by Reed Sprague
“I state clearly, and for the record, that at this time the United States has no idea who is responsible for the bombing of Crimpton, and that we have no intention of an ill–conceived retaliation for the bombing. I have instructed our nation’s intelligence organizations to proceed immediately with an investigation and to determine precisely who was responsible for the attack.
“On behalf of the United States government and the American people I am using this speech to inform the world that, while we have every intention of conducting a responsible, fair and careful investigation, our investigation will be followed immediately by responsible and appropriate retaliation. We intend to destroy the person or persons responsible for the bombing of Crimpton. In fact, I state emphatically that we will destroy those who are responsible for this inconceivable act of mass slaughter.
“During our investigation we will cross any border, investigate any person, and interrogate using any method we choose. We expect and, in fact, we demand, full cooperation from all governments. Access that is denied to our investigators will be taken by force. No person or government will be permitted to interfere with our investigation.
“Our retaliation will be targeted, it will be accurate, it will be swift and it will be jaw–dropping. The United States will not tolerate this bombing. All those responsible will be killed without consideration for lessor degrees of retaliatory punishment.
“To those of you who would jump to conclusions at either extreme of the scope of possibilities, I insist on your patience. Some might say that it is obvious that radical extremist Islamic terrorists are responsible for this act of sadistic murder. Others might make the case that home grown terrorists who have nothing to do with Islam are to blame. Still others will insist that a single independent madman did this deed.
“With all due respect to those who feel that they have reason to believe in any of these or any other extremes, I must and I do insist on clear thinking, logical analysis and thorough and fair investigation in order to find those responsible. Please understand this, though: Regardless of who it is that is responsible for the bombing of Crimpton, our response will be one of total destruction of our enemy, irrespective of which extreme he calls home.
“I am asking all citizens of our nation to contact the USFIA with any information you might be able to provide about this attack. We will explore every lead. No stone will be left unturned. No lead will be ignored. By Executive Order I am expanding the power of Sydney Albert, the head of the USFIA, to enable him to solve this mystery as soon as possible so that we can destroy those who are responsible.
“To those who demand immediate retaliation I say, simply: Be patient. Your vengeance will be satisfied. You can trust me when I say to you that we will strike, and that we will strike the right people. It’s over for those who are responsible for this reign of terror.
“I will give periodic updates as to the status of the investigation; however, I will not give specifics. And I now warn the people of America and entire world that the U.S. has no intention of reporting exactly when and how we will retaliate. I, alone, will give the order to retaliate, and I, alone, will determine the timing of our retaliation.
“Thank you for listening. Good night. May God bless you all.”
President Barnes’ public assurances for a thorough, careful, fair and accurate investigation were complete nonsense. He was furious over the bombing of Crimpton, and he was determined only to exact revenge for it without any regard for the rules of careful investigation. His blind rage set the tone for his advisors. The president had convinced himself that Afghan or Pakistani terrorists, either Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or both, were to blame. He had no proof to back up his beliefs, but he had settled on the general identity of his enemy, and he would not be dissuaded. His rage had supplanted logic and reason early on. The bombing of Crimpton happened on his watch, and he was determined that swift retaliation would also happen on his watch. Any evidence, however scant, that showed that one of the groups he suspected was involved would suffice.
“Get me the person or persons responsible for this. I will meet with my military advisors this evening. We will begin to plan our retaliation then,” President Barnes said to his cabinet during a hastily called cabinet meeting held immediately after his speech. “All outward appearances are to reflect careful consideration and cautious investigative work, nothing less. But when we’re around this table we will openly discuss what it is we plan to do to respond to this attack. All possibilities are on the table until I take them off.”
Within an hour of President Barnes’ command to Albert to begin the investigation into the Crimpton bombing, a turf war exploded between the U.S. intelligence agencies. The FBI claimed full rights to head up the investigation. The CIA and even the Army Intelligence Service also claimed to be in charge. Albert’s initial organizational meetings were disastrous.
The crisis exposed the fact that the USFIA was really no different than the organization it replaced. Albert was a good man and a strong leader, but he and the ruling three above him should have long ago dismantled the infrastructure of the competing agencies, retired all the senior agents, and melded the remaining components into a national intelligence service that could be focused, efficient and effective.
Albert was instead faced with scattered, incapable and, some would even say, useless organizations whose agents spent their days protecting turf instead of protecting the U.S. citizens. They were investigating each other for petty reasons rather than investigating the Crimpton bombing for national security reasons. This atmosphere allowed Peterson’s cronies to establish a strong influence early on that few were aware of until it was too late.
FBI special agent Frederic Hernandez was still obsessed with discrediting the USFIA, and he had more reason than ever to hurt them. He was completely dedicated to Peterson now, and Peterson had promised that he would move Hernandez from obscurity — buried under a dark cloud of suspicion — to the hero’s chair, basking in the fresh sunshine of his complete exoneration and heroism.
Peterson instructed Hernandez to offer a plan that would move the retaliation for the Crimpton bombing into motion in short order and at the same time irreversibly tarnish the reputation of the USFIA and its most coveted agent, Golden Boy. Hernandez would convince the FBI brass that he knew who the responsible terrorists were, that the FBI could prove it, and that the USFIA had ignored it. He went to his boss, Andrew Downing, to put things in motion.
“USFIA has screwed up again,” Hernandez said, as he and Downing began their meeting.
“What’s going on?” Downing replied.
“You’re not going to believe this, sir.”
“Try me.”
“Two Russian nuclear suitcase bombs were discovered to have been missing, were located by the USFIA, and then stored by them in a ‘top secret location,’ a nuclear storage chamber in Pakistan.”
“Okay, tell me something we all don’t know already.”
“They’re missing again. Both bombs are missing.”
“What are you talking about? You had better know exactly what you’re talking about, Hernandez.”
“Believe me, I know.”
“Are you absolutely certain?”
“Yes.”
“Who stole them?”
“Pakistani terrorists.”
“Al Qaeda?”
“No. No. Not them. The responsible group is known as the Pakistani Resistance Force. They’re entrenched in Pakistan. They’re highly effective, smart and capable, and influential. They knew exactly what they were doing. They gambled that the U.S. would have little if any credibility to retaliate and they figured that Islamic extremists would be blamed by default or that Muslims or even radical Christians or Jews would be identified and targeted. In other words, they believed that scapegoats would be held accountable rather than the real culprits. They figured that there would be the typical brutal and knee–jerk retaliation by the U.S.”
“Prove it.”
&nb
sp; “Okay. I will.”
Hernandez rose from his chair and called the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan into the meeting. Namito Yamamoto, a longtime American of Japanese birth who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s, entered the room and sat comfortably in the vacant guest chair. Yamamoto had been the unlikely U.S. ambassador to Pakistan for ten years. He had done a great job as ambassador, and he was trusted because his record of service was impeccable. He had served the U.S. Army Intelligence Service during the 1991 Gulf War, and his record of diplomatic achievements was extensive and well known. Yamamoto’s father and grandfather both served in the Japanese Army during World War II.
“I am here to tell you all I know about the bombing of Crimpton. I am certain that I know how it was pulled off, maybe not the details, but certainly the main events. I know who got the bomb and I know how they got it,” Yamamoto said calmly.
Hernandez spoke up, “At the end of this meeting you will have confirmation of the same story from two independent credible sources: an agent of the FBI and a U.S. ambassador. We have others who can confirm as well. Four independent confirmations mean that we will have to go to the president with it all.”
“My underground contact in Pakistan told me of the bombs that were stolen from the storage chamber in Pakistan. You can confirm with him. Additionally, you will have our other person. That’ll be a total of four sources,” Yamamoto explained.
Downing never did follow up on the details of Yamamoto’s “underground contact.”
Yamamoto proceeded with his explanation. “Here’s how it went down. After the bombs were taken, they were brought to a scientist in Pakistan by the name of Alari al Istaad. He’s the key guy. For a fee of four hundred fifty thousand U.S. dollars, al Istaad armed the bombs. You need to know that they were both armed. Only one was used in Crimpton, which means that the other is out there somewhere, ready to go.
“How did the bomb get into the U.S.? How could it possibly be that it was smuggled in? Across the border?” Downing realized how stupid these questions were in less time than it took the words to leave his lips.
Downing and Yamamoto awkwardly spoke at the same time. “Those are just not very smar—” Yamamoto began. Downing spoke over him, “Those are not very smart questions, are they?”
“With all due respect, Mr. Downing, no, they are not very smart questions. Our borders are a joke. Any determined eight–year–old could smuggle a bomb into our country,” Yamamoto said.
“Okay, go ahead,” Downing said.
Yamamoto and Hernandez both were relieved that that detail of their story was no longer needed.
“I have no idea of the name of the terrorist who actually transported the bomb to Crimpton, but he took the bomb there, set it to explode — highly likely that it was on a timer — and drove out of town. It was that simple.”
“What do the two of you recommend?”
Hernandez spoke to Downing, but looked at Yamamoto while he was talking. “Torture al Istaad. He’ll talk. He’ll tell you that he armed the bombs and he’ll tell you why he did it. He’s a scientist, not a terrorist or military person. He won’t withstand the torture. He’ll sing loud and long. President Barnes can then take it from there.”
“Okay, Hernandez; how is it that the USFIA was negligent in all this?” Downing asked.
“Golden Boy knew about the bombs. He and his friends at USFIA believed that they could save the world. They’re the ones who brought the bombs to Pakistan for safe keeping. Before long, though, a few punks stole the bombs out from under their noses. Listen, it’s this simple: They needed a P.R. victory. They needed to brag to the world that they were responsible for locating the lost bombs. Rather than turn their achievement into a victory, the idiots allowed the bombs to be stolen, this time by terrorists. Rather than implement sound procedures that would keep the bombs safe, they messed it up completely. They botched it, plain and simple, and they botched it in every way there is to botch it. They’re responsible for the destruction from the Crimpton bombing. Their negligence caused Crimpton.
“They even knew about al Istaad. They did nothing. They set a few agents outside his office well after the bombs were armed by him and long after they were missing. It was like a made for television comedy movie on how to turn a serious intelligence investigation into a clown act. It was a disaster. They’re probably erasing the entire thing from their history as we speak. It’ll all come out, though. You can’t tell them what we just talked about. Our national security is at stake. You have to make a move unilaterally, completely independent from USFIA.”
“We’re under them in the chain of command. I have to work through them,” Downing said, but with a tone in his voice, and facial movements — especially his uneasy eyes — that offered little in the way of conviction, and that also asked for reasons from Hernandez and Yamamoto to violate the chain of command.
“National security takes precedence over organizational charts,” Hernandez said.
Downing quickly relented, and agreed to move against the Pakistani scientist without notifying the USFIA.
U.S. special forces arrived at al Istaad’s home in Pakistan twenty–one hours after the nuclear bomb explosion in Crimpton. Al Istaad was lifted from his bed and taken directly to a secret location, a mobile interrogation unit owned and operated by the CIA.
“Don’t ask him anything until you begin the torture. We have no time to waste, and I don’t want one answer given from casual questioning and another, conflicting answer, while torture is administered. We have to get accurate information on the first try. We don’t have time for long–term torture that includes sleep depravation or anything that takes more than a few minutes. Use your imagination, but get him to talk, and get him to talk now. The president has made it clear that he wants information as soon as possible so we can begin the retaliation strike,” Army Intelligence interrogation specialist, Lieutenant Brian Davenport, who was in charge of the interrogation, said to the three other interrogation “agents” after al Istaad was brought to them.
All players in the game had a serious problem on their hands, but only a select few knew it. Al Istaad knew nothing about the arming of the bombs in question or about any other bombs. He had armed nothing. He was a scapegoat. Hernandez and Yamamoto had fabricated their story under direct orders from Peterson. They were both secretly employed by Peterson. Their entire story was rubbish.
The interrogation proceeded.
“Did you arm two nuclear bombs for your terrorist friends?” Lieutenant Davenport demanded to know, using al Istaad’s preferred native language, Urdu, as the other three agents administered torture to al Istaad.
“Yes. Yes, I did. Stop! Stop! No more. No more,” al Istaad pleaded.
“Were these terrorists members of the Pakistani Resistance Force?” Davenport demanded, as the level of torture was increased.
“Yes. Yes. The Pakistani Resistance Force. Yes. That’s the group. That’s the group. Stop now. Stop now. I have a wife. I have children. Please, please,” al Istaad begged, in complete agony.
“Take him out of here. Get him to the detention center. Hold him there,” Davenport ordered.
The torture ended a few short moments after it began. The radiation caused irreversible damage. Al Istaad would not survive to see his children grow up. He would now be tossed aside. He was never seen again after his short stay at the detention center.
Davenport phoned Downing on a secure phone line to let him know of the information provided by al Istaad.
“He broke. He told us that he did it, that he armed the bombs. He also said that he did it for the Pakistani Resistance Force. I have no doubts about this one. This is for real,” Davenport reported.
“Thanks. But you’re sure, right? Did he admit to it himself or did you lead him on?” Downing asked.
“Full admission. It took some doing, but it’s solid. No doubt about it.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Yes, sir. It’s a grand slam.”
Downing, Hernandez and Yamamoto went to the White House to meet with the president, vice president and chief military advisors. Downing would report only what he had discovered and not mention a word about his decision to go around the USFIA unless he was asked about it.
Hernandez and Yamamoto were not to speak unless the president asked them a direct question. Even then they were to respond only if the president made it clear that he wanted a response from them. Otherwise, Downing would answer all questions.
“Mr. President, we have more than enough to prove that the Pakistani Resistance Force was behind the bombing of Crimpton. Additionally, we know that they have another armed bomb exactly like the one they used on Crimpton,” Downing reported to President Barnes. “The whereabouts of that second bomb are unknown. USFIA is not going to admit that they don’t know where it is. We have got to move on this, and we have got to move now.
“Where’s Albert?” the president asked abruptly.
“USFIA can’t be involved,” Downing replied curtly.
“I’ll decide who’s to be involved and who’s out, not you, Mr. Downing. Now, I ask you again. Where’s Albert?”
“USFIA blew it,” Downing said. “They’re obsessed with covering up their mistakes. They were responsible for the bombs. The bombs were under their protection. They botched everything. They can’t get close to this thing. We have to sort out everything — find out all the facts first — before we can even consider bringing them back on board.”
“Look, I don’t have time for your petty squabbles. I was sickened long ago by the fighting among the intelligence agencies. Albert should have straightened this out years ago. I am not going to waste your time or mine having you walk me through exactly how it is you know all this, Mr. Downing. I simply want you — the deputy chief of the FBI, and the acting director — to look me in the eyes and tell me again who it is that was responsible for the Crimpton bombing. I can tell if a man is convinced of what he says by looking into his eyes as he says it.”