The NSA man cut in. “We have printouts and digital samples of your conversations earlier today. However, as I understand it, the CIA wishes to proceed without an in-depth analysis.”
“Not necessary; there's nothing complicated,” said the director of the CIA Counterterrorist Center, her voice strained. She turned from the NSA officer toward Kanter. “Your special-ops division has come to a startling conclusion, Agent Kanter.”
“No conclusions — nowhere near that level. Purely speculation. Some of our agents had stumbled on what they believed are connections linking a set of crimes, assassination-style murders of a number of pro-Islamic extremists in the US and abroad.”
“Yes, we've seen the transcripts,” cut in the CIA woman. “Why did you feel it necessary to contact CIA agents if these connections, as you call them, were purely at the speculative stage?”
Kanter frowned. “That seems the best time to me.”
“Wouldn't you have preferred to have obtained some more firm evidence before making such accusations?”
“Accusations?” asked Kanter.
The FBI man swooped in quickly. “I don't think Mr. Kanter is making any accusations, Susan, only asking questions.”
There was a very uncomfortable silence around the table. Kanter had a bad feeling about where this was headed, and he wished they would just open up the black hole and get it over with. The deputy director of state obliged him.
“Look, everyone, there's no point in tap dancing. Before we go any further, Agent Kanter, these members of your staff — how would you characterize their relationship to this hypothesis?”
Kanter gave her a knowing look. “Extremely committed, perhaps emotionally so. That's why I called this in, frankly. One of my best agents, John Savas, strongly believes in this connection. Many others do not. Frankly, I've been skeptical myself, but Agent Savas has a track record that is anomalously productive. I felt I should follow up on his hunch.”
The deputy director smiled. “You say you've been skeptical. Has this changed?”
Kanter looked her in the eye. “The moment you all jerked me up here.”
Several faces at the table appeared irritated, but the woman from the state department laughed. “After all the doublespeak I hear every day, Agent Kanter, your lack of diplomacy is welcomed. John Savas has been well-known to many over the years, and the recent events at Indian Point have refreshed any poor memories. Your division — as unorthodox as it has been — is unmatched in its contributions to counterterrorism efforts. The White House has decided to make you aware of some highly classified information.”
Wonderful. “I don't suppose I might have the opportunity to decline?”
The FBI man laughed. “Wise man.”
“Legally you can, of course,” continued the deputy secretary of state. “But then we would have to make sure that in your ignorance, you did not make this classified information known — you or your group at the FBI.”
Kanter felt his stomach drop. There was no misinterpreting those words. Either he was in, or he and his “unorthodox” group, including Intel 1, were toast.
“You can be persuasive.”
“I have to be; this is too important,” she said. “Susan, this belongs to you for the next few minutes. Your mess.”
Kanter turned his attention to the Counterterrorist Center director. She had the look of someone who had recently learned of a relative's death.
“While it is well-known that the CIA, along with numerous US agencies, undertook extraordinary antiterrorist measures in the years following 9/11, it was only recently appreciated that some of these efforts took on the form of targeted elimination teams.”
“Assassins,” corrected Kanter. Here it came.
“Yes. I'm not here to examine the ethics or policy wisdom of such actions, but they have been a part of covert operations for decades. They have been vetted by several agencies, congressional oversight, and therefore have been answerable to the American public.”
“Until Cheney,” whispered Kanter.
“Yes, I can see that you know where this is going. During his tenure as vice president, Dick Cheney instructed the CIA to form an elite core of assassins, specifically designed to go after high-level targets in al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups threatening US interests. He took the unusual step of concealing this plan not only from Congress but also from nearly every other agency and governmental branch. These men and women were highly trained for years, awaiting orders that never came.”
“Never?” asked Kanter.
“The records have been made public, Agent Kanter. Not a single kill was ordered. The program was terminated.” She paused and removed her glasses. “Or so we believed.”
She sighed and continued. “This connection you make between the killings of Islamic radicals has come to the attention of the CIA and other agencies as well. We are particularly concerned, because the methods used are right out of the training program of these assassination teams.”
“Certainly other assassins could employ similar methods?” asked Kanter.
“Yes, of course. However, there is more, beyond the killings you know about. While the growing success in Pakistan and Afghanistan against terrorist training camps has been ascribed to many things — including tactics changes, troop buildup, and most recently, improved design of Predator Drone robotic combat units — these factors are not sufficient. We now know from Army Intelligence work that there have been substantial, at times crippling, attacks on terrorist camps in these regions that are not due to any known military or covert activity. We are talking about major professional strikes against groups that have eluded our capture for years and that yet, in a matter of barely a year, have been erased from the area.”
“I don't understand,” said Kanter. “If not us…”
“Then who?” said the state department woman. “Haven't you guessed?”
Kanter shook his head in disbelief. “I'm sorry, but you're trying to tell me that you have a group of essentially rogue CIA hit squads that are not only bringing down Islamic radicals around the world but are also out-gunning our best marines in the mountains of Asia? That they are doing this using former US training and resources, under our noses?”
The woman from the state department spoke. “Currently, we have no proof of this, but all analysis from the CIA and other agencies places this scenario as the most probable.”
“Any other scenarios?” Kanter asked.
“Several, including foreign involvement and, of course, the null hypothesis that these are indeed not related. However, the potential political and geopolitical ramifications of our working hypothesis are so dire; we must focus on this possibility.”
“Don't you know where these people are? Haven't you kept track of them?”
The CIA woman raised her voice. “Of course we know where they are! But many had gone in and out of the program over the years, and there has not been any clear need for constant surveillance of these trainees. Until now. You can rest assured that we are ascertaining the whereabouts of as many of these personnel as we can.”
Kanter shook his head. “We'll help however we can, but let me be frank here — this is above our heads.”
“That is exactly what I hoped to hear from you, Agent Kanter,” stated the deputy secretary of state. “I want you to make it clear to your people that this is a matter best left to other agencies. We do not want an obscure branch of the FBI stirring this up accidentally so that the public stumbles on this disaster. We will therefore assign liaisons from the CIA to coordinate any investigative work you perform in this area. We debated asking you to drop it altogether but concluded that the success rate of your group warranted your continued efforts.”