Page 10 of Into the Gray Zone

Chapter7

I glanced around at my team, and Jennifer said, “Yeah, you mean like the metals used in magnets and batteries for cell phones?”

“Exactly. Rare earth elements aren’t really rare, like diamonds. They’re found everywhere, but not in great enough quantities to be worth mining. Getting them out of the ground is painstaking and creates a huge environmental mess—which basically means the tree-huggers here in the United States have shut down most of our mines.

“Today, China has a monopoly on the mining, accounting for about eightypercent of the world’s production. Thirty years ago it wouldn’t have mattered. Now everything we use relies on rare earth elements, from cell phones to electric cars to home computers to just about anything that requires a microprocessor or a screen.”

I saw where this was going, saying, “Including all of our defense systems.”

Bostwick nodded. “Exactly. There would be no night-vision goggles or F-35 fighters without them. Any time you hear someone saying ‘next generation,’ what they’re really saying is ‘rare earth elements,’ and China’s monopoly on them is an enormous vulnerability. If they decided to stop exporting them to us, we’d be in trouble—and they’ve shown a willingness to use that leverage. In 2010, China had a spat with Japanover some islands that both claimed. China’s response was to stop exporting to Japanese industry, which was an eye-opener for us.”

I nodded, having never given a lot of thought to the brass tacks of what our technology required. Knuckles said, “Let me get this straight—we’re always talking about how China invading Taiwan would cause a major tech disruption because of Taiwan’s monopoly on semiconductor production, but what you’re really saying is that’s small potatoes. China could stop that production without firing a shot?”

“Correct. China could stopourtech sector without firing a shot as well, which is where this meeting comes in. India has found a large deposit of rare earth elements in the north of their country. Enough to give China a run for its money, and we’d much rather deal with India—a democracy—than China. The problem is—like I said before—extracting the elements is labor-intensive and messy. It almost requires a state to support it because it’s very hard for a private entity to make a profit—which is precisely why we don’t mine our own. Our mining industry decided the profit margin wasn’t worth the hassle. We have an Indian billionaire who’s willing to give it a go, but he wants support from the Indian state. Wealsowant the Indian state to support it.”

“What’s the quid pro quo here? Why is CIA and not the State Department doing this?”

“Well, honestly, because it’s going to be done below the waterline. If China thinks we have an overt hand in helping India break their rare earth monopoly, there will be repercussions for both India and us. China might pull what it did with Japan right off the bat. We’d prefer this look like an amateur effort solely directed by India, with no fanfare from the State Department or the administration.”

I laughed and said, “So the CIA is getting into the mining business, is that it? You’re going to do this covertly?”

“Yes, but make no mistake, this is much bigger than a mine. It’s also a lever to keep India out of China’s sway and on our side. Don’t worry, a presidential finding has already been presented to the Gang of Eight.”

By U.S. Code, any covert action done by representatives of the United States government has to have a presidential finding detailing the scope of the operation and the intended outcome, which was then given to Congress. The Gang of Eight was a nickname for a small group of congressional members read on to highly compartmented intelligence matters, comprised of the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate and the ranking and minority leaders of both the House and Senate intelligence committees. Already having a finding presented to Congress told me that this thing had been brewing for months, if not years.

Presidential findings and briefings for covert actions didn’t happen in a week, which meant the administration considered this high priority, but itdidbeg the question about using the Taskforce. We were an extralegal force that didn’t operate under any U.S. law in existence.

I said, “That’s great and all, but you know the Taskforce doesn’t fall under any finding. What about the Oversight Council? What are you telling them? Have they approved the mission set?”

Bostwick said, “George, you want to handle that?”

Wolffe said, “Sure.” He turned to us and said, “The principals of the Council have concurred that the operation is in the best interests for our national security.”

Which, ofcoursethey did. While the Taskforce didn’t fall under congressional oversight like the CIA or DOD, we did have oversight in the form of a thirteen-person panel that vetted and approved all operations. The “principals” were the most important members—sort of like a “gang of eight” for Taskforce operations—comprised of thepresident, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the director of the CIA, and the national security advisor. Out of the five, two—the president and the D/CIA—were already on board, so approval was a no-brainer.

I started to say something else but Wolffe beat me to the punch, saying, “I know what you’re going to argue here. No, we aren’t turning into the CIA. No, we aren’t going to become a bureaucracy that’s subject to congressional oversight. No, this isn’t mission creep. You aren’t going to do anything overt here. It’s a simple Alpha mission. It will never get to Omega.”

We called each phase of an operation a different Greek letter, with Alpha being the first phase: advanced force operations to collect intelligence on the art of the possible against a target. Each phase had to have separate approval from the Oversight Council, with Omega being the last one—meaning we were going to eliminate a target to remove it as a threat.

Wolffe was telling me this was going to be nothing but a walk in the park, just some sightseeing to protect the meeting. What he was forgetting was the same thing the U.S. government habitually did when it put its men and women in harm’s way: the enemy gets a vote.

I said, “Sir, you’re sending me to protect Kerry against a possible threat. This could go from Alpha to Omega in the span of seconds. Either I’m needed to protect the meeting—meaning there’s a possibility I might have to engage—or I’m not, meaning I can fly back home to Charleston.”

Bostwick spoke up, saying, “Just for argument’s sake here, you have Omega approval. If it comes down to you using lethal force to protect this meeting, then you have it. That’s from the president, by the way.”

I nodded, satisfied that all the T’s were crossed and the I’s dotted. He said, “How soon can you fly? The meeting is in four days, but I’dlike you on the ground before we get there to create a break from our arrival.”

I said, “We can go as soon as Veep shows up and I get a package in the Rock Star bird.”

Wolffe said, “Package is being loaded as we speak. Weapons and surveillance gear only, but you won’t need anything else. Kerry’s already seeded your cover. There’s a UNESCO heritage site in Old Goa about ten miles away. Called the Church of Saint Augustine, it’s a falling-down wreck they’re still excavating. You’re doing a site survey for a contingent from the University of Pennsylvania.”

I saw Jennifer perk up, because she always loved looking at old shit as part of our job. I said, “Does that mean we have to meet a bunch of UN or government types, proving we’re who we say we are? And if so, does Penn know we’re going? Is that part real?”

“No, that part’s fake, and you don’t need to interface with anyone there. We’ve already done it at a higher level when we expedited your visas. They think you’re going to check out lodging, logistics, and that sort of thing. The most you’ll have to do is make at least one trip to the church for your cover. If you have to prove who you are, you’ll use the cover package we give you. They’ll end up calling us, not Penn.”

Which was fine by me. I said, “And you’ve already got us rooms at the resort?”

“Yes. Paid by Grolier Recovery Services. They’re expecting you.”

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