Foreign Agent

CHAPTER 11

The Secretary of State looked at the map on the monitors and shook his head. “I think I’d rather cancel our Visa Waiver Program. The fallout would be minuscule in comparison.”

President Porter nodded. “I agree. The fallout from my idea would be massive. So massive, in fact, that something might actually get done.”

“And in addition to deep-sixing our diplomatic relations with every Muslim nation in the region, if not around the world, we’re going to throw the Brits and the French under the bus too.”

“Don’t forget Israel,” the National Security Advisor stated. “They’re going to lose their minds over this.”

“Israel is tough,” replied Porter. “They can hold their own. Even so, we’ll make sure to give them an advance warning.”

“Can we back up here a second?” the Attorney General asked. “For those of us rusty on their history, would somebody unpack this?”

The President enlightened him. “Did you ever see the movie Lawrence of Arabia?”

“Years ago.”

“That’s what this is all about. When the Ottoman Empire aligned itself with Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I, the Brits and the French were worried that the Ottomans would cut off key shipping access and cripple their economies.

“They needed to get the Arabs to fight against the Ottomans, and so the Brits sent in T. E. Lawrence to convince them. They were promised everything under the sun, including Arab rule over a new, united Kingdom of Greater Syria.”

The Attorney General looked at the map on the monitors. It was from 1851 and was labeled Ottoman Syria. It encompassed present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and slices of Iraq and Jordan.

“There was just one problem,” Porter continued. “The Brits and the French never intended to honor any promises they were making to the Arabs. They’d just be trading one caliphate for another.

“With Russia’s blessing, two diplomats — Sir Mark Sykes of Great Britain and François Georges-Picot of France — secretly formulated a plan between their governments to carve up the Middle East in the event the Ottoman Empire was defeated. It became known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement and resulted in entirely new borders being drawn.

“It threw the region off balance, and by keeping it off balance, the Brits and the French were able to control it. This control allowed them to carve out a state for the Jewish people. This is the land ISIS wants. It’s why they have also called themselves ISIL — the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“What modern countries form the Levant?” the President asked, as he turned and pointed at the map. “Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel.”

Turning back around, he said, “What they want is what the Brits promised them a hundred years ago. They want their Arab caliphate.”

“And you want to give that to them?” the National Security Advisor asked. “Why?”

“I don’t want to give these butchers anything. What I want, is to put the entire damn region on notice. You said it yourself, we can’t reform Islam. Only the Islamic world can. This may be our magic wand.”

“If we challenge, or even question, the validity of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, it could destabilize the entire region. And if we walk away from it, that’s it. Game over. Every single one of those governments will be overthrown.”

The President looked at him. “That sounds to me like a pretty good reason for them to get their acts together.”

“But you’d also be challenging the very validity of Israel. As soon as this fire starts burning, it’ll swallow them up. Their neighbors will overrun them.”

“You let me worry about Israel,” Porter replied. “This isn’t about them. This is about forcing the hand of the Muslim nations in the Middle East to commence reform.”

“There’s just one thing missing from your plan,” the Secretary of State said. “Saudi Arabia. They’re not part of Sykes-Picot, but they’re the very heart of Sunni Islam. Without them on board, none of this will make it past go.”

The President looked at his CIA Director and nodded. It was apparent that they had discussed this issue before.

“We can handle the Saudis.”

“Excuse me?” the Secretary of State said.

“You heard me.”

“Yeah, I heard you. What I want to know is how you plan to handle them. I’ve been around a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever heard the words handle and Saudis in the same sentence.”

“Well,” McGee replied, “you just did.”

The Secretary of State looked at the President. “Sir, what the hell are we about to do?”

“You’re going to have to trust us,” Porter responded.

“With all due respect, what I’m going to have to do is answer for all of this. I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s going on.”

“One step at a time. First we go after the people behind the Anbar and Antalya attacks. Then we go after everything else.”

Looking then at the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the President added, “I want an immediate response plan drawn up. I want to see a strike package on my desk within the next two hours. Who, what, where we’ll hit in ISIS territory. The American people expect us to respond.”

“So does ISIS,” replied the Chairman.

“Then let’s give everyone something they’ll never forget.”

As the meeting broke up and people began filing out, the President’s Chief of Staff motioned him back to the head of the conference table.

“What’s going on?” Porter asked.

“This came in during the meeting. I didn’t want to bother you with it.”

The President looked down at the man’s laptop. Senator Daniel Wells of Iowa had not only put out a video statement about the murder of Secretary of Defense Richard Devon, but his campaign was subtly using it as a fund-raising mechanism.

“That’s a new low, even for him,” Porter said.

“Normally, I’d suggest we ignore it, but this is pretty egregious.”

“Where’d you find it?”

“I use a bogus email address to subscribe to his newsletter.”

“So, in other words,” said the President, “this is only being sent to the choir.”

“At the moment,” his Chief of Staff replied. “But I guarantee you all the Sunday shows subscribe to his newsletter as well.”

“Right now, Sunday is a lifetime away.”

“It may feel like that, but it isn’t. Trust me.”

“And you need to trust me, a lot can happen between now and Sunday.”