Act of War - Brad Thor Page 0,4
something nuclear or biological in nature.”
“Missiles?” the Attorney General asked.
The DNI shook his head. “We don’t think so. According to the intelligence acquired by the CIA, the Chinese used a cutout named Ismail Kashgari from the Uighur region to approach an Al Qaeda fixer in Pakistan named Ahmad Yaqub. Our belief is that Yaqub was hired to staff the operation.”
“The Uighur area borders Afghanistan, doesn’t it?” asked the Director of Homeland Security. “Can’t we get to this Kashgari character?”
“He’s dead,” the DNI replied. “We believe the Chinese killed him to cover up their involvement.”
“What about Ahmad Yaqub? Can we get to him?”
“Yes,” replied the President. “We have actionable intelligence on Yaqub’s whereabouts. A mission plan is being developed as we speak.”
“Do we have any leads beyond this Ahmad Yaqub?” the Attorney General asked.
“There’s one more,” replied the DNI. “According to the CIA’s asset, the Chinese have been training some kind of special PLA detachment in North Korea.”
“What’s so special about it?” the Director of Homeland Security asked.
“We believe it is a landing force of some type, training to come in after the attack. As you can see on the screens, the area they are supposedly training in has been netted over. We can’t see what they’re up to. If we could get eyes on, we believe we might be able to learn more about the nature of the attack.”
“How would you go about that?”
“We’d insert a four-man SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team,” the Secretary of Defense replied.
The Attorney General was a bit taken aback. “Into North Korea?”
He nodded.
Looking at the Secretary of State, the AG asked, “Where do you stand on all of this?”
The Secretary of State took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. “I stand with the President, but I have a couple of concerns.”
“Such as?”
“We’ve been able to confirm some of the intelligence the CIA received, but it’s still largely single-source. That’s dangerous. We don’t know if this is officially the People’s Republic of China at work. It could be a rogue element from somewhere within their intelligence service, the military, or even the Chinese Communist Party. We just don’t know.”
“Which is exactly why the North Korea and Ahmad Yaqub operations are necessary,” the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs stated. “If it makes it easier, consider them fact-finding missions.”
“With guns and Spec Ops personnel.”
“These aren’t trips to Disneyland, Mr. Secretary.”
The Secretary of State took in a deep breath, puffed out his cheeks, and then slowly exhaled in exasperation. “My job is diplomacy and I’d prefer diplomatic channels, but the President is right. We can’t let the Chinese know we suspect them.”
All eyes shifted to Porter. As great as the risks were, the greatest risk lay in doing nothing. Both operations needed to go forward. There was no other course a responsible leader could choose to take.
Nodding to his Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Defense, he said, “I’m green-lighting them.”
The men immediately reached for secure telephones.
“Blackbird is a go,” the Director of National Intelligence said into his.
Moments later, the Secretary of Defense’s call was answered. “We’re go for Operation Gold Dust,” he confirmed.
Blackbird and Gold Dust were codenames randomly created by the CIA and DoD for two missions that might save America from an unspeakable attack, or a deadly, all-out war.
After they had discussed what military assets could be repositioned without tipping their hand to the Chinese, the meeting was adjourned.
As his national security team filed out of the Situation Room, the President asked the Secretary of the Treasury to remain behind. There was an additional piece of intelligence the CIA had collected, but that had been excluded from the briefing.
Once they were alone, the President spoke. “Dennis, I want you to do something for me and you need to be very quiet about it.”
CHAPTER 2
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NORTH KOREAN COAST
Four men in drysuits quietly broke the surface of the choppy, black water and scanned the rocky shoreline. The North Koreans were paranoid about invasion. They went to great lengths to defend themselves, even raking their beaches in order to make footprints visible.
A high-altitude low-opening (HALO) jump had been out of the question. No plane would be able to get them close enough to North Korean airspace. The insertion had to be done via water.
They had used a minisubmarine known as an Advanced SEAL Delivery System. Unlike the open SEAL Delivery Vehicles, which exposed SEALs to strength-sapping cold water, the ASDS was completely contained, warm and airtight. After a battery problem had caused an