THE SECRET PACT

WHEN THE LISTENERS HEARD THIS, THEY GOT antsy, and the reverent silence was broken by nervous chatter. One of the military men, Admiral Tucker, spoke up:

— Do you mean that the Siege of Terrorism will be a total sweep of Muslim territory? Wouldn't that be a wasted effort, since the fighters can flee and return to their places after the operation is over?

Kenan answered diligently:

— It won't just be a sweep, it will be a military occupation.

After that, tempers flared, the murmurs became louder, and the thread of the story was almost lost.

Another military man asked:

— And where on the map would the operation begin?

Kenan continued:

— Our intelligence service believes that the possible location of the terrorist cell that carried out these attacks is between Kashan, western Iran, and Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. This will be the starting point for our operation.

— It is impossible to carry out an operation of such magnitude without causing vilification of sovereignties and reactions of equal force! This will be an inconceivable diplomatic crisis! — said another at the end of the table.

— Our diplomats will conduct the initial negotiations shortly. — said Kenan. — If there is any type of resistance, at the beginning of the operation our embassies will already be empty, no one will remain in those countries. I am not worried about diplomacy. Once we have the necessary support abroad, we will be stronger than any diplomatic crisis. Next Thursday I will hold a meeting with the UN leadership to discuss a change in foreign policy, where I will call for support for the Siege. The objective of the operation will be to find and exterminate any and all terrorist forces found in the region, and if necessary, military control of strategic points. To do this, I need a complete strategic plan and the numbers we have to send troops as soon as everything is approved.

Admiral Tucker interjected:

— This is madness! We all know that the UN will not accept an operation of this magnitude! How do you intend to achieve this?

Kenan looked at everyone, as he had at the beginning of the meeting, standing, resting his hands on the table, with his fingers stretched out, waited for the comments to cease and then spoke:

— Gentlemen, the root of meaning is context. There is no better time to request this support than the one we are living in.

— Get us to the point, Mr. President. — the admiral retorted indignantly. Kenan frowned at the admiral's challenge to authority:

— For many years, we have earned respect and fear through policies and military power, but what did we gain from September 11th, gentlemen?

Everyone in the room watched, focused, no one dared to say anything.

— That day, in just one day, we gained commotion!

For almost a minute, everyone remained silent, until Admiral Tucker politely decided to speak:

— Mr. President, forgive me for insisting on disagreeing, but we have not yet managed to resolve our internal security policy. We only have one suspect responsible for the second attack and we have not seen the information you claimed to have about the terrorist cell, much less its location. We have nothing tangible that leads us to the group behind this and we need to investigate further. How are we going to spend resources outside the country?

— Allow me to bring another issue to our debate, — interrupted the cautious General Benjamin Norton, addressing Kenan. — but it is not clear to us the meaning of such pretentious military planning.

What would be the real objective of invading such extensive foreign territories and conducting a blind search for terrorist factions?

We need your clarification as to what we will actually be doing by sending our soldiers there.

And what is more, will our soldiers become a police force?

We have in our hands memoranda with CIA plans for numerous actions inside and outside the country and we have been summoned here to decide our participation in all this, but we do not have in mind the final objective of these operations.

What will be the intended result?

The point raised by the general generated new murmurs and comments in the plenary. Indeed, the lack of clarity in the objectives of the missions left the national leaders insecure about the President's decisions.

Kenan was bothered by the statement and decided to ask:

— What are you in doubt about, general?

Speaking calmly and in keeping with his advanced age, the man replied:

— To this day we have no concrete idea of ​​who really carried out these events. What information do you have in your hands? What relevant information has the agency obtained that we have not yet seen and that can give authority to our decisions, Mr. President?

— We now have an excellent library of data received from informants in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, with names and possible locations of the first three Al-Qaeda figures after the fall of Osama Bin Laden and the main members

of eight cells that are working with the organization's subsidies only in Iranian territory. Today I am bringing you a synchronized attack plan on all points highlighted by the agency within this perimeter that I told you about.

—My God! — General Norton exclaimed with a strong air of concern. — Are we on the verge of another Operation Neptune's Spear? How do you assume that carrying out such an operation in Iranian territory without prior warning will not culminate in a huge diplomatic incident? Pakistan supported the hunt for Bin Laden, but for God's sake, Saudi Arabia and Iran?

The general's alarmist statement inflamed the others; at one point Kenan could have sworn he heard some call him crazy in a low voice, but he insisted on his position:

— The Iranian government will be tied up, if we get support from the UN and present proof that the origin of the cells is in their territory, they will not be able to investigate and combat so many outbreaks in a short time. And the country has the largest concentration of terrorists that we know of!

— But we have no evidence that there is any connection between Iranian terrorist groups and recent events — Admiral Tucker replied. — Only videos on social media from previously unknown Islamic groups that are fighting over who created them. This does not give us enough concrete evidence to carry out military operations on foreign territory. I cannot condone such nonsense!

At that moment, everyone became agitated and many comments made the atmosphere tense. Kenan regained his calm, took a breath and replied:

— Admiral Tucker, what we need is the support of the council to carry out the raids and gather the necessary evidence. At this moment, we have several operations taking place in these territories with the Deltas and DEVGRU. We are in negotiations with the Arab embassy and we ask that they open guard to our personnel as a partner in the investigations. We already had the support of the NATO summit after September 11th for the invocation of Article Five and we just need to prove that the Iranian government is not capable of dealing with the situation to achieve this again. Mr. Barthon, please explain our plan.

Secretary of State Anthony Barthon then took the floor. He began to explain the plan that the CIA had presented and the military strategy that they needed. However, many still did not agree with the actions presented by Kenan and went against every proposal made by Barthon.

— This is a crazy plan! — General Norton roared.

— The country is on the brink of economic collapse and we are going to be groping around blindly until we find a possible culprit for all this? With what budget do you intend to do this? We have withdrawn almost forty percent of the soldiers camped in Iraq to reduce the costs of operations and you want to send even more troops on an absurd mission like this?

Many agreed with General Benjamin Norton and showed that they were rethinking the financial issues.

— Gentlemen, gentlemen! — Kenan said loudly, to regain control of the situation. — We have in our hands a lot of intelligence information and now evidence pointing to those responsible for the attacks. It won't be long before we have tangible information about the real terrorist cell and its possible location.

— However, we need military support for the investigations, which is why we are sending troops to the operations — Barthon added.

— The CIA alone will not be enough to continue to achieve results — Admiral Tucker interjected.

— I know that we are in an economic situation that makes it impossible to carry out more military missions, but I can obtain the necessary funds for the operations through an agreement with NATO and perhaps with the UN, it all depends on the course of the negotiations. I need your support to present a good defense at the next meeting with the council, for that, I want the entire strategic plan and availability of troops for the first investigative raids and possible occupation. Can you do it?

Kenan knew how to deal with adverse situations very well, he overcame setbacks with eloquence, making his oratory a stronger weapon than the argument itself.

The meeting continued and, despite their resistance, the Secretaries and Heads of State said their goodbyes, giving in to his requests. At the end, when everyone was walking towards the exit of the room, one of them came slowly and with a sententious look. General Norton still seemed very dissatisfied with the situation. As he passed Kenan, who was saying goodbye to the others, he turned to him and said:

— I spent eight years on the battlefield and twenty-seven commanding soldiers and troops, Mr. President, but it was those eight years that taught me what I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The most important lessons are those we learn the most painfully. Save yourself from that by listening to what I have to say: Overconfidence only predicts the imminence of our defeat...

Kenan just looked into his tired eyes. The black man and already with the burden of age upon him, he was perhaps still the most lucid of all those who were there, he felt.

Without shaking his hand, the old man turned and walked towards the exit.