Chapter 2

Within days the situation was out of control in Iraq. The deaths of Coalition soldiers began to grow each day and hit fifty in only one day after one particularly fierce fire fight in Tikrit. It was becoming increasingly clear that the Coalition forces had no friends in Iraq. After thirty days the Coalition forces pulled back to southern Iraq to regroup and nurse their wounds. The death toll of Coalition forces in the Iraqi war was approaching four thousand and Iraq was rapidly becoming engulfed in a civil war. As the Coalition pulled back there was a lot of military gear left behind. Some very sensitive NSA intelligence gear also fell into the insurgent's hands, giving them information on Iraqis that had been helping the Coalition spot the insurgents.

The civil war was fomented by Syria and Iran and both countries began to openly supply troops, ammunition and money to the insurgents. Iran called for sanctions against the countries in the Coalition and began to broadcast from their state radio that the Americans had set out to rid the world of the followers of Islam. That message was broadcast to every country in the world. There were scattered acts of terrorism and rioting in Europe and Africa.

Jawad al-Maliki sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. He had been afraid that this would happen. The attacks on the Green Zone were a daily occurrence now and several times the insurgents had gotten inside the compound only to be killed before they gained control of it. The Americans were urging him to abandon the Green Zone as it was becoming indefensible.

He had called a meeting of his cabinet to decide the next course of action. He was going to recommend that the cabinet pull back to southern Iraq with the Coalition and regroup. From there they could formulate a plan to regain control of the country.

His aide came into the office, "Sir, the Kurds have declared the northern provinces as a separate country. They have posted troops along the border and are stating that they are willing to fight to the last man for an independent state. Turkey has declared that they will invade the Kurdish areas if we allow the Kurds to break away."

Al-Maliki stared at the wall in front of him. It couldn't get any worse. He rose and asked if the Cabinet was ready and the aide nodded.

Al-Maliki walked into the room and nodded to his Cabinet. The look on their faces and his was grim and they wished to get down to business. Al-Maliki asked his aide to get him a coffee. The aide walked to the stainless steel coffee cart and pulled out a cup. He put the cup under the spout and turned the handle. The room was engulfed in flame and the blast blew body parts everywhere. It was impossible to determine who the arms and legs on the floor belonged to. One or two of the Ministers moaned and a minute later three men burst into the room and began to spray the bodies with bullets. The gunmen ran back into the hall and began to shoot anyone they saw. The gunmen wrecked havoc for about ten minutes before they were shot by the Marines that had been left behind to secure the Green Zone.

General Venes heard of the massacre about five minutes after it happened. He picked up the phone and called the Pentagon. Venes was told to stand where he was and he would have an answer as soon as they talked to the President. General Venes hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute. He knew that Iraq was hopeless now. He only hoped that he could exit his force without further casualties.

An aide walked into General Venes' office, "Sir I just had word that there is a large Iranian force headed for Basra. It appears to be at division strength. There are tanks and armored personnel carriers in the force."

"God damn," the General shouted.

He picked up the phone again and called his superior. After several minutes the Pentagon-based General came to the phone. When he was told of the situation Pentagon General told Venes to stand at his post and not to fire on the Iranians unless the Coalition troops were fired on. General Venes hung up and then told his aide to stand by the phone and that he wanted to see the Iranian force himself.

General Venes put on his bullet-proof vest and walked out of the building and started down the steps to find transportation. He had to try and see what the Iranians were up to. A Marine guarding the office building saw the General fall down the steps and land in a pile at the foot of the steps. He ran over to the General, thinking that the General had slipped or caught his heel on the step. The Marine saw the hole in the General's forehead and the small trickle of blood from the wound. The Marine dragged the General's body behind a building and called for help.

General Casey took the news of General Venes sniper shooting hard. Venes had been his go-to man when things had to be done and done fast and right. Now he had his top General dead and the Iranians causing more trouble.

The phone rang and General Casey answered it, "General Casey this is the President. We cannot allow the Iranians to take Basra. We have to buy some time to get a new government in place in Iraq. Stop the Iranians any way that you can. Challenge them first and if they refuse to turn back do whatever you have to do to protect Basra. General, I'm giving you the authority to do whatever you have to do."

General Casey picked up the phone and called his Navy counter-part and told him to have his jets loaded and ready for battle if they were needed. Within three hours he had a battle group ready to engage the Iranians if that were needed. If the Iranians refused to turn back they would be destroyed.