"I've been watching my men being overrun one by one sitting on material that has exactly no value to the United States under the current world conditions and you want me to explain why a captain and one company, a hundred and sixty troops, had to destroy the material in the face of SIX THOUSAND? Is that what you want me to explain, Senator? Senator, I'm glad my boys are ALIVE!"
Most of the damned session, as is normal with congressional hearings, consisted of fucking idiots talking about nothing and then asking a koan. Four minutes of the importance of the Health of Children Opportunity Bill followed by "Why did he use rock and roll music?" I swear, they must slip some sort of fucking psychodelic into the water in DC. But a few of the questions, from Republicans naturally, were on point. Okay, actually the best Q&A came from a Democrat.
"You were ordered to leave the equipment in place by the President?"
"Yes, Congressman. There was no logistical option. That is, we couldn't pick it up and bring it home. Things were and are in a situation such that disaster relief takes priority."
"Understood. And to bring back all but, and I quote, 'absolute minimum forces. No more than a company to be left behind.' Is that correct?"
"Yes, Congressman. That was the order from the President in consultation with the Secretary of Defense."
"What did you think of that order?"
"I was given an order by the Commander in Chief and carried it out to the best of my ability. In situations where a company was unavailable I tried to leave equal or better forces. Such as the SF battalion in Colombia which had the approximate firepower of a company. And which was the first we lost contact with."
"But what did you think of the order?"
"I thought I was being given an order, Congressman."
"You're a member of the Joint Chiefs, correct?"
"Yes, Congressman."
"And your job, as a member of the Joint Chiefs, is to advise the President on military matters. Were you asked for your advice in this case?"
"Yes, Congressman."
"And what did you advise?"
"Destruction in place and recall of all personnel. Barring that, choosing force levels sufficient to ensure security and maintain an ability for extraction."
"And your advice?"
"I was given a different order, Congressman. I carried out the order I was given."
"General, I was a captain in the Army, you know that, right?"
"Yes, Congressman."
"General, you left units scattered all over the world with no way to get home. No plan to get them home. Thousands of troops that could have been brought home if we just destroyed the equipment in the first place. I'm not asking about how you felt about the order. I'm asking how you felt about that situation. It's a subtle difference; I want to hear your answer."
"Congressman, I was ordered to leave guys out in the wilderness to die. The fact that we got back six of the packets is a miracle. If we get back Bandit Six and his boys or the unit in Kazakhistan it's going to be more of a miracle. How do you think I feel about that, sir?"
But the classic was:
"I don't understand why there are Chinese troops there, General. Can you explain that? Aren't they a risk for the H5N1 virus?"
They're Nepalese not Chinese. Look, let me show you a map. I thought this might be asked. See? Different countries. Good light infantry. Also some other contract personnel . . . Hoping to get them all back to the States for either residency or eventual repatriation when that becomes possible.
So the Chief of Staff was on record asking for me to bring back the Nepos.
But the Israelis were still balking.
Then The Bitch apparently got involved.
People had a different opinion of the world, and of soldiers, after the Plague. The good people of America were getting fed by soldiers every day. They were getting medical attention from the Army. They were, now, interacting with soldiers day in and day out. If there had been a military coup in late 2019 nobody, I think, would have batted an eye.
Sure, there were lots of bitchers about the government. And every bitch about soldiers was being picked up by the news media. Fewer were getting broadcast about people bitching about The Bitch. That didn't mean they weren't.
Warrick wanted me off the news. Big time. The "Lost Company" was now big news. Human interest. Actually, maybe it did make sense.
The majority of the print and broadcast media, Fox being an exception, was pitching us as murdering and destroying bastards. The "nineteen billion" number was repeated again and again. Along with suggestions that we'd fired on the civilians.
Fox was showing the RIFs pouring over the berm in an unstoppable tide.
Thing was, people still didn't have power and TV, period. But that didn't mean that stuff wasn't getting around. A lot of radio stations were back up. They were the main medium of news. I hadn't realized it at the time, but that really helped.
You see, most of the news stations were still "talk radio." And that had been dominated by conservatives for a long time. Liberals had tried again and again to break into it and bounced. You had to have some logic to be able to work in talk radio. Not to mention a sense of humor which tofu-eaters were notably lacking.
Oh, there was some backlash. Warrick had used her FCC and "Emergency Powers" to shut some down for "hate speech." Which got broadcast by others. Which had caused a bunch of questions in Congress. Which was getting restive under some of the shit she'd been pulling.
Elections were coming up. Everybody wanted to blame somebody else for the fucking disaster in the U.S. Deflect some of the fucking damage, politically.
The one group that was coming out smelling like a fucking rose was the U.S. military. The congressional investigations about my little destruction spree were supposed to kill that, to tarnish our image. Make it look like Abu Ghraib or some shit.
It was doing exactly the opposite and they quickly saw that. The Army, which was the only group that seemed to actually be doing anything for people, had been ordered to abandon its troops, America's troops, in wastes far from our blessed shores by the same woman who had screwed up every step of the disaster.
Warrick wanted us off the news. To get us off the news she had to get me back to the U.S. and into a quiet grave if she could arrange it.
But the Israelis were still balking. Warrick had pulled some shit about Israel in her time. She was not a fair-haired girl in their estimation. They shucked and jived very good. They'd gotten better spokespeople lately. Flu threat. Security problems. Flu.
Send a MEU?
The one in the Med was on its way back to the States. They'd done all they could do. And send a MEU for one fucking company? That would look great on the news. Helos, ground threats . . .