Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller by BMichaelsAuthor

Author:BMichaelsAuthor
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: artificial intelligence, christianity, robots, virtual reality, hacking, encryption, endtimes, quantum computing, blockchain, driverless vehicles

Chapter 22 – Abu Mosulaydi

11:45 a.m., Saturday, October 24, 2020 - Raqqa, Syria

Abu Mosulaydi sat with his legs crisscrossed on a threadbare rug. The carpet covered the dirt floor of his makeshift residence. Mosulaydi had a long, dark-brown beard, with flecks of gray. He was dressed from head to toe in black. To avoid drone strikes and air bombardments, Mosulaydi moved locations every night.

Like the previous Caliph, Mosulaydi held a doctorate in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad. In addition to the Koran and various collections of Hadiths, Mosulaydi was surrounded by literature on Mao Tse-tung, Genghis Khan, the Viet Nam war, and driver-less vehicles.

The Caliphate’s new Minister of Finance—the man who replaced Abu Omar—and the Minister of Social Media & Recruitment entered the dusty room. They proceeded to update the Caliph.

At various times over the years, Abu Mosulaydi had been forced to flee from the city of Raqqa due to American, French, British, and Russian harassment. Sometimes, he would dissolve into Raqqa’s population of over 200,000. Other times, he would flee to alternative regions of Syria or Iraq. Once, Mosulaydi was secreted to Libya.

He was always able to return when the tempo of the attacks slowed. Despite the Caliphate’s wishes, no country wanted to involve themselves in a full-scale ground war. No nation wanted to repeat the commitment of George W. Bush’s surge in troop levels to fight in a civil war.

Raqqa was a key city for the Caliphate. It was situated in northern Syria, located on the bank of the Euphrates River. It was roughly 100 west of Aleppo. Since early 2014, Raqqa served as the headquarters of the Caliphate. After numerous battles and air bombardments, the city was still the de facto capital of the Caliphate.

This was an amorphous concept because the Caliphate could move its headquarters to any of the municipalities that it still influenced; including, Mosul, Fallujah, Tikrit, or smaller towns in Iraq or Syria.

The Caliphate was an extremely decentralized organization. Caliphate leadership supplied its commanders with specific goals, but allowed wide latitude in which to accomplish those objectives. This made the Caliphate’s SIGINT signature extremely narrow. Almost all command and control communications were couriered or forwarded by a network of disposable cell phones.

One key to the effectiveness of the Caliphate was its inclusion of former Iraqi Baath party members; the party of Saddam Hussein. When American troops left Iraq in late 2011, Sunni-Shia violence ratcheted up. With no US troops on the ground, the Shia-led Iraqi government—heavily influenced by Iran—began to imprison Sunni politicians.

These politicians congealed with former Baathists and sought protection. This led them to assist ISIS, and later the Caliphate. They shared knowledge of sophisticated military tactics—like how to use tanks and properly position artillery. They also contributed their experience on governing Iraq. Mosulaydi had no prior military or leadership know-how.

Over the course of its 14-year history, the Caliphate had changed its name many times. The group initially called themselves Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and then in 2004, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

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