Strike Force Alpha (38 page)

At the same moment, two of the Top Room’s great plate glass windows came crashing in. Men swinging on ropes flew through the openings. The sudden change in air pressure created a minitornado inside the room. Some of the adult hostages screamed, kids began crying, but it was the remaining terrorists who panicked. They were stationed next to the explosive-packed pillars, but now the noise was tremendous, the wind like the devil. And suddenly a small army of armed men was coming at them.

Each terrorist backed up to guard his assigned pillar, but for what? The explosives were set to go off in 30 seconds. One terrorist boldly stood in front of his plastique charges, intent on protecting them with his body. He was shot five times in the head and there is where he died. His killers vaulted over the hostages and disconnected the explosive packs on the first pillar. But two remained, and only 20 seconds were left.

The terrorist in the northeast corner took cover behind his pillar and started firing at the soldiers in black. Everyone, hostages and soldiers alike, hit the floor. The men who had crashed through the window returned fire; a vicious gunfight erupted. The terrorist returned fire in three short bursts but turned too late to see the six men who’d just landed on the balcony. He was caught in their combined fusillade, taking more than 40 rounds to the stomach alone. He fell over in slow motion, his insides hitting the floor before the rest of him.

Now just one terrorist remained, with one pack of explosives—and 10 seconds before detonation.

Suddenly alone, this terrorist grabbed two small children and pulled them back against the pillar with him. The kids began screaming. Shrieks of horror went through the hall.
“Don’t shoot!”
some of the adults started screaming.

Nine seconds.

The terrorist fired in the direction of his attackers. He was sure the soldiers would not shoot him, not as long as he was holding the two terrified children.

Eight seconds.

The soldiers kept advancing, moving quickly, but in a crouch. Their weapons were raised, but they were not firing.

Seven seconds.

The terrorist fired again, hitting the soldier closest to him, but still about twenty-five feet away. He watched in astonishment as his bullets staggered the man but then bounced off his armor plating.

“You cannot all be supermen!”
the terrorist cried out.

Six seconds.

Most of the adult hostages were crying now; they knew the explosives were about to go off. One pack, 20 pounds, was more than enough to kill everyone in the room.

Five seconds.

The soldiers continued advancing toward the last terrorist. But would they sacrifice two children in order to save many?

Four seconds.

As it turned out, they wouldn’t have to….

Three seconds.

One armed man, undetected in the distractions around him, came up behind the terrorist and put a pistol to his head. He pulled the trigger and the terrorist’s head was blown apart. He never knew what hit him, dead before he hit the floor.

Two seconds….

The man with the pistol hastily reached down and began pulling wires out of the block of
plastique
.

One second.

Zero….

There was one loud
pop!
as the last electrical wire was yanked from the explosive pack. The noise scared the hell out of everyone…but nothing happened except one long fizzle.

The bomb did not go off. The hostages were safe.

The crisis was over.

BOOTS
ON THE
GROUND

A Month with the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq

Karl Zinsmeister

Boots on the Gmünd
is a riveting account of the war in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division as it convoys north from Kuwait to Iraq’s Tallil Air Base en route to night-and-day battles within the major city of Samawah and its nearby bridges across the Euphrates. Karl Zinsmeister, a frontline reporter who traveled with the 82nd, brilliantly conveys the careful planning and technical wizardry that go into today’s warfare, even local firefights, and he brings to life the constant air-ground interactions that are the great innovation of modern precision combat. Readers of this vivid day-to-day diary are left with not only a flashing sequence of strong mental images, but also a notion of the sounds and smells and physical sensations that make modern military action unforgettable.

Includes photos taken by the author while with the 82nd in Kuwait and Iraq!

“A fast-moving story of courage and competence, written by an observer who offers a far different picture from what was presented by our mainstream media. A moving tribute to what free soldiers united in a common cause can accomplish.”

—Victor Davis Hanson, military historian

ISBN: 0-312-99608-X

Available wherever books are sold from St. Martin’s Paperbacks