Kate agreed with Mr. Brenner and said, “We have no idea what the politics are here, or who owes who what, or who is ready to betray whom.”
I agreed with that, but to continue to play devil’s advocate, I said, “Chet and Buck made a good case for why Sheik Musa could be trusted, and I don’t see any holes in that logic. I mean, what’s in it for Musa to betray us to Al Qaeda? Hellfire missiles. There’s much more in it for him to take our five million bucks to get rid of Al Qaeda and The Panther.” I explained, “That would not only make the Americans happy, but also make the Saudi royal family happy as well as the idiots in Sana’a. It’s a win-win-win for Sheik Musa.”
Kate and Brenner thought about that, and they both nodded, though reluctantly.
Of course there were other parts and pieces to this plan and to the bigger picture. For one thing, Brenner might or might not know that his new friend Kate had whacked a CIA officer. But was that relevant to what was going to happen in Marib? Possibly.
And then there was the Political Security Organization. Yemen’s CIA. Birds of a feather, as Buck said in an unguarded moment. Why did Chet not address the question of his Yemeni counterparts?
Kate, thinking along the same lines, said, “Chet never mentioned the PSO, the National Security Bureau, or the Yemeni Army. That’s like totally discounting the fact that even this place has a security apparatus.” She added, “Colonel Hakim knows from the prisoner where The Panther was last seen, and he can guess that we’re going there.”
Brenner agreed. “This is true. We could wind up in a confrontation with the army, the NSB, or the PSO.”
The devil’s advocate replied, “The tribes and Al Qaeda rule in Marib province, and the security forces are scarce there. So maybe that’s why Chet didn’t address that.” I added, “Or Operation Clean Sweep has been cleared with the Yemeni government at the highest levels, but neither Chet nor Buck is authorized to share political information.”
Again, Kate and Brenner nodded reluctantly.
I’m smart enough not to believe my own bullshit, and I certainly didn’t believe Chet’s bullshit or Buck’s bullshit. In fact, there was something else going on here, and I was beginning to get a picture of what it was. But not so clear that I could put it into words and share it with Kate or Brenner, or confront Chet or Buck with my suspicions.
Brenner was worried about Sheik Musa, and Kate was worried that The Panther would smell a trap, and they were both worried about the Yemeni authorities. My worry was the CIA. I mean, it was their plan. And there seemed to be something wrong with the plan. And the CIA, for all its faults, is not stupid. So if the plan seemed flawed, it really wasn’t. The fact was, there was actually another plan.
But to calm the troops, I said, “Bottom line, Chet and Buck are putting their asses on the line with us.” I said to Brenner, “In the Army, you would never send your men on a mission that you yourself wouldn’t go on or didn’t believe in. Correct?”
He nodded.
So we kicked this around for a few minutes while the mullah was working himself into a frenzy about Amrika or whatever. I mean, the whole Mideast was fucked up long before we got here, and it would be fucked up long after we left. And with all the Jews gone, who are they going to blame for all their problems? Amrika. Truth is, as Al Rasul told me, they really hated themselves. Nevertheless, we were about to give them another reason to hate us—a whack job perpetrated by the infidels on the sacred soil of Islam.
Brenner said, “Well, we have to make a decision.”
I informed him, “The decision has already been made. Unless you two can come up with a fatal flaw in this plan—something other than it sounds dangerous—then we’re getting on that plane tonight and flying to Marib.” I reminded everyone, “We all volunteered for this. And what did we think we were volunteering for?”
Brenner looked at me and said, “I’ve volunteered for missions in Vietnam and other places that were more dangerous than this. But I always had guys I could trust to watch my back. We don’t have that here.”