Mission Compromised Read online

  “Oliver North's own life reads like a novel, and now he and collaborator Joe Musser have concocted with exquisite timing a sly thriller about terrorism, our new chill war. His hero, Pete Newman, takes up where the actual Colonel North left off: in the innermost of White House concentric rings. Osama bin Laden, the UN, Somalia, the Waldorf, Iraq, the Marines—it's all in there, along with appearances by Ollie North himself! The talk shows will be queuing up for this one.”

  James Brady, Parade magazine, author of “Warning of War”

  “An exciting, solid, action-packed adventure about a Marine who, like the author, knows the meaning of Semper Fidelis.”

  Joe Foss, Brig. Gen. USMC (Ret.), WW II Ace and Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient

  “Reader be warned: Once you begin Mission Compromised, you will not be able to put it down until you have finished this amazing drama. I loved this book! Ollie North's new novel is filled with action, intrigue, and events that could have been taken from the headlines. This is a must-read for anyone interested in politics, the military, foreign affairs—but mostly for the millions who appreciate the craft of a well-written novel! I predict that Mission Compromised is going to be a best-seller.”

  Sean Hannity, FOX News Channel

  “Oliver North's book is more than a superb read; it is also a primer to the hidden works and inner mechanisms of the White House and the National Security Council. North relies on his own vast experience to bring a realism to the reader that can only come from someone who has actually ‘walked the walk.’ This book is a must-read!”

  General Charles C. Krulak, USMC (Ret), 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps

  For Betsy

  and all the other wives and mothers

  who know what it means to receive

  a “Next of Kin Notice”

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Glossary

  Prologue: The Assassins

  01. Duty Station: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

  02. Massacre in Mogadishu

  03. Vengeance Is Mine!

  04. The Special Projects Office

  05. Rachel

  06. Baghdad

  07. Andrews Air Force Base

  08. The Device That Betrays

  09. Learning Too Much

  10. Heating Up

  11. The Postcard

  12. The Mission Changes

  13. Mission Doubts

  14. Bartering Lives

  15. Mission Compromised

  16. Disaster!

  17. Closing the Door

  18. The Believer

  19. Ambush

  20. The Goode Messenger

  Epilogue

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  USS Bataan, LHD-5

  ________________________________________

  Arabian Sea

  14 December 2001

  The Marines and sailors I'm with aboard this 884-foot warship are preparing to go ashore tonight. Within hours they will embark in helicopters and air cushion landing craft and race for a beach thirty miles over the horizon. They will then move quickly inland to a small airfield where they will be picked up by C-130s and C-17s and flown more than four hundred miles to a lonely outpost near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Their mission: to help hunt down the terrorist Osama bin Laden.

  Unlike all the other amphibious operations I've been on, this time I'm not in command of anyone. Tonight I'm just going along for the ride—as a war correspondent for FOX News Channel. These brave young men, and the thousands of others with whom I served for more than twenty years, are the inspiration for this book.

  I'm grateful to Roger Ailes, my boss at FOX News, for sending me out here. And to Vice Admiral Willy Moore, my Naval Academy classmate and Commander of the Fifth Fleet; Jim Roberts, President of Radio America Network; Griff Jenkins, my radio producer; and Pamela Browne my FOX News producer—all of whom helped to make this trip to the “war zone” possible.

  When I started this book, America was at peace. By the time I finished, we were at war. With the war came new demands on my time and energy. This work would never have been finished but for the inspiration, discipline, devotion, and talents of my friend Joe Musser and the willingness of his wife Nancy. If the pen is mightier than the sword, Joe's laptop is mightier than the calendar, and his gift for words has made my military phraseology comprehensible to civilians.

  Two years ago, Pastor Ken Whitten put me in touch with David Shepherd, now my publisher, and Ken Stephens, the president of Broadman & Holman. Had they not believed in this project, this story would still be in my laptop.

  Gary Terashita, the “editor of editors,” knew when to exhort and when to admonish. For those times (and there were more than a few) when a “kinder, gentler” hand was needed, I could always count on the two Kims: Kim Terashita for proofing, promoting, and prayers, and Kim Overcash for always finding a way for Gary and me to communicate—even when Marsha Fishbaugh, my long-suffering assistant, had to find a way to connect us half a world apart. Thankfully for all of us, project editor Lisa Parnell helped to keep the book on track through the editorial process.

  Mary Beth Shaw in Author Relations deserves a medal for keeping me informed, as do Dr. Robert Stacey and Jed Haven of Patrick Henry College who devoted their time and considerable talents to ensuring that I had my facts straight. And Marketing Director John Thompson, Sales Director Susanne Anhalt, Publicity Director Heather Hulse, Senior Publicist Robin Patterson, Duane Ward of the Premiere Group, and Cathy Saypol Public Relations all deserve a Meritorious Unit Citation for making sure that everyone in America got to see Greg Pope's great cover design—and a chance to buy this book.

  As in every other part of my life for more than three decades, my greatest inspiration and encouragement came from my wife and our children. Many years ago, Betsy taught Tait, Stuart, Sarah, and Dornin to pray for me—and I am grateful for that and their affection. They are the ones who made it possible for a warrior to live a love story and to see God's love manifest in their lives.

  Semper Fidelis,

  Oliver L. North

  GLOSSARY

  AmCits. American Citizens

  AMEMB. American Embassy

  Amn Al-Khass. Iraq's Special Security Services; also SSS

  AOB. Advanced Operations Base

  AWS. Amphibious Warfare School

  Ba'ath Party. Iraqi political party of Saddam Hussein

  BUD/S. Basic Underwater Demolition School

  Canked. Military slang for canceled

  CONUS. Continental United States

  COS. Chief of Station, a country's top-ranking CIA official

  C & C. Command and Control

  CRAF. Civil Reserve Air Fleet

  CTG. Counter Terrorism Group

  CTOC. Counter Terrorism Operations Center

  CT OPS. Counter Terrorism Operations

  DCI. Director of Central Intelligence; the head of the CIA

  Delta. Elite special-operations unit of the U.S. Army; its existence has never been officially confirmed

  DIS. Distribution

  DOD. Department of Defense

  Drone. Remotely piloted aircraft; also RPV or UAV

  DSC. Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest decoration for valor in the Army and Air Force, equivalent to the Navy Cross for sailors and Marines

  DZ. Drop Zone, the spot on the ground designated for a parachute drop of personnel, equipment, or supplies.

  E and E Escape and Evade

  EmCon. Emission Control

  E/T. Emergency Termination

  E-PRB. An emergency radio beacon that begins to transmit when an aircraft or vessel has suffered a catastrophic event; e.g., a crash or sinking

  EWO. Electronic Warfare Officer

>   FAC. Forward Air Controller

  FLOTUS. First Lady of the United States

  GCHQ. British Signals and Intelligence Agency, similar to U.S. National Security Agency

  GPS. Global Positioning System

  GRU. Soviet Military Intelligence Service

  GSA. General Security Administration of U.S. government

  Gulags. Soviet-era labor prisons

  Gunner. Slang for Marine Warrant Officer

  Gunny. Slang for Marine Gunnery Sergeant

  Gutra. Arab headdress

  HA-HO. High Altitude-High Opening parachute deployment.

  HARM. High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile

  HQMC. Headquarters, Marine Corps

  HM. Hospitalman or medical corpsman, the Navy and Marine equivalent of a medic in the Army and Air Force

  IAEA. International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations organization

  Igal. The black, braided cord that holds the Arab gutra or headdress

  ISEG. International Sanctions Enforcement Group; a thirtyeight-man, joint U.S.-UK unit

  ISET. International Sanctions Enforcement Team; each joint U.S.-UK team has seven men

  IT. Information Technology

  JCS. Joint Chiefs of Staff

  JSOC. The Joint Special Operations Command

  KIA. Killed in Action

  Klicks. Military slang for kilometers

  LIMDIS. Limited Distribution

  LTD. Laser Target Designator

  MEU. Marine Expeditionary Unit; a reinforced Infantry Battalion of approximately eighteen hundred men

  Mishlah. Arab clothing, a long cloak worn over the thobe

  MOS. Military Occupational Specialty, the codified list of military job classifications

  Mossad. Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service

  MoveRep. Movement Report

  NCO. Non-commissioned officer

  NIC. Nicaragua or Nicaraguan

  NMCC. National Military Command Center; located at the Pentagon

  NODIS. No Distribution

  NOK. Next of Kin

  NSA. National Security Agency

  NSC. National Security Council

  OEOB. Old Executive Office Building

  OPSEC. Operational Security

  OSD. Office of Secretary of Defense

  OTH Imaging. Over the Horizon imaging technology

  PAO. Public Affairs Office(r)

  PCS. Permanent Change of Station

  PFC. Private First Class

  PFLP. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

  PM. Prime Minister

  POTUS. President of the United States

  PRI-1. Priority One, the highest priority assigned for the assignment of personnel or the acquisition of military equipment or material

  PT. Physical Training

  QRF. Quick Reaction Force

  R/F. Radio Frequency

  RP. Rendezvous Point

  RPG. Rocket Propelled Grenade

  RPT. Repeat

  RPV. Remotely Piloted Vehicle, UAV, or drone

  S. Secret

  S and R. Search and Recovery

  SAM. Surface to Air Missile

  SAR. Search and Rescue

  SAS. Special Air Service, elite unit of the British Royal Army and Air Force

  SEALs. Naval special operations unit: “Sea, Air, Land”

  SEAL Team 6. U.S. Navy's crack counterterrorist unit

  SecDef. Secretary of Defense

  SG. Secretary General (of the United Nations)

  SitRep. Situation Report

  SOCOM. Special Operations Command

  Solidarity. Polish labor and political movement that was opposed to the Communist regime during the 1970s and '80s

  SOP. Standard Operating Procedure

  SOT. Special Operations Training

  SSS. see Amn Al-Khass

  STARS. Surface-to-Air Recovery System

  SWO. Senior Watch Officer

  S-1. Administrative and Personnel function on a military staff or command

  S-2. Intelligence and Counterintelligence function on a military staff or command

  S-3. Operations and Training function on a military staff or command

  S-4. Logistics and Supply function on a military staff or command

  S-5. Communications function on a military staff or command

  Tagia. Small skull cap that keeps the gutra (headdress) from slipping from the head

  “The Tank.” Secure conference room adjacent to the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff and their deputies meet

  Thobe. Arab traditional dress, a long, sometimes hooded, sleeved over-garment

  TOW. BGM-71 TOW, a short-range, wire-guided, air-to-surface missile.

  TS. Top Secret

  UAVs. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also Drone or RPV

  UN OPS CTR. United Nations Operations Center

  UNHCR. United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a refugee relief agency

  UNSCOM. United Nations Special Commission for weapons inspections in Iraq

  USO Club. United Services Organization, an arm of the Salvation Army devoted to serving the U.S. military

  USG United States Government

  Vetted. Cleared, as in security clearance

  VPOTUS. Vice President of the United States

  “Wally World.”Slang for Delta Force HQ at Fort Bragg, N.C.

  WHCA. (pronounced “wha-cah”) White House Communications Agency

  WHDB. White House Data Base, euphemism used to describe the White House computer systems in the 1990s

  THE

  ASSASSINS

  PROLOGUE

  Paris, France

  ________________________________________

  Friday, 14 November 1986

  2130 Hours, Local

  When the tiny dart hit Pierre Sirois behind his right ear, his right hand reached up as though to swat an insect. His arm never made it past his shoulder. A terrible gagging sound came from the young Frenchman's throat as the cyanide-toxin mix shut down his central nervous system with lightning speed. His fiancée's smile turned to horror as she watched her husband-never-to-be slump to the sidewalk. Maria Therndola screamed at the top of her lungs.

  It did no good. Pierre Sirois, age twenty-nine, a successful multinational investment banker and engaged to one of the most beautiful women in France—and former unilateral asset of the CIA—was already dead. By the time Maria's pitiful cries summoned the apartment building's aging concierge, the nimble, shadowy figure hidden in the boxwood trees twenty feet from the apartment door had already slipped silently into the darkness of the alley behind the building. In another twelve seconds the black-clad perpetrator was in the backseat of a dark gray Citröen, pulling off his ski mask and coveralls. Two other men sat in the front seat with the engine idling.

  Well before the discordant warble of the ambulance siren could be heard plying its way on a fruitless mission, the Citröen sped east out of the alley, turning on its lights only when it reached the side street. The auto raced south, down Boulevard de Sebastopol and onto the St. Michel Bridge. At the span's midpoint over the Seine, the car squealed to a stop in the dark space between the pools of light from two street-lamps. The man in the backseat got out, walked calmly to the rail, and dropped a bundle—the coveralls and ski mask, along with a compressed air pistol and the remaining six poison darts—into the water, seventy feet below.

  Two young lovers heard the muffled splash and paused in their embrace just long enough to see the faint ripple from the object thrown into the river, but they thought nothing of it. The lovers never knew how close they had come to dying that night. But it didn't matter—the Paris police would never question the couple.

  After disposing of the evidence, the shooter quickly rejoined his two comrades in the Citröen, and the car again sped off to the south, past the Montparnasse Cemetery where Pierre Sirois would be buried, and headed onto the autoroute for Troyes.

  Shortly before no
on the following morning, the three arrived in Marseilles, and by early afternoon were on the afternoon ferry to Algiers. Just after 4:30 P.M., the Marseilles Prefecture Police discovered the still-smoking, burned-out hulk of a 1986 Citröen, reported stolen from a pharmacist in Reims. They dutifully wrote out their report that the vehicle was a total loss and that the Citröen had been “presumably stolen by drug dealers.”

  At the hospital where they took Pierre Sirois in a futile effort to revive him, the medical examiner found in the young man's wallet a business card for “William P. Goode, National Security Company” with an American post office box address and a telephone number in the state of Maryland.

  The tiny dart that killed Pierre had fallen out of his neck while his body was being loaded into the ambulance and was never found. Nor was the microscopic puncture wound on his neck. There was no redness or swelling around the entry site, so the medical examiner concluded that based on the apparent symptoms, the death was from natural causes.

  When Maria came to claim his body, the medical examiner gave her the contents of Pierre's pockets. In the plastic bag were his wallet, some franc notes and coins, a ring that his father had given him, and a tiny metal fish, less than an inch long. He always had the fish with him, and he'd had an identical one made out of gold that Maria wore on a gold chain as a necklace. She had asked him about the significance of the little metal fish, but all he would ever say was, “Someday I'll tell you all about it.” Now he never would.

  Lisbon, Portugal

  ________________________________________

  Friday, 14 November 1986

  2200 Hours, Local

  As he did every night at this time, five days a week, Sr. Alvaro Cabral got up from his desk, closed his office door, bid his receptionist boa noite, and walked out the front door of the Cabral Shipping Company building that his family had owned on Rua Miradouro for nearly three centuries. Alvaro Cabral, age sixty-two, was a man of precision. His family had made its fortune by delivering the goods of a once-proud empire—where they were wanted and when. And he carried on that legacy from his office overlooking the port of Lisbon. From his windows he could see his company's piers and warehouses on the Rio Douro.