Excerpt
“What are you going to do with so much money, my friend?”
“Well, I haven’t given it much thought yet. I suppose I’ll buy a new
apartment, maybe a new car. We’ll see.”
“When is the old man going home?”
“He is so anxious that he’d go now if they’d let him. But, he has to get one
dose of his treatment here so the doctors can monitor his reaction to it before
he is allowed to go home. If everything goes smoothly, he’ll go home in two or
three days.”
“Well, my friend, that makes you king of the hill. We should be bowing to
you from now on,” Talal jokes with him.
Hakim feels proud, although he doesn’t say anything to Talal.
“What do you have for me? What have you found out about Matthew’s job?”
Talal stops walking for a moment and touches Hakim’s shoulder before
telling him, “It’s a long story,my friend. They work for the CIA in what they have
code-named ‘The Circle.’ It’s a covert operation with analysts and field agents,
the whole thing. They work toward one goal. Undermining, coercion,
destabilizing; operations that make major changes in the way different countries
govern themselves. In a nutshell they analyze intelligence and present
recommendations to the Executive Branch which goes to the State Department
and the Pentagon. They are the main force behind any decision taken to declare
war or to invade a country, as they did with Iraq in 2003.”
Hakim has already heard the same information from his uncle, yet he wants
to understand more about Jennifer’s father’s role, if there has been one, in the
invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“You’re certain they are the backbone of any operation?”
“Of course they are. They don’t take part in the final decision-making
process, but they are the ones who make recommendations for one action or
another. Matthew’s work is the analysis. The Admiral’s work is to approve
recommendation ready to be shipped to the war room. It’s all connected like one
long chain, and each and every one of the pieces is part of the whole.”
Hakim is skeptical. He remains silent as he tries to put things into
perspective. He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions. An analyst—what can
Matthew know about the war other than what everybody hears on the national
news? What else can he be responsible for? He’s just an analyst.
“How do you know all this?” he asks Talal.
“I have my sources; what difference does it make?”
“I want to know. Tell me who has given you this info!” Hakim’s voice is firm.
“Ahmed.”
“How in the hell did Ahmed find it?”
Libros Libertad 