Unleashing the Beast

280 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

S UDDEN C HANGES W ITHIN 24 H OURS On September 10, several men were sitting in a bar in Tampa, Florida. All were of Middle Eastern descent. They were overheard telling each other, "Tomorrow America will get it. New York and Washington will have their day." Those near them assumed they had too much to drink and ignored their comments. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a young Muslim man had pressed a young Christian woman to marry him and she refused. Shortly before September 11, he called her to tell her he could not give an explanation, but was on his way to New Jersey and would have to leave the car in the parking lot of the church she attended. On September 11, he was missing and the car was in the parking lot. Weeks later, he returned without any explanation. Before sunrise on the morning of September 11, something strange was happening. A local pastor in a northeastern city observed something he had never seen before. He knew that Friday was the Muslim holy day, and the mosque near his home was always filled with people at that time. But why was there so much activity this early on a Tuesday morning? Cars were at the mosque, and a meeting was going on. The pastor had never seen this before. He felt something strange was up, but had no clue about what it could be. Apparently, those attending the mosque knew something was coming within a few hours. A man who attends a large Assemblies of God church in Florida was returning home from a business trip. He had a