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She made her way up to the first floor and into the President's private dining room off the Oval Office. President Hayes was waiting for her, an array of newspapers spread out on each side of his place setting, a bowl of Grape-nuts in the middle and a piping hot cup of coffee on his right. Hayes was a very organized and determined man. He had told Ke
Thus far, Ke
The President didn't bother to look up from whatever paper he was reading when Ke
"No thank you, sir. Coffee's fine." Ke
"What's new today?" Hayes shoved a spoonful of the tiny brown rocklike cereal into his mouth.
"Well," Ke
The President waved his hands in the air and then wiped a drop of milk from his lip. With his napkin still in hand, he said, "Put the brief away. I'll look at it later. Unless there's something that needs my immediate attention, I'd like to talk about this mess your Israeli friend has dumped in our laps."
Ke
honest answer."
Ke
"Can we trust the Israelis on this thing?"
Ke
"This information they've given us, can we trust it? Is it possible they have it wrong ... or that they've been fed this information by the Iraqis?"
She thought about the question for a moment and answered, "As you know, sir, anything is possible, but I think this information is pretty accurate."
Hayes grimaced. He wanted a more concrete answer than what she'd just given him. "What makes you say that? Is it because you trust Colonel Freidman?"
Ke
"That's what worries me. I don't like being manipulated by any country, but I especially don't like it by a country that owes us its very existence. Quite a few of my predecessors allowed Israel to lead them around by the nose, and several of them weren't even aware of it. Not me." Hayes angrily shook his head. "I won't allow it. I want to make damn sure this information is correct before we start dropping bombs. Do we have anyone in Baghdad who can confirm what Freidman told us?"
"This is awkward, sir." Ke
"Yes," Ke
The President was undeterred. "Well, listen, before we start dropping bombs on a hospital I'd like to be absolutely sure that those nukes are in fact there."
"Sir, I can ask one of them to look into it, but I think they will ignore me. It's too risky. Besides, we have no reason to doubt the Israelis on this."
"I can think of several reasons why I should doubt them." Hayes rolled his eyes.
Ke
"This all started a little over three years ago. Dump trucks all day long for a month straight. My experts estimate that over a thousand tons of earth was removed from beneath the hospital." Ke
"My people counted the number of trucks that came to the site and feel pretty confident that they weren't just laying a new foundation. They say the only time the Iraqis use this much cement is when they are trying to build a bunker."
"How in the hell did we miss this?" Hayes asked angrily. "Isn't this why we spend billions on the spy satellites?"
"The problem, sir, is that we leveled a good portion of the country. Since the end of the Gulf War it's been a nonstop succession of dump trucks and cement trucks."
The President flipped through the remainder of the photographs without comment. When he was finished he took his time putting them back in a neat stack and then handed them to Ke
"Yes, I do."
The President stood and walked over to the window. He gazed across the way at the Executive Office Building. Ke
"How many people are in this hospital?"
"I'm not sure, sir." Her answer was less than truthful. One other analysts had given her a range, but she didn't think now was the time to tell the President the number.
"Hundreds?"
"Possibly"
The President turned around again and looked out the window. Ke