latest American action. Was it meant to intimidate them? Or was it a warning? Guajardo, as well as Molina, knew that a similar resolution had been passed by the American Congress just before the Americans commenced military operations against Iraq in 1991. Perhaps, in their own way, the American Congress was telling them that it was the eleventh hour. But for what? Finally, Guajardo spoke. 'What, el presidents do you need from me?'
Understanding that Guajardo had intentionally addressed him with his formal title to signal him that it was Colonel Guajardo, the minister of defense, asking the question, Molina responded as the president. 'As much as you dislike the idea, it is time for you to personally contact the military chiefs in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Cuba in order to establish command and control procedures for the incorporation of their forces into our defensive plans. Colonel Barreda is in the process of sending an official request to those governments for the assistance they promised.'
'What about the UN and the Organization of American States? Has he called for an emergency session of those organizations?''
'Yes, Alfredo, he has done so. What happens with them is not your concern. Defense of the republic is your only concern now, my friend.'
Molina's last comment was an order. For the time being, Guajardo was to remain out of international politics. Still, he could not resist the urge to add a warning. 'You realize, my friend, that such assistance will not come cheaply. Each of our new allies will have a price that they will expect us to honor. Especially the Cubans, and you know I cannot trust the Cubans.'
'Nor I, Alfredo, nor I. But what else can we do? Pray for a miracle?
Hope that the Americans will see the error of their ways and reason with us an equal? No, it is not their way. So long as they view us as something less than equal, as naughty children who must be taught a lesson every now and then, they will not listen to reason, from us or anyone else. As much as I hate it, I see no other course than to offer armed resistance against any and all violations of our borders.'
There was another pause before Guajardo asked the question that had to be asked. He spoke slowly, clearly, and concisely. 'I assume then, el presidente, you are ordering the Army to repel any and all incursions by the Americans, with the use of force if necessary.'
'Yes, Alfredo, those are my orders. Do you have any further questions?'
Guajardo didn't. There was nothing more to say. It had all been discussed, it had all been debated. In order to stay in power and succeed in rebuilding their beloved country, the Council of 13 had to prove it could defend the Republic of Mexico and its people. To back down and freely allow the Americans to occupy even a single square meter of Mexico would be viewed as weakness, and the council would lose face with its people. After telling Molina that he had no further questions, Guajardo hung up the phone, leaned back in his seat, and stared at the blank walls for a moment.
Then he surprised himself by doing something he had not done since he was a little boy. In the silence of his cold, barren office, he found himself praying to the Virgin for guidance and solace.
The sudden impact of Senator Jimmy Herbert's fist on the picnic table sent a spoon flying, knocked down two paper cups full of iced tea, and brought a stunned silence to people seated at the picnic tables flanking Herbert's. Herbert, however, didn't notice any of this, for his entire attention was riveted on the only other person seated at his table, Representative Ed Lewis of Tennessee.
Lewis, used to evoking such a response from his colleagues, calmly sat across from Herbert, righting one of the spilt cups with one hand and carefully sopping up the tea with a napkin in the other. 'Why, Senator Herbert, all I said was that your resolution was the dumbest piece of legislation since the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The only difference is that the men who drafted the Tonkin Resolution, in comparison, knew what they were getting into.'
Thrusting his head closer to Lewis, his face still red and contorted with the effort to control himself, Herbert growled at Lewis, 'Damn you to hell, Mr. Congressman Ed Lewis. I heard what you said the first time.
And damn you for even suggesting that what happened in Southeast Asia had any similarities with what is happening down in Mexico. The Vietnam War is over. It's history. Or haven't you heard?'
Lewis was still calmly cleaning up the mess created by Herbert. 'Ah, yes, I remember the former president mentioning that.' Then, pausing in his cleanup, Lewis looked up at Herbert. 'But I don't think he meant that we were supposed to forget about it, and the lessons it taught us about the limitations of military intervention.'
Herbert leaned back, throwing his hands up in the air. 'What military intervention? We have no intention of intervening in the internal affairs of the Mexican government and my resolution does not authorize such actions.'
It was now Lewis's turn to become angry. Lewis threw the sopping napkin he had been using to clean up the iced tea on the ground. 'Oh, come off it, Mr. Senator! Who are you trying to bullshit? The problem with all you goddamned lawyers in Congress is that you start believing that the fancy words you use to hide the meaning of your actions fools people. Listen, do you and all your supporters really believe that your resolution authorizing the president to, and I quote, 'use whatever means necessary along, and beyond, the borders of the United States in order to protect the people of the United States and guarantee the territorial integrity of the United States,' will frighten the Mexicans into backing down and do what we want them to?' Lewis pointed his finger at Herbert to make his point. 'Now, you can call the action you have authorized anything you want. But I'll tell you what the Mexicans will call it.
They'll call it an invasion.'
Seeing that he had Lewis riled up, Herbert regrouped, relaxed, and, with the ease of a professional politician, let a smile light his face.
'Okay, so it's an invasion. So what? What are the Mexicans going to do?
Bombard us with taco shells?'
While Lewis's last outburst had been staged, the one he unleashed now was from the heart. 'I don't believe you! You don't understand what you're doing, do you? I hope you realize that the gulf we're talking about is the Gulf of Mexico, not the Persian Gulf. Those aren't Arabs down there. They're Mexicans. Fellow North Americans. People related to almost five percent of our own population. They're not going to simply sit on their hands and watch American combat troops tromp about their country. They'll do what they always have done whenever we've gone south, they'll fight.' Lewis paused, turning away from Herbert. Then, as an afterthought, he added, 'Besides, we don't even know if the current regime in Mexico is responsible for the border raids. For all we know, someone could be staging those raids, trying to embarrass the Council of 13 in order to get us to invade, just like Pancho Villa did in 1916.'
'What difference, Ed, does it make who is responsible for the raids?
None. None at all. What matters, my dear distinguished colleague from the state of Tennessee, is that Americans are dying, right here, in their own country, defending their own borders. When it comes to defending your home and family, it doesn't matter who, in reality, is responsible for the danger.' Standing up, Herbert prepared to leave, but paused long enough to finish his speech to Lewis. 'Even your high-minded ideals don't matter. What matters, dear boy, is the fact that someone is threatening the United States and we, the leaders of the nation, must do something to end that danger.'
Lewis, still turned at an angle, mockingly clapped his hands. 'A wonderful campaign speech by any measure, Senator. The only thing you forgot was to mention Mom, apple pie, and the girl next door. The voters back home always love that.'
Infuriated, Herbert was about to tell Lewis to fuck off, but held back.
Instead, he clenched his fists, turned, and went storming off, leaving Lewis alone and, for the moment, at a loss as to what to do to forestall what he saw as a disaster in the making.
While the problem that Second Lieutenant Nancy Kozak faced that evening was, in comparison, trivial to people like Jan Fields, Colonel Guajardo, and Ed Lewis, it was, nonetheless, a very real and pressing matter to Kozak. In the excitement and haste of the 16th Division's load-out and deployment, Kozak had forgotten what time of month it was. It was only that morning, shortly after breakfast, when the first menstrual cramp struck, that Kozak realized she had forgotten to throw a box of sanitary napkins in her rucksack.
