Tom Clancy's Op-center Balance of Power - Tom Clancy [74]
The call came through ten minutes late. Hood called Rodgers in to listen on the speakerphone. As Rodgers arrived and took a seat, Manni was explaining in English that the reason he was late was because Portugal had just asked the United Nations for help.
"There has been violence along the border between Salamanca and Zamora," Manni said.
Hood glanced at the map on his computer. Salamanca was located just below Zamora in central and northwestern Spain. Together, the regions shared about two hundred miles of border with Portugal.
"The unrest began about three hours ago when anti-Castilians held a candlelight rally at the Postigo de la Traición-the Traitor's Gate. That's the spot by the city wall where the Castilian king Sancho II was assassinated in 1072. When police attempted to break up the rally, stones and bottles were thrown and the police fired several shots into the air. Someone in the crowd fired back and an officer was wounded. The police are mostly Castilian and they immediately turned on the ralliers-not as peacekeepers but as Castilians."
"With guns?" Hood asked.
"I'm afraid so," said Manni.
"Which is like dropping a lighted match on gas," said hawkish National Security advisor Burkow.
"Mr. Burkow, you are correct," said Manni. "Like a firestorm, riots spread westward to Portugal. The police called for military help from Madrid and it is being provided. But Lisbon is concerned that they may not be enough to contain the fighting and also to stop refugees from crossing the border. They've just asked the United Nations to create a buffer zone."
"How do you feel about Portugal's request, Mr. Secretary-General?" Carol Lanning asked.
"I am opposed," he replied.
"I don't blame you," said Burkow. "Lisbon's got an army, an air force, and a navy. Let them field a force."
"No, Mr. Burkow," Manni said. "I am uneasy about having any army on the border. Placing a force there would legitimize the crisis. It would acknowledge that a crisis exists."
"Doesn't it?" Lanning asked.
"It does," Manni agreed. "But to millions of Spaniards the crisis is still a highly localized one. It's a provincial matter, not a national or international one. And officially, it is still under control. If they learn that an army is gathered on the border-any army-there will be misinformation, confusion, and panic. The situation will become even worse."
"Mr. Manni," Burkow said tensely, "this may all be academic. Are you aware that Prime Minister Aznar has spoken with President Lawrence and asked for a U.S. military presence offshore?"
"Yes," Manni said, "I am aware of this. Ostensibly, the force is there to defend and evacuate American tourists in the wake of the killing."
"Ostensibly," Burkow agreed.
"Has the President made a decision?"
"Not yet," said Burkow, "but he's leaning toward it. He's waiting for intelligence to determine whether American interests are, in fact, in danger. Paul? Marius? Do either of you have anything to say about that?"
Being the senior official. Hood answered first. "Except for the attack against Martha-or perhaps because of it-there have been no reports of additional hostilities against American tourists," he said. "Nor do we expect there to be. The people of Spain will be extremely sensitive about straining relations further. Besides, whatever the region, Spain's economy depends upon tourism. It's very unlikely that they'll want to do anything to jeopardize that. As for additional political attacks against Americans, we all know that Martha was assassinated because she worked for Op-Center. We believe that she was murdered as a singular warning to the United States not to do exactly what we're discussing: become involved in Spanish politics. As long as we keep our distance, politically and militarily, we don't expect any more such attacks."
"Paul's on the money about the tourist situation," Marius said. "We've been very carefully monitoring the actions of the Spanish police and military. They respond very quickly to put down violence in popular