“In fact,” the general said, “I feel so good about this that I recommend the exact same approach in Syria, and I say we launch the attacks simultaneously. Bashar Assad is a squirrelly character, to put it mildly. He is good at being elusive. But we might get lucky, and Syrian society is especially brittle. Assad is part of the Shiite Alawite minority in a country that is predominately made up of Sunnis, and he holds his grip on power through violence and intimidation.

“We are currently flying sorties over the Mediterranean near Lebanon, over Israel and the West Bank, over southern Turkey, and over Western Iraq. We enjoy vast air superiority and have Syria completely surrounded. Our ships in the Mediterranean are on standby to launch missiles at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, as well as half a dozen other known hideouts that Assad uses. If we hit Assad, then lend some encouragement to Sunni extremists on the ground during the ensuing confusion, there is a chance that Syria will devolve into chaos.”

“I like it,” the Interim President said.

Lawrence Keller resented this. He hated it. He felt a tide of anger rising within him. They were going to force him to risk his career by stating facts that should be painfully obvious to every single person in this room.

“General,” he said.

“Yes? Mr.…”

“Lawrence Keller. I’m President Barrett’s Chief of Staff.”

“Well, Mr. Keller, I think your team might have left the locker room.”

Mark Baylor spoke up. Thank God for that. “Lawrence is an old Washington hand, General. He’s valuable in any administration. He’s staying on to ease the transition of power, if it comes to that. In the meantime, he’s currently President Barrett’s representative in these meetings.”

The general nodded. “I see.”

“General,” Keller began again, “aren’t Sunni extremists the ones who attacked us on September eleventh?”

“I believe so, yes. But they weren’t Syrians, as far as we know.”

“Aren’t Sunni extremists also the ones who bombed the USS Cole? Aren’t they an existential threat to the future of Iraqi society? And considering that the video we’ve seen of Elizabeth Barrett being held bears all the hallmarks of videos previously made by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the legendary Sunni terrorist, isn’t it likely that Sunni extremists are the ones holding Elizabeth?”

General Stark shrugged. “I don’t know if I’d describe Zarqawi as legendary. Infamous, maybe. Despicable, certainly.”

Everyone in the room seemed to be staring at Keller now. With just one short sentence, he had outed himself. One of these things didn’t belong, and he was that thing. It was almost like he was giving off a bad smell, the smell of someone who had just soiled their pants.

Nevertheless, he plunged on.