2007
Episode
9
The
A-Team
Previously in "Saecula:” An elite Republican
cabal conspires to fix the
2008 presidential election, but its plans
to embezzle money from the RNC
are uncovered and lead to murder.
Democratic congressman Jack Stibik
and his mentor, Professor Gar Reynolds,
reunite. Martys, Jack's twin brother
and Delta Force veteran, visits Annapolis.
Congressional hearings begin on
the disasterous Islamic war.
Today: The Vice President's "A-Team" sets
in motion the ultimate
October Surprise, a terrorist attack upon
the nation.
“Those goddamn hearings killed us” growled the Vice President to what had come to be called the “A-Team.” Once again at Dor Clevenger’s hunting lodge, this time there were two new faces Haney trusted and needed to bring into the loop. Tom Bishop, CEO and President of Poseidon Security, and Sloan Drummond, III, head of family-owned Drummond Electronics, the dominant manufacturer of the nation’s voting machines, joined Bancroft, DuPrey, Whistler, Sutton, Lauer, and Clevenger for the fireside chats.
“That’s for sure,” echoed the RNC’s Stuart Whistler. “That fucking Perkins couldn’t talk his way out of a parking ticket. What was Lowe thinking by sending him to the Hill as our lead witness?” Melvin Lowe was the President’s wonder-boy political genius cum Chief of Staff who directed his Texas gubernatorial campaigns and his first presidential run. Lowe’s political blunders over the past four years had accumulated to epic proportions. But, he continued to have the ear of the President who, along with all his other faults, was loyal to a one.
The one-time political powerhouse of Haney, Lowe, Linda Rogers and the Secretary of Defense had badly splintered. The Secretary had so poorly overplayed his hand in the Iraq War, and was so despised by Pentagon brass, that his value as a strategist was of no further use. Loew’s clout had plummeted after the CIA disclosure debacle, and Republican conservatives and corporate moneymen were frightened to death of being seen in the same room. Rogers, as far as Haney was concerned, had deserted the team to run back to Texas to be with her family, of all things, just when she was needed in the run-up to Iraq. She was persona non grata. That left it up to him and his A-Team to pull his party’s biscuits out of the burning coals.
Randy Sutton, from the Corporate Roundtable and the key business money connection, weighed in: “Bob, I hope you’ve got a plan to check this bleeding. My people are becoming really concerned. They’ve anteed up over two billion dollars in the last eight years for the President, the party and congressional candidates, yet our agenda is only half accomplished. When we started this process and committed to your financial projections, you assured us it would be done within two terms. Now you’re telling me we have to come up with another $500 million. As it looks right now, we might as well piss it down the drain.”
Nodding toward their candidate, Antonin DuPrey, Sutton continued: “Tony here is doing a fantastic job. But, between the Chief botching up at every turn and this Islamic quagmire, the Democrats are going to float into the White House and possibly take back Congress. You know goddamn well what that means for the agenda. Not only won’t corporate taxes and environmental regulations fall off the board completely, they’ll be back with a vengeance.”
Clevenger, the consultant and bag man, concurred, mixing about as many metaphors as possible in six sentences. “We’re already seeing an elevated drop in donations. After Perkins’ testimony, and that son-of-a-bitch Reynolds the next week, contributions have blown apart. The media is on to the meltdown already, so it’s just going to mushroom. It’s a train crash, and nobody wants to be the last rat off the ship. Once donations drop off, there’s no way we can cover…” Clevenger abruptly halted, fearing he might have said too much. Haney assured him, with a nod of his head, that the newcomers had been fully briefed and concurred with their activities. Clevenger continued: “Cover the distributions from Stuart’s slush fund. The press will spot the surge, and want to know where it’s coming from.”
“Okay! Are you done bitching now?” retorted the Vice President. He didn‘t let his pique at their outbursts interrupt him from making a note to learn more about this Reynolds person. “I didn’t call you here a week before Christmas to commiserate. Our time is too valuable, and these meetings are too sensitive to waste time. We’re here to plan strategy and take on assignments.
“Randy, Dor, I assure you,” the V.P. added, by way of mollifying his rebuke, “we all realize how critical it is to not just beat Clinton in November, but devastate her. Only that will solidify the momentum to achieve real economic freedom for ourselves and our friends. We can shrink and privatize government to such a point that those fucking liberals will never be able to revive it. Once the voters see what can be accomplished in a completely unfettered economy in an essentially tax-free nation, the Democrats won’t have enough niggers, whiners and bunny huggers to buy an election.
“This is the year that will keep the Republic safe from liberal policies for decades. It calls for deliberate action. That’s why I asked Tom and Sloan, whom you all know, to join us. As you recall, Sloan’s little black boxes have delivered some Senate races we really wanted in the past -- in Georgia, Nebraska and last year in Kansas. He assures me he has some new tricks up his sleeve for ‘08. We’ll need every trick he’s got. But, ultimately, what saved our ass in the congressional elections in ‘02 and the re-election in ’04, was 9/11. We need another attack.”
Attorney General James Bancroft piped up: “Bob, are you saying what I think you’re saying? To simply let al-Qaida strike? Are you nuts? It would be evident to everyone that we let down our guard. There are too many people involved in national security for something like that.”
“As usual, James, you’re only half right,” replied Haney, only half kidding. “There’ll be an attack at a time and on a target of our choosing that we will successfully intercept with only minimum civilian involvement.” What Haney meant was deaths.
“Prior to the attack, the President will have put the nation on Red Alert, demonstrating his intuitive leadership skills and this administration’s dedication to homeland security. The terrorists will be killed in the operation to prevent any recriminations or circus trials in the middle of the election.”
Even though Haney was surrounded by very sophisticated, very cynical men of the world, only Bishop was ready for this bombshell. Haney had sought him out to test the concept a week after the Congressional hearings wrapped up. Truth be told, he had made the same blunder as Bancroft, assuming the only way to precipitate an attack was to signal the terrorists through back channels that chances of a successful attack were possible. Bishop, who had arranged the accident of the Damone woman at Haney’s behest, refined the idea and presented it to the Vice President three days ago.
Agitated exchanges followed shocked silence as Haney let the idea sink in. He knew there’d be plenty of questions regarding tactics and logistics, but he was confident there would be no reservations as to moral substance. These were his people -- true believers. Their policies had already killed more than 10,000 Americans defending America’s global corporate interests in the Middle East and South Asia. A few dead civilians merely would amount to so much collateral damage in the overall scheme of things. You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs -- and cooking some sausage.
House Republican Majority Leader Antonin DuPrey broke the clamor. “When, where and how do you envision this taking place?”
Haney nodded to Bishop who replied: “In late October from a fishing boat coming up the Chesapeake Bay.”
“Talk about your October Surprise!” chimed in Larry Lauer, CEO of Morality, Inc.
“The closer to the election, the better,” responded Haney. “Voters will still be enraged, and there’ll be no time for the fucking media to begin second guessing.”
Bishop continued: “The Bay makes a perfect venue. It presents numerous logical targets -- Washington, Baltimore, Annapolis, even the Norfolk Naval Yards. Plus, the scenario is the easiest to control versus a plane hijacking or a truck bomb. The Bay is huge, and its shoreline is virtually abandoned. By October, the summer sailing and cottage seasons will be over. Peripheral damages will be negligible.”
“So, what’s on the boat?” asked Bancroft. “A nuke, a dirty bomb, sarin?”
“Nothing that complicated,” replied Bishop. “A dirty bomb or bombs need massive amounts of propellant to cause extensive radioactive damage. Chemicals are too unstable for terrorists to procure and control prior to release. With a nuclear device, there’s just too much possibility the situation could get out of our control.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting there’s any chance this little extravaganza could ‘go wrong, go wrong, go wrong,’” chided Whistler, recalling comedian Bob Newhart’s skit about automated airplanes. “I assume you’ve got safeguards in place.”
“Affirmative, sir,” said Bishop, reverting to his SEALs jargon. “We have redundant failsafes built in at every step along the way. The problem with a nuke is not at our end. If we arranged for al-Qaida to get its hands on such precious cargo, they could very well decide to target a more desirable location, or even sell the device for millions of dollars to another group.
“Our choice of weapon is botulinum toxin. It’s stable and relatively easy to obtain. Its procurement won’t raise suspicions by al-Qaida or, after the fact, by the media. Should it get released for some reason, even with all our precautions, it disperses quickly and will cause limited damage, especially on the Bay or in the open air, should it reach land.”
Randy Sutton continued to press. “Just how do you intend to get al-Qaida to go along with this? You can’t very well call them up and ask them to attack Washington, and ‘Oh, by the way, could you do it in October?’ ”
Haney interceded. “I think it’s best if the details of the operation are left to Tom. All we need to know is that Poseidon has extensive resources abroad that Mr. Bishop has agreed to make available to us. Each activity -- planning, procurement, recruitment, training and delivery -- will be compartmentalized. This will prevent questions arising from his operators who have either infiltrated al-Qaida as members, or become trusted intelligence and supply sources. Be confident that Tom will take whatever appropriate steps are required to deflect any connection between the operation and our personal interest in it. As such, I’ve assured him that any expenses beyond his $20 million contract will be taken care of by the campaign. Stu, will you see to it that a fund is established for ’campaign security’ with the necessary allocations?”
What Haney was referring to were assassinations.
Bishop knew when the strike was intercepted, his Islamic contractors who
were involved could easily piece together the puzzle and figure out that
it was actually Poseidon that had launched the attack on the United States.
When Bishop met with the V.P., he had made it clear the only way to ensure
there would be no breadcrumbs leading back to Poseidon and therefore the
A-Team was to “sanction” these security risks after each had completed
his portion of the task. Since perfect insulation would require eliminating
some of his best assets, requiring expensive recruitment and training of
replacements, as well as Poseidon’s standard bereavement settlements with
the families, he expected those costs to be covered in addition to actual
operation expenses. Haney agreed.
Next in “Saecula:” The Holy Trinity Constitutional Amendments.
by Martin
Gresko
Interested in publishing
this manuscript?
Or to make comments,
CONTACT Martin Gresko at VGABONSUN@hotmail.com
See his biweekly
political column http://www.StPetePost.com
