“Spit it out, Arnie. You are me for now. You were me at those meetings. Call it the way I would.”
“Okay. I got to thinking about their idea and like I said, it sounded good. The reasoning was sound. Create an agency and agents to act outside the current system who could act without going through normal
channels of communication. That way you could avoid all of those channels of communication that tend to be compromised, sometimes by accident and sometimes by design.
“But I took it a step further than that. What they propose is basically another CIA. Initially it may work very well, but soon it will start to fall into the same old patterns and be full of the same old pitfalls we have now. Like any agency it will grow and as it grows it will change. Personnel will change and personnel will talk about the agency’s business. Soon we are right back where we started from and we are saddled with
just another bureaucratic agency eating away at an already thin budget.”
Leaning forward in his chair now and rubbing his eyes, the President asked absently, “So what’s so good about the idea then, Arnie?”
“The idea is good. The implementation is wrong. Don’t create a new ‘agency’ in the strict sense. Don’t run agents, run one agent. Pull selected individuals from other agencies who are known to be of the highest
quality. Put them in certain positions of control, but put no one in absolute control. Totally Compartmentalize the whole thing. No one will know enough about the agent or his mission to compromise it.”
Rising now from his chair with his mind fully on trying to describe this complex, but simple organization
to the most powerful man in the country and not sound like a fool, he started pacing as he continued, “it’s hard to put into words, but I envision an agent who acts totally independent of any other agency or person. An agent who goes where he is told and does what he is told, in any manner he sees fit.”
The President stopped rubbing the tiredness out of his face, leaned on his elbows and interrupted, “You are proposing that I authorize some one to work outside the law, Arnie. That’s not legal.”
Stopping now and with a deep furrow on his brow, Justin said, “not exactly, sir. I’m proposing that you authorize an agent to act outside all governmental control. I grant you it’s a fine line and the effect would be the same. This man being subject to no governmental control would in effect be outside all laws. Not because he was told the laws didn’t apply to him, but because due to the nature of his position that would naturally be the case.”
Like a lawyer pleading his case to a jury, Justin began moving his hands in synchronism with his speech. “You wouldn’t be telling him in so many words that he was outside the law, but he would be. He would have to be in order for this to work. He has to be placed in a position and given the proper contact or contacts to act in any manner he sees fit without regard for the law, the rules, and the regulations. Cut the red tape, forget the paper trails, and get the job done. Is that crazy?” Justin ended, almost pleading, he really believed this thing might work and might very well save a lot of lives in the process.
“Yes, but I think I see where you are going. I also think where you are going is dangerous ground.”
“That was my first thought, but what else can we do? The current system isn’t working. Now I’m not proposing, nor are any of the others, that the current system be replaced or that any agencies be eliminated. The current agencies do a very good job in many respects, but there are times when they are hindered by their own need to share information and transfer data for mission purposes. There are just too many times when they can let slip that one little piece of information that gets someone killed.”
Getting back into his speech he continued, closing his eyes and tipping his head slightly toward the ceiling, holding his hands out in front of him as if he were trying to physically grasp the idea and display it to the President, “What I see is the formation of a loose organization of people into a pseudo agency. These various people, for the most part, would continue to carry out their normal functions in the old agencies, but on the
side would also carry out some aspect of this new agency. No one would know of their sideline. At least no more than one or two others who had to know, but don’t know it all. Sounds cryptic I admit, but I think it can be made to work very effectively.”
He opened his eyes and began to pace again, using his hands for emphasis, saying, “For example. Suppose an agent is captured. To get him out we would normally try trading him or maybe even sending in a special extraction team. To do either of those things we have to make paper trails and we have to transmit data. A lot of that data would be transmitted through normal channels. At least normal channels used in secret operations.
“But suppose we had an agent. One that no one else knew we had who was very capable, who can handle himself very well in almost any situation and needed little in the way of support. “We could send that agent in with almost no paperwork and almost no data. Only a few people in the pseudo agency would know he was sent and no one in the current agencies, unless also a part of the pseudo agency. If the agent needed something, he could make contact and request it and it would be provided. Normal paperwork there, but with no indication of why the support was being requested. No information on the nature and in many cases the place of the mission.
“The agent could by that means control his own environment to suit his needs. He could set things up to work pretty much the way he wanted. He could call one agency or another off the case. He could request a helicopter at a certain location, at a certain time. No questions, no explanations. Do you see what I am getting at, sir?”
The President seemed almost spellbound by Justin’s narration. Justin could really turn a phrase, but he responded, “I do, but these people in this ‘pseudo agency’, as you put it, would have to know who this guy is and that would mean they could compromise him.”
Looking directly at the President now and clenching his fist for emphasis, he replied, “Not necessarily. I might know his name, but he might not be using that name anymore. You might know a phone number to call to send him out, but not know how he is sent. Another might know his face, but not his name. Someone else might just know a code name, but not a face. Another person just answers the phone and passes on the request to another number. The person who answered the phone might not know to whom he was passing the request. True compartmentalization.”
Leaning back in his chair again, the President said, half to Justin and half to himself, “Interesting, but how do you call him off?”
“That’s the catch. You don’t have to send him in, but once you do, there’s no way to call him off. He goes in and he does his job and he comes out.”
Snapping his head around to look Justin in the eye, he said firmly, “That’s scary, Arnie.”
Answering in a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense tone, Justin said, “it won’t work any other way. If he can be called off then he is subject to someone’s direct control. Someone will know when and where he is to call him
off. No one can know that. He has to be completely independent.
“The only solution to that is to not send him until you have a job that you want done, no matter what or how and despite the consequences. You have to trust his judgment to do the job the way he sees fit and to its conclusion, whether you like the conclusion or not.
“You see that also protects him and the United States from corrupt politicians. People who might try to use him for their own gain, their own purposes. Purposes they might view as good, but are in fact bad.
People who might not want this guy running around uncovering their nasty little deeds—and because of that they take him out.
“There has to be a continuity to this agent. The system has to be indestructible so that it will continue to act for the good of the country no matter who is in power at the time. No matter if the power be good or bad.”
Sitting again, but pounding the air with clenched fists for emphasis, Justin continued, “Which brings up one more point. This man has to be independent and totally out of sight to everyone, in case he decides not to go in. I can envision, although I prefer not to, a politician who is so corrupt that he uses this man for his own gain. In such a case this agent has to be able to refuse to go in without fear of reprisal. If he isn’t known and can’t be found, then he need not fear reprisal.
“The man also has to be of the highest integrity. He has to be smart and sensible at the same time so that he is able to figure out for himself that what he is being told to do is not in the best interest of his country and may in fact be illegal in the sense that the country wouldn’t sanction it if the thing were known.
“He also has to be one tough cookie who knows covert operations and how they are run. He needs to know weapons and when to use them or not use them, depending upon the situation. An agent willing to live alone, eat alone, sleep alone, and die alone, if need be. He can have no one in the whole world for whom he cares or who cares about him. He has to give himself up to his country and give no thought to anyone or anything else. Simply put, the man has to agree to cease to exist.” Stopping now, Justin leaned back in his
chair to catch his breath and waited.
“Not asking much are you, Arnie?” the President stated with cynicism.
“For the most part, Mr. President, I’m not asking more of this man than the people of the United States have asked of you.”
The President was thoughtful for a minute and then said, “yes, I suppose there are some similarities.”
“You know there are, sir and now you know why I find it so hard to address you as anything other than ‘Mr. President’ and definitely not by your first name.”
The President stared off in the distance for a long time and contemplated the situation, finally he said, “in theory, Arnie, I like it. However, the practicalities give me some difficulty. The foremost practical problem I see is finding a man such as you describe. Next, if no one controls him, then who sends him in or to put it a better way, who decides that he is to be sent?”
Leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs and speaking now as if in casual conversation at a backyard barbecue, Justin answered, “I thought that was self evident, Mr. President. You do. You have to be the one.
Only you are in a position to decide if what he is sent to do will cause chaos or peace. Whether it will outweigh the political fallout. Will the loss of life or property, no matter to whom it belongs, be justified, given the alternatives.
“Only the President has the ability to garner all the facts necessary on a moment’s notice to be in a position to make a decision like that. That’s exactly what the Office of the President is all about. That’s why
the people put the President where he is and why they generally hold him in high regard.
“Oh, they may disagree with you occasionally, sometimes quite vocally, but deep down they respect you and appreciate the difficulty of the job. The voters aren’t as naive as some politicians would like to think
they are.
“Therefore, it naturally follows that the Chief Executive and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces has to be the only one who can activate him. He’s the bulwark—the last resort. When nothing else or no one
else will or can do the job—then he goes.
“One caveat, sir. Once you send him in, you can’t get him back and what he does or requests you will have little, if any, control over. Of course, he will not know it was you who sent him. He will only know that he
was signaled to make a contact and the contact will instruct him. He won’t know how high the orders come from.”
The President got up and walked over to look out the window. He stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back. A few moments later he turned back to Justin and said, “okay, Arnie, you sold me. Something has to be done. You go back to that group and tell them. Lay it out just the way you did for me, but in a way that they won’t know how it works. You tell them I want it done and I want it done your way. Start compartmentalizing immediately, you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Okay. Now to the man, I get the distinct impression that you have some one in mind, Arnie. You described the qualities a little too well.” Holding up his hand to prevent Justin from speaking immediately, he continued, “Bearing in mind now, Arnie that I don’t want or need to know any particulars, especially not names.”
“Yes, Mr. President. I have some one in mind and if he’s still alive I think he will do nicely. I only know his name. I have never seen his face, but I have seen portions of his record. I would prefer to leave it at that myself. However, I can tell you that he’s the man for the job. I was once in a position to observe a mission that he was involved in first hand. He did it very well and very neat. I doubt there is a man alive who could have done it better. No fuss, no muss. Just another day at the office for him.
“The comments I heard his superiors make were impressive. They were sure he would do his utmost to complete his mission at no thought to his own safety or life.
“I got the distinct impression that he would give his life for his mission or another person. They led me to believe, without meaning to, that this man’s life was his country and that his duty to country was absolute. He’s a lone wolf.
“However, not to the point of being fanatical. I got the impression he was a free thinker, but with common sense. Totally devoted to duty, but the devotion had a logical course to it. He isn’t a warmonger. He’s a
warrior with the moxie to hang to the death if need be. Death before dishonor borders on fanaticism, but it wasn’t his style. His style was more death before the death of a comrade and that translates to sacrifice and
trust.
“He’s exactly the type of man we need. This agent has to be absolutely and unequivocally devoted to the United States of America. We have to trust him with its safety. We have to give him access to any and all
property and knowledge that the United States may possess, without question as to why he needs it.”
The President put in, “He must be something if you have that kind of confidence in him, Arnie. Not even I have that kind of access.”
“Yes, sir, I know, but he has to have...do you agree?”
“Yes, I do. It won’t work otherwise. How do we get him to agree to cease to exist and if he does, how do we pull it off?”
“We kill him, sir.”
“What!”
“We kill him in Vietnam. The war is almost over. We place him in Vietnam, if not physically, then on paper and then we kill him, on paper and forever.”
“Okay and then what do we do?”
“We set him up with a system of contacts in the United States. At a place or places of his choosing and in the manner of his choosing. He calls his contact, requests assistance and we give it to him. I am sure he
will compartmentalize himself without much effort.”
“And what do we call this agency or man?”
“Let’s be sure we want to do this first.”
“Second thoughts, Arnie?”
“Yes and no. What I am proposing and you seem to be approving is the total destruction of a man’s identity. We are going to erase a living human being from the face of the earth, but he won’t be dead. He will
look dead on paper, but we will know he isn’t.
“He will never be able to have a normal life again. He will wander for the rest of his life without substance or form. He will never possess a true identity again. He won’t be able to afford to. This goes well beyond any concept like a witness protection program. I don’t mind having second thoughts about something like that.”
“I see your point, Arnie, but that’s what they pay me the big bucks for and I say we do it. Providing he’s willing. He can always say, no.”
“He won’t, Mr. President. If he’s still alive and can be found, you can consider it done.”
“So Arnie, if you find him and we put him in place, what do we call him or his agency, if I need to know?”
“Yes, you need to know, sir and as far as the name I’m afraid I hadn’t thought that through. We can generate a random name with no association to its real meaning. Like we usually do.”
“I thought of that, too, Arnie, but it seems to me that this one deserves a special name. An identity of sorts, since as you so aptly point out, we are about to erase his true identity.”
The President thought a minute and asked, “A lone wolf you say?”
“Yes, sir, that’s how he was characterized to me.”
“Okay. How about Solitaire? Since, he will after all, be a solitary man and the only such man we have. What do you think?”
“Yes, sir, I like it. Both he and his agency will only be known by the code name ‘Solitaire’.”
“Get it done, Arnie.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Okay. I got to thinking about their idea and like I said, it sounded good. The reasoning was sound. Create an agency and agents to act outside the current system who could act without going through normal
channels of communication. That way you could avoid all of those channels of communication that tend to be compromised, sometimes by accident and sometimes by design.
“But I took it a step further than that. What they propose is basically another CIA. Initially it may work very well, but soon it will start to fall into the same old patterns and be full of the same old pitfalls we have now. Like any agency it will grow and as it grows it will change. Personnel will change and personnel will talk about the agency’s business. Soon we are right back where we started from and we are saddled with
just another bureaucratic agency eating away at an already thin budget.”
Leaning forward in his chair now and rubbing his eyes, the President asked absently, “So what’s so good about the idea then, Arnie?”
“The idea is good. The implementation is wrong. Don’t create a new ‘agency’ in the strict sense. Don’t run agents, run one agent. Pull selected individuals from other agencies who are known to be of the highest
quality. Put them in certain positions of control, but put no one in absolute control. Totally Compartmentalize the whole thing. No one will know enough about the agent or his mission to compromise it.”
Rising now from his chair with his mind fully on trying to describe this complex, but simple organization
to the most powerful man in the country and not sound like a fool, he started pacing as he continued, “it’s hard to put into words, but I envision an agent who acts totally independent of any other agency or person. An agent who goes where he is told and does what he is told, in any manner he sees fit.”
The President stopped rubbing the tiredness out of his face, leaned on his elbows and interrupted, “You are proposing that I authorize some one to work outside the law, Arnie. That’s not legal.”
Stopping now and with a deep furrow on his brow, Justin said, “not exactly, sir. I’m proposing that you authorize an agent to act outside all governmental control. I grant you it’s a fine line and the effect would be the same. This man being subject to no governmental control would in effect be outside all laws. Not because he was told the laws didn’t apply to him, but because due to the nature of his position that would naturally be the case.”
Like a lawyer pleading his case to a jury, Justin began moving his hands in synchronism with his speech. “You wouldn’t be telling him in so many words that he was outside the law, but he would be. He would have to be in order for this to work. He has to be placed in a position and given the proper contact or contacts to act in any manner he sees fit without regard for the law, the rules, and the regulations. Cut the red tape, forget the paper trails, and get the job done. Is that crazy?” Justin ended, almost pleading, he really believed this thing might work and might very well save a lot of lives in the process.
“Yes, but I think I see where you are going. I also think where you are going is dangerous ground.”
“That was my first thought, but what else can we do? The current system isn’t working. Now I’m not proposing, nor are any of the others, that the current system be replaced or that any agencies be eliminated. The current agencies do a very good job in many respects, but there are times when they are hindered by their own need to share information and transfer data for mission purposes. There are just too many times when they can let slip that one little piece of information that gets someone killed.”
Getting back into his speech he continued, closing his eyes and tipping his head slightly toward the ceiling, holding his hands out in front of him as if he were trying to physically grasp the idea and display it to the President, “What I see is the formation of a loose organization of people into a pseudo agency. These various people, for the most part, would continue to carry out their normal functions in the old agencies, but on the
side would also carry out some aspect of this new agency. No one would know of their sideline. At least no more than one or two others who had to know, but don’t know it all. Sounds cryptic I admit, but I think it can be made to work very effectively.”
He opened his eyes and began to pace again, using his hands for emphasis, saying, “For example. Suppose an agent is captured. To get him out we would normally try trading him or maybe even sending in a special extraction team. To do either of those things we have to make paper trails and we have to transmit data. A lot of that data would be transmitted through normal channels. At least normal channels used in secret operations.
“But suppose we had an agent. One that no one else knew we had who was very capable, who can handle himself very well in almost any situation and needed little in the way of support. “We could send that agent in with almost no paperwork and almost no data. Only a few people in the pseudo agency would know he was sent and no one in the current agencies, unless also a part of the pseudo agency. If the agent needed something, he could make contact and request it and it would be provided. Normal paperwork there, but with no indication of why the support was being requested. No information on the nature and in many cases the place of the mission.
“The agent could by that means control his own environment to suit his needs. He could set things up to work pretty much the way he wanted. He could call one agency or another off the case. He could request a helicopter at a certain location, at a certain time. No questions, no explanations. Do you see what I am getting at, sir?”
The President seemed almost spellbound by Justin’s narration. Justin could really turn a phrase, but he responded, “I do, but these people in this ‘pseudo agency’, as you put it, would have to know who this guy is and that would mean they could compromise him.”
Looking directly at the President now and clenching his fist for emphasis, he replied, “Not necessarily. I might know his name, but he might not be using that name anymore. You might know a phone number to call to send him out, but not know how he is sent. Another might know his face, but not his name. Someone else might just know a code name, but not a face. Another person just answers the phone and passes on the request to another number. The person who answered the phone might not know to whom he was passing the request. True compartmentalization.”
Leaning back in his chair again, the President said, half to Justin and half to himself, “Interesting, but how do you call him off?”
“That’s the catch. You don’t have to send him in, but once you do, there’s no way to call him off. He goes in and he does his job and he comes out.”
Snapping his head around to look Justin in the eye, he said firmly, “That’s scary, Arnie.”
Answering in a matter-of-fact, no-nonsense tone, Justin said, “it won’t work any other way. If he can be called off then he is subject to someone’s direct control. Someone will know when and where he is to call him
off. No one can know that. He has to be completely independent.
“The only solution to that is to not send him until you have a job that you want done, no matter what or how and despite the consequences. You have to trust his judgment to do the job the way he sees fit and to its conclusion, whether you like the conclusion or not.
“You see that also protects him and the United States from corrupt politicians. People who might try to use him for their own gain, their own purposes. Purposes they might view as good, but are in fact bad.
People who might not want this guy running around uncovering their nasty little deeds—and because of that they take him out.
“There has to be a continuity to this agent. The system has to be indestructible so that it will continue to act for the good of the country no matter who is in power at the time. No matter if the power be good or bad.”
Sitting again, but pounding the air with clenched fists for emphasis, Justin continued, “Which brings up one more point. This man has to be independent and totally out of sight to everyone, in case he decides not to go in. I can envision, although I prefer not to, a politician who is so corrupt that he uses this man for his own gain. In such a case this agent has to be able to refuse to go in without fear of reprisal. If he isn’t known and can’t be found, then he need not fear reprisal.
“The man also has to be of the highest integrity. He has to be smart and sensible at the same time so that he is able to figure out for himself that what he is being told to do is not in the best interest of his country and may in fact be illegal in the sense that the country wouldn’t sanction it if the thing were known.
“He also has to be one tough cookie who knows covert operations and how they are run. He needs to know weapons and when to use them or not use them, depending upon the situation. An agent willing to live alone, eat alone, sleep alone, and die alone, if need be. He can have no one in the whole world for whom he cares or who cares about him. He has to give himself up to his country and give no thought to anyone or anything else. Simply put, the man has to agree to cease to exist.” Stopping now, Justin leaned back in his
chair to catch his breath and waited.
“Not asking much are you, Arnie?” the President stated with cynicism.
“For the most part, Mr. President, I’m not asking more of this man than the people of the United States have asked of you.”
The President was thoughtful for a minute and then said, “yes, I suppose there are some similarities.”
“You know there are, sir and now you know why I find it so hard to address you as anything other than ‘Mr. President’ and definitely not by your first name.”
The President stared off in the distance for a long time and contemplated the situation, finally he said, “in theory, Arnie, I like it. However, the practicalities give me some difficulty. The foremost practical problem I see is finding a man such as you describe. Next, if no one controls him, then who sends him in or to put it a better way, who decides that he is to be sent?”
Leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs and speaking now as if in casual conversation at a backyard barbecue, Justin answered, “I thought that was self evident, Mr. President. You do. You have to be the one.
Only you are in a position to decide if what he is sent to do will cause chaos or peace. Whether it will outweigh the political fallout. Will the loss of life or property, no matter to whom it belongs, be justified, given the alternatives.
“Only the President has the ability to garner all the facts necessary on a moment’s notice to be in a position to make a decision like that. That’s exactly what the Office of the President is all about. That’s why
the people put the President where he is and why they generally hold him in high regard.
“Oh, they may disagree with you occasionally, sometimes quite vocally, but deep down they respect you and appreciate the difficulty of the job. The voters aren’t as naive as some politicians would like to think
they are.
“Therefore, it naturally follows that the Chief Executive and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces has to be the only one who can activate him. He’s the bulwark—the last resort. When nothing else or no one
else will or can do the job—then he goes.
“One caveat, sir. Once you send him in, you can’t get him back and what he does or requests you will have little, if any, control over. Of course, he will not know it was you who sent him. He will only know that he
was signaled to make a contact and the contact will instruct him. He won’t know how high the orders come from.”
The President got up and walked over to look out the window. He stood silently with his hands clasped behind his back. A few moments later he turned back to Justin and said, “okay, Arnie, you sold me. Something has to be done. You go back to that group and tell them. Lay it out just the way you did for me, but in a way that they won’t know how it works. You tell them I want it done and I want it done your way. Start compartmentalizing immediately, you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Okay. Now to the man, I get the distinct impression that you have some one in mind, Arnie. You described the qualities a little too well.” Holding up his hand to prevent Justin from speaking immediately, he continued, “Bearing in mind now, Arnie that I don’t want or need to know any particulars, especially not names.”
“Yes, Mr. President. I have some one in mind and if he’s still alive I think he will do nicely. I only know his name. I have never seen his face, but I have seen portions of his record. I would prefer to leave it at that myself. However, I can tell you that he’s the man for the job. I was once in a position to observe a mission that he was involved in first hand. He did it very well and very neat. I doubt there is a man alive who could have done it better. No fuss, no muss. Just another day at the office for him.
“The comments I heard his superiors make were impressive. They were sure he would do his utmost to complete his mission at no thought to his own safety or life.
“I got the distinct impression that he would give his life for his mission or another person. They led me to believe, without meaning to, that this man’s life was his country and that his duty to country was absolute. He’s a lone wolf.
“However, not to the point of being fanatical. I got the impression he was a free thinker, but with common sense. Totally devoted to duty, but the devotion had a logical course to it. He isn’t a warmonger. He’s a
warrior with the moxie to hang to the death if need be. Death before dishonor borders on fanaticism, but it wasn’t his style. His style was more death before the death of a comrade and that translates to sacrifice and
trust.
“He’s exactly the type of man we need. This agent has to be absolutely and unequivocally devoted to the United States of America. We have to trust him with its safety. We have to give him access to any and all
property and knowledge that the United States may possess, without question as to why he needs it.”
The President put in, “He must be something if you have that kind of confidence in him, Arnie. Not even I have that kind of access.”
“Yes, sir, I know, but he has to have...do you agree?”
“Yes, I do. It won’t work otherwise. How do we get him to agree to cease to exist and if he does, how do we pull it off?”
“We kill him, sir.”
“What!”
“We kill him in Vietnam. The war is almost over. We place him in Vietnam, if not physically, then on paper and then we kill him, on paper and forever.”
“Okay and then what do we do?”
“We set him up with a system of contacts in the United States. At a place or places of his choosing and in the manner of his choosing. He calls his contact, requests assistance and we give it to him. I am sure he
will compartmentalize himself without much effort.”
“And what do we call this agency or man?”
“Let’s be sure we want to do this first.”
“Second thoughts, Arnie?”
“Yes and no. What I am proposing and you seem to be approving is the total destruction of a man’s identity. We are going to erase a living human being from the face of the earth, but he won’t be dead. He will
look dead on paper, but we will know he isn’t.
“He will never be able to have a normal life again. He will wander for the rest of his life without substance or form. He will never possess a true identity again. He won’t be able to afford to. This goes well beyond any concept like a witness protection program. I don’t mind having second thoughts about something like that.”
“I see your point, Arnie, but that’s what they pay me the big bucks for and I say we do it. Providing he’s willing. He can always say, no.”
“He won’t, Mr. President. If he’s still alive and can be found, you can consider it done.”
“So Arnie, if you find him and we put him in place, what do we call him or his agency, if I need to know?”
“Yes, you need to know, sir and as far as the name I’m afraid I hadn’t thought that through. We can generate a random name with no association to its real meaning. Like we usually do.”
“I thought of that, too, Arnie, but it seems to me that this one deserves a special name. An identity of sorts, since as you so aptly point out, we are about to erase his true identity.”
The President thought a minute and asked, “A lone wolf you say?”
“Yes, sir, that’s how he was characterized to me.”
“Okay. How about Solitaire? Since, he will after all, be a solitary man and the only such man we have. What do you think?”
“Yes, sir, I like it. Both he and his agency will only be known by the code name ‘Solitaire’.”
“Get it done, Arnie.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
