I can say with a considerable degree of certainty that our assault was highly successful, although the exact degree is not yet certain. Unfortunately, a price was paid by our armed forces. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. I am not yet free to divulge all the details of Operation Enduring Freedom, but I can say that while our losses were extremely light, there were losses. Patriots shed their blood, to protect us from tyrants. I cannot promise there will not be losses in the future.
September 11th changed our lives forever, and in ways that will probably take years to determine the extent of. Many of us believed that what happened then could never happen, or that if it happened, it would be somewhere else, in another country, with people we never heard of. We slumbered peacefully, and have received a rude awakening. We must now come to terms with a very different future than what we had planned. As I said earlier, we must change the way we handle our intelligence and determine new ways to deal with new threats. Our nation faces new enemies, enemies who wish to destroy the peaceful and free society we possess.
However, America is strong, not in spite of our freedom, but because of that freedom. The greatest amendment to our Constitution is the very first amendment. It states that we are open and free, in our religion, our speech, and our right to assemble. It is, in effect, the right to freedom of thought. We will not give up those rights. When I was sworn in as President, I swore to preserve, protect, and defend the very Constitution that says we will be a free and open people. Those who would try and change us will fail. We as a people are strong because of our beliefs, and working together we will remain strong, as individuals, and as a nation. Our nation has been challenged, and will grow stronger through this challenge.
Thank you, good night, and God bless America.”
I kept staring at the camera with my mouth shut until the director turned off the bright lights and began talking. I looked over at Ari Fleischer, who was standing in the corner with a copy of the speech in his hand. “Did I blow my lines?” I asked.
“No, sir, I think you got them,” he answered.
“Good.” I waited for some of the technical people to leave and said, “Remember how I said I wanted a sit down with you to go over some of the information on the intelligence problems we had?” He nodded, so I continued, “I had a call from Ashcroft earlier this afternoon. He and one of his investigators are coming over the end of the week for an update. I would like you to join us. The only reason I didn’t bring you in earlier was because I couldn’t take the slightest chance of a leak affecting the military operation. That doesn’t apply any more, and you need to know what is happening. I am not being sneaky for the sake of being sneaky.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. What is going on? The Attorney General is involved in this?!”
I nodded. “Remember how during the summer all you heard out of some of the people surrounding the President was Iraq, Iraq, Iraq?” He nodded again, so I shrugged and shook my head. “Guess what, it wasn’t Iraq, and some people knew it. It isn’t completely clear yet, but it’s going to be a mess, and there are probably going to be some indictments. I would bet that there are going to be hearings on the Hill about this, just like with everything else about 9-11. We can’t be seen to be playing politics with this, so any announcements need to be out of Justice, but you are going to need to know what is happening. As for the timing, I have no idea. Maybe we’ll find out when John and his people come here.”
“Thank you, Mister President.”
“Ari, I just want you to know that if I have to be an asshole at times, it’s not for the sake of being an asshole. I’ll have a reason. I need talented people here, and you are one of those people.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.” He paused for a second and said, “Indictments?!”
“Ari, I could see it happening right in front of me and even I was surprised. For your information, if there are indictments, I won’t be issuing pardons on anything related to 9-11. People didn’t do their jobs, and now we have 3,200 dead Americans and a dead President and I ended up in the jackpot. No, I won’t be handing out any pardons.” I stood up from the corner of the desk I had been half sitting on. “Come on, it’s late. Go home and let me get out of here, too.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
The next step was scheduled to occur the next morning. Secretary Powell arrived at my office at 9:45, and the first thing he said was, “Are you really sure you want to do this?”
“Colin, people need to learn the consequences of their actions. When you were growing up, if you acted up, your mom or your dad would smack you on the butt and tell you not to do it again. Why should countries be any different?”
He crossed his arms and argued, “That’s all well and good, but don’t think there won’t be consequences for your actions, too.”
“Every day I think about those consequences, Colin, every single day.”
We were still discussing consequences when the intercom on my desk announced our guest was arriving. Colin went to the lobby. The Saudi Arabian Ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan of the House of Saud, one of the innumerable Saudi princes and arguably one of their smarter ones, had been invited, and you don’t just let ambassadors wander around the place looking for the proper door to knock on.
Then again, while he wasn’t on my current list of favorite people, I didn’t need to be overly hostile. My actions in the next fifteen minutes would be hostile enough.
One of the agents at the door knocked and opened it, ushering in Ambassador Sultan and Secretary of Defense Powell. He approached and stretched out his hand and I shook it. “Thank you for coming to see me, Mister Ambassador.”
“It is my pleasure, Mister President. I hope you and your family are well.” We chatted about everything under the sun for about ten minutes, since it is considered rude to actually get anything accomplished. Eventually he came around to business. “I am sorry that I was not able to meet you a few weeks ago following President Bush’s passing. I can understand how busy you must have been, and still are, it would seem.”
I nodded. “Yes, yesterday was quite busy. Unfortunately, while I hope that our response to the attack on my country will deter future attacks, I seriously doubt that it will dissuade anybody. That sort of fanaticism does not truly believe in the power of consequences for one’s actions.”
“Actions such as we all witnessed on September 11th are hateful to Allah, and an affront to Islam, a religion of peace,” he commented.
“It is good to hear you say such things, Mister Ambassador, but it seems to be at variance to the actions of your country. This is truly disturbing to me, and to my fellow citizens,” I replied.
“I do not understand. What do you mean, sir?”
“Well, in a very short time, the details of September 11th will be publicly known, in full. Details such as the fact that of the 19 hijackers, 15 of them were Saudi citizens. Details such as the fact that the leader of Al Qaeda is a Saudi citizen. Details such as the fact that Saudi charities and financial institutions provide the funding for terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and others. Details like the fact that the extremist religious doctrines that promote this sort of behavior are routine parts of Saudi culture and thought and government support. To the average American citizen there is little difference between the individuals that did this and the nation that, to all intents and purposes, sent them.”