Hazardous Duty pa-8
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“We spent five years in Cuba,” she said. “Brother Raúl is a lot smarter than these cartel people, and he and his DGI never got close to us.”
“My cousins from Havana are obviously as crazy as you are, Carlito,” Juan Carlos said. “But I like the idea of getting the straight story to people at the top. The reports of your DEA never seem to get there.”
“You realize, of course, that if you stay, it’s going to cost Those People in Las Vegas a lot of money.”
“Screw those people in Las Vegas,” Susanna said.
[FOUR]
The Cabinet Room
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
0905 14 June 2007
The President of the United States was not in a good mood when Secretary of State Natalie Cohen, DCI A. Franklin Lammelle, General Allan B. Naylor, Senior, and Director of National Intelligence Truman C. Ellsworth filed into the Cabinet Room and stood waiting to be acknowledged.
The President had just been informed by Supervisory Special Agent Robert J. Mulligan that his mother-in-law, who had gone missing from Happy Haven, the Baptist assisted living facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, several days before had been located.
The “First Mother-in-Law” was in the Biloxi, Mississippi, jail charged with public drunkenness and assault on a police officer. It appeared that she had overly availed herself of the free cocktails offered by the Biloxi Palace Casino to its gaming guests at the roulette tables.
Mulligan said he could probably spring her from durance vile by noon, but that wasn’t going to solve much. The Reverend J. Finley Cushman, DD, who had taken her in after she had been asked to leave the Ocean Springs branch of the Baptist assisted living facility, had made it quite clear if she ever got loose again and brought shame upon Happy Haven by getting into the Devil’s Brew, they would have to find some other haven for her.
Since she had been asked to leave just about every other facility in Mississippi, that posed problems. The prospect of having to face the First Mother-in-Law every morning at breakfast in the White House struck terror in the heart of Joshua Ezekiel Clendennen.
“Mr. President,” Secretary Cohen said, “we have another report from Colonel Castillo.”
The President was so upset that he momentarily couldn’t remember who Castillo was, and thought she was referring to the head of the Mississippi State Police, who was also a colonel.
“Mulligan just told me,” the President said, rather impatiently. And then he remembered.
“Give it to me,” he said, and then, “Sit.”
He read the report:
TOP SECRET
URGENT
DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN
TO: POTUS
SUBJECT: REPORT
VIA SECRETARY OF STATE
MAKE AVAILABLE (EYES ONLY) TO:
DIRECTOR, CIA
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
C IN C CENTRAL COMMAND
OOR SITREP #2
US EMBASSY MEXICO CITY 2300 ZULU 14 JUNE 2007
1-INASMUCH AS THE NEWS REPORT OF MR. ROSCOE J. DANTON (ATTACHED, SUITABLY REDACTED) COVERS THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNDERSIGNED IN SOME DETAIL, THE UNDERSIGNED WILL NOT WASTE THE TIME OF POTUS BY REPEATING THEM HEREIN.
2-THE UNDERSIGNED IS PRESENTLY EN ROUTE TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, IN THE PANAMANIAN EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT FLOWN BY COLONEL TORINE, RETD., AND MAJOR MILLER, RETD., AND ACCOMPANIED BY THE FOLLOWING PERSONNEL:
A. NAYLOR, LTC ALLAN B. USA
B. D’ALESSANDRO, MR. VICTOR DA CIV GS-15
C. LEVERETTE, COLIN
D. BRADLEY, LESTER
E. LORIMER, EDMUND
F. BRITTON, JOHN
G. BRITTON, DR. SANDRA
H. DAMON, C. GREGORY
I. BARLOW, SUSAN
J. DANTON, ROSCOE J.
3-ONCE IN BUDAPEST, THE UNDERSIGNED WILL DETERMINE THE BEST WAY TO INFILTRATE LEVERETTE, THE BRITTONS, AND DAMON INTO SOMALIA, TO DEVELOP OTHER INTELLIGENCE, AND TAKE WHATEVER OTHER APPROPRIATE ACTION IS DEEMED NECESSARY. A REPORT WILL BE FURNISHED.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.
CASTILLO, LTC, RETD.
TOP SECRET
“What the hell does ‘suitably redacted’ mean?” the President asked.
“‘Redact,’ Mr. President,” Presidential Spokesperson Robin Hoboken said, “means to adapt by obscuring sensitive information. I would think then that ‘suitably redact’ means to do so suitably.”
“And how would you do that?” the President asked.
“Give me just a minute to look that up, Mr. President,” Hoboken said.
“How are we going to talk about this if you don’t have copies of it before you?” the President inquired of the three senior officials.
“Mr. President,” Truman Ellsworth said, “if you’ll look toward the head of Colonel Castillo’s report, it says ‘Duplication Forbidden.’”
“Let me tell you something, Mr. Ellsworth,” President Clendennen said. “I’m POTUS and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. No lousy little lieutenant colonel like this man Castillo is going to tell me I can’t make copies of any damned piece of paper I want.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hoboken,” the President ordered, “make copies of this for everybody.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President. Before or after I look up ‘suitably redacted’?”
“‘Suitably redacted’ can wait,” the President said, “since we don’t even know what that means.”
Three minutes later, Robin Hoboken passed out copies of Danton’s story.
He got through the first two paragraphs…
SLUG: OPERATION OUT OF THE BOX
TAKE ONE
BY ROSCOE J. DANTON
WASHINGTON TIMES-POST WRITERS SYNDICATE
DAY ONE — JUNE 11, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
THIS REPORTER FLEW OVERNIGHT FROM WASHINGTON TO “THE PARIS OF SOUTH AMERICA” CARRYING ORDERS FROM PRESIDENT JOSHUA EZEKIEL CLENDENNEN TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL ██████ “EMBEDDING” ME WITH “OPERATION OUT OF THE BOX” FOR THE DURATION OF THE TOP SECRET OPERATION.
THE PRESIDENT DECIDED HE NEEDED A FRESH, AND VERY EXPERIENCED, EYE TO HAVE A LOOK AT TWO PROBLEMS: THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AND THE SOMALI PIRATES. HE DECIDED THAT ██████, A RETIRED LEGENDARY SPECIAL OPERATOR AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, WAS TO BE THAT EYE, REPORTING DIRECTLY AND ONLY TO HIM, AND RECALLED ██████ TO ACTIVE DUTY. PRESIDENT CLENDENNEN ALSO DECIDED THAT EMBEDDING WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS “A WELL-KNOWN JOURNALIST OF UNQUESTIONED INTEGRITY” WITH COLONEL ██████ WAS THE BEST WAY TO BRING, WHEN THE TIME CAME, THE FULL STORY OF OPERATION OUT OF THE BOX TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND HUMBLED THIS REPORTER BY SELECTING ME.
“What the hell are these black boxes all over this?” President Clendennen then demanded.
“Mr. President,” Secretary Cohen explained, “those are redacting marks showing what has been redacted.”
“I’ll be damned. And you didn’t know that, Hoboken?”
“I will from now on, Mr. President,” Hoboken said firmly.
The President resumed reading:
THE ONLY RESTRICTION ON THIS REPORTER’S REPORTING, THE PRESIDENT TOLD ME, WAS THAT MY STORIES WOULD HAVE TO UNDERGO VETTING BY INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS SO AS TO ENSURE OUR ENEMIES LEARNED NOTHING OF VALUE FROM THEM, AND THAT I WOULD PUBLISH NOTHING UNTIL OPERATION OUT OF THE BOX WAS CONCLUDED.
ON THIS REPORTER’S ARRIVAL IN BUENOS AIRES, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE U.S. EMBASSY HAD NO IDEA OF COLONEL ██████ LOCATION. THIS REPORTER PERSEVERED, HOWEVER, AND LEARNED THAT THE LEGENDARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER WAS IN BARILOCHE — A SKI RESORT SOMETIMES CALLED “THE VAIL OF ARGENTINA” — AND GOT HIM ON THE TELEPHONE.
COLONEL ██████ WAS NOT AT ALL PLEASED TO LEARN OF MY MISSION, BUT HE IS A SOLDIER, AND JOSHUA EZEKIEL CLENDENNEN IS THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF, AND COLONEL ██████ HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO OBEY HIS ORDERS.
“Goddamn right he didn’t,” the President said.
“Sir?” Truman Ellsworth asked.
“If that black redact-whatyoucallit stands for Castillo, as I strongly suspect it does, goddamn right he had no choice but to obey his orders. That’s what I told you when you showed a certain lack of enthusiasm for Operation Out of the Box.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” Ellsworth said.
The President resumed reading:
AND I GOT MINE. I AM TO BE STANDING, WITH MY LUGGAGE, OUTSIDE MY HOTEL AT NINE TOMORROW MORNING. I ASKED WHERE WE WERE GOING AND WAS TOLD VATICAN CITY, BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THIS.
WE SHALL SEE.
DAY TWO — JUNE 12, 2007
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
AT EXACTLY NINE A.M., A MERCEDES SPORT-UTILITY VEHICLE WITH DARKENED WINDOWS PULLED INTO THE RECEPTION AREA OF THE ALVEAR PALACE HOTEL. TWO BURLY MEN GOT OUT. ONE TOOK MY ARM AND LOADED ME INTO THE REAR SEAT WHILE THE OTHER LOADED MY LUGGAGE INTO THE BACK.
HOW THEY KNEW WHO THIS REPORTER WAS, I DON’T KNOW, AND WHEN I ASKED WHERE WE WERE GOING, THEY PRETENDED NOT TO HEAR. I DID NOTICE THAT BOTH MEN WERE ARMED WITH UZI SUBMACHINE GUNS.
AFTER A FIFTEEN-MINUTE DRIVE THROUGH THE HEAVY EARLY MORNING BUENOS AIRES TRAFFIC, WE ARRIVED AT THE “BUSINESS SIDE” OF JORGE NEWBERY AIRFIELD, WHICH ABUTS THE RIVER PLATE.
THIS REPORTER WAS DRIVEN TO THE SIDE OF A GULFSTREAM V AIRCRAFT.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL ██████, A TALL, GOOD-LOOKING MAN IN HIS LATE THIRTIES OR EARLY FORTIES, CAME DOWN THE STAIR-DOOR STEPS AND GAVE ME HIS HAND.
“HELLO, ROSCOE,” HE SAID. “PLEASE GET ABOARD.”
THIS REPORTER HAD MET COLONEL ██████ BEFORE, WHEN HE HAD FLOWN INTO ██████ AIR FORCE BASE AT THE CONTROLS OF A ██████ AIRCRAFT. THE STORY GOING AROUND AND EMPHATICALLY DENIED BY THE CIA WAS THAT ██████ HAD STOLEN THE SECRET RUSSIAN AIRPLANE IN ██████ AND THAT THE CIA HAD PAID HIM ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS FOR IT WHEN HE DELIVERED IT TO THEM.
“What the hell is going on here?” the President said. “If that black box stands for Castillo, what the hell is this? ‘He had flown into Castillo Air Force Base at the controls of a Castillo aircraft he had stolen in Castillo’? Tell me that makes sense!”
“Those redacting remarks, Mr. President,” Secretary Cohen explained, “replace other words that have been obscured. A redacted block has no meaning in and of itself.”
“I think I’m getting it. Bear with me,” the President said, and resumed reading:
THE ENGINES OF THE GULFSTREAM V STARTED AS THE DOOR WAS CLOSING, AND TEN MINUTES LATER WE HAD TAKEN OFF.
AS SOON AS WE REACHED CRUISING ALTITUDE, ██████ INTRODUCED ME TO THE OTHERS ON BOARD, STARTING WITH HIS FIANCÉE ██████ ██████, A REDHEADED BEAUTY ALLEGED — SHE REFUSES TO CONFIRM OR DENY — TO HAVE EXTENSIVE INTELLIGENCE EXPERIENCE.
“I think I’m getting this,” the President announced. “He crossed out the name of his girlfriend, the Russian spy, right?”
“‘Redacted’ it, sir,” Robin Hoboken said.
“Why the hell can’t we just say ‘crossed out’?”
“If that is your pleasure, sir, we certainly will,” Robin Hoboken said.
The President resumed reading, this time finishing the report before saying anything else.
ALSO ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT WERE LIEUTENANT COLONEL ██████, JR., WHOM THIS REPORTER KNEW TO BE THE SON OF GENERAL ██████ ██████, SR., WHOM THIS REPORTER HAS DESCRIBED AS THE “MOST IMPORTANT ██████ IN THE U.S. ARMY”; ██████ ██████, A LEGENDARY SPECIAL OPERATOR RUMORED TO HEAD THE TOP SECRET DELTA FORCE UNIT IN FORT BRAGG, N.C.; FORMER MARINE GUNNERY SERGEANT ██████ ██████, A SNIPER WHO DOUBLES AS ██████ BODYGUARD; CWO(5) ██████ ██████ AND COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR ██████ ██████, BOTH RETIRED MEMBERS OF DELTA FORCE; FIRST LIEUTENANT ██████ ██████, KNOWN AS “██████” MAKING REFERENCE TO ███ ███ WHILE A GREEN BERET; ██████ ██████, FORMERLY OF THE SECRET SERVICE, AND HIS WIFE, DR. ██████ ██████, A PHILOLOGIST.
██████, ██████ AND THE ██████ ARE AFRO-AMERICAN AND ██████ EXPLAINED THEY WILL FUNCTION PRIMARILY IN SOMALIA, WHERE IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT FOR HIM AND THE OTHERS TO “BLEND INTO THE WOODWORK.”
THE GULFSTREAM AIRCRAFT, CHARTERED WITH ITS CREW FROM PANAMANIAN EXECUTIVE AIRCRAFT IN PANAMA, WAS FLOWN BY COLONEL ██████ ██████, USAF, RETIRED, AND MAJOR ██████ ██████ JR., RETIRED. ██████ HAD BEEN WITH ██████ IN THE SEIZURE OF THE ██████ AIRCRAFT, AND ██████ HAD SERVED WITH THE 160TH SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION REGIMENT, INCLUDING SERVICE IN SOMALIA. ██████ IS AN AFRO-AMERICAN.
THIS WAS THE TEAM ██████ HAD ASSEMBLED AT THE ORDERS OF PRESIDENT CLENDENNEN TO “PUT A FRESH AND KNOWLEDGEABLE EYE” ON THE MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AND THE PIRATES OF SOMALIA.
██████ TOLD THIS REPORTER WE WERE HEADED FOR MEXICO, AND WOULD THEN GO TO BUDAPEST, HUNGARY.
EIGHT HOURS AFTER TAKING OFF, WE LANDED IN COZUMEL, MEXICO, WHERE TWO GMC YUKONS WERE WAITING TO TRANSPORT US TO THE FIVE-STAR ██████ ██████ BEACH & GOLF RESORT, WHERE WE WERE INSTALLED IN THE 24TH FLOOR IMPERIAL PENTHOUSE SUITE.
AFTER A GRILLED SEAFOOD DINNER, ██████, USING A SHORTWAVE RADIO OF A TYPE THIS REPORTER HAD NEVER SEEN, CONTACTED ██████ ██████ ██████ ████, OF THE POLICIA FEDERAL, WHOM HE DESCRIBED AS THE “ONLY HONEST COP IN MEXICO.” FOLLOWING A BRIEF CONVERSATION, ██████ SAID THAT ████ WOULD COME TO THE HOTEL FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING.
DAY THREE — JUNE 13, 2007
COZUMEL, MEXICO
AT EXACTLY TEN A.M. THIS MORNING, A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER BEARING THE IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS OF THE MEXICAN POLICIA FEDERAL FLUTTERED TO THE LANDING PAD ON THE ROOF OF THE ██████ ██████ BEACH & GOLF RESORT.
IN IT, ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVILY ARMED FEDERAL POLICEMEN, WAS ██████ ███ ████ ███.
COLONEL ██████, ███ AND ██████ ████, ████ ██████, ██████ ██████ AND THIS REPORTER CLIMBED ABOARD AND THE BLACK HAWK TOOK OFF.
OUR DESTINATION TURNED OUT TO BE A SECRET AIRFIELD KNOWN SARDONICALLY TO ██████’S MERRY OUTLAWS AS “DRUG CARTEL INTERNATIONAL.” IT IS LOCATED IN THE ██ ██████ █ ████ IN COAHUILA STATE.
(SEE PHOTOGRAPHS)
██████ TOLD THIS REPORTER THE AIRFIELD WAS USED TO TAKE SUITCASES FULL OF DRUG PROFIT MONEY OUT OF MEXICO AND TO BRING IN COCAINE FROM COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA, AND OTHER PLACES FOR TRANS-SHIPMENT OVER THE BORDER INTO THE UNITED STATES.
WHEN THIS REPORTER ASKED HOW THE AIRCRAFT INVOLVED COULD AVOID BEING DETECTED ON RADAR BY MEXICAN AUTHORITIES, ██████ ███ ████ ████ REPLIED THAT RADAR OPERATORS WERE GIVEN THE CHOICE OF NOT DETECTING THE ILLEGAL FLIGHTS, WHEREUPON THEY WOULD RECEIVE A STACK OF U.S. CURRENCY, OR DETECTING THEM AND REPORTING THEM TO THE POLICIA FEDERAL, WHEREUPON THEIR MOTHERS, WIVES, AND DAUGHTERS WOULD BE RAPED AND/OR MURDERED.
██████ TOLD THIS REPORTER THAT IF SOME WAY COULD BE FOUND TO SHUT DOWN “DRUG CARTEL INTERNATIONAL,” IT WOULD PUT A “SERIOUS CRIMP” IN DRUG CARTEL ACTIVITIES AND THAT HE WAS WORKING WITH ███ ON A PLAN TO DO SO, WHICH HE WOULD FORWARD TO THE PRESIDENT.
AFTER NO MORE THAN AN HOUR AT THE AIRFIELD, WE REBOARDED THE BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER AND FLEW BACK TO COZUMEL AND BOARDED THE GULFSTREAM, LEAVING BEHIND ███ AND ██████ █████, AND TOOK OFF FOR BUDAPEST. THE █████ WILL UNDERTAKE MISSIONS FOR ██████ THAT HE WAS UNWILLING TO SHARE WITH THIS REPORTER.
MORE TO FOLLOW
“Okay, I got it. Castillo redacted
all those things so in case this fell into the wrong hands, nobody would know who Roscoe J. Danton was talking about. Am I right?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” Truman Ellsworth said. “That is correct.”
“Couple of questions,” the President said. “General Naylor, Danton said you were the most important what in the Army?”
“I believe, Mr. President,” Secretary Cohen said, “that Mr. Danton believes General Naylor is the most important general in the Army.”
“Where did he get a nutty idea like that? Everybody knows the chief of staff is the most important general in the Army.”
“I don’t know where he got a nutty idea like that, Mr. President,” Robin Hoboken said, “but I’ll get on it right away and let you know as soon as I find out.”
“Lammelle, I want you to get together with Ellsworth and come up with a plan to shut down this drug dealers’ airfield. I don’t want to do anything until I hear more from Castillo, but I want to be ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Lammelle said.
“This out-of-the-box idea of mine is working out better than I thought. I wonder why I didn’t think of it earlier.”
“Well, you had a lot on your mind, Mr. President,” Robin Hoboken said. “That probably had something to do with it.”
PART VII
[ONE]
The Portico
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
0935 14 June 2007
“Well,” Truman Ellsworth said to Natalie Cohen as they and General Naylor and DCI Lammelle waited for their various vehicles to pull up, “on balance, I’d say that went well.”
“I’m not so sure,” she replied.
“And what do you think, General?” Ellsworth inquired of Naylor.
“I am very uncomfortable with the entire situation,” Naylor replied. “I suspect that what Mr. Ellsworth means—”
“You can call me Truman,” Ellsworth interrupted. “We are all in this together. Succeeding together, I would suggest.”