Transfer of Power

Pentagon, 12:48 p.m.

THE JOINT CHIEFS briefing room was once again crowded with people. Gone were the politicians from yesterday, replaced by members of the military’s Joint Special Operations Command and the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. At the far end of the table, FBI Director Roach was accompanied by several of his deputy directors, his international and domestic terrorism chiefs, and the commander of the Hostage Rescue Team, Sid Slater.

Skip Mcmahon had been left back at the command post to keep an eye on things and to get the debriefing of the recently released group of hostages started. Secret Service Director Tracy was also present with several of his deputies, and CIA Director Stansfield and Irene Kennedy were seated next to Flood at the head of the table, opposite the FBI contingent.

The rest of the table was dominated with Pentagon brass and Special Forces types.

General Flood was far more comfortable with this audience than he had been with the one the day before. He would not have to mince words with this group; they all spoke his language. Flood’s confidence was also bolstered by the briefing he had received from Stansfield and Kennedy an hour earlier.

Now that he had a clearer picture of what Aziz had in mind, he could prepare his battle plan, and as far as the general was concerned, it was exactly that, a battle plan. Flood and Stansfield had come to the conclusion, after the early morning debacle at the White House, that Vice President Baxter did not have the fortitude and vision to lead them through this crisis.

Those were Stansfield’s words; the general had actually used the words “nuts” and “guts.”

It came down to the issue of history. Flood had explained.

Not in the sense of making it as much as setting a precedent. As a military historian Flood knew all too well the pitfalls of taking the easy road in times of crisis, of negotiating for today without an eye to the future. In the not-so-recent past, Neville Chamberlain had shown all the world, and future generations, how appeasement and negotiations worked when dealing with a madman. More recently, George Bush had given a valuable lesson in how to deal with a megalomaniac. Simply cutting off an arm does not suffice; pulling up short of a complete victory is not enough; the only way to solve the problem is to lop off the head of the man behind the aggression.

The general had decided he would do everything in his significant power to end the crisis at the White House in a quick and decisive manner.

Negotiating, delaying, handing over concessions, were all a distraction from the big picture-the future of international terrorism and how it affected the national security of america the money they had released this morning had instantly saved the lives of twenty-five people, but how many lives would it cost down the road? How much of that money would be used to train and fund terrorists, how much of it would be used to strike against America and her citizens both abroad and at home?

Flood and Stansfield had made a pact to do everything possible to persuade the vice president to take action-to make sure Rafique Aziz did not walk out of the White House alive. Their options were plentiful, as the United States was fortunate to have not one but three highly skilled, world-class counterterrorist strike teams: the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the Army’s Delta Force, and the Navy’s SEAL Team Six. These three groups fired more ammunition in one year than an entire division of marines, and it paid off. Each of the three units always had teams on standby, referred to as go-teams When on the go-team rotation, one was expected to stay close to home, carry a pager twenty-four-seven, and be ready to drop everything and hightail it to HQ in two hours or less. For the FBI, they scrambled out of the HRT’s headquarters in Quantico, Virginia; for SEAL Team Six, it was Little Creek, Virginia; and for Delta Force, it was Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Yesterday morning, when the White House was hit, the pagers started going off, and within hours all three teams were converging on the White House, vying for intelligence and position. There was a competitive edge between the three that was fostered more than anything by shooting competitions and mock take downs They all shared information on training and lessons learned in the field and were respectful of each other, but in the end they each thought their team was the best.

This was where the problems started. Like three quarterbacks fighting for the starting spot, they clashed, invariably, because of egos. And make no mistake about it, the men who ran these teams had huge egos.

This was the issue General Flood was going to try to handle.

The general looked down at the assemblage and started calmly, “We have been given full authority by the vice president to prepare plans for the rescue of the hostages and the retaking of the White House. It goes without saying that none of what we are about to discuss is for public consumption.”

Pausing, the general held up a finger.

“First issue. There is a certain myth that has been promulgated over the last several decades that we are forbidden by law to use the American military in domestic policing operations. In my mind, and the minds of many others, including Director Roach, this very narrow interpretation of the law does not apply to our current crisis. This is not Waco or Ruby Ridge; this is a paramilitary assault on a federal building by foreign soldiers, and we are going to use every resource at our disposal to resolve this conflict.”

The general paused to make his point clear.

“We have three top-notch counterterrorist strike teams at our disposal, and we plan on using all of you in one way or another.” Flood looked at the leaders of each unit to make sure he was understood.”!

“I am a firm believer in interservice rivalries. It’s a great training tool that helps instill unit cohesion and a sense of fighting pride. But,” cautioned the general, “there is no place for that rivalry in war, and this is war. Over twenty people have died already, and we are sure to lose more. Now, I have been receiving reports about little turf wars flaring up around the White House between your people.” Flood looked individually at the leaders of Delta, HRT, and SEAL Team Six.

“As of this moment, this bickering is over,” growled Flood. The general let his words sink in.

“We know what your strengths are.

Delta is best at taking down airliners and has a slight edge on airborne assaults, HRT is best at negotiating and has the most practical experience in standoffs, and SEAL Team Six has a clear edge in jumping, diving, and explosives.”

Flood pointed to the director of the FBI.

“I have already consulted with Directors Roach, Tracy, and Stansfield and General Campbell, and we are in agreement on the following deployment of assets. First”-the general stressed the word and held up his forefinger-“the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team will deploy across the street from the West Wing in the Executive Office Building and make plans for a ground assault. If we need to go in on short notice, HRT will probably be our first option.” Flood shifted his attention to Colonel Bill Gray, the man in charge of Delta Force. Gray was a former ranger and had been with Delta since its inception in 1977. “Billy, you and your people still know your way around Andrews, National, Dulles, and Baltimore?”

“Yes, General.” One of Delta Force’s specialties was handling hijackings, and they had developed the good habit of gathering advance site intelligence at potential airports. With the cooperation of airport officials, Delta would send operators to various installations to learn the ropes as mechanics, flight attendants, baggage handlers, and a variety of other skills that might come in handy in the event of a hijacking. Delta also liked to conduct security checks on the airports to see how their systems, procedures, and people would stand up.

Delta’s operators would ferret around the facilities, sometimes announced and sometimes unannounced, and check out underground runway tunnels, rooftop sniping positions, and other areas of interestthe simple logic being, the more advance work they did, the easier it would be to handle a real crisis.

Flood continued ”Good. We’ve decided to use Delta Force to handle anything that goes down at the airports, and also, as an airborne strike force if needed.” Flood looked at Colonel Gray.

“General Campbell will brief you on the deployment of your assets later.” The general pulled back and looked around the room.

“This is no Waco, ladies and gentlemen. Once we go in, we go in and we keep going in until we take the building.

If we send HRT through the door, we need Delta Force up in the air and ready to come in hot.” Flood looked to SEAL Team Six’s commanding officer, Dan Harris, the same man who had helped Rapp kidnap Fara Harut.

“SEAL Team Six is going to play two roles. First and foremost they are to advise both Delta and HRT on explosives, and secondly they will be used as the primary chase team. If aziz leaves the country. Six will pursue.” Hood had other plans for SEAL Team Six, but he was not about to discuss them in front of the group. “Director Roach and I have decided that General Campbell, of the Joint Special Operations Command”-Flood pointed across the table at the bristly haired ranger-“will coordinate the activities of all three units. Dr. Irene Kennedy”-Flood gestured to his left-“from the CIA, will commence an intelligence briefing in this room as soon as I’m finished. Each unit will also be augmented with Secret Service agents who will act as liaison officers in regards to questions about the floor plans of the White House and the West Wing, where we currently believe the majority of the hostages are being held.”

Flood paused for a moment and looked at his watch.

“I want fully briefed strike teams in place and ready to move by twenty-one hundred this evening. That gives us eight hours.”

Looking at the other members of the Joint Chiefs sitting around him.

Flood said, “These men and their units are our number one priority. If they ask for something, they get it.”

Then addressing the entire group, the general said, “Dr. Kennedy will now brief you on the intelligence situation.

Director Roach”-Flood nodded to the head of the FBI-“The show is yours.

Director Stansfield and I have some business to attend to. “With that, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs started for the door as Stansfield slowly rose out of his chair.

When the two men reached the door. Flood grabbed one of his aides and said, “Wait five minutes and then bring Admiral Devbe and Lieutenant Commander Harris to my office.”