The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [143]
"What enemies are they?" Cathy asked.
"Syria isn't happy with the treaty as yet. Neither is Iran. As far as Lebanon goes, well, there isn't any Lebanon in any real sense of the word. It's just a place on the map where people die. Libya and all those terrorist groups. There are still enemies to be concerned about." Ryan finished off the glass and walked into the kitchen to refill it. It was a shame to waste good wine like this, Jack told himself. The way he was guzzling it, he might as well drink anything
"There will be a monetary cost as well," Fowler was saying, as Ryan came back.
"Taxes are going up again," Cathy observed crossly.
"Well, what did you expect?" Fifty million of it is my fault, of course. A billion here, and a billion there
"Will this really make a difference?" she asked.
"It should. We'll find out if all those religious leaders believe in what they say, or if they're just bullshit artists. What we've done is to hoist them on their own petards, babe Make that 'principles,' " Jack said after a moment. "Either they work things out in accordance with their beliefs or they reveal themselves as charlatans."
"And ?"
"I don't think they're charlatans. I think they'll be faithful to what they've always said. They have to be."
"And soon you won't have any real work to do, will you?"
Jack caught the hopeful note in her voice. "I don't know about that."
After the end of the President's speech came the commentary. Speaking in opposition was Rabbi Solomon Mendelev, an elderly New Yorker who was one of Israel's most fervent - some would say rabid - supporters. Oddly, he'd never actually traveled to Israel. Jack didn't know why that was true and made a mental note to find out why tomorrow. Mendelev led a small but effective segment of the Israeli lobby. He'd been nearly alone in voicing approval - well, understanding - of the shootings on Temple Mount. The rabbi had a beard, and wore a black yarmulke over what looked like a well-rumpled suit.
"This is a betrayal of the State of Israel," he said, after receiving the first question. Surprisingly, he spoke with calm reason. "In forcing Israel to return what was rightfully hers, the United States has betrayed the Jewish people's historic right to the land of their fathers, and also gravely compromised the physical security of the country. Israeli citizens will be forced from their homes at gunpoint, just as happened fifty years ago," he concluded ominously.
"Now wait a minute," another commentator responded heatedly.
"God, these people are passionate," Jack noted.
"I lost family members in the Holocaust," Mendelev said, his voice still reasonable. "The whole point of the State of Israel is to give Jews a place where they can be safe."
"But the President is sending American troops -"
"We sent American troops to Vietnam," Rabbi Mendelev pointed out. "And we made promises, and there was a treaty involved there, also. Israel's only possible security is within defensible borders behind her own troops. What America has done is to bully that country into accepting an agreement. Fowler cut off defense supplies to Israel as a means of "sending a message." Well, the message was sent and received: either give in or be cut off. That is what happened. I can prove it, and I will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to prove it."
"Uh-oh," Jack observed quietly.
"Scott Adler, Deputy Secretary of State, personally delivered that message while John Ryan, the Deputy Director of the CIA, made his own pitch to Saudi Arabia. Ryan promised the Saudi king that America would bring Israel to heel. That's bad enough, but for Adler, a Jew, to do what he did " Mendelev shook his head.
"This guy's got some good sources."
"Is what he says true, Jack?" Cathy asked.
"Not exactly, but what we were doing over there was supposed to be secret. It wasn't supposed to be widely-known that I was out of the country."
"I knew you were gone -"
"But not where to. It won't matter. He can make a little noise, but it won't