?”

“Let’s see if they want to risk a fight over the American plane,” Hirsiz said. “I think they might think twice. We may have to deal with the American robot and armored commando, but how many of those things could they have? Let’s find out. I think the plane and its technology will be worth it.”

“We have more information about the robot and the armored commando; we won’t be as surprised as our smaller unit was, and we’ll be on the lookout for their supposed unmanned attack plane,” Cizek said. An aide hurried in with a message and handed it to him. “I was able to get some details about the plane, the XC-57,” he said as he read. “It was in a next-generation bomber competition but was not selected, so it was converted into a…lanet olsun!” he swore.

“What?”

“Third Brigade shelled Irbil,” Cizek said, dumbfounded. Hirsiz did not react. “General Ozek, in personal charge of a mortar battalion, moved to the outskirts of Irbil less than a mile from the Kurdistan parliamentary building and started firing mortars into the city,” he went on. “He even fired shells into the Citadel, the ancient city center. For the targets he couldn’t reach with mortars, he called in an AC-130 gunship and destroyed numerous targets in the south of the city with heavy cannon fire from above!”

Instead of anger or surprise, Hirsiz smiled and sat back in his seat. “Well well, it seems our skeleton-faced berserker has made the decision to strike at Irbil for us,” he said.

“But how—” Cizek stopped, the concern spreading across his face. “The proposed target list the intelligence directorate drew up…?”

“I gave it to Ozek,” Hirsiz said. “He did exactly what I was hoping he’d do.” The look of concern on Cizek’s face turned into one of sheer disbelief. “The Security Council was undecided if we should escalate the conflict by attacking the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government; Ozek has done it for us.”

“This is a serious matter, sir,” Cizek said. “Irbil is a city of a million people. Even with precision firepower—which mortars are definitely not—innocent civilians will get hurt. And the big howitzer on those AC-130 can destroy an entire building with one shot!”

“A few civilian casualties will only help us,” Hirsiz said. “This battle has been too easy, too sterile. The PKK and the Iraqi army run and hides, the peshmerga stay out of reach, the Americans lock the gates to their bases, and the Iraqi people turn on their televisions and watch us roll down their streets. It’s not a war, it’s a parade…until now.” He then wore a worried expression. “Ozek didn’t hit any schools or hospitals, did he?”

Cizek called for a more precise list of targets struck and received them a few minutes later. “A Kurdish bank…a small shopping center…some shops inside the Citadel…a memorial park…one mortar even landed near the parliament building in a parking lot, close enough to break some windows—”

“That was on the list—the parking space of a pro-PKK politician,” Hirsiz said. “He followed the list to the letter. The Citadel hit…that was his idea, but he got the idea from that list. I’m sure the shop was owned by the same businessman that owned the other shops in the city on the list. Ozek is scary and a little crazy, but he’s a fast learner.”