is dangerous. “”Really He sounds like a real patriot.”
“That’s what worries me. People who believe themselves to be true
patriots tend to be zealots. Zealots, in my opinion, are one short
step from lunatics. is tory has given us enough examples of that.”
Ward grinned. “Today he came in to deliver the usual bullshit. He
looked so smug I decided I had to tweak him a little.”
Buchanan looked very interested. “How’d you do that?”
“I asked him about death squads.” Ward paused and looked around for a
moment. “We’ve had problems with the CIA over that in the past. They
fund these little insurgency groups, outfit and train ’em, then turn
’em loose, like an old coon dog. Then, unlike a good coon dog, they go
and do things they weren’t supposed to be doing. At least according to
the official agency rules.”
“What’d he say to that?”
“Well, it wasn’t part of his little script. He looked through his
briefing book like he was attempting to shake out a small band of armed
men.” Ward laughed deeply. “Then he threw me some gobbledygook that
really amounted to nothing. Said that the ‘new’ CIA was merely a
collector and analyzer of information. When I asked him if he was
conceding that there was something wrong with the ‘old’ CIA, I thought
he might come over the table at me.” Ward laughed again. “Same old,
same old.”
“So what’s he up to now that’s got you ticked off?” Ward smiled.
“Trying to get me to reveal confidences?”
“Of course.”
Ward glanced around again and then leaned forward and spoke quietly.
“He was withholding information, what else? You know the spooks,
Danny, they want more and more funding but when you start to ask
questions about what they’re doing with that money, Jesus, it’s like
you killed their mother. But what else am I going to do when I’m
presented with reports from the CIA’s inspector general that have so
many damn red action the paper looks black? So I brought that fact to
Mr. Thornhill’s attention.”
“How did he react to that? Pissed off? Cool and collected?”
“Why are you so curious about him?”
“You started it, Rusty. Don’t blame me if I find your work
fascinating.”
“Well, he said those reports had to be censored to protect the
identities of intelligence sources. That it was a very fine line and
that the CIA walked it the best it could. I told him that it was kind
of like my granddaughter playing hopscotch. She can’t hit all the
squares just right, so she misses some of them on purpose. I told him
it was damn cute. When little kids did it.
“Now, I have to give the man his due. He made some sense. He said
that it’s a delusion that were going to knock out entrenched dictators
with simple satellite photos and high-speed modems. We need
old-fashioned assets on the ground. We need people inside their
organizations, within their inner circles. That’s the only way we win.
I understand that well enough. But the arrogance of the man, well, it
gets to me. And I’m convinced that even if Robert Thornhill had no
reason to lie, the man still wouldn’t tell the truth. Hell, he has
this little system where he taps his pen against the table and one of
his aides pretends to whisper in his ear so he’ll have a couple extra
breaths to think of some lie. He’s been using that same code all these
years. I guess he thinks I’m some kind of horse’s ass and wouldn’t
ever catch on.”
“I’d like to think this Thornhill fellow knows better than to
underestimate you.”
“Oh, he’s good. I have to admit he got the better of today’s jousting.
I mean, the man can say absolutely nothing and make it sound as strong
and noble as the Ten Commandments. And when he got backed into a
corner, he pulled out his national security bullshit counting on the
fact that it would scare everybody to death. Bottom line: He promised
me all these answers. And I told him I looked forward to working with
him.” Ward sipped his water. “Yep, he won today. But there’s always