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Dickerson’s expression soured. “I think on this point we will have to agree to disagree.”
“No . . . I don’t think so,” Ke
Even Rapp was surprised by how forcefully his boss had responded to Dickerson.
“I don’t want to sound disrespectful, Gabe, but I’m pretty sure I know why you’re here, so I think you might want to hear our concerns before you ask us to risk our careers and possibly our freedom.”
“Fair enough.”
“Fifteen years ago, do you know what we used to do when we’d close in on a suspected Soviet spy? And I’m talking about the ones who had U.S. citizenship.”
“I’m sure you would refer the matter to the FBI,” Dickerson said, showing the hint of a grin.
“No,” Ke
“And you weren’t always right, were you?”
“Of the nearly one hundred cases I’m familiar with, there was only one instance where the individual turned out to be i
Dickerson scoffed at Ke
“Those groups you referred to earlier. The ones you represent.”
“Yes.”
“You know how they like to say torture doesn’t work?”
“Yes.”
Ke
CHAPTER 23
RAPP looked at his watch. He had a mental list two pages long of stuff he needed to get to, and sitting in his boss’s office trying to persuade one of the president’s closest advisors that torture worked seemed like it might be a waste of time. Rapp had found in his various appearances before the intelligence committees that you were wasting your breath if you tried to convince people in thousand-dollar suits who had Ivy League law degrees that torture was an effective and necessary tool against an enemy who refused to put on a uniform and intentionally targeted civilians. Given the right team and enough time to work on the individual, there wasn’t a person out there who didn’t break, but Rapp had learned the hard way that most politicians preferred an issue and a ready-made talking point to reality.
Rapp had tired of trying to convince people that it worked. He’d come to the conclusion it would be like a major league slugger arguing with fans over why he swung or didn’t swing at a certain pitch. If you’ve never been in that batter’s box, with some freak of nature perched a little more than sixty feet away on an elevated mound of dirt, who was about to whip a hard white ball at you in excess of ninety miles an hour that might or might not hit you in the head, you really couldn’t understand what it was like to decide in a split second to swing or not swing. It’s easy to sit in the stands with a hot dog and cold beer and criticize, and it’s every bit as easy to sit in a federal office building in Washington, D.C., and do the same thing.
In response to Ke
Rapp felt a glimmer of hope. He couldn’t recall the last time he had heard someone this well co
“It is utter insanity,” Dickerson said, “that the Justice Department has four men in their custody who we know for a fact helped plan and prepare for attacks that killed nearly two hundred of our fellow citizens. All four of those men were born in Saudi Arabia. Two of them have dual citizenship. Those men know things that could help us find the three men who are at large and possibly information that could help us prevent further attacks. And what are we doing?”
“Nothing,” Ke
“They all have lawyers,” Dickerson said while making a hopeless gesture with his hands.
“And,” Ke
“Why am I not surprised?” Dickerson answered.
“They think that we will hand them over to the Saudis so they can torture them for us.”
Dickerson thought about it for a second and said, “Not a bad idea.
” Rapp shook his head. “Actually, it’s not such a good idea. The Saudis like to say they’ll share information with us, but they rarely give us the whole story. They suck them dry, and then they kill them, and we only get what they want us to know, which never includes anything that might co
“So what do we do?”
“With the four men in custody?” Rapp asked.
“Yes.”
“Nothing,” Ke
“And a blanket pardon would be nice,” Rapp added with a smile.
Dickerson suddenly looked less than enthusiastic about the new direction of the discussion. “The president was hoping you would take a more active role in the search for the three men who are still at large. This Lion of al Qaeda character has really got under the president’s skin.”
He was under Rapp’s skin as well. “So, I’m not going to get the blanket pardon?”
“I don’t think so, but there is something else I think I can help you with. I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but there are certain elements on the Hill who are already maneuvering to make this Agency and you, Director Ke
Ke
“Well . . . you have a PR battle that you have been losing for some time.”
Both Rapp and Ke
“I think I can help you more effectively defend yourselves. Get out in front of these other groups before they strike. I can help shape your message. Get it told in the right way over the best outlets.”
“And just how are you going to do that?” Rapp asked in a skeptical tone. “The media elite in this country don’t exactly like us.”
“I’ve got something they won’t be able to resist.”
“What’s that?” Rapp asked.
“You, Mr. Rapp.”
“Come again?” Rapp asked, looking more pissed off than confused.
“You’re a hero. What you and Mike Nash did last week is the type of thing legends are made of, and I don’t even have to exaggerate your accomplishments. The media will eat it up and you and Mr. Nash will become untouchable. There won’t be a politician in this town dumb enough to try and take you on. You will become this generation’s Audie Murphy.”
“You’re nuts!”
“Mitch,” Ke
“No way in hell am I-”
“Mitch,” Ke
“Well, I sure as hell don’t.”
Ke