The Accused by Craig Parshall

Author:Craig Parshall
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736960403
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

44

THE FRONT ROW OF WITNESSES, including Will, were up on their feet, facing the panel of senators, with their right hands raised. As a group they were sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God. To the right of Will were the Assistant White House Legal Counsel and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Projects. Those two witnesses were slated to testify first, with Will then finishing up the morning session.

To Will’s left were the two witnesses for the afternoon session—the National Director for the Hispanic League for Civil Rights, and Fernando Fuego, the brother of Carlos Fuego, the CIA agent shot to death at Chacmool.

The first two witnesses took their seats at the witness table and adjusted the microphones.

Jason Bell Purdy cocked an eyebrow, and with all the solemnity that his short senatorial experience could muster, he reminded all of those present of the profound importance of the subcommittee’s task—to investigate the manner in which the United States government had responded to the perceived threat of terrorism from within Mexico—and to investigate the murder of innocent Mexican nationals at Chacmool, Mexico, including an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. Purdy described the “slaughter” that had taken place there as one of the “most troubling aspects of America’s war on terrorism.”

“The incident at Chacmool,” Purdy continued, “should give us all pause about the scope, breadth, and unrestricted nature of the military action that the United States government has brought to bear abroad, even against nations that have been our friends.”

As the senator concluded his opening statement, Will was listening intently. It was becoming clear where Purdy was heading—and why he had subpoenaed attorney Will Chambers.

The chairman talked about the unfettered right of special operations military personnel, in conjunction with the CIA, to assassinate perceived terrorists at will in any country of the world. This, he pointed out, was a direct result of, and an expansion from, the directive issued a few years before from the White House—an executive order lifting the prior ban against foreign assassinations.

Further, Purdy emphasized the point that special operations units were being developed without full disclosure to the subcommittees in Congress that had jurisdiction and oversight regarding military spending.

But it was his final comment that pushed all the buttons, rang all the bells, and sounded all the alarms of Will’s mental detector system.

“The threat, I believe, that these hearings will reveal is the development by the American military, with the assistance of the United States Marine Corps and the Central Intelligence Agency, of a new and startling breed of warrior. America has developed an experimental model of soldier–spies—killing specialists who can metamorphose like chameleons from full military combat status into civilian intelligence status at the blink of an eye. We will see that the shocking incident down in Chacmool, Mexico, may be just the beginning of murders, assassinations, and political coups orchestrated with American taxpayer money, and armed with the near-limitless power of the American government.”

Purdy turned his head ever so slightly toward the cameras.

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