“We will begin with your amigo.”
Harold Whittman, White House Press Secretary answered questions from the White House Press Corp while CNN and FOX cameras sat in the back of the room.
Frederick Thompson from the New York Times asked the first question. “In view of the many years in which the Iranians claimed to be developing nuclear technology to produce energy for peaceful purposes, how do you account for yesterday’s test? Did the president and the military believe that to be true all this time?”
“That’s a fair question, Fred. The president never had conclusive information on this one way or the other. The CIA provided many reports through the years and there was never anything which pointed one way or the other. Of course, everyone had their suspicions that they could be lying to us. I can’t speak for the previous president and could only guess at the information that he was privy to and what he thought. Now I can tell you that President Landenberger never believed it for one moment. He inherited this problem and up to now had no opportunity to act upon it.”
He pointed to Linda Petoskey from Newsweek. “Why hasn’t the United States done something to stop the Iranians from developing the bomb? It has been reported that they set off one of the largest explosions in history. What is a bomb this size capable of?”
“Well Linda, another great question and right to the point.” He chuckled. “To answer your first part of your question I can say the United States has done many things to try and stop the Iranians from developing WMD of any size. Over the years there have been various sanctions and we worked with the UN to discourage it in any way we could. We told the Russians, the Chinese and North Korea we did not like them providing Iran with materials to produce a weapon and had many discussions with them about this.
“Now on to the next part of your question; as far as we can figure yesterday’s test produced a forty-two megaton explosion. Whether it was under forty or over forty is up for debate, however the IRIB reported it as ‘forty megaton or larger’. As to what it can do… hmm I understand it could blow away a city.”
“Could it blow away New York City — Manhattan?”
“I imagine it could.”
“How many would die in an event like this, including the fallout that would follow?”
“I really am not an expert nor is the president; however we can say with some certainty that millions could possibly die. Next question.”
“If you pull that trigger you will be dead within the hour.” Robinson stared down the leader, Red Dog II.
“Phsst! You lie. I have orders to kill all those who are in here.”
“I’d bet your orders do not include shooting important American diplomats who will back your government. If you shoot me it will be an act of war upon the United States. It will bring an end to your coup. They will hunt you down like yellow dogs and string you and your men out in the sun to dry.”
“You lie. You are no one of any importance to us.”
“I’d bet your commander Red Dog I would disagree. If you are wrong and shoot me, what would he do to you?”
The man lowered the gun. “Red Dog I? You know of him, Americano?’”
“It was a lucky guess… Red Dog III… Red Dog II.”
“You are very convincentes,” He glanced at his men who would certainly report this incident. His left eye began to twitch. “You are lying to save your life. You do not trick Diego.” He placed the P38 back to his head. “Who are you?”
Robinson reached for his vest pocket and a dozen machine-guns pointed at him. “Hold on. No reason to get excited. I have a picture with me taken just two days ago and you will see.”
“Do not make any sudden moves, gringo.”
“OK — I am moving slowly.” He brought out the digital camera and brought up the photos he had taken two days before at the UN and moved alongside Red Dog II. There were some shots taken previously with the White House staff and then the photo he wanted appeared. “Do you recognize this man?”
“Ah Si Señor. President Landenberger — and you are standing with him!” A broad smile crossed his face and displayed a perfect set of pearly teeth — except for one that stunningly ruined his appearance.
“I am his right hand man, much like Red Dog I and II.”
“Si— I will not kill you. Red Dog I can make that decision. I will personally skin you alive and feed you to my dogs if you are lying to me.”
“You are most wise.”
Diego pointed the P38 at Santiago and pumped a bullet into him, then two more while the body lay helpless. “You are scum and have betrayed your county. Long live Justice for All Venezuelans.”
The others chimed in, “Justicia para todos los venesolanos!”
“Take the gringo to the wine cellar with the others until General Rio decides what to do with him. It will be the firing squad for you, amigo.”
Ned Salinger of the Washington Post raised his hand and was chosen for a question.
“What rating would you give a president that allows our most terrifying enemy to produce such a weapon when it has always been within our means to stop it?”
“I can’t answer a question that is personal. I can tell you that the president thinks he is doing an excellent job. I imagine he would give himself an ‘A’.”
“Give me a break, Herald. The President of the United States is the commander of the most powerful military force on this planet and his one job is to protect its citizens. Would it be fair to say that he has failed in that responsibility?”
“No, no. Much of this you must understand is the fault of the previous presidents as any one of them had the power to stop it and, for one reason or another, felt it was not in our best interest to do any more than they did. Bear in mind that the president possesses information the rest of us don’t have and is surrounded by experts who assist him in arriving at proper and responsible actions.”
“It is nice that he can give himself an ‘A’ while the rest of us give him an ‘F.’ Admit it. He has failed and all the previous presidents have failed in their responsibility to keep America safe. Add the fact that we have fifteen million Mexicans running around our country and we haven’t a clue who they are!”
“You should stick to the subject and I find your comments about our Mexican friends an—”
“Admit it; our country has been going to hell in a hand basket for years.”
“Next question goes to—”
“Hey — I haven’t finished yet!”
“You asked a question and I answered it.” Harold sipped a glass of water and pointed to Chip from WorldNetDaily. “Next question; Chip, go ahead.”
“I think Ned has point. I guess we should move on. Now that the untruths of the Iranian threat has surfaced, what exactly will the president do to see that Iran does not use the WMD anywhere in the world; specifically Israel?”
“Hey! You still have not answered my—”
“Could you return to your seat. Your turn is over.”
“You still haven’t—”
“You are out of line. I will have you removed if—” Harold took another sip from the glass. “Please do not force me to—”
“I will not. This whole thing is a—”
“Security! Security please! If this person continues could you remove him?” An ugly scuffle followed in which Ned Salinger found himself standing in the hallway outside the Press Room. He was never seen in the Press Room again.
The President of Iran, Khalilullah 'Abd al-Wahhab addressed the General Assembly.
“And there has been much discussion of the recent test that took place in my homeland. I can assure you our intentions have always been to promote peace throughout the Middle East and throughout the world. Our people are a nation of peacemakers and we have no ambitions that go beyond our borders. It is Allah that has called us to protect ourselves and has blessed us with the ability to manufacture a powerful force that will be used to protect our borders. No more tests are planned as our scientists were merely experimenting with an untried method for producing electric energy that went astray and resulted in this large explosion….”