"Tell you what, Harry? The attack occurred in the middle of the night last night. What do you think I'm doing now? I'm telling you!", I responded.
"You have been preparing for war!? You didn't think the American public had a right to know this!?", he pushed.
"No, not particularly. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines spend their entire time preparing for war. It's what they do. How they do it, that we keep secret."
"Mister President, you have an obligation to tell Congress and the American people when you put American troops in harm's way!"
"Maybe so, Senator, but I also have an obligation to those troops, and to their wives and husbands and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters, and that obligation is a whole lot more important to me than whatever obligation you have to the fine folk in Las Vegas. I can keep my mouth shut a whole hell of a lot easier than some of your counterparts, so I sleep easy at night if I don't tell Congress everything we are doing!", I answered.
There were some angry looks at that! How dare I tell them that Congressmen and Senators couldn't keep a secret!? How insulting! Of course, if I had said anything to them, it would have made the evening news that day, but only from the highest of motives, I am sure.
Denny Hastert decided to play the peacemaker. "Okay, Carl, that's beside the point. What have you authorized and what is the plan?"
I nodded in thanks, and gave them a more detailed rundown on what would be happening, and a semi-accurate timetable. I also cautioned them all to keep their mouths shut for the next 24 hours. Nancy Pelosi responded, "Is that really possible, Mister President? Right now you have issued alert orders to half the military, and there are troops flying out of Fort Bragg as we speak!"
I opened my mouth to counter her, and then shut it. She was right! "Nancy, that is a very good point. It's probably already made it onto CNN, hasn't it?" I smiled and shook my head. "Well, I will speak tonight to the nation and make it official."
"How long will this last, sir, and what is the outcome you want?", asked Bill Frist. He was a heart surgeon who ended up a Senator, sort of like a mathematician who ended up a Congressman.
"How long? Not sure. At best, a few months, but that's a long shot. Probably through the summer, at least. The outcome? We want to see Kurdish independence and to settle Saddam Hussein's hash once and for all!", I said, shrugging my shoulders.
There were some people looking at each other. John said, "You're going to need a war resolution in the Senate, at least."
I looked at the Senators in the room. "Probably so. I'll be honest. I have no idea how to go about doing that. Bill, Harry, I am going to need your help on this. I will get Carter Braxton to talk to your staffs and you, and see about doing that. He's better at that than I am. In the meantime, pick out some people on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees and we'll get them into a briefing with the Pentagon tomorrow."
There were some nods at that, and then I got an interesting question from John Boehner. "Sorry you shut down the guys who wanted to invade Iraq in 2001?"
"Why, because now we have to do it anyway?", I countered. He nodded, and there were a few semi-smiles around the room. I shook my head. "No, not really. It's one of those things we take classes on in the service. If we had attacked Iraq five years ago, on the basis of faked evidence and a desire to conquer the country, that would be an offensive war, a war of aggression. We would have had to go in alone, without any international support. This is a defensive war, where we are defending people against weapons of mass destruction, and we already have a number of nations who have promised help. There's a world of difference. We have the moral high ground on this, in spades." I thought for a second, and added, "Go talk to Lindsey Graham. He's a reserve JAG lawyer. He can give you chapter and verse on the laws of war and the concept of a 'just' war. This stuff dates back to the Middle Ages."
A few of the people looked skeptical, but there were also some thoughtful looks in the group. At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Will Brucis stuck his head in. I waved him in. "Will, I just informed the leadership here about the Kurdish operation. What's up?"
"It's public, sir.", he told me.
"The Kurdish operation?"
"Yes, sir. CNN is reporting that the 82nd Airborne has received deployment orders and is doing an emergency recall and cancelling all leaves. I also have had at least three phone calls for a comment."
I looked over at Nancy Pelosi. "Nancy, it looks like you're smarter than I am. Good call." I turned back to Will. "Tell everyone I will be speaking to the nation this evening, and start getting the cameras set up. I need to speak to Matt and Marc, but I will tell everyone tonight. Also, tell the Pentagon to be prepared to answer questions tomorrow."
"Got it!"
Will ducked out again, and I turned back to the leadership. "Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to get ready for this evening. When I learn more, I will let you know. Thank you." With that I stood up, and I received a chorus of 'Thank you, Mister President.'
At 7:30 that night I spoke to the nation from the Oval Office. The military mobilizations were the main topic of the national news that evening, along with reports of combat in Iraq. Nobody knew about the chemical weapons yet, or the American casualties. At 7:00, the networks all ran special reports on what was happening, and made their predictions of what I was going to say that evening. Their prediction? That I was going to talk about the mobilizations! Circular logic in full force.
At 7:30 I found myself looking into a camera with a red light on it, and with one eye glancing at the teleprompter. A producer began giving me a countdown, and then as we got down to five seconds, he shut up and began counting down with his fingers. At zero, he waved and pointed at me. Show time!
"My fellow Americans, thank you for allowing me to speak to you this evening. By now you have already heard that our nation's armed forces are mobilizing, and that some have already been sent into danger. I wish tonight to explain what has happened, and why this response was necessary.
In 1991, following the Gulf War, President Bush instituted two no-fly zones over Iraq. The southern zone was designed to protect the Shiite marsh Arabs from attack by the Iraqi Sunnis, and the northern zone was designed to protect the Kurdish people from a similar attack. For fifteen years, despite relentless provocation, America has protected these minorities from the attacks of Saddam Hussein and his army.
In northern Iraq, the Kurdish people have formed an independent nation under this protection, the Republic of Kurdistan. The Kurds are an ancient people, with their own language and culture. During this time of protection, they have formed a democratic government, have instituted elections, and have conducted peaceful foreign relations and trade with neighboring nations. For several years now, American Special Forces soldiers have worked with the Kurdish armed forces, training them and in turn learning from them.
Until 1991, the Iraqis tried on several occasions to destroy the Kurds, and several of their attacks used chemical weapons. Following the Gulf War and the establishment of the no-fly zone, Iraqi aggression has been on hold. For the last month, however, Saddam Hussein has been moving armed forces towards the border of Kurdistan, and has been making a wide variety of threatening statements. When the intentions of Saddam Hussein became obvious, we immediately began to mobilize diplomatic power across the region to force the Iraqis to back down. We also began a quiet mobilization and preparation of our own.
It is my sad duty to say that our diplomatic efforts to restrain Iraqi aggression have failed. Late last night, Iraqi ground forces began an armored assault on the Kurdish border regions. The Kurdish military, the Peshmerga, are fighting valiantly, but they are outnumbered and outgunned. Worse, in addition to conventional weapons, Saddam Hussein has ordered the use of chemical weapons on unarmed civilians in the region. I am sorry to report that there have been American casualties, along with those of our Kurdish allies. Chemical weapons are one of the most hateful and terrible weapons available, and their usage cannot be allowed or tolerated.