Ping!
Thanks for the ping. Here is a chapter from my book, written in 1999.
Chapter 42.
“So the vial's lost to posterity. Now we won’t have any idea of what it was really all about, will we?” The Senator asked.
Al and David sat uncomfortably in the resulting silence. They occupied the center table, and their inquisitors sat in a semicircle around them.
Senate Intelligence Committee hearings are never pleasant, especially when conducted behind closed doors. Initiated in 1976 after Senator Frank Church had begun investigating the freewheeling ways of the CIA, the committee was one arm of the Senate that took its oversight responsibilities very seriously. The Director of CIA and the Chief of Directorate of Operations sat behind Al and David, while Thor Martin sat next to them.
Al glanced at Thor. The former stooge of the deceased Senator Dockhorn had undergone a radical transformation. Joining the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan group devoted to ensuring a corruption-free government, he had acquired a sense of humility and responsibility that impressed the CIA men. Speaking to the committee before David and Al’s testimony, he had placed the blame for the superbug incident entirely on the former Senator. In the process, he had implied that it was to humanity’s advantage that the Senator, confronted by the FBI and facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars, had turned his gun on himself. Thor had gone out of his way to shower lavish encomiums on the renegade CIA men, and to describe how they had saved the world from biological meltdown.
David had been pleased by Thor’s testimony. The senate would be less likely to go after him when the onus of the disaster fell on one of their former colleagues. David knew he could not use the Plausible Deniability escape clause, a loophole that allowed the agency to wink at the escapades of its men so long as they did not get caught, because they had just gotten caught. The escape clause had been created because of the inherent dichotomies in the agency’s mission. David called it the HAL complex. Like the computer in ‘2001:A Space Odyssey’, the agency had to subvert the very rules it was created to protect when it could not protect them by legal means.
“Yes, unfortunately.” He replied briefly in answer to the senator.
David and Al then recounted the events of the past few days, and how the episode had led to the deaths of John and the ISI men. After he had finished, and questions of details were answered, the Senators became more personal.
“We still don’t quite understand why you went out on your own. We don’t as yet know what motivated you to start a cell within the CIA without the knowledge, consent, or approval of your chiefs.”
David and Al looked at each other. Al let David answer.
“We had been working in Pakistan for a while, sending in reports about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. We had been sending in reports about the drug trade that was fueling the Taliban's rise, and about terrorists throughout the world. All our reports were ignored by the likes of former Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, Robert McFarlane and Madeline Albright. The reasons were, and are, simple. Senator Dockhorn, along with some of you who now sit in judgment and who are beholden to the ISI, blocked all our efforts. Administration officials, some of whom I have mentioned, still locked in the cold war mentality, made sure our warnings were ignored.”
“There isn’t any evidence that Pakistan has supported terrorism.” The Congressman from Indiana was furious.
“You prove my point, congressman, that many politicians have blinders on. Have you ever wondered how Amir Kansi was able to live in Pakistan for years after killing two CIA employees, despite an international manhunt? Has it occurred to you what Ramzi Youcef, the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing in early 1990's, was doing in Pakistan? Have you wondered how American civilians were killed in broad daylight in Karachi, while our administration looked on helplessly? Even you must know that the administration has labeled Harkat-ul-Ansar a terrorist organization, one that kidnapped and brutally beheaded Hans Ostro, the Norwegian, and an American, Donald Hutchins. Who is behind this terrorist organization? The whole world now knows that Pakistan is the one that created the Taliban.”
“Pakistan is a democratic country. These things happen in an open society where people have the freedom to do what they want. Remember, it was an American who blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma.”
“If it’s a free and open society, why is there no freedom of the press, no freedom to practice any religion other than Sunni Islam? Why was a Christian, Ayub Masih, condemned to death under the blasphemy law for preaching Christianity? Why did Bishop John Joseph have to commit suicide to bring the world’s attention to a law that targets Christians and other religious minorities? The hardworking and forbearing people of Pakistan want a good and honest life, just like people elsewhere. However, since they gained independence in 1947, a nexus of crooked dictators and fundamentalist politicians have hijacked their aspirations. They have been asked to sacrifice their freedoms for a glorious future, which never comes for them, but only for the corrupt few. The ISI epitomizes that corrupt nexus that has destroyed Pakistan and has made that land destitute."
An uncomfortable silence greeted David’s last remark. Seeing that no one was going to challenge him, he continued.
“We were becoming increasingly fed up with the inaction, but the Brown Amendment in 1996 did it for us. As you all know, the legislation, sponsored by Senator Hank Brown of Colorado, ignored our concerns and reports, and reinstated aid to Pakistan. We felt that in order to make a difference, we had to go out on our own, specially since we believe that the threat of Islamic fundamentalism is more dangerous than that of Communism.”
“More dangerous than communism? You must be out of your mind.”
“Not really, Senator. Capitalism, the foundation of our society, and communism, are based on materialism. Our differences are in the distribution of wealth, freedom, liberty, and the fact that we believe in God in addition to material goods, whereas the communists don’t. Nevertheless, both are materialistic ideologies. That’s the main reason that Khruschev blinked during the Cuban missile crisis. He realized that a nuclear war would wipe out the only entity his system believed in, namely material goods, whereas we had something to fall back on, however intangible it may be.”
“Are you suggesting that we wasted our time fighting communism?”
“Not at all. Though we are both materialistic, capitalism is progressive, and we encourage the fittest to prosper. In contrast, communism is regressive, where the fittest are penalized for their abilities. Such a system inevitably collapses under the weight of its own incompetence. As it did, with some help from us. However, that was the easy war. The difficult one lies ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are now fighting enemies who play by entirely different rules. Maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘now’, since the fight has been going on for a thousand years, since the Crusades.”
“We know all about these enemies you talk about, enemies such as Hezbollah and Hamas. They are of nuisance value, and we don’t think they have the ability to do any substantive geo-political damage.”
“I think the ISI is more dangerous than either of the two organizations you mentioned. It has global ambitions, whereas the other two are local. In any case, collectively, these groups are very dangerous. Despite all the damage they have done, no concerted effort has been made to infiltrate or destroy them. In the case of the ISI, we have actually helped them!”
“Don’t you think you’re overstating this religion business?”
“No. These organizations are based on beliefs that are diametrically opposed to ours. They don’t care about material goods or materialism. They don’t even care about their personal existence. All they care about is the ultimate victory of their goals, their faith, and their theology. Just take a look at the Iran-Iraq war, where children wearing amulets were sent to the front. Take a look at the numerous suicide bombers that attack Israel and our bases in the Middle East, such as the bombing in Jobar, Saudi Arabia. Other than during World War II, during the siege of Leningrad, how many communists can you count that resorted to tactics like that? That’s the kind of fanaticism I’m talking about. That’s why we consider them so dangerous, and that’s why we risked our lives and careers to stop them.”
The Senators saw the determined look on the faces of David and Al. They had no idea how to proceed. As heroes who had averted a biological accident of unimaginable proportions, they could not be punished. On the other hand, they were simply too independent for the politicians to tolerate easily.
David felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to note that the CIA Director had stood up, and was motioning him and Al to do the same.
Thor Martin saw the two agency men get up and follow their superior officer out of the room. He could have sworn that the CIA head was suppressing a smile, and had given the two men a quick wink. As the Director led his men out, his arms around their shoulders, the Senators realized one thing.
The Director was going to stand by his men. Anything more than a slap on the hands would cost the politicians dearly.