The General's President (19 page)

"Now, as you know, we have prisons of tents and barbed wire, with ample space, and quite comparable in livability to the army camps of early World War Two. So such an arrest will lead to a more extended and impactful experience, and if you demonstrate, you might want to consider doing it in a lawful way."

Again the long pause while the president's calm eyes scanned the room.

"I also appreciate that the CIA tends to be poorly regarded in this country. To some extent this has resulted from actions of its own, and to some extent from a planned program of disinformation by agents of foreign powers: lies, exaggerations, distortions, and truths told out of context, that have been passed along by our own media and accepted as true by many Americans.

"But easily the CIA's biggest image problem has grown out of an ill-advised organizational situation dating way back to 1948. The same cause which, for nearly fifty years, has significantly impaired our gathering of needed information about our enemies.

"And believe me, regardless of what some may tell you, we have enemies.

"In 1947, the Congress established the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, to help keep the executive branch of our government informed on foreign activities, especially Communist Bloc activities. It spies in the traditional sense, but even more, it collects and winnows through masses of information, including huge amounts of publications from both sides of the iron curtain. It monitors radio broadcasts; it examines in minute detail, satellite and aerial overflight photography. And it has other kinds of spy devices. Then it evaluates and organizes the relevant material from all this daily, and gets it to those who need to know. And does all this with remarkable skill.

"Just as Congress intended it should.

"As set up by Congress, the CIA was to be
purely
an intelligence operation. That was the intention. So-called 'covert operations'—dirty tricks, the covert support of foreign military and paramilitary activities, that sort of thing—were not a part of its charter.

"Now, looking back a few years earlier, to World War Two, our government had set up what was called the OSS—the Office of Strategic Services—which was responsible for covert operations behind German and Japanese lines. And as the Cold War developed, it was decided that a covert operations organization was needed again. So without going through Congress, in 1948 the old OSS was reinstituted as the Directorate of Operations and put into the Central Intelligence Agency. It is
not
the main part of the CIA; it is relatively the lesser part. But it's the part that gets the publicity."

Haugen was winging his talk now without glancing at notes. "Yet it is covert operations," he went on, "that has gotten all the press. It is covert operations that has made the CIA so susceptible to campaigns of disinformation, and brought it a bad reputation with many people abroad and at home.

"And to make things worse, almost every CIA director has come out of Operations. Covert operations people seem to have had an advantage in in-house politics. At times the intelligence branch has even been pressured or ordered by CIA directors to slant or edit their intelligence findings to support covert operations proposals and programs.

"So—" He paused, then went on. "Let's drop back a step now, and ask why covert operations has such a bad image. Aside from disinformation campaigns by its enemies abroad and at home. First of all, at times they have broken American law, sometimes flagrantly. When this has been exposed, the excuse has sometimes been made, at least within the government, that it was necessary. You're well aware of that.

"Also, there is a personality type which seems to gravitate to covert operations, a personality type which doesn't necessarily have criminal impulses but seems to enjoy being illegal. So we have some of those involved. And besides that, covert operations are something carried out in foreign countries, and their actions are seldom legal by the laws of those countries. In that sense, any covert action field personnel almost always have to act illegally to accomplish their ends. They get used to that; it becomes a part of life for them.

"Now, their actions in foreign countries are also restricted by our own laws and regulations, and sometimes they don't feel as constrained as they should by these either."

The president paused for emphasis. "Particularly since
they are the individuals at risk of death or capture. They are the individuals trying to accomplish the often very difficult. They are the ones who know what the local conditions are.
"

The president's voice eased, became casual again.

"They are the ones who work intimately with the local people, who tend to develop affinity with the locals and with their cause, and become frustrated by red tape and restrictions from Washington, even though much of that red tape, and many of those restrictions, are necessary.

"Thus as long as we have a covert operations organization, and we definitely seem to need one, we will have problems with regulations and laws being broken by some agents. Of course, even if it was squeaky clean, we'd still have problems with foreign and domestic disinformation programs."

The newsmen were quiet. Tape recorders and video cameras turned silently. "Which means," Haugen went on, "that we can expect some continued antagonism here at home toward our covert operations.

"So I am taking covert operations out of the CIA, and putting it into a separate organization, to be called by its old name, the Office of Strategic Services, OSS. I haven't decided yet what branch of government it will be part of—that is, who it will answer to—but it will be outside the CIA, and closely monitored by the National Security Council.

"This should allow CIA recruitment and training to go ahead unharassed. It will also very largely free its intended and vital intelligence-gathering function from pressuring by covert operations.

"The divorce will take place no later than a month from now."

Haugen rested his elbows on the lectern and leaned forward, scanning the press. His smile became almost predatory.

"And now, speaking of dirty tricks—covert operations—I'm going to tell you about one carried out by one of your own media organizations. We have unequivocal, firsthand evidence—submitted affidavits and his own statement—that Arlen Baines of Foremost Cable News rented eight buses to take demonstrators to the CIA Building this morning, using money from what he termed 'the special operations fund.' He has implicated others. Mr. Baines was arrested earlier this evening at his apartment, and just moments before I began talking with you, the FBI impounded the records of that fund."

Haugen stood regarding the utterly silent room for several seconds before continuing.

"You may cover demonstrations, certainly. But news organizations have no business inciting or supporting demonstrations. The government is initiating legal action that will quite likely result in Foremost Cable News losing its broadcasting license.

"Which will be no loss to the country. There are far more reputable channels, cable and otherwise."

He scanned the room again. "Now one more thing. I realize that papers have to be sold. And that ratings are important to the sale of commercial time on TV and radio. And that reporters and editors and producers and anchor people have their ratings evaluated by higher ups. But ethics and integrity should not be cancelled by expediency, in the media any more than in government. The media and its people still have a responsibility to be honest.

"Some news organizations do pretty well on this, while some show as little respect for honesty as the law and clever legal staffs allow. More than a little of what the media peddles as news is colorful rumor, unsubstantiated accusations, or simply misleading headlines, printed or broadcast to sell, with little responsibility shown for reputations damaged.

"Too many of the rumors and accusations that turn out to be untrue are destructive to society and individuals. Too often the misleading headline is all that gets read. Even in more normal times, this degrades our society and our nation."

The room was intensely quiet. The assembled journalists waited for the ax to drop, the announcement of censorship. Then the president continued.

"So I'm having federal libel laws reviewed, to better protect people from libelous media actions. Undoubtedly this will severely affect the tabloids.

"But repeatedly the media, especially the newspapers, have uncovered serious frauds, crimes, bureaucratic abuses, and other skullduggeries, in government and elsewhere. And the media cannot be bridled and fulfill their function of national watchdog. We cannot expect them to be perfect, and we cannot legislate perfection. We have to let them function.

"So as an American citizen, you still need to view critically and read critically what the media tell you. What is the evidence? Who's saying it? And why? What ideological fish is this editor or that commentator trying to fry? Is he exercising some prejudice he has? Ask yourself whether you're willing to believe what you're being told."

He paused. "By them and by me."

The president straightened then. "I believe I've talked enough for now; we've covered a lot of ground this evening. I thank you all for listening, both citizens and press, and no doubt I'll be talking to you again soon."

***

Paul Massey stared unseeingly at the newly blanked TV screen in his living room/office. This Haugen was a dangerous demagogue! And the White House press corps had sat on their hands while the man had intimidated them with his attack! What had become of the spirit of American journalism?

Any kind of investigation of Foremost Cable News would show who held controlling interest in it: Connecticut Investments. And a little further looking would turn up who owned controlling interest in Connecticut Investments: Paul Massey.

FCN was one of his favorite tools, and now he'd almost surely lose it, while attention would be drawn to himself.

He reached for his phone. It was time to call Tallmon and have him take action to terminate this president.

SEVENTEEN

Howard Kreiner and Louis Grosberg walked across the Senate dining room and took seats next to a window. Two days of showery weather had passed, and hazy autumn sunshine lit the capital grounds.

On the table, the flowers of the day were something blue. Neither man paid attention to them. Grosberg, as president pro tern of the Senate, and Kreiner, as minority leader, both had their attention very much on something else.

A waiter had started toward them with coffee pot and menus before they'd even sat down. "The usual, Marty," Grosberg said, as the waiter poured. Kreiner matched Grosberg's order, and the waiter left with the menus still under an arm.

Grosberg shook his head. "Werling's the biggest problem on my side of the aisle. And he has more favors owed him than almost anyone in the Senate." He flashed a grin. "Except for you and me. His pitch is that Haugen's using his powers a lot more broadly than intended."

Kreiner grunted. "What makes that sonofabitch the authority on what was intended?"

Grosberg nodded agreeably. "But that's how he's pitching it. Surely you're getting some of that too?"

"Not much. Probably because I was on the committee that brought the bill out in the first place. And of course, we're not in the same situation on my side that you folks are. We're not in the position of seeing a term as majority party being diluted by a president who can decree his own laws."

He sipped his scalding coffee carefully. "If it comes down to it and the bill gets out of committee, how do you read the votes on your side?"

"Not serious yet," Grosberg replied. "As of yesterday, only maybe twenty-two to forty for repeal. But tomorrow—Who knows? There's an awful lot of pressure on them, from just about every business lobby in the capital. The kind of thing that can convince people, some of them, that black is white—or at least light gray."

Kreiner grunted. "I read it about ten to twenty-eight on mine. What I'm hearing mostly is that the emergency is actually over because there hasn't been any shooting for a few weeks."

He grinned then, and took a stout envelope from the attaché case he'd brought in with him. "Seen this morning's
Times
yet?" He pulled a photocopied article from the envelope. "It's probably in just about every other paper, too."

"What is it?"

Kreiner handed it to him. "Food for thought, Louie, food for thought. A survey by Morrisey and Spencer on what people think of Haugen's performance so far. Marquez saw it this morning and had copies made; brought 'em to me."

Grosberg adjusted his glasses and read. It was from a "stratified systematic sample" numbering 2,874 respondents in seventeen states, questioned at food lines, bus stops, and by telephone. And made since the speech on labor and management. There'd been two questions. The first was, "Would you say the president is doing a good job or a poor job?" The answers were: good, 73%; poor, 12%; neither or undecided, 10%; refused to answer, 5%.
Six to one liked Haugen
, Grosberg said to himself. It was very rare for a president to get that kind of public approval. And only 15% were undecided or wouldn't answer. Allowing for some people's automatic refusal to answer questions, that was pretty unusual too.

The second question was, "Do you consider that the future looks hopeful or not hopeful?" The answers were: hopeful, 64%; not hopeful, 13%; undecided, 18%; refused to answer, 5%.

The standard error of the estimate was supposed to be 7% for both questions. Grosberg snorted. You couldn't calculate a standard error for that kind of sample; not unless probability theory had changed since he'd gone to college. For this survey, you couldn't even define the population you'd sampled, for chrissake. But they were probably decent estimates. He scanned on.

Those who felt that Haugen was doing a good job fell almost entirely in the hopeful and undecided categories, the surveyors said. Those who felt he was doing a poor job fell almost entirely into the "not hopeful" group. And almost all who were undecided about Haugen were undecided or "not hopeful" about how the future looked.