“Please let me finish, ma’am. This is very important. This intelligence asset has reason to believe that a third cell may exist and might already be in the United States.” Rapp slowly looked from one end of the long bench to the other. Not a single senator made an effort to speak.
Lonsdale exhaled a heavy sigh and said, “I find the timing of this phantom intelligence to be entirely self-serving.”
“I thought you would say that, Senator, so I am prepared to make a deal. I would like to repeat what I just said in an open session. Hopefully, this afternoon. If you want to investigate and prosecute me for striking Abu Haggani, a man who is responsible for murdering over one hundred U.S. service personnel… a man who specializes in attacking grade schools filled with children… a man whose contribution to terrorism is that he was the first to recruit mentally retarded people to become suicide bombers… If that is the case you would like to put before the American people, then I welcome it. I am more than willing to publicly stand behind my position.”
“And what exactly would that position be, Mr. Rapp?” Lonsdale said with derision. “That you think it should be the official policy of the United States of America to torture prisoners of war?”
The conversation had been brought to the crossroads that Rapp had been hoping for. Rapp watched as a good third of the panel snickered at their chairman’s quick retort. He took the hatred he felt for them and doused it with pity just as Kennedy had told him to do. “My position, Madam Chairman, and members of the committee, is that it should be the unofficial policy of this government to reserve the right to use extreme measures in instances where we are threatened from terrorist attacks.”
“Extreme measures,” Lonsdale said with a disappointed look. “No doubt a euphemism for torture.”
“Ma’am, about ten years ago I spent a week in the custody of the Syrian Intelligence Service.” Rapp spoke without malice or dramatic effect. “I can tell you from firsthand experience that there’s a big difference between torture and extreme measures.” Rapp looked to the most liberal members of the committee as Kennedy had advised and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I respect your position on this issue. No one who I work with likes torture. None of us enjoy inflicting pain on a prisoner, and it is not something that we do because we are bored and have decided to satisfy our sadomasochistic streaks. We do it in the rarest of instances, and we do it to save American lives.”
“Mr. Rapp, what if this person is innocent?” asked the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
“I only know of one instance where that has happened, and I was not involved in it. The person was never tortured in the sense that most people would define torture; however, I will freely admit that this person was subjected to environmental stress that is designed to get people to break. It is not something that is remotely pleasant, but this person was released without any physical harm.”
“What about mental harm?” Lonsdale asked.
Rapp nodded. “That is a very good point. I have no doubt that the person suffered mental trauma. We have done our best to try and compensate this person and offer him medical assistance. Again, I am not proud of it, I was not involved in it, but I admit to you that a mistake was made. One mistake among hundreds of interrogations.”
“I don’t find your words reassuring, Mr. Rapp.”
He turned to face the senior senator from Vermont. “This is an ugly business, Madam Senator. These religious fanatics want to do us great harm, and it is my job to try and stop them. That is why I launched this risky operation. We have two men in our possession, both senior Taliban members with heavy ties to al-Qaeda. Men who have the blood of thousands of innocent people on their hands, and I am not allowed to talk to them. One of those men, Mohammad al-Haq, acknowledged the existence of the third cell without us even laying a hand on him.”
“That,” said Lonsdale, “was because you were threatening to hand him over to the butcher of Mazar-i-Sharif… General whatever his name is.”
“That’s right,” Rapp said without shame. “That’s how you get these guys to talk. Mohammad al-Haq is not an American citizen. He is a terrorist.”
Lonsdale said, in a surprisingly even tone, “Mr. Rapp, you would be well advised to remember that this committee, as well as several federal judges, have already weighed in on this issue. This country is bound by the Geneva Conventions. We must afford all prisoners of war the protection mandated by law.”
“And the terrorists who intentionally target civilians?” Rapp asked. “Who holds their feet to the fire and makes sure they follow the Geneva Conventions?” Rapp looked at the right side of the bench and added, “We all know the answer to that. They did not sign the Geneva Conventions and never will. They in fact go out of their way to break almost every rule the Geneva Conventions set forth, yet in our infinite wisdom we have decided to afford them the protections of a document that they spit on.”
“Mr. Rapp,” Lonsdale said, in an almost tired voice, “we are a nation of laws.”
“Yes, we are,” Rapp said respectfully. “An open democracy. A government of the people, by the people.” He took a step closer to the bench and lowered his voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to do this,” he said in almost pleading tone, “but you are leaving me with no other choice. I’ve been doing this for close to twenty years, and tension between the CIA and Capitol Hill has never been this bad. We have forgotten who our true enemy is. It is not us.” Rapp pointed back and forth among the various members. “Secretary of State England said it earlier. We are on the same team. I remember after nine-eleven, when the pain of that day was still fresh, many of you came to me and asked if we were doing enough to make these terrorists talk after they were captured. You didn’t think we were being aggressive enough, and then Abu Ghraib hit and we went right back to fighting each other.”
Rapp paused for a brief moment and then directed his words directly at Lonsdale. “Madam Chairman, it is my sincere belief that we are going to be attacked in the near future. I know for a fact that at least one of the two men I tried to question last week has information that could help us to stop this attack.” He looked from one end of the table to the other and said, “I am begging each and every one of you, think of the ramifications. Think of how the American people will react when they find out that this committee and its members were more concerned with protecting the debatable rights of a couple of bigoted, sadistic terrorists than they were in protecting their own citizens, who each and every one of you has sworn to protect and defend.”
“If this country is attacked,” said Lonsdale, “then you and the CIA will be to blame. Not this committee.”
Rapp’s anger was barely in check. He’d set aside all of his disdain for these men and women, and their ever-shifting set of principles, in hopes that they could find a middle road. He was giving them an opportunity to save themselves, and Lonsdale could not see fit to get off her pedestal and take the necessary course, the course that would protect the country. His every fiber wanted to let loose on the self-serving chairman, but Kennedy’s voice kept him in check. Her words admonishing him that they would need these people, especially after the bombs went off. The president had assured them that the CIA would not be blamed should an attack take place. He had guaranteed them that he would place the blame firmly at the feet of a group of elitist senators and rabid congressmen who had for years harassed and hamstrung the CIA.
Knowing that the president would be there as a backstop, Rapp allowed the slightest hint of a grin to form on his lips, and then he said, “If you really believe that, Madam Chairman, I propose we convene for lunch, and when we come back for the afternoon session, we open it to the public. Let’s get the press in here.” Rapp turned around and motioned toward the gallery. “Fill the place up. I’ll admit everything in front of the cameras. You can tear me apart,” Rapp said triumphantly. “Your constituents will love it. I’ll state my case for the use of extreme measures, you can all call me a barbarian if you’d like, and if this terrorist cell that you believe doesn’t exist never materializes, you will be able to make great political hay out of the entire matter. If you push hard enough, you will surely get me removed from service and probably prosecuted.”