Interdiction by W.Addison Gast (best life changing books txt) 📖

the following information was to be given to whoever was doing the questioning.
They are above average students that have been awarded scholarships to the university in Iran. They are all orphans and they have few if no living relatives. If the officials want to inspect their belongings, they are to freely provide their property without discourse or objections. The property will be returned to them. If the officials take photographs of them they are to tell the strong one immediately as soon as they come out of the indoctrination room. Then, the strong one asked if anyone in the group spoke a language other than their native Farsi. Bishar raised hi hand.
“My uncle was from Pakistan and I lived with him and my cousins for several years. I speak their language of Urdu. I also write the language-which is very difficult as it is written from right to left.” The strong one replied; “Fine. If you should be asked, you are from Karachi. You were sent to this school by your teachers. How many of you speak English fluently?” He looked at the group and saw, to the person; they had all raised their hands. This was not so amazing as most all of the group was from and area close to the military base and English was taught as a main language and several of the American teenagers were known to attend the village schools in addition to their own on the base...”Any other?” the strong one asked. Haydar raised his hand.
“Yes? Mr. Engineer.” Remarked the strong one.
“My grandfather was from the north of our country and he spoke Dari. I continue to use it sometimes with my relatives who were also from the same area.”
“You have no relatives engineer. I have just caught you lying. I want you to think carefully before you answer any questions at this border station. Volunteer no information answer only their questions as briefly as possible.”
Having said that, they returned to their vans and again were under way.
The line at the border started about half a mile from the crossing point. Trucks loaded with goods, animals and freight were idling in the hot sun and dust of the area. It was uncomfortable and hot in the vans even with the air conditioning running at full speed. A truck had stalled right at the crossbar for the crossing and men were attempting to push it across the opening and over to the side of the road. It was loaded with large bags and several sheep and two goats. The truck was six vehicles in front of the group’s three vans and you could see the soldiers looking through the truck bed, pulling sacks off and moving the animals. Suddenly, from under one of the large bags, a man with an automatic rifle,-an AK47 jumped to the ground and ran about thirty feet from the truck inside the border and turned to fire. The following scene was enough to bring start reality to the young recruits watching in horror as the spectacle unraveled in front of them.
The man with the AK47 ran to a car that had just crossed the border and pulled the driver from the car and shot him without hesitating one moment. The body lay by the car bleeding as the man jumped inside and started to race down the road. The border patrol soldiers that had gone over to inspect the truck had taken cover when they saw the rifle and were not able to fire at him because of the multitude of people walking across the border. One of the soldiers raised a hand held radio to his mouth and was shouting orders as the others were firing at the fleeing sedan. The sedan was almost out of sight when a lone figure stepped out into the middle of the road in front of it. He had a weapon on his shoulder and all the young recruits saw when the man fired was a large ball of fire and parts of the white sedan flying in the air. The driver of the truck that the man had been in was screaming at the border patrol soldiers that he new nothing of the man hiding in the back of his truck. One soldier came up to the man who was in his late sixties and hit him with his rifle but. The driver collapsed and was then pulled into the small building by the crossing.
Haydar and Bishar were speechless and had observed the entire fracas from the front seat of the van. They were still looking at each other when the soldier came over to the van and after looking at the sign on the side of the three vans, ordered the drivers to pull off into an inspection area and wait.
The “students” were told to get out of the vans and come into the small building. They were told to bring whatever belongings they had with them along for inspection. Haydar was trembling as he laid his knapsack on the table for the inspector to look at. He was one of the first to go through the process. Inside the building it was cool and despite the heat and dirt outside, the place was relatively clean. A central office with a desk and two flags behind it was the main eye catcher. Adjacent to that office that obviously belonged to the station chief was a room with a long table. At the end of the room there was a sign that said EXIT over one door and AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL on the other.
The room with the table had a window at the end that opened into the other room. Haydar was told to leave his knapsack on the table and come to the other room.
The Iranian officer looked at Haydar and asked his age. Haydar answered with a number and nothing more.
“What is your major at this university?” Asked the officer.
“Engineering” Replied Haydar
“Mechanical or civil? Again asked the officer
“Civil engineering sir.”
“You will be working on sewers and working in crap that is infected with vile germs you realize? Change your major to aviation. It will be more interesting and rewarding young man.” As the officer was talking to him, Haydar noticed through the glass between the rooms, a man going through his knapsack looking closely at the contents. The man did not look Arabian or Persian. He stopped when he came to Haydar’s Quran and as he was looking inside, the officer talking to Haydar snapped his fingers in front of his face and said;” I am talking to you young man. Never mind what is going on in the next room “ As he spoke, he pulled the blinds closed over the window so Haydar could not see into the other room any longer. The officer told him to sit in the chair by the far wall and wait. He left the room.
Soon, a young woman came into the room and told Haydar to sit straight while she took his photograph. She took the photograph and then asked Haydar to stand and give her his hand. She inked his right hand and fingers and pressed them onto a piece of cardboard. As she handed Haydar a paper to clean his fingers with, she instructed him to exit through the opposite door and wait in the area with the rest of his group.
Only the recruits were in the room. The drivers and the strong one were absent
After a long time the door opened and the strong one and the drivers joined the group and all were told to stand in a line facing east.
The students were told to come forward as their name was called and then form a line on the other side of the room.
“Al Badawi” Yelled the officer.
Hesitantly, a young companion of Bishar’s walked forward and over to the officer.
The officer looked at Al Badawi and then handed him a card with his photograph on it. On the back was a copy of his fingerprints. This process continued until all were processed. The strong one protested in rapid Arabic to the head official but the official remained unmoved and directed the students to return to the vans. Once they were again on the vans and in their seats the official climbed on the vehicle steps and addressed them again.
“You have been issued a student identification card at this facility. You will present this card as identification at any time you are requested for identification while in this country. If you have reason to return to Iraq or cross any border of our country, you will be required to return this card to the border guards or at any airport when you exit this country. Do not lose this very important document. Have a nice trip.” The officer exited the van and motioned them to proceed across the border. The strong one was in a very excited condition as they left the area. He was talking in rapid Arabic to the driver and saying that this procedure was never imposed before at this crossing.
The paved road was easier to travel on and the group started making up for lost time at the crossing. Just after sundown the three vans pulled into a small village and drove to a large building similar to a warehouse but it had no truck docks. The vans entered the building and the doors closed.
Inside the building they were greeted by several young men with automatic weapons and pistols on their belts. Haydar noticed that they were not much older than he but they looked somewhat tired and nervous
The strong one came up to Bishar and told him to follow him while the group was shown to their new living quarters.
“I’ll rejoin you engineer as soon as I finish with the strong one.”Bishar used the new given name for his friend and left with the man.
The following morning the recruits were given an early meal and after prayer they broke into groups of five and started their training.
It was three days before the engineer saw Bishar. He came to the engineer’s quarters after evening prayer and sat with him as he related his last three days experiences.
“I have been given my Mujahideen name and it is Saladin. This name as you know from our history was the name of the famous commander during the crusades. He had a way of bringing men together and making warriors of the common man. They say I have that ability.”
“I am pleased to hear you have made such a connection with these people my friend. I am proud of you and will always think of you as Bishar, my trusted friend.” Said Haydar.
“I must now return to the teacher’s place where I am staying. I will be leaving tomorrow to return to our country to bring more believers into the brotherhood.”
“Leaving? You are going to leave the school here? I thought we would be together during this period in our instruction Bishar.” Haydar was almost crying. He was thinking how lonely it already had become living in such dark dismal surroundings.
“I will be back here often my friend. I will always look for you when I do.” He gave Haydar a strong embrace and left the quarters.
Haydar rolled over on his sleeping pad and began to have thoughts of his decision to enter into this adventure. He must get those ideas out of his mind. They were the workings of the evil one that he had already been instructed to be wary of. He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his shoulder and tried to fall asleep.

* Chapter 3

Jabal, Saudi Arabia, Command headquarters
September,