head of the Department of Homeland Security.
And yet they have. The president sighed deeply. That very issue occupied a good part of my contentious phone conversation. Their claim is that our forensics team rigged the so-called evidencetheir presidents exact phrase.
Why would he give the order to shoot down one of our planes? Veronica Hart asked.
At which Halliday shot her a withering look. Hes tired of taking heat for their nuclear program. Weve been pushing them, now theyre pushing back.
The way I see it, this provocation actually serves two purposes, Hernandez offered. As Bud accurately points out, it redirects the international spotlight away from their nuclear program while at the same time serving as a warning to usand the rest of the world, for that matterto back off.
Let me get this straight. Hart leaned forward. Youre saying theyve decided to go beyond their long-standing threats to close off the Straits of Hormuz to oil traffic.
Mueller nodded. Thats right.
But surely they must know thats suicidal.
Halliday watched this exchange much as a hawk follows two rabbits racing across a field. Now he pounced. Weve all suspected that the Iranian president is mentally unbalanced.
A mad hatter, Hernandez affirmed.
Halliday agreed. But far more dangerous. He looked around the room, his face eerily lit by reflections from the large flat-panel computer monitors ranged along the walls. Now we have incontrovertible proof.
Hernandez gathered up the printouts, aligning their corners. I think we should take our findings public. Share them with the media, not just our allies.
Halliday looked to the president. I concur, sir. And then we convene a special session of the UN Security Council that you address personally. We need to formally give attribution to this cowardly act of terrorism.
We need to charge and condemn Iran, Mueller added. Theyve committed nothing short of an act of war.
Right. Hernandez hunched his shoulders like a prizefighter in the ring. Bottom line, weve got to move against them militarily.
Now, that would be suicidal, Hart said emphatically.
I agree with the DCI, Halliday said.
This response was so unexpected that Hart goggled at him for a moment. Then he continued and everything was made clear to her.
Going to war with Iran would be a mistake. Just as were on the verge of winning the war in Iraq, were obliged to redeploy our troops back to Afghanistan. No, a frontal assault on Iran would, in my estimation, be a grave misstep. Not only would it stretch our already overtaxed military personnel, but the consequences for other countries in the region, especially Israel, could be catastrophic. However, if we could destroy the current Iranian regime from withinnow, that would be a worthy goal.
To do that we would need a proxy, Hernandez said, as if on cue. A destabilizing influence.
Halliday nodded. Which, by dint of hard work, we now have in the form of this new indigenous revolutionary group inside Iran. I say we hit Iran on two fronts: diplomatically through the United Nations and militarily by backing this MIG in every way possible: money, arms, strategic advisers, the works.
I agree, Mueller said. However, to implement the MIG initiative well need a black budget.
And well have to have it yesterday, Hernandez added, which means keeping Congress in the dark.
Halliday laughed, but there was an altogether serious look on his face. So what else is new? The only thing those people are interested in is getting reelected. As for whats good for the country, they havent got a clue.
The president placed his elbows on the polished table, his fists against his mouth in a pose of deep meditation that was emblematic of him. As he processed the decisions, their implications, and their possible consequences, his eyes flicked from one of his advisers to the next. At length, his gaze returned to the DCI. Veronica, we havent heard from you. Whats your opinion of this scenario?
Hart considered for a moment; her response was too important to rush it. She was aware of Hallidays eyes on her, glittering and avid. Theres no question that the missile that killed our citizens was an Iranian Kowsar 3 so I agree with the diplomatic response, and the sooner the better because gathering a worldwide consensus is crucial.
You can forget about China and Russia, Halliday said. Theyre too tightly allied with Iran economically to take our side no matter the evidence, which is why we need the third column to foment revolution from the inside out.
Now we come to the crux of it, Hart thought. My problem with the military part is