Clancy, Tom - Op Center 04 - Acts Of War

by Acts Of War [lit]

  But while death was an understood risk, it was brutal on the survivors. Several Strikers had suffered serious reactive depression due to the death of Commander Squires. For several weeks they had been unable to perform even simple duties. Not only had the survivors shared the lives and dreams of their dead coworkers, they also felt that they'd failed the victims in some way. Was the intelligence as reliable as it should have been? Were our backup plans and exit strategy sufficiently well thought out? Did we take reasonable precautions? Merciless, unforgiving guilt was also the price of doing business.

  Hood reached the White House at exactly 12:55, though it took him a few minutes to park and get through the security check. Upon finally being admitted, he was met by the slender, gray-haired Stephanie Klaw. Side by side, they walked briskly down the corridor.

  "They've just started the meeting," Stephanie said, her voice as soft as the green carpet underfoot. "I gather, Mr. Hood, that you're still motoring around Washington by yourself?"

  "I am."

  "You really ought to get a driver," she said. "I assure you, the General Accounting Office will not think that you're taking advantage of your position."

  "You know I don't believe in them, Mrs. Klaw."

  "I am very much aware of that," she said. "And part of me thinks that's charming. But you know, Mr. Hood, those drivers know the traffic patterns and how to maneuver through them. They also have these really loud sirens to help them get around. Besides, using drivers helps keep the unemployment statistics down. And we like it here when those figures look good."

  Hood looked at her. The handsome, wrinkled face was deadpan. He could tell that Mrs. Klaw wasn't making fun of him, but of everyone else who took government limousines.

  "How would you like to become my driver?" he asked.

  "No, thank you," she replied. "I'm Type A when I get behind a wheel. I'd abuse the siren."

  Paul smiled slightly. "Mrs. Kiaw, you've been the one bright spot in my morning. Thanks."

  "You're welcome," she said. "Your lack of pretension is always a bright spot in mine."

  They stopped at an elevator. Mrs. Klaw wore a card on a chain around her neck. It had a magnetic stripe on the back and a photo ID on the front. She inserted it into a slot to the left of the door. The door opened and Hood stepped in. Mrs. Klaw leaned in and pressed a red button. The button read her thumbprint and turned green. She kept her finger on the button.

  "Please don't make the President cross," she said.

  "I'll try not to."

  "And do your best to keep the others from fighting with Mr. Burkow," she added. "He's in a mood over all of this and you know how that affects the President." She leaned closer to Hood. "He's got to defend his man."

  "I'm all for loyalty," Hood said noncommittally as she lifted her thumb and the door shut. The ultra-hawkish National Security Advisor was not an easy man with whom to keep the peace.

  The only noise in the wood-paneled elevator was the soft whir of the ceiling ventilator. Hood turned his face up to the cool air. After a quick ride he reached the White House sublevel. This was the technological heart of the White House where conferences were held and grounds security was maintained. The door opened on a small office. An armed Marine was waiting for him. Hood presented his ID to the guard. After examining it, the Marine thanked him and stepped aside. Hood walked over to the room's only other occupant, the President's Executive Secretary. She was seated at a small desk outside the Situation Room. She E-mailed the President that Hood had arrived, and he was told to go right in.

  The brightly lighted Situation Room consisted of a long mahogany table in the center with comfortable leather-cushioned chairs around it. There was a new STU-5 secure phone, a pitcher of water, and a computer monitor at each station, with slide-out keyboards underneath. On the walls were detailed video maps showing the location of U.S. and foreign troops, as well as flags indicating trouble spots. Red flags marked present armed conflict, while green flags marked latent danger spots. Hood noticed that there was already a red flag on the Turkey-Syria border. Tucked in the far corner of the room was a table with two male secretaries. One took minutes on a Powerbook. The other sat by a computer and was responsible for bringing up any maps or data which might be required.

  The heavy, six-paneled door clicked shut by itself. Above the highly polished table, two gold ceiling fans with brown blades turned slowly. Hood gave a general nod to everyone around the table as he arrived, saving a fast smile for his friend Secretary of State Av Lincoln. Lincoln winked back. Then Hood nodded directly at President Michael Lawrence.

  "Good afternoon, sir," Hood said.

  "Afternoon, Paul," the tall former Minnesota Governor said. "Av was just bringing us up to date."

  The President was clearly in a high-energy state. During his three years in office, the President had not enjoyed any headline-making foreign policy successes. Though that would not be enough to lose him the next election, he was a born competitor who was frustrated at not having found the right combination of military strength, economic muscle, and charisma to dominate international affairs.

  "Before you continue, Av," the President said, holding up a hand, "Paul---what's the latest on General Rodgers?"

  "There's been no change in the situation," Hood said as he made his way to the empty leather chair in the middle of the table. "The Regional Op-Center is headed deeper into Turkey, to the spot from which General Rodgers telephoned." He glanced at his watch. "They should be arriving within the half hour."

  "Will the ROC mount a rescue attempt?" asked National Security Advisor Burkow.

  Hood sat down. "We're empowered to evacuate our personnel from unstable situations," he said carefully. "However, we have no idea whether that's feasible at this point."

  "Anything's feasible if you want to pay the price," Burkow remarked. "Your people are authorized to use deadly force to rescue hostages. We've got thirty-seven hundred troops at the Incirlik Air-Base, which is right around the corner."

  "There are two Strikers onboard," Hood replied. "But as I said, I have no idea what's feasible at this point."

  "I want to be notified personally of any developments," the President said, "wherever you are."

  "Of course, sir," Hood said. He wondered what the President meant by that last comment.

  "Av," the President went on, "would you please continue your briefing?"

  "Yes, sir," said Secretary of State Av Lincoln.

  The powerfully built former major league baseball star looked at his notepad. He had made a successful transition into politics, and had been one of the earliest supporters of the candidacy of Michael Lawrence. He was one of the few insiders Paul Hood trusted completely.

  "Paul," said Lincoln, "I was just telling the others about the Turkish mobilization. My office has been in constant contact with Ambassador Robert Macaluso at our embassy in Ankara, as well as with the U.S. Consulates General in Istanbul and Izmir and the consulate in Adana. We've also been talking with Ambassador Kande at the Turkish Chancery in Washington. All of them have confirmed the following information.

  "At 12:30 p.m. our time, Turkey mobilized over a half-million men in their Land Forces and Air Force and put one hundred thousand men on high alert in the Naval Forces, which includes the Naval Air and Naval Infantry. That's nearly all of their total military power."

  "Including reserves?" the President asked.

  "No, sir," said Defense Secretary Colon. "They can dig up another twenty thousand troops if they have to, then dip into the nineteen-to-forty-nine-year-old work force for another fifty thousand trainees if necessary."

  "We've been told that the land and air forces are going to take up positions down the Euphrates. and along the Syrian border," Lincoln went on. "The sea forces are being concentrated on the Aegean and the Mediterranean. We've been assured by Ankara that the naval troops in the Mediterranean will go no further south than the southern tip of the Gulf of Alexandretta."

  Hood looked at the map on
his computer screen. The gulf ended about twenty-five miles north of Syria.

  "The Turkish forces in the Aegean are to make sure the Greeks stay out of this," Lincoln said. "We haven't heard anything definitive yet from Damascus, though the President, his three Vice Presidents, and the Council of Ministers are meeting right now. Ambassador Moualem at the chancery here in Washington says there will be an appropriate response from Syria."

  "Meaning?" asked the President.

  "Some kind of mobilization," said General Ken Vanzandt, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Syria's got its highest concentration of soldiers in bases along the Orontes in the west, along the Euphrates in central Syria, and in the east near the Iraqi and Turkish borders. The Syrian President will probably send half of those troops north, maybe one hundred thousand troops."

  "How far north will they go?" the. President asked.

  "All the way," said Vanzandt. "To within slingshot distance of Turkey. Since losing the Golan Heights to Israel in 1967, the Syrians have been pretty aggressive about defending their territory."

  "'It's interesting that Turkey mobilized nearly six hundred thousand men," said Secretary of Defense Ernie Colon. "That's almost three times the total manpower available to the Syrian Army, the Syrian Navy, the Syrian Air Force, and the Syrian Air Defense Forces combined. Turkey's obviously saying, 'We'll take you on one-to-one. And if any other nations join in, we've got something left over for them too.' "

  "That sounds good on the surface," said General Vanzandt. "But the Turks are facing a big problem. They have to fight this kind of terrorism, that's a given. But even if the Syrian military weren't a factor, a Turkish attack against the Kurds is a dangerous proposition. We know that the Kurds have been trying to smooth out their differences. Whether they caused the dam attack or not, it's certain to encourage and solidify the different Kurdish elements. A counterattack by Turkey will inspire even greater unity. There are fourteen to fifteen million Kurds among Turkey's fifty-nine million people, and they're ready to blow."

  "Who can blame them?" asked Lincoln. "They've been shot at, gassed in their homes, and executed without trials."

  "Hold it right there, Av," said Burkow. "Many of those Kurds are terrorists."

  "And many are not," Lincoln 'replied.

  Burkow ignored him. "Larry, what was that business in the Syrian Navy last month?"

  CIA director Larry Rachlin folded his hands on the table. "The Syrians did an A-one job keeping this out of the press," he said, "but a Kurdish mole assassinated a general and two aides. When the mole was captured, another Kurdish mole took the general's wife and two daughters hostage and demanded his release. Instead, they sent him his colleague's head. Literally. There was a rescue attempt. By the time it was finished, the general's wife, daughters, and the second Kurd were dead along with two Syrian rescuers."

  "If it's the Turks who are terrorizing the Kurds," said the President, "why did this mole turn on the Syrians?"

  "Because," said Rachlin, "the Syrian President has come to the conclusion, correctly, that his armed forces are full of Kurdish moles. Some of them in very high places. He's vowed to flush them all out."

  Lincoln sat back with disgust. "Steve, Larry, what's the point of all this?"

  "The point is that we can't start bleeding all over for the Kurds," Burkow said. "We've been good to them in the past. But they're becoming increasingly militant, they're ruthless, and they've got God-knows-how-many moles in the Turkish military as well. If we get mixed up in this those Turkish moles may start turning on NATO assets."

  "Actually, things could be a whole lot worse than that," Vanzandt said. "The Kurds have a lot of sympathizers among the Islamic fundamentalist parties in Turkey. Individually or together, those Kurds and their sympathizers could very well take advantage of the confusion of war to try and throw out the secular rulers in both governments."

  "Out of chaos comes more chaos," Lincoln said.

  "You got it," said Vanzandt. "Out with flawed democracy, in with religious oppression."

  "Out with the U.S.," Defense Secretary Colon said.

  "Out isn't the word for it," CIA Director Rachlin added. "Steve's right on the money. They'll start hunting us down not only in Turkey but in Greece. Remember all those Afghan freedom fighters we helped to arm and train to fight the Soviets? A lot of those people have thrown in with the Islamic fundamentalists. Many of them are being directed by Sheik Safar al-Awdah, a Syrian who is one of the most radical clerics in the region."

  "God, I'd like to see someone drop-kick that son of a bitch," Steve Burkow said. "His radio speeches have sent a lot of people on one-way bus trips into Israel with bombs tied to their legs."

  "His following in Turkey and Saudi Arabia in particular are very strong," Rachlin went on, "and it's gotten stronger in Turkey since Islamic Party Leader Necmettin Erbakan became Prime Minister of Turkey in the summer of 1996. Ironically, not all of the radicalism has to do with religion. Some of it has to do with the economy. In the 1980s, when Turkey went from being a relatively closed market to being a global one, only a handful of people got rich. The rest stayed poor or got poorer. Those kinds of people are easy converts to anything new."

  "The fundamentalists and the big urban underclass are natural allies," said Av Lincoln. "Both are minorities and both want things the wealthy, secular leaders have."

  "Larry," the President said, "you mentioned Saudi Arabia. What will the rest of the region do if things escalate between Turkey and Syria?"

  "Israel is the big question," said Rachlin. "They take their military cooperation agreement with Turkey very, very seriously. Israel's been flying training missions out of Akinci Air Base west of Ankara for two years now. They've also been slowly upgrading Turkey's 164 Phantom F-4s to the more sophisticated Phantom 2000s."

  "Mind you," Colon pointed out, "Israel didn't just do that out of the goodness of their hearts. They were paid six hundred million dollars to do that."

  "That's right," Rachlin agreed. "But in the event of war, Israel will still continue to provide spare parts, possibly ammunition, and certainly intelligence to Turkey. It's the same kind of arrangement Israel signed with Jordan back in 1994. There will probably be no direct military intervention unless Israel is attacked. However, if Israel permits Turkey to fly from its territory for a two-sided slam at Syria, you can be pretty sure that Damascus will attack Israel."

  "For the record," said Vanzandt, "that 'bracketing the enemy' idea works both ways. Syria and Greece have been talking about forging a military relationship so that either of them could hit Turkey from two directions."

  "Talk about a marriage made in Hell," said Lincoln. "Greece and Syria have virtually no other common ground."

  "Which should tell you how much they both hate Turkey," Burkow pointed out.

  "What about the other nations in the region?" asked the President.

  "Iran will certainly intensify efforts to promote their puppet parties in Ankara," Colon said, "calling for general strikes and marches, but they'll stay out of this militarily. They don't need to become involved."

  "Unless Armenia gets pulled in," Lincoln said.

  "Right," said Colon, "which we'll get to in a second. Iraq will almost certainly use the excuse of troop movements to attack Kurds operating on their border with Syria. And once Iraq is mobilized, there's always the possibility that they'll do something to provoke Kuwait or Saudi Arabia or even their old enemy Iran. But as Av said, the big question we have is about Armenia."

  The Secretary of State nodded. "Armenia is almost entirely Armenian Orthodox. If the government there fears that Turkey is going to go Islamic, they may have no choice but to jump into any conflict to protect their Own border. If that happens, Azerbaijan, which is mostly Muslim, will almost certainly use that as an excuse to try and reclaim the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which they lost to Armenia in skirmishes in 1994."

  "And which Turkey has publicly stated belongs to Azerbaijan," Colon said. "That creates tension within
Turkey for those who support their religious brethren in Armenia. On top of everything else, we could have civil war in Turkey over events in two neighboring countries."

  "This might be a good time to push the expansion of NATO," Lincoln pointed out. "Bring Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the fold to keep them stabilized. Use them as a breakwater."

  "We'll never be able to make that happen in time," Burkow said.

  Lincoln smiled. "Then it's best to start right away."

  The President shook his head. "Av, I don't want us distracted by that now. Those countries will side with us and we'll support them. My concern is stopping this situation before it gets that far."

  "Fine," Lincoln said, raising his hands slightly. "Just a precaution."

  Hood looked at the new map which the Situation Room secretary had just put up on the screens. Armenia was situated with Turkey on its western border and Azerbaijan to the east. The Nagorno Karabakh region in Azerbaijan was claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.