Pauline hesitated. This would be a public acknowledgement that the world had become a more dangerous place. It was never done lightly.
The decision about alert levels had to be made by the president and the Secretary of Defense together. If Pauline and Luis agreed, the announcement would be made by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Bill Schneider.
Jacqueline Brody spoke for the first time. ‘The trouble is that it gets the public all antsy.’
Luis was impatient with talk about public opinion. He was not much of a democrat. ‘We need our forces to be ready!’
‘But we don’t need to panic the American people,’ Jacqueline said.
Pauline settled the issue. ‘Luis is right,’ she said. ‘Raise the DEFCON level. Have Bill announce it tomorrow at the morning press conference.’
‘Thank you, Madam President,’ said Luis.
‘But Jacqueline is also right,’ Pauline said. ‘We need to explain that this is a precaution, and the public in the United States are not in danger. Gus, I think you should appear alongside Bill to reassure people.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘I’m going to take a shower now, so schedule the phone calls for a little later. But I want to get this under way before East Asia closes down for the day. I won’t be going back to bed tonight.’
*
James Moore was interviewed on breakfast TV. He appeared on a channel that did not even pretend to report objectively. He was interviewed by Caryl Cole, who described herself as a soccer-mom conservative, but really she was just a bigot. Pauline got up from the table and went into the former Beauty Salon to watch. After a minute Pippa came in, dressed for school and toting her backpack, and she stayed to watch.
Pauline expected Caryl to give Moore an easy ride, and that was what happened.
‘The Far East is a bad neighbourhood,’ he said in his folksy style. ‘It’s run by a Chinese gang who think they can do anything they want.’
‘What about Korea?’ said Caryl.
Pauline commented: ‘Not exactly a challenging question.’
Moore said: ‘The South Koreans are our friends, and it’s good to have friends in a bad neighbourhood.’
‘And North Korea?’
‘The Supreme Leader is a bad hombre, but he doesn’t ride alone. He’s part of a gang and takes his orders from Beijing.’
‘Hopelessly simplistic,’ said Pauline, ‘but terribly easy to understand and remember.’
Moore said: ‘The South Koreans are on our side, and we have to protect them. That’s why we have troops there –’ he hesitated, then said: ‘some thousands of troops.’
Pauline said to the TV: ‘The number you’re searching for is twenty-eight thousand five hundred.’
Moore said: ‘And if our boys weren’t there, the whole of Korea would be overrun by the Chinese.’
Caryl said: ‘That’s a sobering thought.’
‘Now,’ said Moore, ‘last night the North Koreans attacked our friends. They bombed a naval base and killed a lot of people.’
Caryl said: ‘President Green has called for a peace conference.’
‘The heck with that,’ said Moore. ‘When someone punches you in the mouth, you don’t call a peace conference – you hit back.’
‘And how would you hit back at North Korea, if you were president?’
‘A massive bombing attack that would take out every military base they have.’
‘Are you talking about nuclear bombs?’
‘There’s no point having nuclear weapons if you never use them.’
Pippa said: ‘Did he really say that?’
‘Yes,’ Pauline said. ‘And you know what? He means it. Isn’t that terrifying?’
‘It’s stupid.’
‘It may be the stupidest thing anyone has said in the history of the human race.’
‘Won’t it damage him?’
‘I hope so. If this doesn’t derail his presidential campaign, nothing will.’
Later she repeated the remark to Sandip Chakraborty, and he asked if he could put it in the press release about the peace conference. ‘Why not?’ said Pauline.
Every television newscast for the rest of the day featured two quotes:
There’s no point having nuclear weapons if you never use them.
and:
It may be the stupidest thing anyone has said in the history of the human race.
CHAPTER 32
The Libyan oasis town of Ghadamis was like an enchanted castle in a fairy tale. In the deserted old centre the white houses, made of mud and straw with palm trunks, were all linked together like one great edifice. At ground level, there were shady arcades between buildings, and the rooftops, traditionally reserved for women, were connected by little bridges. In the white interiors the window openings and arches were gaily decorated with elaborate patterns in red paint. Naji ran around in delight.