Tom Ridge whistled and said, “He went through all of that, and he ends up back in a hellhole like this? Oh, brother!”
I muttered, “Shit!” to myself and shook my head in disgust. Then I looked at Smith. “All right, let’s get these guys out of there. Did that amphibious group get into position?”
“Elements are in position now, sir.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
The map of West Africa went back up to the screen. “The Tarawa group consists of the Tarawa, a helicopter carrier carrying Harriers, helicopters, and about 2,000 Marines, the Duluth, an amphibious transport carrying more helicopters and another 900 or so Marines, and the Fort McHenry, a smaller amphibious transport, which carries about 400 Marines. These transports are accompanied by a protective screen of cruisers and destroyers, and always have a dedicated surveillance element of P-3 Orions and, in this case, a Los Angeles class attack sub.” Several bright blue lights showed up on the map. One was off the coast of Liberia, but the other two were still near Angola. “When you gave the order, the Duluth was in port in Luanda, and had to recall her sailors and Marines from training. The Tarawa and the Fort McHenry were ordered to sail ahead of the Duluth, but the Tarawa suffered an engineering casualty and was delayed. The Fort McHenry, accompanied by the Burke class destroyer Cole, went on ahead. The Tarawa managed to transfer a significant helicopter element to the Fort McHenry before she left. She and the Duluth are expected to be on station by this evening.”
“Uh, pardon me for sounding stupid, but what’s an engineering casualty? Was somebody hurt?” I asked.
General Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answered, “No, sir, it means the Navy broke their boat. It happens, probably in the turbine or drive train assembly. My understanding is that repairs are being made and they are already underway, but at a reduced rate of speed. They will be in place by tonight.”
“And if we need to do something before then?”
“Then the Marines on the Fort McHenry go in. They have air cushion landing craft and helicopters for transport, and some of the helicopters will be rigged for fire support. The Cole also has guns and helicopters. We will also be pursuing very limited results. Unless you say otherwise, our goal will be to protect the embassy and rescue the staff. We have the resources ready to do that, sir.”
I looked around the room. “Is that the goal? Rescue the embassy staff and let the locals kill each other? Or does anybody want us to do more?” I asked.
“What about the other embassies in the city? The French? The Belgians? Anybody else?” asked Condi.
“We need to consider it, Mister President,” added Colin. “If nothing else, it racks up some serious Brownie points with our allies. None of them have any ability to get in there until the middle of the week.”
I saw Myers and Smith nodding at that. John and the others chimed in also, in agreement.
I was on the verge of saying something when there was a sudden stir at the other end of the room. An Army major wearing a headset began saying, “Repeat that!.. Is that confirmed?… Hold for one…” He looked over at us and said, “We are getting reports from the embassy that mortar fire is now hitting the compound… Wait, what…” The last was said into the headset as his eyes scanned a monitor. “The fire has stopped for the moment, but casualties are reported… no dead… repeat… two light wounds… hold, please…”
“Who are you talking to, son?” I asked.
“I have Ambassador Myrick on the line, sir!”
Colin Powell sat upright at that. Normally the Ambassador would report to him, so things must really be turning to shit. “Let me talk to him, Major.”
“Please hold for the President,” the major said. He hit a button and a phone in front of me rang.
I picked it up. “Mister Ambassador?”
“Mister President, this is Bismarck Myrick, the Ambassador.”
“Ambassador Myrick, I gather you have your hands full. How bad is it?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. We just got hit with some mortar fire, 82 millimeter, I think. We took half a dozen rounds. Nobody was killed, but a couple of people caught some shrapnel,” he reported. He sounded a lot calmer than I would probably have been.
“Mister Ambassador. You are authorized to take any and all precautions. Break open the armory and make sure everybody is prepared. This has gone on long enough. I will be sending in some Marines shortly. Get everybody ready to go. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir. We haven’t seen any hostile troops yet, but we’re keeping a watch out. We’re picking up some foreign nationals, Europeans mostly. I authorized the guards at the gate to let them in,” he reported.
Well, that made up my mind about rescuing other people. I couldn’t leave them behind, like the pictures of the last helicopter out of Saigon. “Take care of them, Ambassador Myrick. Help is on the way.”
“Thank you, sir.” The line clicked off at that.
I set the phone down. “Well, you heard that. I don’t think we need to discuss the response.” I looked over at Myers. “Get them moving, General. Oh, and while we’re here, General, General…” I said to the two generals. “… I just want to let you know that Colonel Withers here gave me an excellent briefing on Saturday. Really, the entire staff did a fine job. I just wanted to make sure I said thank you, and pass that along.” I stood up. There was nothing else to do now on my part, and micromanaging things from thousands of miles away was a terrible idea. “I think we are done here for now. Colin, keep me informed on the Ambassador and his staff, and anything else from our allies. General, a moment of your time privately, please?”
The others began filing out, and I buttonholed General Myers in a corner. I lowered my voice so that it was private, and then said, “General, I don’t want to delay your handling of this. I’m not sure if you know, but my son is on the Fort McHenry as a Marine. I’m not exactly worried about him, but it has been pointed out that if an enemy were to know the son of the U.S. President was around, they would make very strenuous efforts to kill or capture him, probably endangering the lives of those around him.”
“Yes, sir, that is very much true, I am sorry to say.”
“Now, Charlie is getting out at the end of his hitch, and I have explained this to him. He is not happy, but he understands. I am not sure about whether anybody else would understand. If word came out that he was being held back by his father, it would be devastating to him. It wouldn’t be good for me either, but I’m a big boy. I can take the heat if I have to. An accusation of cowardice or favoritism would haunt Charlie the rest of his life,” I continued.
“I understand, sir. Mister President, it isn’t going to be that much of a problem. By this time tomorrow we’ll have another 3,000 Marines off the coast. For today, we’ll simply have a few platoons secure the embassy. If the rebels can delay until tomorrow, we won’t even need the Fort McHenry and her Marines,” he replied.