Strike Force

Back when Buzhazi was chief of staff and nominal commander of the Pasdaran, Badi was the senior Pasdaran officer in charge of deploying Iran’s limited stockpile of reverse-engineered Russian nuclear weapons. Thanks to Buzhazi’s influence with the Supreme Defense Council, Badi convinced them to agree to deploy the weapons aboard a refitted Russian and Chinese nuclear-powered aircraft carrier called the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Badi was dead-set against such a move — the American naval superiority in the Middle East and Indian Ocean region was unquestioned — but Buzhazi’s plan was put in motion despite his strident objections.

The ultimate insult: as the senior officer in charge of all of Iran’s nuclear weapons, Badi was assigned as the second in command and chief tactical officer aboard the Khomeini, under Major Admiral Akbar Tufayli. The admiral was the fifth highest ranking Pasdaran officer and the highest ranking Pasdaran naval officer, and he never missed an opportunity to let everyone around him know it. He was an incompetent boob that had no idea what power he commanded. Tufayli was killed by the Americans as he tried to flee the carrier; in the meantime, the American air force decimated Iran’s air defenses.

The blow to Iran’s military and the mullahs’ plans to dominate the entire Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea region was severe, especially for the defeated and disgraced chief of staff Buzhazi, but for Muhammad Badi the episode was his ticket to the top. The Supreme Defense Council realized that everything Badi had been saying was true: it would take Tehran years, perhaps decades, to match American military power in the Middle East, so why waste the resources to try to do so? Instead, build small tactical nuclear weapons, place them in the hands of Pasdaran special operations forces around the world, and challenge the Americans in the one area they were not prepared to handle — guerrilla warfare.

That’s exactly what the Supreme Defense Council decided to do, and they placed the program in Muhammad Badi’s hands, along with a fast promotion and almost unlimited money and authority. While Buzhazi was sweating away in the Iranian hinterlands trying to teach young Iranian men and women to fight like Persian soldiers instead of common street thugs, Badi was the master of the Pasdaran…and the nuclear arsenal that was secretly being assembled.

“I just thought I’d relieve you of some human garbage, Muhammad,” Buzhazi said. “You’re not angry, are you?”

“If you feel the need to show off your big bad commando skills in front of my men and these other prisoners, Hesarak, be my guest,” Badi said. “Are you quite through now?” He turned to the master sergeant. “Sergeant, what in hell are these prisoners doing out of their cells?”

“I…er, the general, he ordered them brought here, sir.”

“The general, eh? General Buzhazi is a prisoner here, Sergeant — perhaps one small step up from that dead officer lying there, but only just.”

“But I…Sir, I received no orders regarding the general except that he be held here. I received no list of charges, no sentencing order, no…”

“Are you this stupid every day, Sergeant, or is today something special?” Badi asked. “Buzhazi is an enemy of the republic and is considered a traitor and possibly a spy, assisting terrorists to enter the country and attack military bases. He deserves to be hung naked by his thumbs for the rest of the year, but that decision will be left to the Supreme Defense Council. Until then, he will be placed in isolation and monitored twenty-four-seven. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Any more words that the general utters in your’s or your men’s presence is to be recorded and transmitted to me immediately, to be collected and used against him at his court-martial — if he’s still alive when it commences. Clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now get that piece of diseased meat out of here, put those other prisoners back in their cages, then place yourself on report. I will escort the general to his cell — after we have a little chat. Get moving.” The master sergeant barked orders, restraints were placed on General Buzhazi, and Badi took him by the arm and led him out of the briefing room. As they walked down the corridor, Badi remarked, “I see the old Buzhazi charm is still working. Don’t tell me — it was your superior powers of persuasion that prompted one of the most senior soldiers at Doshan Tappeh to not only let you out of your cell but to let three others out as well.”

“It’s called ‘leadership’—treating a soldier like a fellow warrior instead of an idiot,” Buzhazi said. “You should try it some time.”

“Actually, I’m sure it was our fearless leader Yassini’s fault for not leaving specific instructions regarding your arrest and detention,” Badi conjectured.

“Another example of poor leadership: blaming others for your own failures,” Buzhazi said. “Fattah and Tahmasbi were just following orders.”

“Who?”