Good Kill Page #3

But they knew. They knew for a fact

there were kids on those 767s

they flew into the Twin Towers.

They had to walk past those kids

to get into the cockpits.

Anyhow, I don't want you

getting gun shy on me.

Take the day off.

I think you get to use a little I&I.

Intoxication and intercourse.

Right.

Why do we wear our flight suits, sir?

What's this about, Drier?

- Drier!

- I'm not at liberty to say, sir.

It doesn't feel like a medal ceremony.

Sit down.

So word has come down from on high

that, for an unspecified

number of missions,

we are to serve another master.

Christians in Action.

The CIA.

- Thank you, sir.

- All right.

- We're taking orders from the CIA?

- Yeah, you're damn straight, Christie.

The CIA takes orders

from the administration,

and since we've sworn an oath to obey

that same administration,

and as much as it pains me

to take orders from a f***ing clerk,

yeah, we're taking orders from the CIA.

Now what I want you

to prepare yourselves for is,

the folks in Virginia

operate under a different set of ROEs.

They've progressed from what

they like to call a "personality strike",

where we know for sure

our target is a f***ing bad guy.

Now they come up with something

they call a "signature strike."

Now what that f***ing means is

it's a hit based

not on a suspicion of guilt,

but on a pattern of behavior.

So you may be called upon to fire at

any dumb shleb in Waziristan

who's carrying an AK-47,

even though we all know

that everyone and their mother

in Waziristan carries an AK-47.

What about their right to bear arms?

I got my own personal opinions

as to why there's been

an expansion of our mission,

which I should probably keep to myself.

But what the f***.

It's a lot easier to kill these people

than to capture them.

Well, it makes sense, sir. If we

capture them, we have to torture them.

Sorry, sir.

Well, there is the inconvenient matter

of GTMO.

But it's really about the cost

in "blood and treasure"

as those D.C. hypocrites,

who never pay in either, like to say.

They know that if we try to

capture them instead of kill them,

we risk getting killed

or captured ourselves.

And the public

is tired of watching coffins

roll down airplane conveyer belts.

And the Pentagon is embarrassed

by those videos on Al Jazeera,

where some marine denounces America

right before his head's liberated

from his shoulders, so...

In many minds,

out of all the bad options,

we're the least bad.

Don't ask me if it's a just war.

That's not up to us.

To us, it's just war.

Tommy, you take the lead.

Ed, you're backup.

And you get to take over

Tommy's highly-coveted

Kahili surveillance assignment.

All right.

- Let's go to Afghanistan.

- Fly and fry.

Just between us, the Air Force

is making a play with the Pentagon

to run the whole unmanned show.

And they just don't want any

static running missions for the spooks.

And I've always been able

to count on you, Tommy.

You can count on me now, sir.

I take my orders from you.

This is Johns.

Lieutenant Colonel Johns.

Out of all UAV crews

in the 61st Attack Squadron,

Crew 3-2 has been selected

to conduct special operations

in the war on terror.

For reasons of security,

all missions you carry out on our behalf,

effectively never occurred.

You may refer to us simply as Langley.

We're over your

designated position, Langley.

We have eyes on the dwelling.

We see what you see.

The target is Abu al-Mahid.

He attempts to vary his routine,

constantly changes locations.

Never sleeps in the same house

two nights in a row.

But we've discerned a pattern

to his behavior.

According to our observations,

he's due at this structure

in east Herat at 0900.

Sir, they don't look like Taliban.

Well, maybe if they had the guts

to wear uniforms.

- There's a question, Langley...

- We heard the question.

We have solid intelligence

from an informant.

- A paid informant?

- A reliable informant.

Well, he's not that reliable.

The target's late.

A vehicle approaching from the north.

Protocol requires us

to positively identify the target.

- Is that him?

- We 're conferring.

We can confirm. Target qualifies.

Permission to prosecute.

We're obliged to point out, Langley,

we've observed noncombatants

in and around the dwelling.

Colonel Johns, no one regrets the loss

of innocent life more than we do.

We take inordinate care

not to use lethal force

where there are women and children.

Unfortunately, many of our targets

cynically use women and children

as shields to discourage attack.

We have to constantly weigh

the risk to their lives

against the threat posed

to U.S. interests.

Please engage.

It's just there's high winds, sir.

Heavy turbulence.

We're getting tossed around pretty bad,

Langley. It's tough to make a clean hit.

We trust you appreciate

that this is a high-value target.

Please take the shot.

Rifle when ready. You're cleared hot.

Tommy, can you keep her

in a straight line?

Master arm on, weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Weapon's away.

Time of flight, eight seconds.

Splash.

Good kill.

Master arm off, weapon's safe.

Laser safe.

Our compliments, Colonel.

That was a high card

you and your people

just pulled out of the deck.

Al-Qaeda's number one bomb maker

will never again harm one of us.

Please do a follow-up.

Did I hear you correctly, Langley?

There are other combatants

in the vicinity.

Double tap?

We prefer the term "follow-up."

Sir...

They are rescuers. We can't...

The f*** we can't. They're Taliban.

Who do you think the first responders

are gonna be, Quakers?

Those rescuers have RPGs.

- I see people with shovels.

- Then just hit the ones with the RPGs.

Can you confirm that order, Langley?

In our opinion, it's proportionate.

Sir, forgive me, sir.

What the hell does that mean?

It means that in our assessment,

the combatants we are targeting

pose a grave-enough threat

to the United States

to justify potential civilian casualties.

Not to mention that this pre-emptive

self-defense is approved and ordered

by the administration.

Please engage.

Orders.

- Laser.

- Lasing.

Master arm on. Weapon's hot.

Three, two, one, rifle.

Weapon's away.

Time of flight, 10 seconds.

Master arm off.

The subject on the left,

what is she doing?

I believe she's picking

an arm off a tree, sir.

Would they like me to do

further damage assessment?

Hand it off, Tommy.

Captain Christie, take the controls.

Damage assessment, estimate, 12.

Well, we count...

Twelve dead, Langley.

Give or take.

We concur. Signing off.

Was that a war crime, sir?

Shut the f*** up, Suarez.

How'd they decide

the condolence payment is five K?

Sounds like a lot to me.

You could live there on,

like, a dollar a day.

What was that sh*t?

I didn't sign up for that sh*t.

That's what terrorists do.

You know that, right?

Plant a second bomb, blow up soldiers

showing up for the first bomb.

Since when did we become Hamas?

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