Chapter 12

Meanwhile, back in the Middle East, all hell had broken loose. Iranian backed uprisings had erupted throughout the region. In several cases, the U.S, warnings had enabled the leaders there to take action to protect themselves, but in others the warnings had been in vain.

Besides the ousters of the King of Morocco and the President of Tunisia, the Iranian agents had launched attacks against the governments of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman, North and South Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as against the government of Syria, which the Ayatollah Makhtol had held responsible for the loss of the latest war with Israel. Terrorist attacks were also reported throughout Europe, especially against members of N.A.T.O.

Tiny Kuwait, which had been caught in the middle of the Iran-Iraq War, and then invaded and occupied for nine months by Iraq before the U.S. led coalition ousted them, and had only had its government restored less than four years previously, now faced another coup attempt, this time led by a group of fundamentalists linked to Iran. The coup had begun before the receipt of the warning from the United States. The Kuwaiti military was still loyal to the royal family, but despite this loyalty, and a fierce defense, the uprising succeeded and the radicals were in control of Kuwait within two days.

But, the coup had been costly. The main desalinization plants outside Kuwait City and at Al Ahmadi were destroyed in the fighting. The broadcasting studios of the Kuwaiti Broadcasting Service were taken over within three hours of the uprising by Shiite agents, who then used the facilities to alert their sympathizers about the coup. These and others who opposed the Emir then took to the streets and a series of bloody street battles with the Kuwaiti military began which lasted until the military surrendered.

The Emir had survived the actual coup, but the fundamentalists planned to try him in a show trial, after which he would be publicly beheaded. In a way his Defense, Oil, and Foreign Ministers were luckier. They died during the coup, and would therefore not have to go through the torture and the humiliation of a show trial and public execution.

The Egyptian government was luckier than the Kuwaiti government. The Egyptian government had been plagued for years by the Islamic fundamentalists and had been keeping many of them under surveillance. Receiving the warning from Washington only thirty minutes before the coup was to begin, the Egyptian army was able to arrest many of the leaders as they were about to launch their attacks. Small skirmishes did occur, but the army was able to crush these within a few hours. The coup attempt brought the anti-government fundamentalist groups into the open; as a result, the Egyptian military was able to smash the network that had been built up over the previous decade. This network included about fifteen per cent of the military, which saw a purge after the situation had calmed.

The Jordanian King, who had survived numerous assassination and coup attempts against him over the years, escaped with only minor injuries after a rocket attack on his palace. His Foreign Minister and the Crown Prince were killed in the attack, and several of his other Cabinet officers were wounded. The Jordanian army put up a valiant defense but were finally overcome after three days of bloody, house-to-house fighting through a number of Amman's residential areas. The King was able to escape from the country and went into exile in Egypt. The plucky little king's luck had finally deserted him.

In Saudi Arabia, the entire northern part of the country came under the control of the radicals. The majority of the physical damage was confined to the oil fields at Ghawar, which was damaged by saboteurs at the outbreak of the fighting. The Saudi government itself survived, but the small, but well equipped and trained Saudi military needed help from Egyptian army troops, still stationed in Saudi Arabia following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, in holding the line north of the 25th parallel, about thirty miles north of Riyadh.

The attacks on the Turkish government marked the first time that the U.S. military came into actual conflict with the Iranian agents. The U.S. forces had already been placed on alert after the attack on the Capitol when the first reports of attacks against the Turkish government were received. Ten minutes after this information was relayed to Washington, a distress call was received from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. The embassy reported that they were under rocket and small arms fire, and that the Turkish army was bogged down and was unable to respond. The commander of the U.S. forces then dispatched troops to relieve the pressure on the embassy. After several hours of heavy fighting, the attack on the embassy was halted, with the aggressors suffering heavy casualties. Turkey, a member of N.A.T.O., then called upon its allies for assistance in beating back the attack.

Within twelve hours of its start, the insurrection was put down. To show their gratitude for the help received from the American forces, the Turkish government offered the use of Turkish territory for use against Iran.

The Ayatollah Makhtol used his position as the religious leader of the Shiite majority in Iraq to launch a full scale attack against the Baath government that had come to power following Saddam's ouster. The Shiites were very dedicated fighters and it did not take long for them to depose the government. Once they had overthrown the Baaths, the Iranians then turned their attention against the Kurds, who once again were left with the shaft, despite the courage of their fighters.