Body of Lies by David Ignatius Page B

smiled as he pushed his chair away from the table and got up to leave. "That's a good sign."
    "Oh yeah? Well, here's my nightmare version, based on zero information. I worry that Hani tossed Alderson so that I would run the station. I'm young and I don't have much experience. He thought he could manipulate me, so he trumped up something against Alderson. That's why he took me to Berlin. So he could get more leverage over me."
    "You're paranoid, my boy. A useful quality on occasion, but in this case, it's a reach. Hani didn't have to trump up anything on Alderson. Believe me."
    "So what did Francis do? Come on, I want to know. I need to know."
    Hoffman scratched his head and thought a moment. "Okay. I'll tell you, but only to keep you from imagining things. Francis Alderson's fuckup was that he tried to recruit one of Hani's deputies. He had gotten friendly with the guy, invited him out to dinner. The guy seemed ready for a pitch, so Francis pitched him. Offered him some money. It's normal. We do it every day of the year, somewhere around the world. But Hani went batshit. He said it was a betrayal of our relationship. We tried like hell to cover it up. Francis said the money was for the guy's kid to get an operation in the States. But Hani knew that was crap. He had us cold. So he PNG'd Francis, to make a point."
    "And the point was: Don't fuck with me."
    "Precisely."
    "And now we're fucking with him."
    "Look, Roger, for chrissake, lighten up. I told you, you have to cut me some slack on this. And like I said, he'll thank us for it in the long run."
     
    H OFFMAN AND F ERRIS went to see Hani the next morning. The Jordanian intelligence chief was at his most charming. He was dressed in a dark suit and tie to receive his distinguished visitor, but he loosened the tie and draped the jacket over the chair after they had talked a few minutes. He seemed to have a long history with Hoffman, to judge from the banter. Hoffman teased him about a woman he called Fifi, who seemed to have figured in one of their earlier joint operations. "A wonder of nature," Hoffman said, winking at Ferris, who had no idea what particular natural wonder he might be referring to.
    When Hoffman offered Hani a cigar, the Jordanian brought out his humidor and insisted that the visitor share one of his. They lit up the stogies and both puffed away contentedly, sharing anecdotes about recent operations. But Ferris knew that the bonhomie was a delaying tactic on both sides, before they got down to the business that had brought Hoffman all the way from Washington. Hani didn't bring up the Berlin operation; he was too polite, perhaps. Or maybe he wanted to force the American to ask. Which Hoffman finally did.
    "Maybe we should talk turkey," the division chief said. "I know you're a busy man, and the king is probably waiting for you."
    "As you like. I know with Americans there is always this 'turkey.'" The tone of his voice implied that he had, indeed, won a small victory by forcing Hoffman to go first. "You want to talk about Berlin, of course. I assume that Mr. Ferris has given you the details."
    "As far as they go. I must say, you did a hell of a job spotting and developing this guy. It's a nifty operation. Just nifty. But I'm frustrated."
    "Why are you frustrated, Ed?" The Jordanian was solicitous, and impenetrable.
    "I'm frustrated because I want more input. I want to help you target the Berlin boy, Mustafa Karami. I want to see if we can steer him into the center of the center--to the network that is doing these car bombs in Europe. This is life-or-death stuff for us, my friend. These guys want to kill Americans. That's why I'd like to ask you, as a special favor to the United States, to run this as a joint operation."

Hani paused a good five seconds. He didn't like to disappoint Hoffman. "I am sorry, Ed," he said eventually. "But this is impossible. As you know better than anyone, there is no such thing as a true joint operation. There is always one side