Could terrorists conduct an Oct. 7 Hamas-type attack in the United States? How much carnage could they inflict over a three-day period on a population with significant vulnerabilities and no geographical borders? Author Kurt Schlichter tells us in his terrifying new novel “The Attack.”
“The Attack,” written and published in just three months, belongs on the bookshelf with such classics as George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World,” with one important caveat: Mr. Schlichter’s book describes America decisively fighting back against totalitarianism and correcting course before all is lost.
A fast-paced storyline ripped from today’s headlines, the story is set five years after the most devastating attack on American soil from Aug. 27 to 29, terrorists attack America over this three-day period to demonstrate the government’s impotence in protecting the public.
Mr. Schlichter consulted knowledgeable military and counterterrorism experts in researching his book and believes the storyline entirely plausible, though he admits to obscuring and excluding some facts so as not to serve as a blueprint for real potential terrorists.
Aug. 27 (The First Day)
The brilliance of the terrorism plot Mr. Schlichter describes in “The Attack“ is its simplicity and elimination of the need for a command and control structure. Targets are identified well ahead of the attack; the cells are given everything they need in advance and the terrorists recruited expect to die.
On the first day, assigned cells begin attacks in populated public spaces like malls, schools, airports, and business parks—anywhere people are gathered in large numbers and clusters. The killings are indiscriminate: men, women, children, the elderly, the disabled, and even pets. The only goal is to kill as many targets as quickly and ruthlessly as possible. In a preemptive move, the terrorists also attack police stations to neutralize law enforcement responding to multiple shootings in the targeted cities.
Just as Hamas did when attacking Israel last October, the terrorists use GoPro cameras to film their brutality and upload it to the internet to intimidate and frighten others.
“You Americans have no idea about what a terrible blow to your reputation you suffered retreating from Afghanistan in disgrace as you did,” a former Israeli intelligence member named David tells the narrator. “The jihadi enemy looked at that and they believed that if they could inflict one great blow, America would retract and retreat.”
Aug. 28 (The Second Day)
For the terrorists, the second day of the attack is like shooting fish in a barrel with millions at home across America. When law enforcement and the National Guards are protecting the public spaces attacked the day before, terrorists surge into defenseless residential neighborhoods with guns blazing, filming countless atrocities on their GoPros while slaughtering thousands. It is a preplanned game of Whac-a-Mole where the terrorists strike where the police and military aren’t.Citizens in some areas like Arizona and Texas fight back with their Second Amendment right, but the majority of households never purchased guns or publicly supported gun control and gun-free zones. Households having made those choices have little means of protecting themselves from terrorists brandishing AK-47s, grenades, and rocket launchers.
A woman from Evanston, Illinois is one such person. “I live in a sheltered world, safe and totally illusory. Violence and hate was out there, far away. I had never been in a physical confrontation in my life—none of the other moms that I hung out with, reading Ibram Kendi for our book club or whatever, had ever been in a fight either.”
Aug. 29 (The Third Day)
On the final day of the attack, the terrorists again outmaneuver those charged with protecting the homeland by attacking new soft targets comprising the nation’s infrastructure: the power grid, oil refineries, trucking firms, and the internet. These attacks paralyze the nation, requiring the implementation of martial law, gas and food rationing and the rebuilding of the electrical grid over a period of weeks and months.The Aftermath
Mr. Schlichter counters his gloomy scenario with America’s forceful and unprecedented response. All those who participated in the attack are dealt with quickly and efficiently, including the country responsible for organizing and training the terrorists involved. Unsurprisingly, not all those participating in the mass murder of Americans are foreigners. Many college students, Black Lives Matter supporters and Antifa members joined in the anti-American onslaught, and they, too, are dealt with expeditiously by military tribunals and American Reaper Teams.“The Attack” is an indispensable read that evokes a range of emotions with the personal stories told. We can only hope it doesn’t portend future headlines in America’s news coverage.
