He unmuted the speakerphone and began the call. “Mr. President, this is General Garrett at Command Post Tango.”
“Good morning, General,” the president replied.
It was protocol, of course. There was nothing good about it.
“Do you have your team in place?” the president asked.
“Yes, sir, they’re all here.”
“Then let’s make this quick.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Garrett began. “First let me say on behalf of my entire team, U.S. and ROK, we were deeply shocked and saddened by what happened yesterday, and we want you to know that you have our full support.”
“Thank you, General Garrett,” James replied. “That means a great deal to me.”
The ROK’s top military commander, sitting beside Garrett, also spoke up. “Mr. President, this is General Soon Young Park. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, General Park. I can hear you well.”
“I just wanted to agree with General Garrett. President Woo, my men, and my people are deeply grateful that you are standing with us at this very dark hour, and we want you to know two things, sir. First, we are ready to fight side by side with the American people to bring justice to your people and safety to my own. And second, I want you to know that President Woo and I are devout followers of Jesus Christ. He has known the Lord for many years. But I am from a Buddhist family. I became a follower of Jesus after the Day of Devastation. Anyway, I want you to know that we were on our knees this morning praying for you by name, sir, praying Psalm 32, verse 8, that the Lord would ‘lead you and guide in the way that you should go,’ and that He would ‘counsel you with His eye upon you.’”
James was silent for a beat, clearly moved by the general’s simple yet sincere expression of faith.
“Thank you, General Park. I’m touched, and I’ll take all the prayers I can get,” he finally replied. “Please tell the president how grateful I am, and when all this is over, perhaps both of you and your wives could come for a visit. There is much I would like to discuss with you.”
“I will do that,” General Park said. “It would be a great honor. You can count on us, sir.”
“I’m sure I can, General, and I appreciate it very much.”
Garrett thought the president sounded stronger than he had expected. General Stephens at Mount Weather had told him shortly after Oaks’s assassination that James had been put on antidepressants and painkillers. But to his surprise, the president seemed to have a new sense of calm and confidence that Garrett found reassuring.
“Now, gentlemen,” James said, “let’s get to the business at hand. What does the latest intel show?”
“It’s not good, Mr. President,” General Garrett explained. “The North has two million reservists moving toward the DMZ and two million more being readied for deployment in bases around Pyongyang.”
“Do you think they’ve made the decision to attack?” James asked.
“Strategically, yes, I do, sir,” Garrett said. “Tactically, I’d say they are still another twelve to fifteen hours away.”
“Which means if we’re going to launch a preemptive strike, our window is closing,” the president said.
“Rapidly,” Garrett agreed.
There was a long pause.
“Are all your assets in place if I were to give a launch order?” the president finally asked.
“We could use another six or eight hours,” Garrett conceded. “But yes, sir, we could go now if you gave the order.”
“General Park?” James said.
“Yes, sir, Mr. President?”
“I assume you’re aware that I have spoken to your president.”
“Yes, sir; I just spoke to him myself.”
“He is hoping for some kind of diplomatic solution,” James said. “But he understands the situation I’m in, and the stakes.”
“He does indeed, Mr. President.”
“Is it your military assessment that we should strike first?”
“That is not for me to say, Mr. President,” General Park demurred. “I am a strong believer in the civilian chain of command.”
“I appreciate that,” James said. “But do you see a way to prevent massive casualties in Seoul and the South as a whole if we don’t strike first with the plan that you and General Garrett have drafted for me?”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I don’t.”
“Can we win?” the president asked bluntly.
“We can decimate the North with this strategy,” the general said. “I’m not sure if that will be a victory. I hate to see it come to this, personally. But it will save my people. I do believe this.”
President James paused while considering that, then turned his attention back to his on-site commander. “What am I missing, General Garrett? What are the downsides we’re not talking about?”
It was a good question, Garrett thought. They had discussed the military and political implications for much of the past day. James seemed to be warming, however reluctantly, to the conclusion that he had no other choice but to hit the North hard, fast, and with such cataclysmic force that the regime and its forces could never recover.
“The economy, sir,” he said at last.
“Go ahead.”
“Well, sir, given South Korea’s wrenching historical poverty and the devastating war of the 1950s, you really have to think of this country as an economic miracle,” Garrett noted. “The ROK’s GDP was negligible in 1953. By 2004, it had joined the trillion-dollar-plus club. Now it’s the eleventh largest economy in the world and the third largest in Asia. Exports have grown to more than $325 billion annually. Thirteen percent goes straight to the U.S. What’s more, this Asian tiger is still roaring. For the past few years, her economy has been growing at 5 percent a year or better, in real terms. The contrast with the North — a $40 billion economy, if thaT — is as stunning as it is sad.”
“And all that’s now in jeopardy,” the president noted.
“I’m afraid it is, sir,” Garrett agreed. “The electronics and steel industries, the chemical and plastics industries, and of course automobiles and consumer goods. All of it could be gone by tomorrow. If the North attacks, it’s gone, even if we fight back and win. Our only chance to save the South is to strike the North hard, fast, and now. The implications for the global economy cannot be overstated.”
“By hard, General Garrett, you don’t see an alternative to going nuclear?”
“No, sir, I don’t,” Garrett replied. “I wish there were another way, but there isn’t. Believe me, Mr. President. I run the war games. I run the models. I eat, sleep, and breathe how to protect the South. I don’t relish the idea of killing millions of North Koreans, sir. Not for one moment. But it’s them or us. It’s as simple as that. Don’t forget, sir, we face an enemy who once said he would ‘destroy the world’ or ‘take the world with me’ rather than accept defeat at the hands of the Americans and the ROK.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I do, sir.”
“What about the ’61 treaty with the Chinese?” James asked. “What if Beijing comes to the North’s defense after we attack?”
“I don’t think the Chinese will lift a finger, Mr. President,” Garrett said.
“That’s what the CIA and MacArthur told Truman in 1950,” the president countered. “They were wrong.”
“Yes, Mr. President, they were,” Garrett conceded. “But Truman didn’t go nuclear against Pyongyang. If he had, the Chinese never would have entered the war.”
The president noted for the record that he had not made a final decision. But he ordered the U.S. military to do everything necessary to launch a full-scale nuclear attack against North Korea in the next six to eight hours. He specifically ruled out the use of long-range ballistic missiles, for fear that China could misinterpret the launch of ICBMs as an attack on them. Instead, the president ordered that they prepare B-52s and cruise missiles. But both he and Trainor agreed that if they went forward with this plan, they would have to use absolutely overwhelming force and do so with as much speed and surprise as possible to minimize casualties in Seoul and the rest of South Korea.