Ayatollah was in robes, emphasizing his national and clerical identity. Mahmoud Haji was grave, but not hostile in demeanor—and, strangely, he seemed totally lacking in curiosity.
'Perhaps the next time I visit.'
A friendly nod. 'Yes.' This was said in English, which reminded Adler that the man understood his visitor's language. Nothing all that unusual in form, SecState noted. 'It has been a long time since there were direct contacts between your country and mine, certainly at this level.'
'This is true, but we welcome such contacts. How may I be of service to you, Secretary Adler?'
'If you do not object, I would like to discuss stability in this region.'
'Stability?' Daryaei asked innocently. 'What do you mean?'
'The establishment of the United Islamic Republic has created the largest country in the region. This is a matter of concern to some.'
'I would say that we have improved stability. Was not the Iraqi regime the destabilizing influence? Did not Iraq start two aggressive wars? We certainly did no such thing.'
'This is true,' Adler agreed.
'Islam is a religion of peace and brotherhood,' Daryaei went on, speaking as the teacher he'd been for years. Probably a tough one, Adler thought to himself, with steel under the gentle voice.
'That is also true, but in the world of men the rules of religion are not always followed by those who call themselves religious,' the American pointed out.
'Other countries do not accept the rule of God as we do. Only in the recognition of that rule can men hope to find peace and justice. That means more than saying the words. One must also live the words.' And thank you for the Sunday school lesson, Adler thought, with a respectful nod. Then why the hell do you support Hezbollah?
'My country wishes no more than peace in this region—throughout the world, for that matter.'
'As is indeed the wish of Allah, as revealed to us through the Prophet.' He was sticking to the script, Adler saw. Once upon a time, President Jimmy Carter had dispatched an emissary to visit this man's boss, Khomeini, at his exile home in France. The Shah had been in deep political trouble then, and the opposition had been sounded out, just to hedge America's bets. The emissary had come home after the meeting to tell his President that Khomeini was a 'saint.'
Carter had accepted the report at face value, and brought about the removal of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, allowing the «saint» to supplant him.
Oops.
The next administration had dealt with the same man and gotten nothing more for it than a scandal and world ridicule.
Ouch.
Those were mistakes Adler was determined not to repeat.
'It is also one of my country's principles that international borders are to be honored. Respect for territorial integrity is the sine qua non of regional and global stability.'
'Secretary Adler, all men are brothers, this is the will of Allah. Brothers may quarrel from time to time, but to make war is hateful to God. In any case, I find the substance of your remarks somewhat unsettling. You seem to suggest that we have unfriendly intentions to our neighbors. Why do you say such a thing?'
'Excuse me, I think you misunderstand. I make no such suggestions. I have come merely to discuss mutual concerns.'
'Your country and its associates and allies depend on this region for their economic health. We will not do harm to that. You need our oil. We need the things that oil money can buy. Ours is a trading culture. You know that. Our culture is also Islamic, and it is a source of great pain to me that the West seems never to appreciate the substance of our Faith. We are not barbarians, despite what your Jewish friends may say. We have, in fact, no religious quarrel with the Jews. Their patriarch, Abraham, came from this region. They were the first to proclaim the true God, and truly there should be peace between us.'
'It pleases me to hear those words. How may we bring this peace about?' Adler asked, wondering when the last time had been that someone had tried to drop a whole olive tree on his head.
'With time, and with talk. Perhaps it is better that we should have direct contacts. They, too, are people of trade in addition to being people of faith.'
Adler wondered what he meant by that. Direct contacts with Israel. Was it an offer, or a sop to toss at the American government?
'And your Islamic neighbors?'
'We share the Faith. We share oil. We share a culture. We are already one in so many ways.'
OUTSIDE, CLARK, CHAVEZ, and the ambassador sat quietly. The office personnel studiously ignored them, after having provided the usual refreshments. The security people stood about, not looking at the visitors, but not looking away from them, either. For Chavez it was a chance to meet a new people. He noted that the setting was old-fashioned, and oddly shabby, as though the building hadn't changed much since the departure of the previous government—a long time ago, he reminded himself—and it wasn't so much that things were run down as that they weren't modern. There was a real tension here, though. That he could feel in the air. An American office staff would have looked at him with curiosity. The six people in this room did not. Why?
Clark had expected that. Being ignored didn't surprise him. He and Ding were here as security troops, and they were just furniture, unworthy of notice. The people here would be trusted aides and underlings, faithful to their boss because they had to be. They had a measure of power because of him. These visitors would either ratify that power in the international sense or threaten it, and while that was important to their individual well-being, they could no more affect it than they could affect the weather, and so they just tuned their visitors out, except for the security pukes, who were trained to view everyone as a threat even though protocol disallowed them from the physical intimidation which they would have preferred to show.
For the ambassador it was one more exercise in diplomacy, conversations in carefully chosen words selected to show little on the one hand, and to uncover much on the other. He could guess at what was being said by both sides. He could even guess at the real meaning of the words. It was their truth that interested him. What did Daryaei have planned? The ambassador and his country hoped for peace in the region, and so he and his colleagues had prepped Adler to feel open to that possibility, while at the same time not knowing how this would really go. An interesting man, Daryaei. A man of God who had surely murdered the Iraqi President. A man of peace and justice who ruled his country with an iron hand. A man of mercy who clearly had his own personal staff terrified of him. You had only to look around the room to see that. A modern, Middle Eastern Richelieu? There was a novel thought, the Frenchman joked to himself, behind an impassive face. He'd have to run that idea past his ministry later today. And in with him right now was a brand-new American minister. He allowed for the fact that Adler had a fine reputation as a career diplomat, but was he good enough for this task?
'WHY DO WE discuss this? Why should I have territorial ambitions?' Daryaei asked, almost pleasantly, but telegraphing his irritation. 'My people desire only peace. There has been too much strife here. For all my life I have studied and taught the Faith, and now, finally, in the closing days of my life, there is peace.'
'We have no more wish for this region than that, except perhaps to reestablish our friendship with your country.'
'On that we should talk further. I thank your country for not hindering the removal of trade sanctions against the former country of Iraq. Perhaps that is a beginning. At the same time, we would prefer that America did not interfere in the internal affairs of our neighbors.'
'We are committed to the integrity of Israel,' Adler pointed out.
'Israel is not, strictly speaking, a neighbor,' Daryaei replied. 'But if Israel can live in peace, then we can also live in peace.'
The guy was good, Adler thought. He wasn't revealing very much, just denying everything. He made no policy statements aside from the usual protestations of peaceful intent. Every chief of state did that, though not many invoked the name of God so much. Peace. Peace. Peace.
Except that Adler didn't believe him for an instant on the subject of Israel. If he'd had peaceful intentions, he would have told Jerusalem first, the better to get them on his side for dealing with Washington. Israel had been the unnamed middleman for the arms-for-hostages disaster, and they'd been suckered, too.
'I hope that is a foundation upon which we can build.'
'If your country treats my country with respect, then we can talk. Then we can discuss an improvement in
