voice, Jackson. We must visit soon.”
I said my goodbye and rang off.
“What a charming old fellow,” Clark said.
“He is that,” I said.
“Ah, guys?” said Chen.
She had brought her laptop up on the table.
“The Mullah is a quiet one, and mostly stays in the shadows. But look at this.” She pointed to the screen. “I checked Langley’s profile on the Mullah, again, focusing on the meet dates. Two days after the Grad was delivered, he was quoted as saying that they would ‘rain fire on Karzai and his fraudulent government’.” The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, had been the target of multiple assassination attempts by the Taliban. They’d been after him for years, even trying hand-held rockets once or twice.
“Nothing sounds more like ‘raining fire’ than a battery of 40 rockets launching,” Sterba concluded.
“I agree. But listen to this. Karzai hasn’t met with the National Assembly — which is somewhat like our Congress — in months. But they are meeting tomorrow in Kabul.”
“Tomorrow?” confirmed Joe.
“Tomorrow,” Chen said. “But it’s bigger than a meeting of the full assembly with the president. They’ve been working for years to renovate the Darul Aman Palace south of the city, to make it the new home for the National Assembly.”
“Like our Capitol building,” Joe said. “I’ve read about that. It’s a real source of national pride.”
“Exactly,” replied Chen. “And tomorrow, after years of waiting, Karzai will cut the ribbon opening the palace. It’s being viewed as a symbolic step for the future of Afghanistan. A day for the history books.”
“Bloody hell,” I said. “What a perfect target.”
29
“ J oe ,” I said. “Get on the horn to JSOC and let them know. They can push it up the chain to ISAF”. JSOC was the Joint Special Operations Command that ran special forces, which included SEALs. The ISAF was the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO coalition force that ran the allies’ ever-shrinking involvement in Afghanistan.
“We don’t have too many guys left there, Jackson. And they’re spread pretty thin. We might want to think about this a minute.”
I know why Joe wanted to pause. The situation in Afghanistan was different these days. We had truly passed the baton to their defense force and local police, and it was their job to defend the country. During the course of the US drawdown, they had essentially said thank you, but we can do this for ourselves now. And that meant it wasn’t our place to trample about telling them what to do. Add to that the growing tension between the US President and Karzai himself, and you had a situation where they could tell us to simply get lost.
“Joe,” I said, “I understand that it’s complicated. But we have knowledge of a possible attack on the president of a sovereign nation. It’s our responsibility to inform them, despite the frosty relationship. We need to do just that, and give them the choice to adjust security or not.”
Sterba nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I turned to Clark. “Can you get word to the right people at the Agency?”
“I can, but this might not be solid enough for them, or the Afghans for that matter.”
“Maybe not, but we have to try.”
“Agreed.”
I turned to Chen. “What’s the best way to find this truck?”
“If it isn’t giving out any targeting signals, very little.”
“How about visually? Can we look at satellite imagery, or something like that?” I asked.
I pointed to her computer, where she had a picture of the Grad on the screen. “I mean look at that thing. It’s positively gigantic. Surely we could use that.”
Chen thought for a second, and then began tapping on her computer.
“Maybe there is a way. Facial recognition software looks for geometries, certain angles and proportions, and calculates them against preset formulae. There are ways we can use that, to take the dimensions of the truck and make
I said my goodbye and rang off.
“What a charming old fellow,” Clark said.
“He is that,” I said.
“Ah, guys?” said Chen.
She had brought her laptop up on the table.
“The Mullah is a quiet one, and mostly stays in the shadows. But look at this.” She pointed to the screen. “I checked Langley’s profile on the Mullah, again, focusing on the meet dates. Two days after the Grad was delivered, he was quoted as saying that they would ‘rain fire on Karzai and his fraudulent government’.” The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, had been the target of multiple assassination attempts by the Taliban. They’d been after him for years, even trying hand-held rockets once or twice.
“Nothing sounds more like ‘raining fire’ than a battery of 40 rockets launching,” Sterba concluded.
“I agree. But listen to this. Karzai hasn’t met with the National Assembly — which is somewhat like our Congress — in months. But they are meeting tomorrow in Kabul.”
“Tomorrow?” confirmed Joe.
“Tomorrow,” Chen said. “But it’s bigger than a meeting of the full assembly with the president. They’ve been working for years to renovate the Darul Aman Palace south of the city, to make it the new home for the National Assembly.”
“Like our Capitol building,” Joe said. “I’ve read about that. It’s a real source of national pride.”
“Exactly,” replied Chen. “And tomorrow, after years of waiting, Karzai will cut the ribbon opening the palace. It’s being viewed as a symbolic step for the future of Afghanistan. A day for the history books.”
“Bloody hell,” I said. “What a perfect target.”
29
“ J oe ,” I said. “Get on the horn to JSOC and let them know. They can push it up the chain to ISAF”. JSOC was the Joint Special Operations Command that ran special forces, which included SEALs. The ISAF was the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO coalition force that ran the allies’ ever-shrinking involvement in Afghanistan.
“We don’t have too many guys left there, Jackson. And they’re spread pretty thin. We might want to think about this a minute.”
I know why Joe wanted to pause. The situation in Afghanistan was different these days. We had truly passed the baton to their defense force and local police, and it was their job to defend the country. During the course of the US drawdown, they had essentially said thank you, but we can do this for ourselves now. And that meant it wasn’t our place to trample about telling them what to do. Add to that the growing tension between the US President and Karzai himself, and you had a situation where they could tell us to simply get lost.
“Joe,” I said, “I understand that it’s complicated. But we have knowledge of a possible attack on the president of a sovereign nation. It’s our responsibility to inform them, despite the frosty relationship. We need to do just that, and give them the choice to adjust security or not.”
Sterba nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I turned to Clark. “Can you get word to the right people at the Agency?”
“I can, but this might not be solid enough for them, or the Afghans for that matter.”
“Maybe not, but we have to try.”
“Agreed.”
I turned to Chen. “What’s the best way to find this truck?”
“If it isn’t giving out any targeting signals, very little.”
“How about visually? Can we look at satellite imagery, or something like that?” I asked.
I pointed to her computer, where she had a picture of the Grad on the screen. “I mean look at that thing. It’s positively gigantic. Surely we could use that.”
Chen thought for a second, and then began tapping on her computer.
“Maybe there is a way. Facial recognition software looks for geometries, certain angles and proportions, and calculates them against preset formulae. There are ways we can use that, to take the dimensions of the truck and make
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