Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke Read Free Book Online Page B

the Millennium Terrorist Alert we had learned that al Qaeda operatives had been infiltrating Boston by coming in on liquid natural gas tankers from Algeria. We had also learned that had one of the giant tankers blown up in the harbor, it would have wiped out downtown Boston.
    â€œI have that authority.” Loy turned and pointed at another admiral. “And I have just exercised it.”
    â€œJustice, Justice, over.” I signaled to Larry Thompson, the DAG, Deputy Attorney General. “Larry, can you have Immigration get together with Customs and close the land borders?”
    â€œConsider it done, but you know what the borders are like. You can just walk across in a lot of places, especially along the Canadian border. By the way, we need some help getting the AG back. Can we get approval for an aircraft out of Milwaukee?” All flights were now banned, except for the fighters and AWACS.
    Frank Miller reported that DOD had gone on a global alert, DEFCON 3: “That hasn’t happened since the ’73 Arab-Israeli War.” I remembered it. It was the first time I had worked a crisis. I was a young staffer in the National Military Command Center when Soviet nuclear warheads were discovered en route to Egypt. Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger had ordered DEFCON 3 and sent U.S. forces racing all over Europe without telling our NATO allies.
    â€œState, State, go.” Armitage acknowledged the call. “Rich, DOD has gone to DEFCON 3 and you know what that means.” Armitage knew; he had been an Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Bush administration.
    â€œIt means I better go tell the Ruskies before they shit a brick.” Armitage activated the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, down the hall from the State Department Operations Center. The NRRC was connected directly to the Russian Ministry of Defense just outside the Kremlin. It was designed to exchange information in crises to prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation.
    Armitage reappeared. “Damn good thing I did that. Guess who was about to start an exercise of all their strategic nuclear forces?” He had persuaded his Russian counterpart to defer the operation. “By the way, we are taking calls here from countries all over the world who want to help. We are going to close all our embassies to the public and skinny down the staffs, step up security.”
    Jane Garvey was waving her arms at the camera. “We’re down to 934 aircraft aloft, but we have a problem in Alaska.” A Korean Airlines 747 looked like it had been hijacked. “KAL 85, NORAD is scrambling.”
    â€œHas Alaska Center got comms with it?” I wanted to know if FAA could talk to the 747. Garvey indicated a thumbs-up, yes. “Okay, tell KAL it will obey orders from the F-15s or we will blow it up. We are not about to have them fly into Prudhoe Bay.” I had an image of the 747 taking out the port that exported all the oil from the North Slope.
    President Bush had landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, escorted by fighter aircraft. He called Cheney on a secure landline. On the basis of Frank Miller’s recommendations, Cheney pressed the president to proceed to a bunker, either Strategic Command headquarters in Omaha or NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. The press corps on board were told not to report where they were.
    Before lifting off again, Bush taped a statement to be broadcast only after he was airborne. “Make no mistake. The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.” At this point, they hardly seemed cowardly. “Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward. And freedom will be defended.” He seemed tentative.
    Cressey told me that Fenzel was looking for me. I picked up the open line to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, only to find that once again it had a dial tone. When I punched the PEOC button, the person