The President's Jihadist

President Silver glanced at the morning newspapers brought into the breakfast room along with his breakfast by a white-jacketed White House attendant. This morning, breakfast was orange juice, an English muffin with cream cheese, two fried eggs and the one daily cup of regular coffee Ben allowed himself to have. The newspapers were the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times and his home town Boston Globe, so he could follow the Celtics and Bruins at this time of the year along with the Patriots who were again going to the Super Bowl.

This morning, unlike most mornings, the headlines were not unfavorable. The massive terrorist plot had been foiled; most of the terrorists were dead or in the custody of the military. The efficient way in which the attack was prevented and the principal terrorists and their foot soldiers captured had succeeded in terminating all talk of impeachment and reversed public opinion from opposition to Ben Silver into one of a grudging respect for and appreciation of what had been accomplished. The news that the mysteriously killed Senator Davies and F.B.I. Director P.J. Winters were guilty of monstrous crimes against the people of the United States had shocked the nation and the media even further and added to Ben’s new found acceptance and favorability ratings.

Of course, a few pundits did question whether more force than was necessary was employed and objected that the apprehensions should have been by the F.B.I. and that since the captured terrorists were not read their rights, they were improperly held in custody. A very small number even suggested that Ben caused the planned attack with his decision to terminate foreign aid to Muslim nations hostile to the United States, while an even smaller number whispered that his being Jewish was enough of a provocation to cause their enmity. Others complained that the incursion by the military across the border into Canada and Mexico to capture terrorists in those areas who were poised to strike American cities across the border was not proper and should have been done by the F.B.I in a cooperative operation with Canadian and Mexican law enforcement authorities. Ben had explained that he had regarded the terrorists as enemy combatants and that they were captured like enemy on a battlefield. He pointed out that the culture at the F.B.I. was to gather evidence and help prepare criminal cases to be tried in court, not to wage war against an ideological army. The great majority of the public agreed with the sentiments Ben expressed that it would have prejudiced the operations to have disclosed what they were doing to the F.B.I. or to Mexican and Canadian authorities and that Ben had done the right thing in preventing the massive attack, even if many TV analysts, newspaper editors and columnists and academics questioned the legality of the procedure. The revelation of the role played by F.B.I. Director, and Senator Davies in the murder of Jane Cabot’s husband and planting of evidence designed to pin the murder on Ben and his Chief of Staff, Tom Andrews sealed the case for the general public. The President was right in not trusting their safety to the F.B.I. and Ben was regarded by most Americans, at least for the moment, as a more than acceptable President.

Ben had switched to a pot of decaffeinated coffee and was reading the Boston Globe’s analysis of the off-season trades and signings by the Red Sox when his phone rang. He was expecting Jane Cabot’s morning call. This morning they were going to discuss their future together. He and Jane had discussed Ben’s resigning the presidency once the crisis died down and, now that Jane’s husband was dead, about getting married, but it wasn’t Jane, it was Molly Pemberton. Without even a hello, Molly blurted out, “Mr. President, it’s me Molly. I have to see you immediately.”

Puzzled, Ben said, “What’s it about.”

“I don’t want to say over the phone. I’m right outside the White House. Can I see you now?” Ben told her to come right up, cleared it with security and minutes later, Molly joined Ben in the breakfast room. She declined breakfast and coffee, and when they were alone, she removed a sheet of paper from her brief case and said, as she handed it to Ben, “From Clarence Davenport. It just came this morning.”

Ben read the e-mail note.

Dear Molly, --You and your boss did a nice job in rolling up the terrorists. Glad to be helpful. In case you’re wondering, it was me that terminated Davies and Winters. I’m thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my time on earth. Perhaps I’ll be able to do you some more favors down the road. I have some ideas that may be interesting to you and your boss. I have to think it through and I’ll get back to you in a few days. –Clare—

P.S. Thanks for not mentioning it was me that sent the information to you about the terrorist attacks. I guess after Winters’ announcement every one in the U.S decided I was dead. And they say women can’t keep secrets.