The Devil's Footprint (27 page)
Read The Devil's Footprint Online
Authors: Victor O'Reilly
But internationally, the political symbolism of the actions was
considerable.
9
The meeting had been progressing for twenty minutes.
It had started calmly with a factual description of what had happened and
the progress the various agencies were making, but the dispassionate recital of
facts was beginning to give way to acrimony.
"In summary," said National Security Advisor Vernon Slade,
"we have had a total of seven terrorist attacks on
the last six months and we appear none the wiser as to who is behind all this
or why they are doing it or where they are based.
Giving the resources we are deploying, that
might be interpreted as a failure of leadership."
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Webster Grant,
flushed.
Slade had not mentioned any
names, but the implication was clear.
Since the FBI had statutory authority to investigate internal terrorism,
their failure to date to identify and arrest the perpetrators could be
attributed to him.
And he was not a
Slade supporter.
"Mr. Director?" said the President.
Someone might have to be sacrificed, but he
did not particularly want to play
game.
He liked his FBI Director and did
not want to lose him.
"Mr. President," said the FBI Director, "it is not true to
say that we have made no progress in our investigations, or indeed that the
terrorists have had it all their own way.
Frankly, the problem seems to be that we may be after more than one
organization.
So far we have identified
several members of Yaibo, a Japanese extremist group, two Iranians, and a
number of other fundamentalists with connections in
We also have two bodies we cannot
identify.
Both seem to be from
One
is definitely of Indian extraction."
"Probably Cuban," said Slade.
"Fidel had not changed his spots."
"They could be Americans,
said the President heavily.
"We
have citizens of every race, color, and creed these days.
We cannot point the finger merely because
someone looks as if he could be Cuban."
General William Frampton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
cleared his throat.
He had a thoughtful,
almost pensive face and the pouched eyes of a bloodhound.
His uniform seemed the wrong attire for his
scholarly demeanor.
He should have been in tweeds, the President thought.
On the other hand, the Medal of Honor that he
wore looked more appropriate with army green.
He had commanded the 82
nd
Airborne Division earlier on in his
career, he remembered.
The two incidents
in
Paratroopers and their wives and girlfriends and children had been
killed and injured in both.
"Mr. President," General Frampton said quietly.
"I would like to know more about the
motives of these people.
Horrible though
these incidents are
,
these terrorist acts have no real
military impact on us at all except in media terms.
I do not wish to belittle the importance of
public opinion, but I would like to understand better what these people hope to
achieve."
The Director of Central Intelligence had been unable to attend the
meeting.
He had been laid low with a
virus and an ever-increasing distaste for Vernon Slade.
In his place he sent his Deputy Director of
Operations, William Martin.
"Mr. President," said Martin.
"Do you mind if I make a contribution here?"
The President nodded.
Martin continued.
"I read a
report recently by a man named Lee Cochrane.
He runs the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism.
He puts forward some interesting
theories."
"Cochrane argues that we, in
too simplistically.
A terrorist blows up
a building and we assume that the destruction of that specific building is the
object of the exercise.
The choice of
building, in fact, is probably irrelevant.
The significant element in many cases is the symbolism of the act of
terror — not the specifics.
"Cochrane further states that we are evaluating
acts of terror in the wrong time frame.
We think in terms of immediate results.
In contrast, many of the cultures we are up against are prepared to
think in terms of decades or even longer.
They have a strategic vision that we lack."
"Let me give you an example," said Martin.
"I'll use Yaibo, the Japanese terrorist
group, but the principles could apply to any other faction."
The President looked encouraging.
General Frampton's drooping eyelids had
risen
a
fraction.
His interest was fully
engaged.
The hunt for these people was
personal.
No one was going to fuck with
the 82
nd
and get away with it.
"Yaibo were quite successful in
Leaving out their long-term political aims,
their acts of terror gave them influence.
Corporations paid them protection money.
Politicians voted in certain ways at their request.
Senior government officials bent regulations
or made other accommodations.
All did
this because they were afraid of Yaibo.
So Yaibo had power and influence out of all proportion to their size.
They were unable to change the Japanese
political system fundamentally as their manifesto demands, but in other
practical ways they were effective.
Terrorism worked.
"Yaibo overreached
themselves
and, after
losing much strength, they got forced out of
They fled who knows where to lick their
wounds and consolidate, but Lee Cochrane surmises that they are determined at
some point to return to
Accordingly, they are mounting attacks in the
They are saying, in effect, if we can strike
with relative impunity at the most powerful nation on earth, then we are a
force to be reckoned with and you people in
"Why the
said the Director.
"Because we give them the most media bang for their buck," said
Martin.
"Because we don't take
terrorism seriously and we are vulnerable.
Because we are the big guy on the block and they are jealous.
Because we are constrained
for all kinds of reasons from reacting properly.
Because we are a shackled giant and we put on
our own shackles."
Frampton rubbed his jaw slowly.
"So Yaibo, for instance, attack soft targets in the
It all seems very indirect to me."
"That's because you're thinking like a direct gung-ho
American," said Martin.
"And
you're forgetting that it is a small world these days.
Think instead of something like
three-dimensional pool.
Cause and effect
can be kind of complicated if you don't know how to play, but it's all connected.
You bounce a ball off one side to hit
another, and maybe the effect ripples on.
Let me put it another way.
When
we invaded
weren't just invading
When we hit
was not just about
We were making a point, we were sending a
message, and above all, we were showing that we were deadly serious.
And only incidentally,
got practice for bigger and better things."
There was silence in the room.
Government and politics was mostly about firefighting, about
reacting.
Thinking long term — ‘the vision
thing,’ as President George Bush had put it — was not high on the list of
priorities.
It was disconcerting to
think that terrorists might have a ‘vision thing’ of their own.
"Director Martin is making good sense, Mr. President," said the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, "and I have a feeling for the Japanese
agenda.
But other groups seem to be
involved in this.
Certainly, we have
identified Moslem fundamentalists."
"Lee Cochrane," said
Martin,
"makes the point that these kind of indirect objectives can be
layered.
Each individual group pursues
its own objectives, but by working together another objective or, indeed,
several can also be attained.
As to what
that is in this case, I really don't know.
But if you accept Cochrane's premise, then what has happened makes a
great deal more sense.
Certainly, we
know that multiple elements are involved."
The president was impressed by what Martin had to say, but it was not
addressing the immediate issue.
American
citizens had been killed and a response was called for.
"If different nationalities are involved," said the President,
"then they have got to get together somewhere to organize and train.
These operations have been slick.
They aren't just spontaneous outbursts.
These have been planned and rehearsed.
So where are they coming from?
"We have found safe houses," said the FBI Director, "but
there it ends.
The people we have
arrested are cutouts.
So far, everything
we have experienced could have been planned here in the
indeed, anywhere.
There is no definite
link to any one base
or
any
one organization.
There may not be any central command.
We just don't know.
What we are
experiencing is unprecedented."
He
paused and took a deep breath.
"I'm
deeply sorry, Mr. President.
We are
doing the best we can."
"I understand there was a kidnapping which may be connected to the
Bastogne Inn business?" said the President.
"An Irish citizen, not an American," said the National Security
Advisor.
"My mother was Irish," said the President.
"I would not like to have seen her kidnapped
while a guest in this great country of ours — and I would remind you, sir, that
one-sixth of our entire population is of Irish decent.
Well over forty-two million.
There is a certain electoral majesty in that,
is there not, Mr. Advisor."
Slade had absolutely no idea how to deal with the President when he was in this
mood.
It was as if the ghost of every
past
A man who
had risen to his high office by seeking to please everybody, he was becoming
increasingly decisive.
It was
disconcerting.
"It is a difficult case, Mr. President," said the FBI
Director.
"We've accounted for
every legitimate helicopter flight at that time and cross-checked flight
control records.
Nothing.
Then we checked with the military.
There was an exercise on at the time with the
aircraft flying out of Pope.
They were
testing the integration of AWACS and JSTARS."