Jagger challenged. “There was a better option.”
“Well, it was just one move,” Wood said. “Besides, don’t you think this continuous thread of insecurity has given us some wiggle room, so to speak? I mean, if we had crushed Al Qaeda, would we be able to use the notion of a global threat for our purposes in the Philippines right now? It preserves our flexibility.”
“Yes, but it is this same strategic flexibility that has allowed the notion of invading Iraq to gather momentum. One move always leads to another. For every action, there is a reaction, and so on,” Jagger said. “For example, Garrett is pissed off now, which turns out to be a good thing. But tomorrow, who knows? Thankfully, Keith’s got him.”
The two men were able to enjoy their conversation in the relative security and comfort of Jagger’s country estate thanks to the security details that both men were accorded because of their government positions.
“Yes, a good thing,” Wood said. “Keith will get him up to Manila and feed him back into this thing. You get his reports?”
“Yes, got them all. Not sure what to make of the Japanese tanks he reported. Charlie says that it was just his security. What do you think? I mean we only paid for small arms right? For the insurgents. We didn’t sell enough Predators to finance tank production.”
“Two things,” Wood noted. “First, they may have gotten the money from somewhere else. Second, what the hell do they need tanks for?”
“I don’t know, but here’s how we’ll proceed. We need to keep the manufacturing bit secret. We don’t want to focus any unneeded attention there, like satellites and so on. We’ll do a press conference saying that we’ve started diplomatic, informational, military, and economic initiatives in the Philippines. It’s the Asian arm of Operation Enduring Freedom. We’ll call it OEF-P as opposed to OEF-A for Afghanistan.”
“That’s good. We need to get some media coverage of this thing, connect it to Al Qaeda, and show how the real threat is reaching all the way into the Pacific,” Wood said. “The eastern anchor of Bin Laden’s Caliphate.”
“That’s right,” Jagger agreed. “Plus, turbulence for the Asian markets would not be good for our economy. Not to mention China, North Korea, and Taiwan in that general vicinity. It’s a freaking powder keg.”
“All that combined should make the case that Iraq is a red herring,” Wood said.
“Oh yeah, and we can’t forget to mention that we had some soldiers killed there,” Jagger said.
“Yeah, almost forgot,” Wood agreed. “Peterson, right?”
“Think so. Might be Patterson. Anyway, what do we do with Garrett?” Jagger asked.
“I think we blow his cover.”
“While he’s there?” Jagger asked. And answered, “Great idea. He will go ballistic and go public and the media will make him a hero. More importantly, it will add the extra bit of pressure so that they’ll be stymied.”
“We hope,” Wood added. “I’m not completely comfortable with the blown-cover deal. He could wind up dead.”
“That’s okay,” Jagger said. “That works for us, too. A dead Matt Garrett becomes a martyr for the cause. Woe is us. We pulled out of Afghanistan too early. Al Qaeda got away. We found them again in the Philippines. Now we’ve revealed the identity of our number one Al Qaeda hunter, blowing his cover and getting him killed.” Jagger theatrically waved his hands as he talked, as if he were rolling out one point after another.
“Hmm. I like it. Makes you wonder where the real conspiracy is,” Wood said, tapping his lip with his finger. He crossed his legs and sat back, sipping his Syrah and popping a bite of venison jerky into his mouth. Then he laughed at a thought he had. “This provides the perfect counterweight to Fox and his band of idiots, and I’m sure we can work it so that Garrett’s outing stems from something bold and audacious.”
“Good. We need the flexibility
“Well, it was just one move,” Wood said. “Besides, don’t you think this continuous thread of insecurity has given us some wiggle room, so to speak? I mean, if we had crushed Al Qaeda, would we be able to use the notion of a global threat for our purposes in the Philippines right now? It preserves our flexibility.”
“Yes, but it is this same strategic flexibility that has allowed the notion of invading Iraq to gather momentum. One move always leads to another. For every action, there is a reaction, and so on,” Jagger said. “For example, Garrett is pissed off now, which turns out to be a good thing. But tomorrow, who knows? Thankfully, Keith’s got him.”
The two men were able to enjoy their conversation in the relative security and comfort of Jagger’s country estate thanks to the security details that both men were accorded because of their government positions.
“Yes, a good thing,” Wood said. “Keith will get him up to Manila and feed him back into this thing. You get his reports?”
“Yes, got them all. Not sure what to make of the Japanese tanks he reported. Charlie says that it was just his security. What do you think? I mean we only paid for small arms right? For the insurgents. We didn’t sell enough Predators to finance tank production.”
“Two things,” Wood noted. “First, they may have gotten the money from somewhere else. Second, what the hell do they need tanks for?”
“I don’t know, but here’s how we’ll proceed. We need to keep the manufacturing bit secret. We don’t want to focus any unneeded attention there, like satellites and so on. We’ll do a press conference saying that we’ve started diplomatic, informational, military, and economic initiatives in the Philippines. It’s the Asian arm of Operation Enduring Freedom. We’ll call it OEF-P as opposed to OEF-A for Afghanistan.”
“That’s good. We need to get some media coverage of this thing, connect it to Al Qaeda, and show how the real threat is reaching all the way into the Pacific,” Wood said. “The eastern anchor of Bin Laden’s Caliphate.”
“That’s right,” Jagger agreed. “Plus, turbulence for the Asian markets would not be good for our economy. Not to mention China, North Korea, and Taiwan in that general vicinity. It’s a freaking powder keg.”
“All that combined should make the case that Iraq is a red herring,” Wood said.
“Oh yeah, and we can’t forget to mention that we had some soldiers killed there,” Jagger said.
“Yeah, almost forgot,” Wood agreed. “Peterson, right?”
“Think so. Might be Patterson. Anyway, what do we do with Garrett?” Jagger asked.
“I think we blow his cover.”
“While he’s there?” Jagger asked. And answered, “Great idea. He will go ballistic and go public and the media will make him a hero. More importantly, it will add the extra bit of pressure so that they’ll be stymied.”
“We hope,” Wood added. “I’m not completely comfortable with the blown-cover deal. He could wind up dead.”
“That’s okay,” Jagger said. “That works for us, too. A dead Matt Garrett becomes a martyr for the cause. Woe is us. We pulled out of Afghanistan too early. Al Qaeda got away. We found them again in the Philippines. Now we’ve revealed the identity of our number one Al Qaeda hunter, blowing his cover and getting him killed.” Jagger theatrically waved his hands as he talked, as if he were rolling out one point after another.
“Hmm. I like it. Makes you wonder where the real conspiracy is,” Wood said, tapping his lip with his finger. He crossed his legs and sat back, sipping his Syrah and popping a bite of venison jerky into his mouth. Then he laughed at a thought he had. “This provides the perfect counterweight to Fox and his band of idiots, and I’m sure we can work it so that Garrett’s outing stems from something bold and audacious.”
“Good. We need the flexibility
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