Safronov to stay strong and committed to the action.
34
The third and final presidential debate was held in Los Angeles, at the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA. It was a more formal affair than the last encounter; this time the two men would be at lecterns in front of a panel of questioners, reporters from the big media outlets as well as one of the wire services.
It was an open forum; there was no particular theme to the event, with the idea that the biggest issues in the last three weeks of the campaign would naturally be discussed. In theory, this would lead to a few topics that would get passionate attention from the candidates, but in actuality, other than a few questions on economic bailouts of foreign nations, China’s massive increase of military expenditures, and rising gas prices, one topic was at the forefront.
The President’s decision to try Saif Yasin in the federal system got the lion’s share of attention, as well as candidate Jack Ryan’s vocal opposition to this.
With the subject of the Emir naturally came the subject of Pakistan. The Islamabad government had spent the past decade taking billions of dollars annually from the United States while simultaneously working at cross- purposes with American military and intelligence efforts, and the safe haven that western Pakistan had become had given much aidw and comfort to the organizations that committed terrorist atrocities around the world. Kealty’s plan to influence Pakistan to rehabilitate and provide real support for U.S. interests was, essentially, to double down. While he threatened to cut off aid to Islamabad unless the situation improved, covert funding and support for the ISI and PDF actually increased as the White House tried to buy off commanders and departments that held influence over strategy.
Ryan’s plan, like most of his ideas when compared to Kealty’s, stood in stark contrast. When asked by the AP reporter on the panel what he would do to the funding levels of the Pakistani intelligence and military services, he replied, succinctly, “Cut it. Cut it and use some of that money to support our great friends and allies in the region, India.”
He’d been saying this on the campaign trail for some time, and he’d been taking a beating for it in the media. The American press spun his support for India over Pakistan as stirring up an old conflict by putting U.S. strength behind one power over another, despite Ryan’s retort that Pakistan supports terrorism against the United States while India does not.
“Of course we want to put our strength behind our friends and pull support for our enemies. Pakistan does not have to be our enemy,” he said into the cameras at the Pauley Pavilion, “but that has been their choice. When I return to Washington, I will turn off that spigot of support until Islamabad shows us that they can control their urges and combat Islamic terrorism in India and the West.”
The CBS Washington correspondent was next, and she asked Ryan how he could possibly punish the entire nation of Pakistan for the actions of a few rogue agents in the ISI.
Ryan nodded slowly before replying. “The ISI does not have rogue agents. It is a rogue
Kealty’s rebuttal was short. “President Ryan supported Pakistan to the tune of several billion dollars when he was President.”
To which Jack, speaking out of turn but speaking nonetheless, said, “And I was wrong about that. We all were, and I hate to admit it, but I will
The journalists on the panel sat and stared at Ryan. A presidential candidate admitting a mistake was alien to them.
The next questioner was from CNN, and she asked both candidates about the trial of the Emir. Kealty repeated his support for the process, and he challenged Ryan to tell him why, exactly, he felt the Department of Justice would not be able to aggressively prosecute Mr. Yasin.
Ryan looked into the camera with raised eyebrows. “President Kealty, I accept your challenge. We have brought several terrorists to trial in the federal system over the past twenty years. Some of those prosecutions were more successful than others. Many of the cases in which the attorney general failed to get a conviction involved defendants who were represented by a powerful legal team who, in the opinion of many nion of legal scholars, bent the rules in the defense of their clients. Now, the American system of justice could not survive without a vigorous defense, but many of these defense attorneys crossed the line.
“This happened on my watch, so I was very close to the work of my AG, and I saw what these defense attorneys did, and I was sickened by it.
“The Emir will not have many of these defense attorneys, and you may think that is a good thing, ladies and gentlemen, but it is not, because nine of these attorneys who advocated for the terrorists who killed thousands of Americans at home and on the battlefields are now working for the Justice Department. If these people, all unabashed advocates of the terrorists, are part of the government’s prosecution, and the terrorists’ own lawyers are unabashed advocates of the terrorists, who is there to be an advocate of the American people?”
Kealty’s nostrils flared on rebuttal. “Well, Mr. Ryan. You keep calling these defendants ‘terrorists.’ They are alleged terrorists until they are convicted. I don’t know if any of these men are guilty, and neither do you.”
Ryan replied, again turning the moderated debate into an unmoderated conversation, “One of the men who was defended by people who are now representing the United States in the Justice Department’s case against the Emir said from the witness box, he screamed it, actually, and this was the quote from the trial transcript. ‘I hope the jihad will continue and strike the heart of America and all kinds of weapons of mass destruction will be used.’ Can we not take this man at his word that he is an enemy of our nation? A terrorist?”
Kealty waved it away and replied. The moderator had lost all control. “You aren’t a lawyer, Jack. Sometimes people say things that are intemperate; that does not make them guilty of the crime for which they are being tried.”
“‘Intemperate’? Screaming that you hope America is destroyed is ‘intemperate,’ Mr. President? That’s right, you
The crowd laughed.
Jack put his hand up quickly. “Nothing against attorneys. Some of my best friends are lawyers. But even they tell the most biting lawyer jokes.”
More laughs.
Ryan continued, “Now, ladies and gentlemen, you will be forgiven for not knowing about this terrorist, his outburst, and the fact that nine of his defense attorneys now work in the Kealty administration. You will be forgiven because there was very little mention of this in the media at the time.
“But it troubles me, Mr. President, that nine members of your administration worked on the defense of terrorists. Now they are in positions of influence in our government, where they bring the same warped sensibilities to their jobs which, ultimately, is the national security of the United States. And then, when the military commissions are suggested, you and your people say these defendants can only get a fair trial in federal court. I think most Americans would be bothered by this”—he looked to the panel of journalists sitting before him—“if they only knew about it.”
Jack also wanted to wink at Arnie van Damm, who, right now, would be reaching for the Maalox. Arnie had told Jack over and over not to antagonize the press, because it didn’t look presidential.
