Only the president had been told the truth. Lawrence and Hood had spoken briefly before the others had come to Hood's office. The president seemed neither shaken nor pleased by what Hood told him. Lawrence said only that he supported the plan from this point forward. The president's "no comment" did not surprise Hood. It would give him the room to praise or lambaste the NCMC at the end of the day, depending upon how things went.
President Lawrence did suggest, however, that the Pakistani ambassador to Washington be told the truth at once. He did not want Islamabad or Ambassador Simathna issuing statements about America's anti-Muslim activities or pro-India bias. If Mike were to show up with the cell after that it would taint the validity of the operation. It would seem as if America had forced Nanda to lie to repair bridges with Pakistan and the Muslim world.
Hood gave that job to Ron Plummer. He also wanted Plummer to stay with the ambassador, ostensibly to brief him on all the latest developments. In fact, Hood wanted to make certain the truth did not leak out prematurely. He was afraid that India might respond with a massive strike in the region. Since the terrorists were still on the run, and still being blamed for all the bombings, New Delhi would have the moral high road and world opinion on their side.
As the meeting was ending Hood received a call from Bob Herbert.
"I just spoke with Brett August and I've got some good news," Herbert informed him. "He's linked up with the cell."
Hood motioned for Ron Plummer not to leave and to shut the door. The small, slender political liaison closed the door behind Lowell Coffey. Plummer remained standing.
"Thank God for that," Hood said. "Bob, Ron's in here with me. I'm putting you on speakerphone."
"Okay," Herbert said. "Anyway, we were right," he went on. "The Pakistanis did spin off another group. Nanda Kumar and her grandfather are part of it, along with Ron Friday and one Pakistani. And you were correct, Paul. They're headed across the Siachin Glacier."
"Did Brett talk to Mike?" Hood asked.
"Not yet," Herbert replied. "They've got electrostatic interference from an ice storm on the plateau. Brett says the ice comes in waves. He's going to keep trying for a window."
Hood suddenly felt very guilty about his warm office and fully functional telephone.
"Paul, I have a suggestion," Herbert said. "I think we should ask the Pakistanis for help in extracting the teams. After all, it's their butts we're hauling out of the fire."
"We can't do that," Plummer told him.
"Why not?" Herbert asked.
"If the situation is as tense as Paul's described, an incursion by the Pakistani air force would only make it worse. It would give the Indian military more incentive to attack."
"At least then it would be a conventional fight," Herbert said.
"Not necessarily," Plummer said, "especially if there are Pakistani silos somewhere in the mountains. Also, we'd be giving Pakistan foreknowledge of a possible nuclear strike. That might encourage Islamabad to hit first."
"A jihad," Hood said.
"The clerics might call it that," Plummer said. "For the generals it would simply be a responsible tactical maneuver. The situation is hair-trigger enough without throwing more partisan armies into the fray."
"What about the United States sending additional forces into the mountains?" Hood suggested.
"That's not going to happen," Herbert said gravely. "Even if the Joint Chiefs and the president okayed a strike force out of Turkey or the Middle East, it would take hours for them to get there."
"There's one thing I'm missing here," Plummer said. "Why do we need a military response? Can't we let India know what their Special Frontier Force unit did? I'm sure that very few government officials knew about the plot to frame the terrorists."
"I'm sure it was a very tight conspiracy," Hood agreed. "The problem is we have no idea who was in it."
"Someone is obviously tapped into the Op-Center-New Delhi pipeline," Herbert said. "How else could they have known about Striker's mission? Anyway, before the bombing the moderate Indians might have done something. But Kev Custer has been monitoring the TV and radio broadcasts over there. There's a fast-growing grassroots movement in support of the militants."
"Meaning that moderates may be afraid to speak out," Hood said.
"Exactly," Herbert said.
"What about the United Nations secretary-general?" Plummer said. "You know her, Paul. Forget the bad blood between you. She's Indian. She'll have a very good reason to get out the facts about the attack."
"Mala Chatterjee?" Herbert said. "She's so soft on terrorism her speeches turn even bleeding hearts into a lynch mob. She flapped her lips while hostages were being assassinated in the Security Council."
"Chatterjee has far too many enemies of her own," Hood agreed. "At this point her involvement would only make things worse."
"I'll say it again, Paul. Maybe the Russians would be willing to help rein India in," Herbert said. "They want to be seen as serious peacemakers."
"Possibly," Hood said. "But even if we went to them, wouldn't time be a problem?"
"Time and recent history," Plummer said. "Pakistan has very close ties with Afghanistan. There are still a lot of Russian leaders who would like to see both countries pounded flat."
"But a continued stalemate between India and Pakistan means a continued weapons buildup," Herbert said. "Money talks. New Delhi would still have to buy weapons and materiel from Moscow."
"True, but then there's the point that Paul raised," Plummer said. "The same debate that we're having would keep the Kremlin busy for days if not longer. We don't have that kind of time."
"Well, Ron, I'm kind of running dry and getting a little frustrated," Herbert snapped.
"And I'm just doing the devil's advocate thing, Bob," Plummer replied defensively. "We can run some of these proposals up the flagpole in Moscow and at the Pentagon, but I don't see any of them getting the kind of support we need."
"Unfortunately, that's the problem with crisis management instead of crisis prevention," Hood said sadly. "Once you're in it there are not a lot of options."
"I count exactly one," Herbert said.
The intelligence chief was right, of course. With all the resources the United States had at its disposal, there was only one asset standing between India, Pakistan, and a possible nuclear exchange. One asset currently out of touch, under-equipped, and on his own.
General Mike Rodgers.
FORTY-FIVE
During the flight from Washington, Mike Rodgers had read a number of white papers on the Siachin Glacier. The most interesting was written by a Pakistani intelligence officer.