"And that's a big part of why we're here. To discuss the viability of options," General Kearney said.
"Let's reach some sort of consensus about the threat before I try to lay anything out in front of the national security advisor," she said.
Although Shelby wanted to fast track an operation against Sanderson and wasn't in the mood to waste time, he appreciated her cautious approach. The director was close personal friends with James Quinn, the president's national security advisor, and his next stop today would be to pay his good friend a visit. With the "War on Terror" fever pitch at its apex in the country, he didn't foresee a problem getting a "green light" from the White House.
"Well, to start, Sanderson is number seven on the FBI's list of wanted terrorists, just under Ahmed Yasin, an emerging young Al Qaeda extremist that we've tried to kill three times already. That alone warrants action, but I understand that we are not talking about a simple Predator drone operation here," Shelby said.
"What are we talking about?" Gerald Simmons said.
"I want Sanderson and his key players in custody."
"Jesus, I was really hoping for something a little easier," Simmons said.
"Now I understand why SOCOM is here," Kestler added.
"The entire operation needs to be shut down before it causes more damage to investigative efforts domestically and internationally. Sanderson is a rogue, and only God knows what he plans next. We have a confirmed link between Sanderson and True America, and his operatives have been accepting arms shipments throughout South America and Europe. He's a deviously intelligent planner and he's had two years to come up with an encore to his last fiasco. Trust me when I say that we can't afford to wait around for his next Broadway production," Shelby said, shuffling through his file for a picture.
"Who knows where his next sleeper agent is hiding? The last one, pictured right here," he said and held up the picture of Farrington, "buried a seven-inch blade to the hilt through an innocent man's heart, severing his spinal cord. Just to steal classified information."
"I'm going to be honest with everyone here and hopefully save some time," Gerald Simmons said. "My boss supports action in this case, and I was mainly sent to assess the viability of suggested options. I notice that we don't have any CIA representation at the table. Does someone have a country assessment from Langley that might shed some light on the possibility of local federal police or military assistance? Obviously, the best case scenario would be to let the Argentine government take care of Sanderson."
"The CIA's absence is no oversight. There were too many irregularities surrounding Sanderson's debacle that couldn't be adequately explained…especially by the CIA," Shelby said.
"Do you suspect they were working together?" Kestler said.
"I couldn't say conclusively, but I've been doing this for a long time, almost 40 years, and let's just say that the numbers didn't add up on the CIA's side of the equation. I don't know if there was any collusion. My gut says no, but I suspect that the CIA tried to specifically eliminate one of Sanderson's operatives. Either way, we need to keep the CIA out of this. General Kearney brought the DIA's assessment of Argentina," Shelby said.
"Overall, the political climate is favorable for Argentinian cooperation; however, we feel that success is highly unlikely. Assuming a successful operation and capture, we have no guarantee of extradition. The extradition treaty is solid, but Sanderson is unlikely to be transferred. Munoz's testimony for an immunity deal was structured to move the day's investigation along so that the FBI could open more layers and figure out if a major terrorist attack was imminent. Munoz can't be touched. He could take a tour of the White House if he wanted. Munoz never directly implicated Sanderson in any of his testimony, and any lawyer worth their salt could argue that Munoz would say anything under duress to get immunity. See where this is going? This may sound outrageous, but the evidence against Sanderson is circumstantial at best. Against most of them, frankly. We have a few solid cases. Richard Farrington's fingerprints were on the knife that killed Harrison McKie. Daniel Petrovich was caught on camera slicing and dicing two Brown River contractors…followed by killing a police detective," General Kearney said.
"And three more Brown River contractors on a suburban street. We've got Petrovich and Farrington nailed. The rest? They're not likely to be held by Argentine authorities," Shelby said.
"Running a paramilitary training center within Argentina's borders? I don't think we have to worry about them being released any time soon," Kestler said.
"I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, Sanderson's crew is running their operation on Ernesto Galenden's land, and based on recent activity uncovered by my investigative team, we can assume that Ernesto Galenden is fully aware and supportive of Sanderson's activities. Mr. Galenden is one of the wealthiest and politically influential men in Argentina. Sanderson would be tipped off long before an operation could get off the ground in Argentina. Certainly before federal forces arrived at the compound.
'"Even if Argentine forces took Sanderson into custody, Galenden has the clout to set them free. It's too risky in my opinion. If we decide to take Sanderson down, we need to do it ourselves. He's had two years to train and prepare his next batch, plus he has a full complement of fully-trained operatives from the good old days. If he's tipped off and flees, it'll put a damper on his plans, but it won't cut him off at the knees. His threat will linger," Shelby said.
"We need to capture this man and his principal players. At that point, we can work to unravel whatever remains of his network and plans," General Kearney said.
"I assume Sanderson and his crew won't be deposited into the U.S. federal prison system?" Kestler said.
"No, ma'am," Kearney said, "he'll be flown straight to Guantanamo, where he'll remain until he cooperates and dismantles his worldwide operation."
"All right, I'm sold, as long as these gentlemen can convince me that we can pull this off without a major international incident," she said and stared at the two Special Operations Command generals.
General Gordon spread out a few satellite images in front of him and smiled for the first time since Shelby entered the room. It was a meaningless, practiced smile that impressed Shelby. Prior to seeing it, the director thought only he had patented this grin.
"After reviewing the satellite photos and the DIA's best assessment of the situation in that camp, I feel extremely confident that we can pull this off and keep it under the radar, both literally and figuratively. Our Navy's Third Fleet, based out of San Diego, is one month away from sending the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group to the Persian Gulf. The USS Boxer and all of the ships in the Strike Group are at sea conducting a final shakedown prior to deployment, fully loaded with a combat-experienced Marine Expeditionary Unit. This MEU has been reinforced with a Marine Special Operations Company and the uniquely modified helicopters needed to put them into action. The MEU also hosts a SEAL platoon that specializes in direct action missions. I can have another SEAL platoon onboard the Boxer within four hours, along with eight of the navy's special operations Rescue Hawk helicopters. HSC-85's "Firehawks" are based right out of North Island in San Diego. This would give us one hundred special operators, and more than enough helicopters to ferry prisoners.
"Based on DIA and FBI estimates, plus reconnaissance, I estimate the possibility of removing up to forty prisoners."
"Forty? Is that feasible? How many helicopters are we talking about here?" Kestler said.
"Ten. Two marine CH-53ES Super Stallions and eight Rescue Hawks."
"Ten helicopters is an invasion force, General. What are the chances of keeping ten helicopters airborne during a nighttime operation? The targets are as well trained as any of the men that will step off those helicopters. Right?" Kestler said.