Secret Sanction by Brian Haig

into Kosovo?”
    “Well, he and his team had spent two months training a ninety-five-man Kosovar guerrilla unit. Since the Kosovars were still very green, Sanchez’s team was ordered to accompany them back in and continue their training.”
    “Isn’t that an odd mission?”
    “No, it’s a very common mission for Special Forces. Training indigent forces is exactly what we’re organized and trained to do.”
    “I’m not talking about the training part, Colonel. I’m talking about the part where Sanchez’s team followed them back into Kosovo.”
    “I wouldn’t call it unusual, no.”
    “Really? What exactly were his instructions?”
    “To continue training the Kosovars.”
    “Was he supposed to become involved in the fighting?” “Absolutely not. Everybody here knows the rules, Major.” Morrow said, “Tell me about that.”
    “There’s no ground war.”
    Then she said,“But we’re bombing the Serbs in Kosovo. Hell, we’re bombing the Serbs in Serbia. How do you keep it straight?”
    “Special Forces aren’t idiots,Captain.We may not be law school grads, but we understand what’s happening here.”
    “Do you like it?” she asked.
    “Like what?”
    “The mission. What you’re here doing.”
    “What’s to like or dislike? It’s a job.”
    I asked, “Were Sanchez and his people allowed to assist the Kosovars in planning their operations?”
    “Yes and no.”
    “That answer doesn’t count, Colonel. Yes
or
no.”
    “We’re not combatants. So no, Sanchez and his people were not supposed to help them plan their operations. But if, for example, the Kosovar commander asked for advice, they could offer it.”
    “Pretty sketchy line, that one.”
    “I don’t make the rules.”
    Morrow leaned back and hammered at her point again.“Were Sanchez’s people supposed to accompany them into combat operations?”
    “No. Absolutely no. A secure base camp was established, and Sanchez’s team was required to remain at that camp.”
    “Say Sanchez and his people were attacked by a Serb unit. Were they authorized to shoot back?”
    “Yes. Self-defense is authorized. If they were detected, they were supposed to extricate. If that required them to fight their way out, that was acceptable.”
    “Who wrote these rules?” I asked.
    “I don’t know who wrote them. Some staff officer somewhere, I guess. But I believe they were approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff themselves.”
    “Why do you believe that?”
    “Because they usually are.”
    “Usually?”
    “The rules of engagement used in Mogadishu and Haiti and Bosnia were all approved by the Chiefs. I think it’s a logical assumption these were, too.”
    “Thank you, Colonel,” I said.
    He looked surprised. “Thank you?”
    “Right. You can go now.”
    He regarded me for a moment with a kind of slack-jawed look, like what the hell happened to the hard part. I just stared back. The hard part would come. Just not yet.
    As Smothers walked out, Delbert walked back in.
    “Enjoy your lunch?” I asked.
    “Uh,yeah,sure.”He rubbernecked around and watched Smothers’s retreating back. “What was that about?”
    “Colonel Smothers was kind enough to stop by for a little interrogatory. It was a very interesting session.”
    “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
    “Because you decided to run off and eat.”
    “But I had no idea this was scheduled.”
    “Imelda knew. That’s why she was kind enough to fetch us some food.”
    “Why didn’t she say anything?”
    “I don’t think I heard you ask her.”
    “Why didn’t you say anything?”
    “I don’t think I heard you ask me, either.”
    I could see this was getting very frustrating for poor Delbert, and I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit I was enjoying his discomfort. He might be the best prosecutor in the Army, but he was still a prig.
    “Don’t sweat it,” I said reassuringly.“It’s all on tape. Listen to it tonight after we close shop.”
    I then turned to Morrow. “Any