population has HIV or AIDS.
“In short, it’s a mess.
“Government: officially Chad has a bicameral legislature but only the National Assembly is seated. The Senate hasn’t been formed. Anyway, there’s half a dozen political parties. In ‘05 they passed a referendum allowing the president to run for a third term.”
Bosco wrinkled his forehead. “What’s bicameral?”
Johnson gaped. “Geez, man, didn’t you take civics in high school?”
“Hey, I studied football and basketball and cheerleaders. Not necessarily in that order.”
Johnson suspected that Boscombe was playing dumb again, for reasons personal and obscure. “Bicameral, as in
“Oh. Gotcha.”
Carmichael regained control of the discussion. “The president is basically a strongman, the latest in a long line. The military is more or less loyal to him, as are the police forces as long as they get paid regularly. In turn, the government doesn’t look too closely at how some soldiers and policemen make extra income. In dealing with government officials, always remember that Chad is one of the two most corrupt places on earth.
“Economy: Chad exports cotton to Europe and Asia but only about three percent of the land is under cultivation. So far the greatest export potential is oil, and that’s a growth industry but the country doesn’t have much infrastructure to exploit it. The exchange rate is around 550 francs per dollar.
“Infrastructure: only 267 kilometers of paved highway — that’s, what? Maybe 150 miles. There’s fifty airports or at least landing fields, seven with paved runways. Fortunately cell phones and Internet access are pretty reliable.
“Military concerns: the longest border is with Libya, up here in the north.” She tapped the map, indicating the east-west line. “The Aozou Strip was a disputed area for years, mainly because Colonel Qadhafi wanted the natural resources in the area. That includes the uranium deposits I mentioned. Anyway, Libya occupied the strip in 1972 and there was off and on combat for about fifteen years. In the mid eighties we gave Chad enough help to drive the Libyans out, but they still claimed the strip. Finally, both sides agreed to arbitration and an international court declared that the Aozou belonged to Chad.”
Foyte asked, “What kind of help did we provide, Colonel?”
Carmichael consulted her notes. “Mostly basic stuff: small arms, antitank weapons, medical supplies, even uniforms. I’m told that we put a Hawk antiaircraft battery in the capital but evidently it wasn’t there very long. The biggest thing apparently was training and contract maintenance.”
Bosco nodded. “Some things don’t change.”
Breezy wrinkled his brow. “Say what?”
Huddled in the corner, some of the worker bees commiserated after monitoring the meeting. “Hey,” asked Breezy, “are we gonna have to learn French or something?”
J. J. Johnson tried to imagine Mark Brezyinski getting his tongue around a European language. It just did not compute. He replied, “Well, besides me, our French-speaking liaison used to be with the Agency. She’s a…”
“She?”
“Yeah, she. As in, female. As in,
“Hey, I never read much Tennyson,” quipped Breezy.
Johnson tried to keep a straight face. “Keats would be glad to hear that.”
“Why’s that, dude?”
“Like, he wrote it, dude.”
Bosco went on point. “What’s she look like? I mean…”
Johnson nudged his colleague. “You mean, does she look single?”
Breezy snorted. “Hell, man, he means, like, does she look female!”
Johnson, who had met Martha Whitney, allowed himself a conspiratorial smile. “Affirmative on both counts.”
“Well, when you gonna introduce us?” Bosco demanded.
17
Daniel Foyte convened the next briefing with Omar Mohammed alongside as SSI’s chief training officer. They sat at the apex of a semicircle of folding chairs.
“Okay” Foyte began in his gravelly baritone. “This briefing will focus on specific mission objectives so it’s more detailed than the overall brief that Colonel Carmichael gave us.”
He referred to his notes, once neatly typed but now littered with pen and ink hieroglyphics. He felt odd sitting; he was accustomed to standing or kneeling from twenty years of addressing Marines in classrooms, tents, oases, triple-canopy jungle, and other venues.
“First a little more about Chad’s military structure.” He turned to Mohammed. “Doctor?”
The urbane Iranian-American required few notes. He began, “The armed forces consist of the army, air force, and gendarmerie, plus more specialized units such as National and Nomadic Guard, which is a border force, the Rapid Intervention Force, and regular police. Presumably the most ‘elite’ unit”—he etched quote marks in the air—”is the presidential guard.”
Chris Nissen raised a hand. Though brand-new to SSI, he was not shy. “Excuse me, Doctor. Does the intervention force deploy outside Chad?”
“Not that I know of,” Mohammed replied. “I infer that it’s an internal unit. For what it’s worth, it was originally formed as the Republican Guard.” After an ironic response from the audience, he added, “Any similarity to the Iraqi organization of the same name is probably intentional.
“Current military spending runs a little over one hundred million dollars. To put that in perspective, it would not buy much over half of an F-22 stealth fighter.
“The military has a draft for twenty-year-olds for three years,” he continued. “Officially, enlistments are accepted at eighteen, but in truth there’s no minimum with parental consent. You will be dealing with men at least in their second tour.
“The Air Force has no combat aircraft: mostly C-130s, An-126s, and even some C-47s. Helicopters are Alouette IIIs.”
Mohammed shifted his weight, speaking extemporaneously. “Now, here’s some background. There’s been speculation over the years why the Reagan administration was so eager to help Chad against Libya. Aside from Qadhafi’s blatant aggression, there didn’t seem much reason for our intervention, even though we were allied with the French. Far as I know, neither of us needed much African uranium, and that caused some raised eyebrows. But I think that the critics overlooked something pretty obvious: if we didn’t need the stuff, other places did.”
Nissen said, “So it was in our mutual interest to keep the Strip out of Libyan hands.”
“Just so.”
Foyte resumed the briefing, turning to his bread and butter: hardware.
“The Chad Army is pretty much a hodgepodge as far as small arms. There’s no standard infantry rifle: depending on the branch and unit there’s M16s, AKs, FALs, Sigs, and G3s. Squad automatics are RPDs, RPKs, and even some old M24/29s.”
Breezy asked, “What’re those, Gunny?”
“They look like the British Bren Gun: a 7.5 mm with top-feed magazine. They replaced the Chauchaut after
