South China Sea

mistake when we used Agent Orange here during that unhappy war. As well as defoliating large tracts of rain forest and jungle, it killed much other flora and fauna. Now of course we realize the acute dangers to flora and fauna all around the world. In Laos the Khmer Rouge-led guerrillas are stripping—stripping, ladies and gentlemen — by slash and burn the valuable and ancient teak forests to smuggle the teak across the border to sell to Chinese traders who, quite frankly, don’t care how much slash and burn goes on or how much damage is done to these precious virgin forests.”

The general paused. “By God, I’m proud of any American — and any USVUN member — who is prepared to do battle with these marauders who think they can plunder the rain forests of Southeast Asia. The Chinese are voracious, ladies and gentlemen, voracious in their appetite — offshore as well as inland. The Southeast Asian nations want to share ocean resources, for example, but what does Beijing want? It demands all the resources of the South China Sea. It wants all the resources it can lay its hands on.” He paused, again taking everyone into his gaze. “And quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, the United States, so long as I’ve got anything to say about it, is not going to stand idly by and let Chinese run rampant over its neighbors’ environmental concerns.”

There was applause. Then he hit them with what he would later describe to Cline as his “Daisy Cutter,” a fifteen-thousand-pound bomb, the biggest conventional bomb in the world.

“Another thing, ladies and gentlemen. We now have proof positive that at least two of our MIAs from ‘Nam are in the border areas of Laos. Thank you.” And he was gone.

Within minutes CNN was beaming Freeman’s press conference all over the world. Within hours MIA groups via Internet throughout the United States were clamoring for the President to authorize General Freeman to follow up all MIA information — to go into Laos, Cambodia, wherever it was necessary. And it was the first time since its inception that Greenpeace worldwide applauded and loudly supported the efforts of a member of the American military to protect the “delicate ecosystems of Southeast Asia from environmental rape!”

* * *

“Bruce,” the President asked his aide, Bruce Ellman, “what’s your view on Freeman?”

“Fire him, Mr. President — as General Jorgensen recommended. And make Jorgensen’s relieving Freeman of command official.”

“Chiefs?” The President looked around at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was a two-two split, Navy and Air Force tending to agree with Ellman, albeit with some reservations, “given the heat of battle.” The Army and Marines, declaring their bias for the man on the ground, argued that perhaps “Douglas has acted somewhat hastily in sending a recon force on the border.”

“It wasn’t on any border,” Ellman chipped in. “It was a striker force sent over the border into Laos, violating Laotian neutrality.” Ellman paused. “With all due respect, gentlemen, doesn’t anybody remember the uproar when Nixon secretly sent bombers into Cambodia?”

“He sent them for good reason,” the Army chief said. “To destroy enemy staging areas in what’s supposedly a neutral country. Douglas is doing the same thing. It’s outrageous that Khmer Rouge-led brigands can carry out hit-and-run raids on USVUN’s left flank and can then slip safely across the border in Laos and be untouchable.”

“He’s violated policy,” Bruce Ellman said. “He’s got to understand that Washington directs this war, not Douglas Freeman. He’s just like MacArthur in Korea — he wanted to go across the Yalu and hit the PLA in their staging areas. We could’ve had an all-out war with China!” It was an uncomfortable choice of analogies for Ellman, as there were still people in Washington who believed the PLA’s staging areas across the Yalu should have been attacked and that had MacArthur done so, he would have won the war. They believed that the U.S. would then have not had to put up with an unsatisfactory armistice — not peace — along the 38th parallel between what was now North and South Korea.

“Well,” Admiral Reese commented, “at least Jorgensen’s decision to relieve him has only been conveyed to Freeman. It hasn’t been announced publicly yet, even though The New York Times and others are demanding he be fired. You can rescind Jorgensen’s order, Mr. President.”

“And what would that do for Jorgensen?” the President asked rhetorically. “It’d hardly be a measure of confidence in my C in C.”

“I agree,” Ellman said. “It’s certainly not what chain of command is all about.”

Up till now CIA Director David Noyer had said nothing, but Ellman’s last heated comment evoked a response.

“Mr. President,” Noyer began. “As of now, General Jorgensen’s decision to relieve Freeman isn’t public knowledge, and so if you were to rescind the order, you’re not going to cause Jorgensen any great harm. Yes, his professional pride’ll be ruffled a bit, but God knows everyone’s suffered that from time to time. It’s nothing compared to what will happen if the American people perceive that the White House is not responding to a clear and present danger to our boys in Vietnam. And I’m willing to bet that sanctimonious editorials from the Times and others notwithstanding, the public in all the USVUN countries will support Freeman’s decision of making a preemptive strike in Laos — if it in any way gives more protection for their troops in the USVUN force.”

“Mr. President!” Ellman cut in impatiently. “May I speak my mind?”

The President swiveled his chair away from his desk to face his aide. “I thought you were, Bruce.”

“I mean, lay it on the line.”

“Go on.”

“Sir, Freeman’s an insubordinate son of a bitch who needs to know, just like MacArthur did, that you’re the supreme commander. Fire him like Truman fired MacArthur.”

David Noyer shook his head. “Mr. Ellman, you ever seen the ticker-tape parade that MacArthur got in San Francisco and New York after Truman fired him? If it had been an election year then, as it is now, Doug MacArthur could have been elected God Almighty. Anyway, quite apart from that—” With this, Noyer turned back to the President. “—I think Freeman is right, quite apart from trying to protect his left flank. He—”

“Protect his left flank?” Ellman cut in, looking about at the Joint Chiefs. “I’m no military strategist, but the Laotian border near Dien Bien Phu seems a hell of a long way from the fighting around—” He had forgotten the name momentarily.

“Loc Binh — Disney Hill,” David Noyer put in. “About 250 miles away.”

“Well, there you are,” Ellman replied as if the distance had put an end to any argument about an attack on the left flank.

“I suppose,” the Air Force chief added, “if they carved out an airfield on the Laotian side or at Dien Bien Phu, Freeman’s western forces could be in real trouble. ‘Course, we have the airpower from Enterprise. We could rule the roost.”

CIA chief Noyer tried not to sound exasperated, but it was an effort. “Gentlemen, you’re thinking like good military men but—” He almost said “Doug Freeman,” but sensed that would be interpreted as first-name bias. “— but Freeman is thinking like a Chinese political officer. He’s not only concerned about an attack on his left flank drawing too many troops away from him later on, he knows that while Dien Bien Phu is 250 miles away from the action around Loc Binh, it’s only 150 miles away from Hanoi.

“If the probes by the PLA and their bosom buddies, the Khmer Rouge, over the border are successful, go unchallenged, they could come en masse and take Hanoi — just like the Viet Cong took old Saigon. Then we’d be in deep manure. Remember, they won’t come by plane, they’ll march as the NVA and VC did, down the Ho Chi Minh trails and south into old Saigon. And the distance between Freeman’s enemies in Laos and Hanoi is a damn sight less than it was between Hanoi and old Saigon. And no amount of U.S. air superiority will stop them, as we found out in ‘Nam. If Freeman doesn’t make it clear that he won’t tolerate incursions from ‘safe’ havens across the border, we could have a Khmer-guided PLA army around Hanoi in a matter of weeks. Then we would have a two-front war.” Noyer paused, breathed deeply. There was a long silence.

“And then,” the President said, tapping the blotter thoughtfully with his letter opener, “there’s the problem of the MIAs Freeman mentioned at his press conference.”

“Only two of them,” Ellman said.

The President nodded. “I know, but it might as well be the two thousand we have missing. Have you seen the faxes?” He meant the messages sent to the White House asking, demanding, begging the White House to let Freeman cross the border if that’s what it took to find a single MIA.

“But sir,” Ellman cut in, “from what I’ve heard, these two reported MIAs might have been turncoats.”