Drone

But the invasion never happened.

Ali would have to unleash his forces now if there was any hope of provoking a full-on American military assault into Mexico, and he had just the plan to do it.

43

Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

Myers had called for an emergency session of Congress to codify into law what she had already initiated on behalf of American national security and sovereignty through a series of executive orders.

She got only half of what she’d hoped for.

Senator Diele had, indeed, called for an emergency session, but only of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which he chaired. It took several days for the vacationing senators and their staffs to return to the sweltering humidity of Washington, D.C., and for Diele to assemble and summon his witness list.

As both president pro tempore of that august body and as chairman of the committee, Diele had the authority to call his committee into emergency session, as Myers had publicly requested be done. That was a mistake, in Diele’s opinion, one of several she had recently made. It was the mistake that would lead to her impeachment if he had anything to do with it.

According to the U.S. Constitution, the vice president was the president of the Senate, but in practical terms this was a largely ceremonial function. Vice President Greyhill, in theory, could have called the Senate into session as well, but Diele and Greyhill had decided in private that it would be best if Greyhill kept his cards close to his vest for now. Diele had already been an outspoken critic of Myers and it might prove useful if Greyhill feigned allegiance to Myers on the off-hand chance she decided to pull him back into her inner circle. More important, once Myers was thrown out of office, the mantle of the presidency would fall upon Greyhill’s shoulders. He would lose legitimacy in the eyes of the American people if he was seen as having a hand in Myers’s downfall, which would be viewed for the naked power grab it obviously was. No, it was far better for Greyhill to keep his hands off of the whole affair until Diele handed him the office. That’s when Greyhill could afford to be demonstrably appreciative of Diele’s efforts.

The first day of the committee hearings featured a parade of witnesses selected by Diele. Members of his own party protested; several of them supported at least part of Myers’s agenda and wanted to help buttress her position, but Diele would have none of it. Even a few of the principled Democrats, some of whom also supported some of Myers’s positions, balked at Diele’s heavy-handedness. But Diele assured them that the administration and its supporters would have every opportunity to present their case. Diele wanted to be first out of the box because he knew the American people had very short attention spans and it was best to be the first shiny object in their ADD-riven fields of view.

A predictable collection of academics, civil libertarians, think-tank denizens, and Latino community organizers presented their arguments. Their positions varied from the idea that Myers was, at best, misguided and, at worst, guilty of international criminal and human rights violations. Savvy witnesses who dropped the best lines got the most play in the twenty-four-hour news cycle. Some of these included:

Politicians want a costless war. Generals want a riskless war. Drones satisfy both and the collateral damage will be peace.

Violating Mexican sovereignty in defense of our own is an act of criminal irony.

President Myers has proven that taking humans out of war to reduce the cost of war only makes war more likely.

Drug consumption is an American problem. Killing Mexicans can’t be the solution.

If this president is so concerned about the drug war, maybe she should start by investigating the CIA’s long career as the biggest drug pusher in Latin America.

One word, ladies and gentlemen: Skynet.

But if there was one aria that Diele’s opera sang over and over, it was the War Powers Resolution. By not submitting herself to its requirements—basically, getting permission from Congress to attack other countries—she was destroying democracy and inviting tyranny both in the United States and around the world. She was violating the Constitution that she had sworn to uphold and defend. No one used the actual phrase but “an impeachable offense” hung in the air like a fart in church.

* * *

True to his word, Diele did permit administration supporters to testify. Attorney General Lancet was the last to testify, and the only cabinet member to do so. As such, she spoke for the president.

Diele fired the first salvo.

“How does this administration legally justify an attack on another sovereign state without congressional approval, as specified by War Powers, let alone without a formal declaration of war? This is, after all, a war, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, Mr. Chairman. And the president has asked Congress to commit wholeheartedly to fighting and winning it.”