Rogue Forces

to look for the PKK terrorists without battling peshmerga,” Hirsiz said. “Washington has been calling all night demanding an explanation. I think now is time to talk to them. Press on, General. Pass on to your men: Job well done. Good luck, and good hunting.”

“Excellent news indeed, sir,” General Orhan Zahin, secretary-general of the Turkish National Security Council, said. “Better than anticipated. No one is opposing us except for a few peshmerga fighters and PKK terrorists.” Hirsiz nodded but said nothing—he appeared to be lost in thought. “Don’t you agree, sir?”

“Of course,” Hirsiz said. “We expected to get bogged down in the hills, but without organized opposition, northern Iraq is wide open…especially Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who refuse to crack down on the PKK.”

“What are you saying, sir?”

“I’m saying that if we squeeze Irbil, we can force the KRG to help us hunt down the PKK terrorists,” Hirsiz said. “Everyone knows companies owned by the KRG cabinet and senior leadership funnel money to the PKK. Maybe it’s time to make them pay a price. Destroy those businesses, close down the KTC pipeline, close the border crossings and airspace to anything or anyone associated with the KRG, and they’ll be begging to help us.” He turned to Minister of Defense Cizek. “Get a list of targets in Irbil that will specifically target KRG resources, and work with General Guzlev to add them to his target list.”

“We should be careful about mission creep, sir,” Cizek said. “Our goal is to set up a buffer zone in northern Iraq and wipe it clean of PKK. Attacking Irbil is far outside that objective.”

“It is another way to destroy the PKK—by having the Iraqis help us,” Hirsiz said. “If they want to see an end to our attacks and our occupation, they’ll help us eradicate the PKK, as they should have been doing years ago.” Cizek still looked concerned, but he nodded and made notes to himself. “Very good. Now I’ll go talk with Joseph Gardner and see if he has any desire to help us.”

THE OVAL OFFICE, THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

A SHORT TIME LATER, EARLY AFTERNOON

A phone right beside Chief of Staff Walter Kordus’s elbow beeped, and he picked it up immediately. “Call from Ankara, sir,” he said. “Signals says it’s from the president himself.”

“Finally,” President Joseph Gardner said. He was behind his desk, watching the cable news reports about the invasion of Iraq with his national security adviser, Conrad Carlyle, Secretary of Defense Miller Turner, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Marine Corps general Taylor J. Bain. On a video teleconference feed were Vice President Kenneth Phoenix at Allied Air Base Nahla in Iraq, and Secretary of State Stacy Barbeau from Aviano Air Base in Italy, where she had diverted instead of continuing on to Iraq from Washington. “Put him on.” He thought for a moment, then shook his hand. “No, wait, I’ll make him wait and see how he likes it. Tell him to hold for me and I’ll speak with him in a minute.”

Gardner turned to the others in the Oval Office. “Okay, we’ve been watching the shit flying all day now. What do we know? What do we tell whoever’s at the other end of that call?”

“It’s plain that the Turks are going after the PKK hideouts and training camps and are being very careful not to cause any Iraqi or American casualties,” National Security Adviser Conrad Carlyle said. “If that’s truly the case, we tell our guys to hunker down and stay out of it. Then we tell the Turks to back off in case there are unintended consequences.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” Gardner said. “They’re driving pretty deep into Iraq, aren’t they, a lot farther than their usual cross-border raids?” Nods all around the Oval Office and on the video teleconference monitors. “Then the question is: Are they going to stay?”

“They’ll stay long enough to slaughter any PKK rebels they find, and then I’m sure they’ll leave,” Secretary of State Stacy Anne Barbeau said via her secure video teleconference link from Italy. “We should call for United Nations monitoring as soon as possible in case Kurzat Hirsiz is no longer in charge and the Turkish army wants to go on a rampage.”

“Not on my watch they won’t, Stacy,” Gardner said. “I won’t tolerate a bloodbath while American soldiers are stationed there and the Iraqis aren’t powerful enough to defend their own people. They can crack down on their own Kurdish rebels in their own country if they want, but they’re not going to commit genocide with American GIs as spectators.”

“I think they’ll agree to international monitors, Mr. President,” Secretary of State Stacy Anne Barbeau said, “but they’ll want a buffer zone created in northern Iraq, with round-the-clock international surveillance, looking for PKK activity.”

“I can live with that, too,” Gardner said. “Okay, Walter, put Hirsiz on the line.”

A few moments later: “Mr. President, good afternoon to you, this is President Hirsiz. Thank you for speaking with me, sir.”

“I’m very glad to see that you’re all right,” Gardner said. “We haven’t heard from you since the announcement of a national emergency. You didn’t return any of our calls.”

“I apologize, sir, but as you can see, things are very serious here and I’ve been engaged almost continuously. I assume this call is in regards to our current antiterrorist operations in Iraq?”

Gardner’s eyes bulged in disbelief by what he just heard. “No, sir, I’m talking about your invasion of Iraq!” Gardner exploded. “Because if this was just an antiterrorist operation, I’m sure you would have told us when, where, and how you were going to initiate it, is that not correct?”

“Mr. President, with all due respect, that tone of voice is not necessary,” Hirsiz said. “If I may remind you, sir, it was a lack of respect such as this that caused this ill will between our countries in the first place.”

“And may I remind you, Mr. President,” Gardner retorted, “that Turkish warplanes are bombing bases and facilities manned by Americans? May I also remind you that I sent Vice President Phoenix and Secretary of State Barbeau on a diplomatic mission to Iraq to meet with their counterparts, and Turkey used that meeting as a smoke screen to attack positions inside Iraq, placing the vice president in mortal danger? The vice president is an emissary of the United States of America and my personal representative. You have no right to initiate military action when at the same time you…”

“I need no reminding from you, sir!” Hirsiz interrupted. “I need no lectures on when Turkey may initiate military actions against terrorists threatening our people! The Republic of Turkey will do whatever is necessary to protect our land and our people! It is America and Iraq who must help us defeat the terrorists! If you do nothing, then we must act alone.”

“I’m not trying to lecture anyone, sir,” Gardner said, forcing his anger back down into his chest, “and I agree that Turkey or any nation may take whatever steps are necessary to protect its self-interests, even preemptive military action. All I’m asking, sir, is that you inform Washington first and ask for advice and assistance. That’s what allies do, am I correct?”

“Mr. President, we had every intention of notifying you before the commencement of hostilities, if time allowed,” Hirsiz said. Gardner rolled his eyes in disbelief but said nothing. “But it did not.”

“That’s the same thing you said before the attack on the border, which resulted in over a dozen American casualties,” the president interjected. “Apparently you don’t feel the need to consult with Washington on a timely basis.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. President, but what I tell you is true—we are under enormous pressure to act before any more loss of life occurs,” Hirsiz said. “But we have taken extraordinary care this time to minimize noncombatant casualties. I have ordered my minister of defense to inform and constantly remind our division commanders that only PKK terrorists are to be targeted. We have taken extraordinary steps to minimize noncombatant casualties.”

“And I acknowledge those efforts,” Gardner said. “To my knowledge, no Americans or Iraqis have been killed. But there have been injuries and substantial loss and damage to equipment and facilities. If the hostilities continue, there could be bloodshed.”

“Yet to my knowledge, sir, there has already been substantial, deliberate, and egregious Turkish loss of equipment—and at least one death, caused by American forces.”

“What? Americans?” Gardner stared at his national security adviser and secretary of defense in surprise. “I’ve been assured that none of our combat units engaged with anyone, let alone Turkish forces. There must be a mistake.”

“Then you deny that an American flying-wing reconnaissance aircraft was orbiting over northern Iraq, with