Major Smythe walked up to Lunsford, saluted crisply, and announced, "Sir, the Detachment is formed."

Lunsford returned the salute, performed a crisp about-face movement, saluted Colonel Supo, and said, in Swahili, "Chief, the detachment is formed."

Supo returned the salute, then walked to the lectern.

"Be as you were," he said, in painful English. "I regret, I have not the English. Major Totse will do for me."

Major Alain George Totse stepped beside Supo.

"I am Major Totse," he said in heavily French-accented English, "I have the honor to be Colonel Supo's intelligence officer."

He stepped back and motioned for Colonel Supo to go to the lectern's microphone. Colonel Supo said something to him in Swahili, and Totse stepped forward to stand beside Supo.

Supo said something in Swahili.

"Colonel Supo welcomes you to the Republic of the Congo and thanks you for offering to serve against a common enemy," Totse translated.

Colonel Supo said something else in Swahili.

"Colonel Supo," Major Totse translated with a smile, "says I am to take it from here."

Colonel Supo went to one of the empty chairs in the first row and motioned for Lunsford, Smythe, and Craig, who were still standing near the lectern, to join him.

Totse went to the map board, where there were two Belgian Army maps, one U.S. Army map, and one National Geographic Society map. He picked up a pointer, which had formerly been a billiards cue.

"My English is not so fine," he announced. "Be so good to interrupt when understand me you don't."

There were some muted chuckles.

Totse pointed to the U.S. Army map.

"This is where we are, Costermansville, in Kivu Province," he said, "at the southern end of Lake Kivu. We are pretty much in the center of Africa. This is the source of the Nile River . . ."

He moved the pointer.

". . . just over the border in Rwanda."

He shifted the pointer to the west.

"This is Stanleyville, in Oriental Province, where you arrived in this country. When this trouble began, a revolutionary named Nicholas Olenga, who originally referred to himself-without ever having been an officer-as 'Major' Olenga, then 'Colonel' Olenga, and who now calls himself 'Lieutenant General' Olenga, began operations in Albertville, which is here on the shore of Lake Tanganyika."

He moved the pointer to show where he meant.

"The border between the Congo and Tanganyika runs down the middle of Lake Tanganyika.

"Now, in the beginning, Olenga's rebellion was spontaneity-"

"Spontaneous, Alain," Lunsford corrected him.

"Spontaneous, thank you, Father," Totse said. "Olenga is a Kitawala, which is a cult mixing primitive Christian faith-they expect the return of Christ any day-with native gods. They believe they have Dawa, which protects them from being shot.

"Inasmuch as Olenga's insurrection was unexpected, the Armee Nationale Congolese was not prepared for it. He took Albertville and marched on Stanleyville, and took that, and increased the size of his forces en route.

"Three things happened. It was necessary to request foreign assistance. A former British officer, Michael Hoare, who lives in South Africa, was recruited to form a mercenary force to resist Olenga and his Simbas. Hoare is a soldier, but he recruited his white mercenaries from the bars of the Belgian and French waterfronts. They are not soldiers. It is necessary for Hoare to shoot the insubordinate as a means of maintaining discipline.

"Olenga began to massacre Belgians and other whites in Stanleyville. The story that he cut their livers out and ate them is true. Major Lunsford was in Stanleyville and saw this.

"The Russians and the Chinese, who were apparently as surprised as we were at Olenga's success, began to try to supply him with arms and people to train his men.

"Aware of what that would mean, and to save the lives of the Belgians in Stanleyville, the Belgians provided parachutists, and you Americans airplanes, to jump into Stanleyville. The Belgians also supplied troops under Colonel Van de Waele. Those troops, and Major Hoare's mercenaries, succeeded in driving the Simbas from Albertville and Stanleyville. At the moment they are scattered, in small groups, all over this area, some in the bush around Albertville, some in the bush around Stanleyville, but with their greatest strength in the area of Luluabourg in Kasai Province."

He moved the pool pointer far to the east on the map to Luluabourg.

"For one reason or another, the ANC has been unable to completely eliminate the Simba in Kasai Province, which may explain why, as of yesterday, General Mobutu has added Kasai Province to Colonel Supo's responsibilities, and given him orders to eliminate the Simba and 'Lieutenant General' Olenga once and for all.

"I have no doubt this could be accomplished, and without the assistance of Major Hoare's mercenaries, were it not for the new threat of Guevara. If Guevara is coming to the Congo, we have to presume he is coming with Soviet support, which means with Soviet weapons and other supplies, and possibly with the assistance of the Chinese Communists as well.

"Now, so far Olenga's forces are not well-equipped or well-trained. Most of their weapons are those they captured from the ANC in the opening days of the trouble. If Guevara comes-"

"With respect, Alain," Lunsford interrupted. "When "When Guevara comes." Guevara comes."

"I stand corrected," Totse said. "When Guevara comes, it will be necessary for him to get his men, and weapons, and supplies to the center of insurrectionist activity in Luluabourg. There is little doubt that both will arrive in the capital of Tanganyika, Dar es Salaam, which is here . . ."

He pointed to the far, eastern, coast of Tanganyika.

". . . on the Indian Ocean, by both ship and air. That's quite a distance. There's no way they could get them across the border where our countries join, which means they would have to be shipped across Lake Tanganyika, and then somehow transport them to Luluabourg.

"That raises the possibility of both men and materiel being shipped through the former French Congo, now known as Congo Brazzaville."

He moved the pointer again.

"You can see that Brazzaville is closer to Luluabourg than Luluabourg is to Lake Tanganyika.

"As Napoleon said, 'an army travels on its stomach', and that would seem to apply to a guerrilla force as well. The tactics devised by Colonel Supo to deal with this threat are as follows: "First, now that Kasai Province is under his orders, he will use ANC Forces and Major Hoare's mercenary force, and the few aircraft that will now be available to him-several B-26 bombers, a few more T-28s, and a C-47-to contain, and ultimately eliminate, the insurrectionists around Luluabourg.

"Colonel Supo believes that all that activity in Luluabourg area will discourage the Soviets-and the Cubans-from trying to increase their forces, or supply them, through Congo Brazzaville.

"That, of course, leaves them only the across-Lake-Tanganyika route. It is also possible that since they will soon learn the bulk of our strength is in the Luluabourg area, they may see it as an opportunity to strike in this area. It is communist doctrine, as we all know, to strike where the enemy is weakest, and when resistance is encountered, to bend like a weed in the wind.

"The terrain in this area is such that the insurrectionists can move a hundred meters off the road confident that we can't see them. And, until now, aerial reconnaissance has been unavailable to us. If we can find them, without them knowing they have been found, we can do them a good deal of harm. Furthermore, patrolling Lake Tanganyika by air will permit us to interdict much of what they try to ship across the lake."

He paused and smiled.

"Are you now getting the idea of why we're so glad to have you with us?"

"Major," Lunsford said. "With due respect to our aviators, overwhelming immodesty compels me to tell you that Special Forces is also pretty good at interdicting people-and their supplies-on the ground. In both friendly territory and the other kind."

"So you have been telling me, Father," Totse said.

"We're also pretty good at listening to other people's radio messages, Major," Spec7 Peters said.

"That of course would be very helpful," Totse said, and then went on. "I will be here as long as necessary to answer any and all questions, but before we get into that: Would you like to add anything, my colonel?"

Supo got up and walked to the lectern, looked around the room, and then said something in Swahili.

Totse translated. "The colonel says that when he was a young corporal, he was taught to conserve the things necessary to fight-that most of the time when they are gone, they are gone forever."

Supo spoke again, and again Totse translated: "The colonel says that he thinks you are going to become very valuable tools to fight this war, and therefore he asks-"

Supo interrupted him in Swahili.

"The colonel begs begs you to conserve your airplanes, and yourselves, so that you will be valuable tools for a long time," Totse translated. "He says he cannot afford the loss of one airplane, or any one of you." you to conserve your airplanes, and yourselves, so that you will be valuable tools for a long time," Totse translated. "He says he cannot afford the loss of one airplane, or any one of you."

Lunsford stood up.

"With all respect, my colonel," he said. "When we take care of this little job for you, and get on the plane to go home, I will bet you a case of beer that you will say, 'My God, am I glad to see them go !' "

"A soldier," Supo said in his painful English, "is never glad to say good-bye to another soldier."

He turned and marched out of the room.

[ NINE ].

SECRET SECRETCentral Intelligence Agency Langley, VirginiaFROM : Assistant Director For AdministrationFROM: 26 March 1965 1530 GMT 26 March 1965 1530 GMTSUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #63) TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter Mr. Sanford T. Felter Counselor To The President Room 637, The Executive Office Building Washington, D.C.By CourierIn compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: "Ernesto 'Che' Guevara," dated 14 December 1964, the following information from your sources in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is relayed as received: (Reliability Scale: Not Applicable) .Begin Intelligence Relayed:Ernesto Guevara de la Serna has secretly moved into a single family residential building controlled by the Fight Against Bands of Counterrevolutionaries (Acronym from the Spanish, LCB) at Calle Hernandez 134 in the La Corona section of Havana. Neither his wife nor daughter are with him.He has shaved his beard and the top of his skull, apparently to give the appearance of a smooth shaven bald-headed man. He has also been fitted with prosthetic devices apparently intended to change the appearance of his lips.It may be that he intends to use the name Ramon Benitez and travel on a Brazilian passport, but this has not been confirmed.End Intelligence Relayed.

Howard W. O'Connor HOWARD W. O'CONNORSECRET

XIX.

[ ONE ].

SECRET SECRETCentral Intelligence Agency Langley, VirginiaFROM : Assistant Director For AdministrationFROM: 31 March 1965 1530 GMT 31 March 1965 1530 GMTSUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #66) TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter Mr. Sanford T. Felter Counselor To The President Room 637, The Executive Office Building Washington, D.C.By CourierIn compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: "Ernesto 'Che' Guevara," dated 14 December 1964, the following information from your sources in Buenos Aires, Argentina is relayed as received: (Reliability Scale: Not Applicable) .Begin Intelligence Relayed:Victor Dreke was taken afternoon of 30 March 1965 to the house at Calle Hernandez 134 in the La Corona section of Havana by Alberto Chivina, an aide to Castro. Dreke, who will be Guevara's deputy, was introduced to Ramon Benitez, whom he either pretended not to recognize as Doctor Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, or actually did not recognize, which seems rather unlikely.Dreke now has a Uruguayan passport in the name of Roberto Suarez Milian and Guevara one in the name of Ramon Benitez. Both are believed to be genuine Uruguayan passports furnished the Cubans blank. It is probable that other such passports have been made available by Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, and others.When the masquerade was revealed, Dreke and Guevara finalized the roster of the personnel they intend to take with them to the former Belgian Congo.The 113-man strong force was described by Guevara as a "column," and will consist of a General Staff, three platoons of infantry and one of artillery. So far as is known the column does not have small arms or artillery.Guevara and Dreke and a small, unknown number of others will probably leave tomorrow on the regularly scheduled Aerolineas Cubana flight to Prague, Czechoslovakia, and probably move from Prague via Cairo, Egypt to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania aboard a scheduled Czechoslovak Air flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as soon as possible.A roster of the revolutionary column will be furnished when available.End Intelligence Relayed.

Howard W. O'Connor HOWARD W. O'CONNORSECRET SECRET.

URGENTFROM : CIA LANGLEY 31 MARCH 1965 1605 GMT 03/5788.

TO: STATION CHIEFS:.

ALGIERS, ALGERIA.

BERLIN, GERMANY.

CAIRO, EGYPT.

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA.

MONTREAL, CANADA.

PARIS, FRANCE.

PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA.

VIENNA, AUSTRIASUBJECT: POSSIBLE MOVEMENT OF ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVERA AND OTHERSTHE AGENCY IS IN POSSESSION OF UNVERIFIABLE BUT PROBABLY RELIABLE INTEL THAT ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVERA AND VICTOR DREKE, AND PROBABLY A SMALL GROUP OF UNIDENTIFIED OTHERS WILL DEPART HAVANA CUBA 1 APRIL 1965 ABOARD AN AEROLINEAS CUBANA FLIGHT TO PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, AND LATER FLY TO DAR ES SALAAM VIA CAIRO ABOARD A CZECHOSLOVAK AIR FLIGHT.THE DIRECTOR PERSONALLY REPEAT PERSONALLY IS VERY INTERESTED IN CONFIRMATION OR DIS-PROVAL OF THIS INTEL INCLUDING ADDITIONAL DETAILS FOLLOWING: BOTH GUEVARA AND DREKE MAY BE TRAVELING ON URUGUAYAN PASSPORTS USING THE NAMES RAMoN BENiTEZ AND ROBERTO SUaREZ MILiAN RESPECTIVELY. GUEVERA MAY BE CLEAN SHAVEN, WEARING GLASSES, HAVE THE TOP OF HIS HEAD SHAVEN AND WEARING PROTHESIS TO CHANGE THE SHAPE OF HIS MOUTH.THE FOLLOWING ACTION IS DIRECTED:SURVEILLANCE OF CUBANA OR OTHER AIRLINE FLIGHTS ORIGINATING IN HAVANA CUBA AND TERMINATING AT OR PASSING THROUGH LOCATIONS ABOVE, PLUS GANDER NEWFOUNDLAND, WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.CONFIRMING OR DISPROVING REPORTS PLUS ANY OTHER INTEL THAT CAN BE GENERATED IN RE MOVEMENT OR LOCATION OF GUEVARA AND/DREKE WILL BE TRANSMITTED BY THE MOST EXPEDITIOUS MEANS, INCLUDING SATELLITE, TO CIA LANGLEY EYES ONLY DIRECTOR CIA AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR /ADMIN.

FOR THE DIRECTOR.

O'CONNOR ASST DIR/ADMINSECRET [TWO].

Camp David The Catoctin Mountains, Maryland 1430 1 April 1965 The President of the United States was not in a very good mood.

For one thing, it was raining, and apparently was going to rain all goddamn day, and he had planned to shoot a little skeet, and he obviously couldn't shoot skeet in a pouring goddamn rain.

For another, the President didn't like what he was hearing about communist activity in the Dominican Republic from either the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, or the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.

The Director had told him he considered it very likely that the government in Santo Domingo was very likely to be toppled by Communists, unless something was done almost immediately.

The Chairman had told him that he concurred with the Director's assessment of the situation, and recommended military intervention before that happened, as it would be much easier to keep the government there in power than it would be to restore it to power after a communist coup.

The Chief of Naval Operations had told him that he concurred with the Director's analysis, and the Chairman's belief that military invention was necessary, and recommended that a reinforced regimental-size Marine landing force be formed and ordered to prepare for an invasion of the Dominican Republic.

The Chief had told him that he concurred with the Director and the Chairman's analysis and their recommendation of preventative establishment of an American military presence in the Dominican Republic, but had to respectfully disagree with his good friend the Chief of Naval Operations about how to do that.

For both military and political reasons, the Chief said, it would be better to use the 82nd Airborne Division. There was no way that the sailing of a Marine landing force could be kept from either the press or the Communists in the Dominican Republic. That might cause the Communists to act sooner than expected, and that would (a) topple the existing government, and (b) very likely cause the Marines, when they arrived, to have to execute a landing on hostile shores.

There was always, the Chief went on, a regiment of the 82nd at Bragg ready to enplane on no more than twenty-four hours' notice, and a second regiment would be available in another twenty-four hours.

The best way to send an American military presence into the Dominican Republic would be to jump an 82nd Regiment into Santo Domingo without warning, with of course the permission of the current government. Once the airport was secured, a second and a third regiment could be flown in. The Marines could thus land, without opposition, later.

The President of the United States did not like the mental pictures he was given of (a) some goddamn Dominican Dominican Fidel Castro giving the United States of America the finger; (b) parachutes filling the sky over Santo Domingo; or (c) Marines embarking from landing craft on the hostile shore of this goddamn banana republic. Fidel Castro giving the United States of America the finger; (b) parachutes filling the sky over Santo Domingo; or (c) Marines embarking from landing craft on the hostile shore of this goddamn banana republic.

"I want to think this over," the President announced. "And it's obvious we need some fresh thinking on the subject." He turned to his secretary. "Send for Felter."

The President's secretary did not tell Colonel Sanford T. Felter much more than that the President wished him to go immediately to the Pentagon helipad, where a U.S. Army Huey would be waiting for him.

He arrived at Camp David one hour and twenty-five minutes after receiving the President's secretary's call, and was immediately taken into the presence of the President, the Chairman, the CNO, and the Chief. He was wearing a somewhat mussed gray suit, and a cotton raincoat that obviously was not up to keeping him dry.

"Tell me about the Dominican Republic, Felter," the President greeted him.

"Sir, I don't know much about the Dominican Republic," Felter said. "That's not in my area of responsibility."

"Tell me what you do know," the President said.