Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [106]
“I couldn’t agree more,” Jack replied, “given the state of things. How do you plan to proceed?”
“The president has already set the tone and tempo for this meeting by personally calling each of them,” Clayton replied. “I plan to make the point as bluntly as I can. I’ll tell them about the meeting at Camp David and the grand plan we need to develop for my address to Congress on the sixteenth. We’ll discuss the CIA report and Peter Canton’s memo on climate-change and then get the discussion going from there.”
“What’s the bottom line for you, Clayton? What do you want the outcome to be when they leave the meeting tonight?”
“Good question. Let’s see … ah, a couple of things: First, I want them to leave with a clear understanding that we are in crisis mode, that we need to throw out the old playbook and deal with this on the run. Second, they need to understand the interconnectedness of the multiple threats facing us and why the grand strategy must deal with all the moving parts. Incremental or piecemeal solutions won’t cut it this time, and that kind of thinking is not easy for folks living inside the Beltway. We’ll call our plan Operation Safe Harbors—I’ll explain the code name later.”
Their discussion continued until Maggie knocked on the door and popped her head in. “Hi, guys. I hate to interrupt, but your guests are starting to arrive. Shall I tell them you’ll be with them shortly?”
“Thanks, Mags,” Clayton responded, frustrated he didn’t have more time with Jack. “Please tell them we’ll join them in about five minutes.”
They quickly tied up a few loose ends, and then Clayton asked, “What do you think, Jack: will this work?”
“I always knew you were an underachiever,” Jack laughingly responded. With that, they left to join the others in the reception hall.
“I’d like to thank you for coming on such short notice,” Clayton opened. “I know you’ve talked to the president, by virtue of the fact that you’re here, and I would imagine that he conveyed to you the importance of this meeting.”
He sensed their uneasiness; they were apprehensive about the meeting and struggling to grasp Burkmeister’s declaration that McCarty was now, in effect, the president.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat the crisis we’re in, and I’ll speak with a directness I hope you’ll all emulate tonight. We’re all in the same foxhole, and we don’t have time to decipher the DC doublespeak we sometimes use to smooth over differences.
As you all know, we are facing a combination of threats we can neither stop nor avoid. The Saudi oil crisis will soon destroy the global economy and, in the process, trigger a number of other festering time bombs. The geopolitical environment is fragile: the American economy is ready to implode under the staggering weight of runaway debt and unfunded entitlement liabilities; a climate-change bombshell that we can no longer ignore has revealed itself; and we have a political system and population in denial.
“The American people—and the world, for that matter—will be looking to us for solutions, and Band-Aid approaches won’t cut it any longer. We need a grand strategy to comprehensively attack all of these problems, and we’re going to need it by October sixteenth: the date I plan to present our plan to a joint session of Congress.”
They were stunned. Even the most battle-hardened veterans on the SWAT team resembled terrified deer staring down the headlights of an oncoming Mack truck.
“I have much to share with you tonight, including a debriefing on a secret meeting Jack and I had this weekend at Camp David with Chinese chairman Lin Cheng and his chief of staff Wang Peng. Also …”
“Excuse me, Mr. Vice President,” interrupted Defense Secretary Thompson, “but was this a conference call or an actual face-to-face meeting?”
“It was a face-to-face meeting. I apologize for not bringing all of you into this earlier, but I’m sure you’ll understand why after I explain. Let me start with the big picture, and then we’ll cover the Camp David meeting.” Clayton guessed from