It took many long philosophical discussions before he was totally satisfied that Martin was a man he could take into his confidence. These discussions primarily focused on three critical questions. Is it ethical for men in power, men entrusted by their countrymen with that power, to go outside the law if the situation demands it? Second, is it reasonable to expect the average citizen to understand what needs to be done? And last, is it logical to expect self-serving politicians to act on what needs to be done?
It was the politicians who frustrated Bradford the most. It seemed to him that their primary agenda was not losing the next election rather than accomplishing something meaningful once they were elected. They never agreed on anything, and by the time a decision was made it was often too late and the damage was already done. So as dangerous as it was for him personally, Bradford finally decided that it was cowardly and irresponsible for a man in his position to ignore obvious threats to national security and blame his failure to act on others. There was no one in a better position than he was to do what needed to be done. He had superbly trained personnel and virtually unlimited funding, and he was privy to almost as much intelligence as the president. He knew who the enemy was, what they were plotting, and what was at stake. All he need was the courage to act-and he found that courage.
A situation with the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey was the first assignment he gave young Major Breed. The base had been in existence since 1955 and was theoretically operated by NATO, meaning that in reality it was controlled by the U.S. government. It was a vital jumping-off point for deployments to the Middle East, but a charismatic member of the Turkish parliament had taken a popular position that the American infidels should be booted out of the country. The State Department had talked to the man until they were blue in the face, but neither money nor logic could move the Turk. He was adamant. The Americans had to go.
Bradford told Martin how the loss of the base was not just an expensive inconvenience. The base was a strategic necessity, and losing it would create a perilous hole in America’s security. Furthermore, there was a very good possibility the Turkish politician would one day be the prime minister of his country, and a onetime ally would become another hostile anti-American power. The Turk, he said to Martin, was as big an enemy as any terrorist with a bomb-but he didn’t propose a solution. He wanted Martin to arrive at the solution on his own, and finally he did. Martin said, “Sir, if this man is our enemy, then he should be treated as such.”
Martin flew to Turkey three days later, going supposedly to review the base’s security procedures. Accompanying him were two young enlisted men Bradford had personally selected for the assignment; Bradford didn’t tell Martin, however, which regiment the enlisted men came from. Not at that time.
A Christian lunatic was eventually executed for the Turkish politician’s murder.
It was after the operation in Turkey that he brought Martin completely into the fold and told him about the mission of the Old Guard, the true mission of the soldiers who protect the Unknowns’ tomb. He also told him about John Levy, but he didn’t tell him Levy’s name. He trusted Martin, but security procedures had to be followed.
Bradford knew that many Americans-not all, but many-would condemn what he and Martin had done in Turkey. Yet if those same Americans were asked, Do you wish Osama bin Laden had been eliminated when we first knew he posed a threat? what do you think their answer would be? Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization were known to be behind the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, and bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen in 2000. So why didn’t we kill him before 2001? The answer was because the politicians vacillated until it was too late. They were concerned about violating international law and what our Muslim allies might think if we killed bin Laden on their soil and without their approval. They were concerned the intelligence wasn’t one hundred percent accurate (it never was) and worried about the international reaction if innocent civilians were killed. They debated if we should capture him rather than kill him, and if there was some way to get the Saudis or some other Islamic government to do the capturing for us. They vacillated over everything, and because of this bin Laden was allowed to live, and three thousand American civilians died, and nothing has been the same since. Had Bradford taken the initiative before 2001-and he blamed himself to this day for not having done so-9/11 might not have happened. But now-thanks to men like Martin Breed and John Levy-he was taking the initiative.
Yes, Martin Breed had done much for his country, and the most important things he had done would never be known. Bradford always believed that if he had ever asked Martin to die for him, he would have done so without hesitation-and then it turned out, when it was time for Martin to die, that Martin turned against him. But he didn’t feel bitter toward his friend. Who knows what effect the cancer had on his mind at the end? And who knows what any man might do when faced with the prospect of meeting his Maker? He liked to think that impending death would never change his principles, but he had no right to judge Martin harshly. He had not yet walked in Martin’s shoes.
Linda Breed let out a heart-wrenching moan, and Bradford took her small hand into his. But as he held her hand, his thoughts turned to John Levy. Bradford prided himself on his ability to compartmentalize issues and problems, and his focus this morning had been on Martin’s funeral and his eulogy. Now that his part in the service was over, however, he couldn’t help but wonder how Levy was faring.
Levy had to find out who had identified that young soldier through his fingerprints.
“That’s her,” Perkins said, pointing at the monitor on his desk.
Perkins-a lanky, balding, bookish man in his forties-was an agent who worked for the PFPA, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. The PFPA is the Pentagon’s police force and is composed of guards, criminal investigators, and highly trained technicians responsible for protecting the Pentagon and other DOD assets in the D.C. area. John Levy was nominally the deputy director of the agency. The reality, as Perkins and every other member of the force knew-including Levy’s boss-was that Levy reported to no one. And people in the Pentagon quickly learned to do whatever Levy asked of them. If they didn’t, someone very, very high up the chain of command would make a phone call and instruct them in the error of their ways. Levy was a shadowy presence who, for reasons no one could understand, was incredibly powerful and totally autonomous.
Levy looked at the monitor and saw a stocky black woman with henna-colored hair and black framed glasses wearing a dark pantsuit.
“We got that picture from a surveillance camera located near the hospital pharmacy,” Perkins said. “We started with a general description of the woman from a nurse’s aide, who said that a black woman identified herself as an Arlington police officer and took the fingerprints of the John Doe corpse. We showed the aide this surveillance photo, and he confirmed this was the woman.”
“So who is she?” Levy said.
“Her name is Alberta Merker. I used Homeland Security’s facial recognition software.” A second photo flashed up on the screen, showing a round-faced black woman, her hair cut in a short Afro. “That’s her Maryland driver’s license photo, minus the wig and glasses.”
“Put both photos on the screen at the same time,” Levy said. Perkins did and Levy studied the two pictures. Yes, it was the same woman, but the simple disguise she’d worn made it tough to tell.