by Dan Donovan
“Other side of the country is looking to break away, Xinjiang Province. Moslem population. Wants connection to their brethren in central Asia.”
“Beijing has two power points…the Army, the Politburo… the Army wants to keep its income from the factories it runs…Politburo thinks Mao is still a god, and that people will follow any directive if they put his name in it.”
“The North Koreans are incensed at Beijing for allowing that high-level defector to travel on to Seoul. The Pyongyang junta believed China would always be its protector. It was China’s troops that split the peninsula in 1944. The defector incident stirred up animosities from ’50 when Mao blocked their invasion of the South. He feared Dewey would use the Big One when the Pacific Fleet’s Western Task Force was sent into the Sea of Nippon.”
The President interrupted this runaway train of thought by injecting, “What if the Chinese or the Koreans had called our bluff? The material I’ve seen on President Dewey’s discussions with the National Security Council and the service Chiefs doesn’t show a decisive plan. They seemed willing to draw a line, daring someone to cross it. But no mention of a nuclear option. How could they consider participating in a second conflict when U.S. forces were already in a fire-fight in the Balkans? We would have been engaged in simultaneous wars on two continents. I would oppose that even now.”
Prescott gained a second wind and launched his reply. “Mao was undone by Stalin. Joe had no time for niceties. He showed his ruthlessness beginning with the 1930 coup that ousted the Kerensky government. When Joe tried to dump Yugoslavia’s Tito in ’50 by using renegade Serbian army officers the illusion of socialist solidarity was destroyed. The so-called volunteers who arrived from the East to help their Slav brothers liberate themselves from Tito’s willingness to say nyet to the Kremlin showed the West that The People’s Republics of Eurasia was just a cover for Russian imperialism. The fact that leftist rebels were also staging an uprising in Greece led to the Allied response. Overtly we sent aid to Athens, covertly military supplies moved across the Greek-Yugoslav frontier to bolster Tito’s forces. Once the formal NATO structure came in place American troops served as cavalry units when the action got hot. That some of our guys wandered north and took out some of Stalin’s goons was never publicly acknowledged. The Russians couldn’t make a point of it because we would counter with revelations concerning his involvement. It suited everyone’s agenda to remain mum.”
[In March 1917 Russia’s Czarist regime was ousted by a pro-democracy rebellion led by Alexander Kerensky. The nation’s vast social and economic difficulties hampered the establishment of a strong democratic system. On May 7, 1930 the Marxist Party leader, Josef Stalin, led a violent coup that installed a brutal dictatorship.]
Prescott then remarked, “When the North Koreans de-cided to attempt to spread their wonderful system of depravation and repression, Dewey advised Mao through back channel communications that the U.S. wasn’t going to waste resources swatting a fly such as Kim Il Sung. One shot would suffice. The Task Force ships were to give the impression of being the delivery system.”
Albertson looked startled, and ran his fingers through his thinning dark hair. “Where did you get that background information?” he asked. “The official records I’ve seen contain no such details.”
The former President laughed, and pronounced in his best snob-class hauteur, “Well, actually, old chap…you are in the wrong country club!” Chuckling at his own joke, Prescott continued, “Love that stiff upper lip bit, not me really. Martha says I’m a real cut up.”
Albertson smiled wanly, uncertain if protocol permitted him to glare at a predecessor. “You were saying…” hoping to lead the discussion back on track.
Prescott saw the strained reaction on the President’s face, shook his head, and began again. “When President Rockefeller called me to the Oval Office in 1964 he advised me he was planning on establishing diplomatic relations with China. Rocky knew his opponent in November would be Senate Majority leader Lyndon Johnson; and, that Johnson would try labelling him as the standard-bearer of the war party. Johnson wanted to claim that Rocky was too anxious to use force, he wasn’t to be trusted with the Bomb, that he’d leave us all pushing up daisies.”
“Well,” interjected the President, “your party did get us into two conflicts since the Global War even though we were not attacked. And one when Mr. Rockefeller was barely in office ten months. It was an open secret then concerning how close China was to exploding its first atomic device, despite the League of Nations’ failure to find evidence of such plans. We were sharply rebuked by the League and the Organization of Western Hemisphere States (OWHS) in ’61 for sending our troops to oust Castro.” Holding up his hands to forestall a rebuttal the President added, “Yes, I realize Cuba is today a viable democracy, probably the most stable one in Latin America. However, there was no smoking gun showing Castro was linked to any foreign power. I know he mistreated some of his people, but we can’t save every nation from misfortune.”
Prescott replied, “Smoking gun means the bullet has been fired…that’s what makes politics so exciting. Two groups evaluating the same issue from different perspectives and engaging in a vigorous debate. Rocky thought all those freighters from Eastern Europe docked in Havana might have been the source of Castro’s development of a strategic missile system.”
Laughing again to defuse the tension, Prescott continued, “Back to ’64…The Yanks were in the Series that year, not again for a long time…played a little ball myself…met the Babe…met Dewey too at the Oval Office session with Rocky. He gave me all the background details not in the files. Tom had been a prosecutor, you know…felt he didn’t have enough to indict (oops, sorry) the North Koreans in ’50, so he kept the official files clean. The decision made was to show the flag, and let the world believe Mao stopped a war in Korea. Tom said the only person who was aware that he was holding the Bomb as a live option in the event of an invasion was his National Security Advisor, Dwight Eisenhower. Ike viewed a land conflict in East Asia as extremely difficult for us to fight.”
“It must have been a factor in Dewey’s reasoning for accepting and promoting the 1954 Geneva Accord on Indo-China,” said Albertson.
“Yes, it was,” replied Prescott. “Unfortunately, Ike’s point was proven by our involvement in the Philippines. Twelve years, 50 thousand plus casualties, indecisive outcome, trag-edy.…VietNam, the information the Dewey Administration obtained from ground sources in Southeast Asia was that Ho Chi Minh could honestly win a free election. The only ones pushing to reject the accord were the French; yet, they had no platform for supporting their objective of re-establishing a colonial regime following the Dienbienphu catastrophe. We had suffered considerable human and material costs between 1941 and 1951 trying to make the world safe for democracy. What were we to do? Send an army of our boys to trample around a jungle for who knows how long attempting to prop up a non-indigenous regime?”
“And, no…Mr. Dewey did not contemplate the Bomb then. Korea is next door to Japan and sits on a crossroads with China and Russia. He could see a sense of geopolitical interest. Viet Nam? Stop any of our citizens today on the street, ask them what it is, where it is, unless they’re a CEO of a sports shoe manufacturing firm, wouldn’t know, wouldn’t care.”
Looking to patch together this kaleidoscopic discussion, the President inquired, “What can I expect from the Chinese leaders over the next 18 months?”
“Caution,” Prescott returned in an uncharacteristically succinct manner. “They know their grip is tenuous. They’ll wait for an opening gambit, expecting it to be an appeal from Hong Kong for true home rule. The democracy movement wants to show that it is Chinese, revolutionary, but still directed toward reform. There’s been talk of a long march from Hong Kong to Beijing with the theme of ‘A New Constitution For A New Century.’”
“Speaking of marches,” added the President, “What about Mexico? The daily rallies in the capital are getting more extensive
every week.”
Milton Prescott stood at this point. “Greg, speaking of walking, I need to stretch. If you rest you rust at my age.”
“You look great …”
“…for a geezer! Ha! Don’t look so serious. Martha calls me that all the time. Still better than most of the fellas at the club. Speed boating, few rounds of golf each week. Might try another jump this Summer.”
“A what?”
“Parachuting. Haven’t done it since my days in the OSS. Legs get stiff if I dawdle.” The former President waved towards the Agents, indicating they were moving on. Men talked into their sleeves or coat collars, and a helicopter came overhead, proceeding in the intended direction.
[OSS—The Office of Strategic Services is the U.S. spy agency.]
“Reminds me of Eastern Europe in ’89,” starting in midstream Prescott renewed his comments, switching to America’s southern neighbor. “The patient is dead, yet everyone’s too polite to announce the diagnosis. Their former ruling clique is still in denial about losing their last Presidential election. The current Government controls a shrinking area around the country. Their southern States are in various stages of revolt, and many Governors are on the payroll of either a local warlord or the Durango narcotics cartel. The former dominant political group, the Popular Revolutionary Movement, never trusted the voters to choose them in an open contest.”
[The Popular Revolutionary Movement is often referred to by the initials for its name in Spanish—MPR. The organi-zation totally controlled Mexican politics for over 80 years.]
“Six years ago they got sloppy, didn’t think they needed the usual pressure tactics, that everyone would be like sheep and just follow along. The main opposition surprised them, put up a joint candidate and a strong campaign. Won for the first time ever. However, the MPR still controlled their Congress. Now with Mexico’s economic survival at stake, the MPR is back to its old format and making matters worse. Refugees here could present a significant challenge. Do we use force to seal the border, protecting our communities from a social tsunami? If we do, does the pressure inevitably build up within Mexico generating an explosion sooner rather than later, confronting us with a flood of desperate people anyway? It’s hard to offer the Mexicans advice. They have reasons for distrusting us.”
“Yes, indeed,” said the President. “I had lunch with the Ambassador lately. Any suggestion was received very stiffly. They almost suspect we engineered their problems in retaliation for the drug trafficking headquartered in their country. They say we created the cartel by our own weakness, made the dealers stronger with our money, then accuse their hard-pressed government of failing to eradicate the problem.”
Milton Prescott nodded in agreement. “We could see Mexico fracture similar to India in 1993. Sectarian violence broke India into a handful of nation-states, antagonistic towards each other, set against a backdrop of an abundance of unaccounted-for weapons.”
The two men had reached the edge of the tree-line and descended a slope towards a pasture, through which a small creek flowed. Prescott continued his remarks, “Basraistan… we created a mirage in the sand. Its only asset is oil, its greatest liability is people. No one there is truly satisfied with our map drawing. Iran and Iraq made smaller, but still have big ambitions to control the region. Basraistan was to be a safe home for the Shias; but some Sunnis remained, and their brethren in Baghdad want to ’save’ them from what they see as foreign occupation forces. We have 10,000 troops there, far less than the Pentagon wanted, trying to keep the peace among folks who can’t live together and won’t live apart.”
Greg Albertson stated, “Canada has its own concerns about possible dissolution. There’s a referendum scheduled for December of next year in Quebec. The Parti Kebec is again promoting independence for the Province. However, the rising power up North—the Populist Party—opposes any special deal or separation for Quebec.”
“Well,” said the former President. “I have more insider trading information for you.”
“Did you ever truly leave the OSS?” Albertson laughingly asked.
“The order of Melchizedek…DDO for Black Thorn… stories for another day…my youngest son, Jed, as you know is Governor of Illinois. My predecessor, Michael Morrison, held the post before coming to Washington. He’ll be rated as one of the great ones…surprised everyone…former sports announcer emerges as President, good talker, what can he do? Just negotiates the first-ever actual reduction in strategic nuclear arsenals. Pushes back the hands of the doomsday clock. The world doesn’t want any more Okinawas. One atomic attack is enough for all human history. Not many know how close we came in the ’75 Berlin crisis to nuclear war. The Great Communicator, likes horses, recommended Montana to my son as a vacation spot…”
[In October 1975 President John Kennedy was faced with the possibility of a war with the PREA when the Marxist regime of East Germany shot down a U.S. cargo plane traveling to West Berlin.]
“You were speaking about Canada…” interjected Albertson hopefully.
“Getting there.” smiled Prescott. “Jed met the Premier of one of the western Canadian Provinces in Montana. Were talking late one night. The Premier pops out a question, ’How does one join America?’ My son figured he meant citizenship. The pm meant Statehood. Would not say it directly, but if Quebec goes loose we may need more stars.”
The President grabbed his companion’s arm, turning him so they were face to face. “Never repeat that! Call your son and swear him to secrecy! Did he relate the conversation to anyone else? If the world thought we might tamper…”
“No, no!” the former President assured him. “Jed knows better. Actually, the Premier pleaded with him the next day to forget what he said. Blamed it on a long ride and Molson.”
“Let’s sit again,” said Albertson, pointing to another bench. “My knees need to recover…You’ve given me a lot to consider. What do I do with it?”
Prescott reflected momentarily, then replied. “On China, let them know we’re not interfering; however, another bloody crackdown is unacceptable. Can’t hide behind business leaders who dream of easy profits. Can’t be in the family of nations if they want to react like savages. Keep emphasizing that political and economic reforms go hand-in-hand. Be polite but specific. From experience I know the consequences of vague signals. If the leadership’s loyalty is to China, not personal power, they will allow the people a public voice. If the rulers block reform, it doesn’t end the desire for reform. There’s a proverb concerning a drip of water eventually breaking the strongest rock. Democracy is the water. Totalitarianism is the rock.”
“Mexico is the same yet different. The government is shaky but pro-democracy. The opposition wants a restoration of their autocratic rule. Real question is the intention of the drug cartel. Will they remain satisfied with being criminals, or do they see themselves using the national economy to launder their profits from addicts? We need to stay behind the scenes, yet make the politicians on both sides aware of our preparedness to help. Got to push the message in our schools that drugs kill. Addiction is not recreational. Stop the drugs, stop the corruption, stop the cartel.”
“Canada should know that tribalization is not the way forward. Breaking up in anger accelerates ethnic conflicts. Look at West Asia. Do they want to go the way of the societies there with clan members stalking members of other clans with guns and bombs? The Anglo and Franco Canadians may never initiate hostilities, nevertheless two or more carved-out States won’t alleviate underlying contentions. NAFTA could be harmed. Outside referees could be the best option. The English and French Premiers could relate how their nations renounced centuries of animosity and are now partners in the European Federation. With these scenarios, north and south, we have to work on having the right people in the same room together. They need to be shaking hands with each other, not shaking fists at each…”
Behind them a commotion arose. An all-terrain vehicle had pulled up sharply to the Secret Service Agents’ mini-camp. T
he President’s Chief of Staff exited the Humvee, and ran down the incline.
“What’s this about?” Albertson muttered to himself. As his aide neared, he repeated his question aloud adding, “Catch your breath. Why didn’t you call?”
“The Detail said your order was no interruption, un-less there was an act of war,” the C-O-S wheezed. The man looked at the former President, hesitating.
“Talk already!” Albertson snapped. “I think we can trust this guy!”
The C-O-S inhaled deeply to calm himself, then broke the news. “There’s been an explosion in Beijing, nearly an hour ago. It’s Saturday night there. A truck containing what is believed to have been a large fertilizer and fuel bomb crashed into the motorcade of the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin. Dozens of people are dead, including Jiang. The Army has sent thousands of additional troops into the capital. They’re detaining all foreigners found on the street—including journalists. World Network News’ correspondent was on the air, live, when an armored personnel carrier pulled up, soldiers poured out, seized her and halted transmission. Our Embassy states they see tanks not too far from their front door.”
“What about our operatives within the Forbidden City? Any word from them?” the President inquired.
“We’ve had just one short message. They don’t believe it’s an inside job. Too many people are fat and happy with the current…er…prior arrangement.”
Prescott asked, “No signs of an attempt by the military? They reacted without much delay.”
“None that we know of,” answered the C-O-S. “Gentlemen, let’s return to the main house. The link to the Situation Room is ready.”
The three men rapidly walked up to the top of the slope, entered the waiting vehicle and sped off to obtain details on the world’s latest act of madness. When they arrived at the entrance of the lodge, Vice President Ann Linus was waiting.