Chapter 13 Fox Trot Progresses

2100 Zulu, Tuesday, May 29, 1984, Agency Headquarters

The Green Fox team gathers to hear reports from Jackson and David on their assignments from the previous morning. Jackson opens the meeting by telling David to report first.

“Sarah Jacobs was very cooperative. She was worried she might be in trouble with us. When I assured her she was not in trouble but she could be of great help on an important issue she said she would do whatever we asked. I told her about our idea for a fishing story with her Israeli contact and she said she could do it. I asked if she had a phone number for her contact. She said yes but she hasn’t used it because calls to Israel are more than she can afford so she writes letters. I said it’s ok for her to call using her State Department phone so she agreed. It was near the end of the work day in Israel so we waited a bit until she felt Levi would be home and then called. Sarah gave the fishing story convincingly. I listened to his response and he seemed ok with her questions.”

“Levi said he heard the story from his uncle who lives in West Berlin. The uncle sells high-quality leather goods and some of his clients are military officers in Poland where it is hard to get high-quality leather. They buy gloves and belts from him. Apparently, some of the officers resell his goods on the black market. So he sells enough to be worthwhile to go to Warsaw every couple of years. He had a trip planned but the officer that’s his primary contact called and asked to postpone the trip as the officer was going to be away in East Germany at the planned time. He said the military exercises would be over soon and he would be back in a couple of weeks. The uncle called his nephew Levi Meissner in Tel Aviv because he planned to visit Levi and had to reschedule that trip as well.”

“Thanks, David, good job. That story matches what I learned from the Brits. They said they heard of the exercises from an MI6 agent in West Berlin. The agent reported one of his confidential informants is in the leather business and supplies a salesman who sells leather goods to military officers in Poland. He was expecting an order but the salesman called and said the order would be delayed because he had had to postpone his trip to Warsaw due to his contact being off at military exercises in East Germany. So it seems our information from the Israeli and the Brits information come from a common source. Of course, it’s still possible the story is a plant by the Polish officer. I think we should continue Fox Trot while I report our findings so far to Director Allen and he can report to the NSC.”

1300 Zulu, Wednesday, May 30, 1984, Director’s Office, Agency Headquarters

“Good morning Jackson, what have you got for me?”

“Good morning sir. We’ve determined the source of the claim about the Warsaw Pact exercises in East Germany is a Polish Army officer who told a salesman from West Berlin who planned to meet with the officer in Warsaw. The officer told the salesman the meeting had to be postponed due to some exercises in East Germany. The story got to the Brits from an MI6 agent in West Berlin via an informant who supplies the salesman and we got the story from the salesman’s nephew. The uncle told his nephew because he had to reschedule a planned trip to see the nephew. The stories match but of course, we don’t know yet if the Polish officer was planting the story although it seems if they planted the story they would have picked a more reliable way to ensure we heard it. Anyway, I’m keeping the Green Fox team working on the issue, at least until you have a chance to report our findings to the NSC.”

“Good work Jackson, give my congratulations to the team for fast work. There is an NSC meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and I’ll report your findings there. I want you to go with me and be available outside the meeting room in case any of the council members have questions about the details.”

“Be happy to accompany you, Sir.”

1900 Zulu, Thursday, May 31, 1984, White House SCIF

As soon as Director Allen finishes giving his report to the NSC he asks if there are any questions. The Secretary of Defense asks, “Director Allen do you think there could be any connection between the exercises in East Germany, assuming they are going to happen, and the President’s plan for troop reductions in Europe?”

“Mr. Secretary it doesn’t seem to make sense to me. I would expect the Warsaw Pact to welcome troop reductions so if they knew of the plan I believe they would refrain from a provocative activity.”

The Sec. Def. then adds, “The timing makes me question if there is a connection but I have to admit I agreed with your logic Director. Do you think there could be a leak in your agency?”

“No one in my agency knew of the President’s plan except me. If there was a leak it had to come via the agency computer, which is the only place any information about the plan exists outside of me. I have high confidence in the integrity of the Agency’s computer files. We’ve taken every precaution recommended to us by computer scientists when they installed the computer in one of our SCIFs ten years ago.”

At this point, the President interrupts and says: “That’s enough. I am uneasy in my gut about all this now. Let’s cancel, or at least postpone the troop reductions for the next six to eight months. I’ll proceed on the planned schedule with the nuclear forces reduction talks and we’ll see if the exercises take place in East Germany. If they do maybe we will learn why they were planned for this time.”