Chapter 37

37
THE WHITE HOUSE

President Haskill met with Tom Hanneman in the back office while the Joint Chiefs were gathering in the Oval Office down the hall. The President had a look about him that told everyone he was in a Presidential mood and that he was probably going to attempt to be Presidentially demanding. Hanneman dismissed it out of hand. He had seen it before.

"Right now I need to prep you for your meeting with the Joint Chiefs. There is lot going on around the world, mostly centered on Jesus Robeles." Hanneman reached for a note pad. "First, your soldier boys were trying to start a war with Brazil. Admiral Galter ordered ships from the Cuban blockade toward Rio, but they are just now getting underway. Ratcliff moved some assets around to get in on the same plan. It's not clear what they were doing, but the Brazilians know about it. Falau's hot as hell, but he's not saying much, which isn't like him."

"Second, The Vatican is going to get ugly. You'd think we had stolen some of their jewels or something. We still don't want to communicate directly with the Papal Nuncio, but my people have been talking to some lower echelon types. As far as they're concerned, Jesus Robeles, whom they consider to be a helpless waif with a monster check book, has been kidnapped by his lawyer. Where we're heading with this is that if they can't recover control of Jesus, they are going to denounce him as a fake and a fluke of nature. By denounce, I mean really denounce. If that happens we'll be in the middle of it. You'll get your chance to prove the U.S. can conduct two wars simultaneously -- one with Brazil and one with the Vatican." Hanneman was preparing a careful list of his points as he spoke.

"Oh God." the President groaned.

"Finally, and Admiral Peale will probably have more to say about this, the rioting is worse -- lots worse. L.A. was a war zone last night. Same crap. Police won't move on it. Everybody's afraid to call the military after Baltimore. My people talked to the Mayor. His solution to it all is for the Fundamentalists to win and drive the anti-Christ out of town, totally partisan. The guy is more like a damned cheerleader than a concerned public servant. With that going on there's not a chance in hell of peace breaking out before the elections." Hanneman ripped off the top sheet of the note pad and handed it to the President.

"One last thing, Mr. President, without the 'help' of your Joint Chiefs I have managed to arrange to get this Man into the United States. I think we can both see what kind of effort those boys with the bugles are going to bring to the table. This is a time for cool heads. I can manage this thing if I am free to maneuver without the interference of the Congress or the State Department. Legitimate government can work if I have a free hand with this, but if those bunglers get very involved in this my, shall we say, opportunities begin to narrow. I hate these screwed up deals. They can give covert operations a bad name."

"Tom, I would be lost without you. Keep up the good work." President Haskill stood up, "I need to go meet with Peale and the Joint Chiefs. Thanks, again."

President Haskill strolled into the oval office and sat down at his desk. Pointedly leaving Admiral Peale and General Forda to remain standing, a very unusual development for this Commander in Chief. The air in the room was thick with a heady mixture of Presidential panic and gloom. The President's action was clearly not an oversight. The remainder of the Joint Chiefs filed in, early for the meeting, duly shocked by the formality of the scene that greeted them.

"No Danish this morning." Admiral Galter whispering under his breath to General Ratcliff, the Air Force Chief, took the role of a punished school boy .

"Gentlemen. I'd like for each of you to explain to me, one at a time, of course, exactly why I have to read about my intentions to invade Brazil in the morning edition of the New York Times. Or perhaps, I'm just unfortunately not on the 'need-to-know' list. I'll have to be a hell of a lot more convinced than I am right now before this country is going to attack a non-belligerent with whom we have half a dozen mutual defense treaties." The President spoke with surgical precision.

"The nuclear frigates are just a squeeze action, nothing more than a squeeze!" blurted out Admiral Galter. The other officers groaned inwardly. One of their own had shown fear. "The Cuban blockade is just as solid as ever. The blockade group around Cuba is going to be six ships short for two days. We will be adding three ships from the North Atlantic Fleet by tomorrow night. Plus, the squeeze is on now. The Brazilians haven't said anything on the diplomatic level, but the military attache tells me their mad as hell. Mr. President, a gentle push on the Brazilians could net you five to ten points on approval polls. If you want the Brazilians to release their 'Jesus', somebody's gonna' have to get a bloody nose before it's done."

"See! See what I mean! Its provocative, God dammit! You're halfway to starting a damned war and I'm just now finding out! Hell! Better than half way!" President Haskill

"Do you think I hadn't thought about pushing them a little? Damn straight I did! But what do you want me to do? Just pack up this military disaster with my reelection and pitch the whole damn thing in the dumper?

"State has already evaluated the cooperation potential at next to zero with Falau's government. Hell! They're burning U.S. Flags in the streets of Rio! I've got either a riot or something like one in about forty per cent of the cities in this country. The bright side is that there isn't anyone left over from the Jesus Savior Jesus anti-Christ riots to start an anti-war riot."

"Mr. President, we all felt that sailing the Caribbean fleet off their shore would move them a little. You know, move them toward reason. They can't possibly want to get their butts kicked over this guy." Admiral Galter sheepishly offered a means to rehabilitate his actions.

Admiral Peale, National Security Advisor, interrupted. "It's pretty clear that they do. Remember that losing a war to the U.S. is the third world equivalent of the red badge of courage. Look at Iraq. Look at Algeria and Libya. Whatever your intentions, Admiral, you've managed to get a nation of a hundred and forty five million people on full military alert. Regardless of the military prospects, your re-election campaign doesn't want to go there. Mr. President, I strongly urge you to withdraw the Aegis cruisers, at least another two hundred miles, continue the blockade of Cuba -- let them be the kicking boy, they're used to it."

"Admiral Peale, work with State and the spin whizzes to suck the energy out of this war is imminent thing. I want either parakeets standing on that story or fish wrapped in it by the end of this week.

"And gentlemen, don't do anything else until you talk to me." President Haskill's even tone betrayed his seriousness. Everyone present was imagining stars disappearing from his epaulets.