The Beirut Conspiracy

by John R Childress

  Karl van Ness had come into the Oval Office through the side door. He looked first at Maha, then the President. When the young Marine behind him raised his 9mm Baretta pistol, van Ness stopped him.

  “It’s still not too late, Maha,” Pierce said. “Never too late for love and understanding to conquer the bitterness of hate and sorrow.” He looked into her face, but it was slack, blanked out, like some of the POWs in Hanoi. Maha took another faltering step forward, more like a zombie than a purposeful assassin. “If you move any closer the guards will be forced to shoot. You can stop this madness now. We will help you.”

  The main door of the Oval Office opened. Noise from outside shattered the silence. Matt, Dr. Melikian and three marine guards stepped in.

  “Maha?”

  She turned towards Matt’s voice. “Your face. What has happened to you?”

  “It’s still me.”

  Maha bent over and took out her contact lenses. They fell onto the carpet, landing on the head of the woven eagle. Her green eyes flooded with tears. “I want to see you clearly one last time.” She smiled. Her face was now serene.

  “I loved you from that very first moment on the airplane.”

  “Matt, I can’t see you behind that face. But I feel it really is you.”

  “Everything will be all right. Now put down the syringe, Maha. Just lay it down.”

  Her face was again a smooth facade. Empty. She brought the needle to her arm. “It’s time for me to leave, Matthew.” For a brief moment she held his gaze. “May Allah in his infinite wisdom have mercy on my soul.”

  “No! Maha!”

  The needle slid easily into the back of her left hand, next to the long scar. “My father will be waiting…”

  Matt caught her as she fell. A marine quickly grabbed the syringe and stepped back. She looked up at him. “We have seen each other one last time, my darling. I hoped we would.” Her breathing was short and labored.

  “What’s on the needle? Tell me,” pleaded Matt. “We’ll get the antidote.”

  “I’m sorry I left you so long ago,” she said, ignoring his plea. “But at least I’ll die in your arms.” She coughed. Her face broke out in a cold sweat. “Perhaps something good will come of all this. You must remember all the days of your life, Matthew, that I loved you and only you, with all my heart.”

  “It doesn’t have to end, Maha, please tell me. What’s the toxin on the needle?” Her eyes dulled. Matt looked up at the others. “Help. Won’t someone help?”

  No one moved. “There is no antidote,” Maha whispered. “That’s the whole point to this game, Matthew. There is no going back. We must start from the here and now. What’s done is done, whether it’s my life or the history of failures in the Middle East. The future of the world will depend on decisions made now. Right now. You must forget the past and move forward.”

  “Maha, please.”

  She shook her head. “Your arms feel the same. I imagined them around me every day.” She tried to touch his cheek but her hand fell back.

  Dr. Melikian checked her pulse. “I’m sorry.”

  Matt shook her. “Oh my God. Please… Please.” He held his former love tightly against his chest, feeling the life force slowly draining from her. Suddenly her body sagged, a limp package in his trembling hands. He checked for a pulse. Nothing. Only memories. And an opportunity to start anew.

  Someone gently put an arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Matt. I know this is painful.” He found himself staring straight into the eyes of the other woman he thought was dead.

  “Nicole?.” He jerked when he saw Elijah standing at the back. “I don’t understand.” His arms remained around Maha.

  She pulled her hand away, embarrassed.

  A marine brought Matt to his feet. “The President, sir.”

  President Pierce waited while Matt gathered his faculties. He tried not to look at Maha. Or Nicole.

  “I’m very glad to meet you, Dr. Richards. I’m sorry it’s like this.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We should leave the room now. Let those who know how to handle these things take over. I need you to come with me, Dr. Richards. I want to talk with you about the Middle East. Karl and I need to know what you know and your ideas will also be welcome. Will you stay here at the White House for a few days? In fact Ms. Delacluse and Mr. Tajikian should stay also. You’ll all be my personal guests, of course.”

  Matt nodded.

  “I’ll stay if you want me to, Matt,” said Nicole.

  He stared at Nicole. “Please stay.”

  The President was quiet as the marine guards picked up the body of Maha Hammad and carried her out of the Oval Office. “Noubar?” he said to Dr. Melikian. “I’m asking you to stay also. I have a feeling you may wind up playing a pivotal role.”

  “I’d stay anywhere I can get some rest, Mr. President.”

  “And Matt? Nicole?”

  They waited.

  “Give it time.” Pierce walked over to his desk and pressed the intercom. “Miriam? Tell the vice President to stand in for me at tonight’s dinner. Tell them I’m not feeling well. Hell, tell them anything. And get Ms. Black, the secretary of state, the directors of the CIA and FBI, and the attorney general into the situation room at once.” The President picked up his treasured tin cup. “Yes, it’s time we made the decisions everyone has been avoiding. And I believe with what we have from Senator Stevens, Ambassador Barak, and William Fisher, we may have found a way to a lasting solution.”

  The President of the United States leaned over to the intercom and buzzed his secretary. “One more thing, Miriam. Tell the White House Press Secretary that my address to the nation will take place in five days, from right here in the Oval Office.” He looked up. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Oval Office

  The speech came five days after Maha Hammad’s death. Since that evening the White House had seen Cabinet members, Senators and Congressmen coming and going at all hours and lines of limousines filled with ambassadors and dignitaries from the world’s nations. Extra phone lines were set up in the Oval Office so President Pierce could move efficiently from one conversation with a foreign leader to another. Time was the enemy now. Ross Pierce couldn’t wait for the normal process of debates and consensus. He pressed hard for immediate decisions and got them. This was the opportunity the world had been waiting for. The opportunit that peace loving people had prayed for. The time the supporters of terrorism feared.

  “Is my tie straight?” The President sat behind the massive Resolute desk in the Oval Office. President Pierce understood the power of visual imagery. He had personally placed a model of a Grumman A6 Intruder, the airplane he flew in Vietnam to his right. To his left were carefully arranged photos of his wife, three grown children, and grandchildren. At the edge of the desk stood an illuminated globe, turned so the Middle East could be seen by the cameras. Directly in front was his tin cup.

  From behind the camera and cables crowded into the small office someone respectfully whispered, “It’s time, Mr. President.”

  “No, it’s past time.” President Roswell Clayton Pierce stared straight into the camera.

  “Good evening, my fellow Americans and those of you from other nations around the world who may be listening this evening. Many of you have been waiting for me to make an official statement concerning the path the United States of America will take in helping eliminate terrorism, restoring peace to the Middle East, and stabilizing the world political situation. This evening I’d like to take the opportunity to update you on our efforts in this direction. As I said in my campaign speeches over a year ago and during my inaugural address I am committed to bringing about peace in the Middle East. This was not just campaign rhetoric but a solemn commitment that I intend to keep.

  “As you can well understand bringing about lasting peace is easier said than done. The reason I have been silent for the past several months since the tragic events surro
unding the suicide bombing in Washington is that I do not take my pledge to you, the American people and the world, lightly. So behind this apparent silence my staff and I have been working day and night to find a workable and lasting solution.” Reaching out and picking up his tin cup, the President continued. “I believe all the elements are now in place for the fulfillment of my commitment.”

  Matt, Nicole and Dr. Melikian stood off to one side behind the cameras, cables and engineers who filled the Oval Office. They looked at each other knowing full well what was coming next. Karl van Ness stood further back in the shadows. He nodded, briefly catching Pierce’s glance who nodded back. Quietly van Ness turned, closing the door as he left the Oval Office. He turned to one of the senior White House aides. “Call down and have my driver bring the car around. There’s still some unfinished business.”

  The President followed the red light on the active camera. “The decisions I have had to make in the past few days have not been easy and some will weigh heavily on my conscience for many years to come. However I have made these decisions with the utmost thought and deliberation and at all times for the greater good of all nations and the future of all our children and grandchildren.” As he spoke the camera panned across the photos arranged on his desk.

  “I have consulted with many foreign leaders and heads of influential government agencies, world organizations such as the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union, as well as trusted business, religious and academic advisors. I have followed American and world opinion polls and reviewed the mountain of e-mail I receive here at the White House every day. As I address you this evening I am at peace with these decisions and I trust that you will support our actions for global peace and security for all peoples of the world.

  “Let me begin. First, I must inform the American people that at the end of my term in just over two years, I will not be a candidate for re-election.” The camera pulled back, revealing a wide angle shot of the President at his desk, the Presidential seal emblazoned on the oval carpet. Slowly, it zoomed in again.

  “Why am I standing down? The reason is simple. Too many times elected officials avoid making the right decisions for fear that they will not be re-elected. The thirst for votes has turned many a good leader into a so-so follower. I have never been a follower and I won’t start now. I am also not running for re-election because I want to assure all of you, no matter what your political affiliation, that I have absolutely no political agenda in the statements I am about to make and the decisions we have taken here at the White House. My only interest is for a lasting and peaceful solution to the terrible conflict in the Middle East and in putting a stop to the rise of global terrorism.

  “For the past several decades the Palestinian people have either been living in refugee camps on foreign territory or in their homes surrounded by soldiers. Like all people they deserve the opportunity for a homeland, a nation, a place to raise their families, to worship their god and to pursue their dreams. Today I have asked Congress to officially recognize the nation of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people for a homeland.” The image on the screen switched to a picture of a Palestinian flag flying in the breeze.

  “Having conferred with many of your representatives in Congress I am assured that they will swiftly and overwhelmingly endorse such a proclamation. I have also conferred with the heads of the nations of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt who have all agreed to cede portions of their land to build the new state of Palestine. Palestine will be approximately the same geographical size as Israel, its neighbor along the western border.

  “After extensive discussions with the Israeli ambassador to the United States and the prime minister of Israel my administration has secured their agreement to support the development of a new Palestine and to withdraw all their forces from any occupied territories.

  “With this recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people for a homeland I am now formally calling on all Arab nations to immediately renounce any and all support for terrorist activities anywhere in the world.” The tin cup turned in his hands. It looked out of place yet so much a part of the man. “In earlier days terrorism was designed to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. Many of the Arab nations supported these activities not wishing to abandon their Muslim cousins. While I do not agree with terrorist activities of any kind nor the manner in which various Arab states have supported terrorist organizations I do understand the Arab people’s concern about the conditions in which the Palestinian people live.” Again, the camera focused on a tight shot of the President’s face.

  “But now the Palestinian people have what they deserve, a permanent homeland for their people. Thus there should be no more support, either overtly or covertly, for any acts of terrorism in the name of Palestine or freedom in the Middle East.

  “Let me be clear on this point. Those nations that do not immediately sever all support for terrorist organizations worldwide will be branded as terrorist states and will face the consequences. I have been assured that not only is the United Nations prepared to swiftly impose sanctions against these rogue nations but it has also given the United States a firm commitment that more drastic measures will be taken for noncompliance, including embargoes, economic sanctions, immediate elimination from the United Nations and possible use of force.

  “Over the past weeks I have also conferred with many leaders in the Arab world who assure me that they will no longer support terrorism and in fact will begin immediately to arrest and bring to justice those individuals and organizations that continue to operate from within their borders. These Arab nations have even agreed to come before the United Nations individually and collectively to explain what has been done to shut down the terrorist networks for good.”

  Matt looked over to where Karl van Ness had been standing just moments ago. For the past week, in private and group meetings, van Ness had been at the President’s side as they hammered out this extraordinary set of events. Sometimes he would disappear for hours only to return and whisper in the President’s ear. Matt wondered just who he was.

  “As a result of these decisions and the commitment given by the Arab leadership toward global peace I have just this evening been informed by officials from Saudi Arabia that Osama bin Laden and several other top Al-Qaeda leaders have been killed in raids carried out by a coalition of Saudi Arabian and U.S. Special Forces. Al-Qaeda and its reign of terror on innocent people around the world has been seriously crippled and if we all do our job correctly will soon be totally destroyed.

  “Also, under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Arab nations have agreed to form a task force in conjunction with UN forces to root out all known and suspected terrorists as well as to shut down all terrorist funding activities. In addition just yesterday the government of Switzerland agreed in an unprecedented move of international cooperation to freeze the bank accounts of all known terrorist organizations and individuals. The global terrorist threat is being crushed at this very moment.

  “I am committed to putting together the ingredients for a lasting solution to the Middle East crisis and an end to global terrorism, and making them stick. Therefore the United States of America is realigning its allocation of foreign aid to the Middle East, beginning immediately. Many of you probably do not realize how much of your tax dollars have gone to this region for years and yet we continue to be plagued with violence, terrorist activities, and even attacks on our own soil. Last year, for example, U.S. foreign aid, both economic and military, to the Middle East reached an unprecedented level of over eight billion dollars. This tax money flowed out with very little positive result to the United States or the world.

  “That is why with the support of key congressional leaders I am proposing to drastically reduce the amount of foreign aid to the Middle East for one year. A good friend of mine once told me ‘Why buy a cow when the milk is free?’ Middle Eastern countries have received a massive amount of foreign aid with no strings attached.
They have not been held accountable for hindering, or failing to support, a peaceful solution. In fact the State of Israel alone last year received over six billion dollars of aid, about 30 percent of total U.S. aid around the world and 75 percent of the aid to the Middle East. While in the past our government has seen such a large amount of aid as a means of stabilizing and thus reducing tensions in the Middle East, I think we can all agree it hasn’t worked. For all the money we’ve spent things have only gotten worse.

  “The American people stand on their own two feet and work hard to get along peacefully with the nations of the world. It is time the nations of the Middle East, and especially Israel, did the same. If after one year the Arab nations of the Middle East and Israel have continued to work together in peace and have helped to snuff out terrorism and violence in their region and in the world then reasonable and equitable amounts of U.S. foreign aid will again start flowing into the region. But only if peace is achieved and maintained.

  “To ensure that various religious interests in the Middle East are respected I have received a firm commitment from all the nations in the region to establish the City of Jerusalem, and surrounding religious sites, as an international holy city for all faiths. The freedom to worship freely at their respective holy places will be guaranteed to people of all faiths. As you all know Jerusalem is a sacred city for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the not-too-distant past Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully side by side in Jerusalem. It is my dream that this will again be the case.”

  Ross Pierce placed his tin cup to one side. “To govern this international city each of the major faiths in the region has agreed to participate in setting up a ruling city council. My personal physician and good friend, Dr. Noubar Melikian, who has worked his entire life for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, has unselfishly agreed to be the interim mayor of the International Holy City of Jerusalem while a structure for new citywide elections is being put into place.” Nicole grasped Dr. Melikian’s hand while his picture was shown to the nation.