Suspend disbelief for a few minutes, Confessors.
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It's three, probably more like four years into the future.
The United States -- indeed, the world -- is in grave danger.
The US is beset by enemies on all sides. Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have fallen to radical Islamists. They are on the verge of declaring war against Israel, which would trigger the Israeli-US joint defense pact and draw us into a new world war.
al-Qaeda has enormous influence on the most radical elements in the Islamist governments in the Persian Gulf. It has reached the point where Osama bin Laden has assumed operatinoal control of the overall conduct of anti-Western political operations. The decision for war, or no war, is in his hands.
However, a secret US "black operations" unit within the CIA has penetrated one of the Bedouin tribes close to the al-Qaeda leadership. The undercover operatives know bin Laden's location. They have operational control of a Navy SEAL team that is prepared to breach al-Qaeda headquarters, at which time the black ops team will follow them in to provide critical armed tactical support. Their aim: to extract bin Laden to a secure Allied location. At a crucial moment, the US team will call in air support and surgical naval bombardment. If the operation is successful, it will achieve something no US unit has been able to accomplish since September 11, 2001, and, more important, end the threat of imminent war.
The security of the free world depends on the success of the US black ops penetration and extraction.
The black ops team is ready to pull the trigger. They've been preparing this for months.
It's T minus 30 seconds.
The tension is a physical thing, you can feel it on your skin.
So why do I not know whether to be amused, or terrified, or thriilled?
Because the US black ops team is made up entirely of formerly unemployed P1's who have answered those CIA ads now running on The Ticket.
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OK, I've had my fun.
Here's what I really think:
P1's, I can think of nothing more terrific than answering those ads and entering into the service -- probably pretty dangerous service -- to the United States of America. Matters not whether you are currently between opportunities or already have a job. I have to admit -- those ads sound pretty cool. I have never served my country (so far) and it's one of the chief regrets of my life to date. I hope some of you hear something in those ads that strikes a spark and that you check it out. Let us know how it works out -- only if it's not classified, of course. And be careful; after all, my little story aside, the world is a dangerous place.
