“One of our subs is caught in a fishing net in the Strait of Hormuz?” Senate Majority Leader Barbara Finegold asked incredulously, the surprise and exasperation etched in her elegant features. “How in the world did that happen?”
As Senator Finegold spoke, the President of the United States moved from the high wingbacked chair near the fireplace, where he and leaders from both the House and the Senate — which the media were calling the “President’s crisis team”—had had their most recent “crisis team photo opportunity,” and back onto his more comfortable leather chair at the head of the coffee table in the formal meeting area of the Oval Office. He made a show of loosening his tie and taking a sip of orange juice, as if he were ready to settle down and get comfortable while talking to the Senate Majority Leader.
Seated beside him was Vice President Ellen Whiting; and seated around them were members of the President’s national security team— Secretary of Defense Chastain, Secretary of State Hartman, and National Security Advisor Freeman, along with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Balboa and Chief of Staff Jerrod Hale. Seated next to Senator Finegold was the Senate’s chief political counsel, Edward Pankow, then House Majority Leader Nicholas Gant, and House Minority Leader, Joseph Crane.
“It was obviously not a normal fishing net — the crew characterized it as a large drift net made of Kevlar, a synthetic material used in protective armor, as light as nylon but stronger than steel,” Philip Freeman replied. “It was obviously a trap.”
“Where was the sub trapped, General Freeman?” Finegold asked.
Freeman hesitated, but the President nodded, and he responded, “About three miles south of Bandar-Abbass, in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s a busy channel, used by hundreds of deepwater ships a day. The Miami was shadowing the Kilo-class attack missile submarine Taregh when it was—
“Was it in international waters?” Finegold asked warily, as if afraid of the answer.
“That is in some dispute,” Philip Freeman said. “The Iranians claim all waters up to the center of the Strait of Hormuz, plus three miles around its islands. The International Maritime Court gives Iran three miles from the mean high-water line.”
“Then I’ll rephrase the question, General Freeman—was the Miami in Iranian waters at all? Did we provoke the Iranians in any way?” Fine- gold asked.
“Senator, we seem to provoke the Iranians simply by our very existence/' Freeman responded. “Yes, our submarine was on patrol in Iranian waters, but I don’t think it’s fair to say we provoked any kind of action against our submarine or its crew. ”
Finegold shook her head and gasped in amazement. “We had a nuclear attack submarine that actually sailed up to an Iranian naval base, in Iranian waters? That’s like an Iranian attack sub sailing up into the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans, isn’t it?”
“Senator Finegold, we’ve briefed the Senate on our intelligence procedures before,” Secretary of Defense Chastain said. “Our mission is to monitor the whereabouts of the Iranian missile submarines. Normally, that can be done by satellite or patrol planes flying out of Saudi Arabia or Bahrain. The current emergency situation between China and Taiwan, and the recent events between us and Iran, prevent us from flying patrol planes in the area, so we need attack subs to shadow the Iranian subs. To prevent the Taregh from sneaking past us, as well as to monitor the Iranian fleet at Bandar-Abbass and in the Persian Gulf, we made the decision to send our patrol subs right near the Iranian naval bases. Normally, the mission is relatively safe. The channel is deep and wide, and the subs can roam around fairly freely.”
“But they’re inside Iranian waters, Mr. Chastain!” Finegold said incredulously. “We’ve committed an act of war\”
“We do missions like this all the time, Senator,” the President interjected. “You’re reacting as if you’ve never heard of such a thing before. It’s a cat-and-mouse game. Once in a while, one side gets caught. The information we gather about Iranian naval forces is valuable enough to take the risk.”
“What if the Iranians decided to sink the Miami, Mr. President?” Representative Joseph Crane interjected. “Would the deaths of one hundred and thirty more sailors still be worth it?” The President seemed to wince at that remark. The loss of the aircraft carrier Independence to a nuclear blast was still obviously very painful to him. “I’m very sorry, Mr. President,” Crane added, without any real conviction, as he saw the ashen expression on the Chief Executive’s face.
“But they didn’t sink it,” Chastain said. “The crew was under attack and, unable to maneuver, the captain made the correct decision and surfaced. The captain is guilty of nothing more than trespassing, and we expect our crew and our sub to be returned to us in short order.”
“But not before the entire world gets a look at our nuclear attack sub on CNN, caught in a fish net well within Iranian territorial waters!” Crane retorted. “One of our best Los Angeles-class nuclear attack subs, flopping around in a fish net like a big steel mackerel, while a hundred Iranian boats drop garbage and sewage on it — they even showed one old fart taking a shit over it! And the Iranian sub still managed to get away. We look like incompetent assholes.”
“Iran knows better than to provoke us,” National Security Advisor Freeman said. “They know—”
“That if they piss you off, you’ll fly another B-2 stealth bomber over their cities and bomb the hell out of them — or drop glue bombs on their air bases and ships?” Crane interjected derisively. “Is that what you did to them earlier this year, General Freeman?”
“Yes, that’s what we did, Mr. Crane,” the President said sternly. Both Crane and Finegold were shocked at the sudden revelation. “Yes, I flew B-2 stealth bombers over China and Afghanistan to strike targets in Iran, including dropping special nonlethal weapons on that ex-Iranian aircraft carrier. Satisfied?”
Crane nodded in triumph. “I will be, after a few more questions, Mr. President. ”
“They will have to wait, Mr. Crane,” President Martindale said. “And I want that information held in strictest confidence, top-secret classification.”
“And I respectfully decline, sir,” Crane said defiantly. “I will call for House special hearings on the attacks, closed-door if necessary, to investigate whether it was necessary and appropriate for you to conduct such attacks.”
“Hearings now, when Iran and China are on the warpath, won’t help the situation one bit, Mr. Crane.”
“Mr. Martindale, perhaps now that we understand that it was an American bomber responsible for attacking those targets in Iran and crippling its carrier, we have to look at other suspects, such as Iran, rather than focusing on Chinese or reactionary Japanese-saboteurs.”
“Congressional investigations will only show a divided government and feed the foreign propaganda machine,” Jerrod Hale said. “It won’t keep China or Iran off the warpath.”
“Then maybe it will get you off the warpath, Mr. President! ” Crane shot back.
“With all due respect, Mr. President,” Senator Barbara Finegold interjected, holding up a hand to silence her overheated congressional colleague, “we do not understand your position regarding your use of military forces overseas. Your current actions are confusing and completely indefensible, and your intentions are not clear, especially with regard to Iran, China, and Chinese Taipei. My colleagues in the Senate need some guidance from you as to your intentions before we can even begin to formulate a support strategy.”