"on the men and women who serve in the five rings of the Pentagon." "Before any military action can be taken anywhere in the world, the mission must be planned and approved in the outer and most important ring, the E-Ring." "Let me know when you've got the shot." "Got it." "Ready." "Okay, let's roll." "Clear!" "All clear, sir." "Objective clear." "Fingerprints and DNA, boys." "Uplink the bastard." "Abad al Azim, what can you tell me about him, Colonel?" "Well, he was nicknamed "The Recruiter"" "because his Web site's got more hits trolling for young suicide bombers" "And where was al Azim when Special Forces killed him?" "In the mountains, near, uh..." "Bawa Nur, ma'am." "On a border with Iran." "Correct." "So when your guys took him out, which side of the line were they on?" "I'm surprised you'd need to ask that question, Ms. Liston." "U.S. forces are forbidden from operating inside Iran." "Which begs the question... is ODA 132 crossing into Iran in violation of orders?" "Frankly, if they are, I admire the initiative." "The bad guys aren't playing by the rules, why should we?" "Major, Ms. Liston is protecting not only the Secretary of Defense, but everyone in this office, from ending up on the wrong side of a congressional investigation." "Thank you, Steven." "More importantly, Iran is pursuing a nuclear program." "So what's their response if they suddenly find our troops on their mountain?" "Find out if 132 has been crossing the border and, if they have... put an end to it." "Yes, sir." "Hello, Colonel." "Good to see you, Heather." "Back among us mere mortals?" "How is life in the fast lane?" "Mr. Gerrity sent me to get your revisions on this appropriation action." "On, not this damn Patman thing again." "We sent it down last week and Mr. Gerrity thought that your comments were unnecessarily negative." "Oh, then we better revise them, then, sir." "Heather, you got your little pad there ready, huh?" "I do." "The Special Operations Division strongly recommends against the American people spending their hard-earned tax dollars on sat phones that stop working if it rains... even if they are manufactured in a key congressional district." "Mr. Gerrity said I am not to go home until I get your endorsement." "Well, then make yourself comfortable, sweetheart, 'cause you're gonna be here till hell freezes over." "Find out if 132 is crossing into Iran." "If they are..." "I want you to put that captain's ass in a sling." "Sir, he's not doing anything" "I wouldn't do myself if I were out in the field." "Does this look like the field to you, Major?" "Negative, sir." "I'll get on the horn to SOCOM." "No phones, kid." "I want the ground truth on this situation." "I want 132 to hear this loud and clear." "Sir, 132 is still deployed." "Well, here's a command lesson for you, kid." "It's a lot easier to kick somebody's ass when you're standing right behind them." "Hey." "You going somewhere?" "Yeah, just a short hop." "Can I ask?" "Oh, it's nothing operational." "Hey, I'm a damn paper pusher now." "I'll be back in a week." "It's too bad you're not gonna be around this weekend." "Actually, I found a lead on a great sublet in Georgetown." "Could be perfect for you." "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah, I mean, you never meant for this to be permanent, right?" "Right." "Right." "It's just, you know," "I haven't had much time to look." "Yeah, sure." "Well, maybe, uh, maybe that place will still be available when I get back." "For 800 bucks a month on M Street?" "Dream on." "Hmm." "I'll tell you what." "I'll write you a check." "You know my taste." "So... if you think it looks good... put down a deposit." "Some other place will come up." "It's not like I'm kicking you to the curb." "Well, if this place works out, you'll get your top drawer back." "Okay." "That's my ride." "Got to jump." "Stay alert, and stay alive." "Roger that." "Hey, who taught you that?" "Some bum." "Been fun playg house with you." "Major Tisnewski!" "Welcome to Iraq." "So where are you from, Captain, back in the world?" "Little town outside Billings, sir." "Montana." "Fly fisherman, I'll bet." "Since I was old enough to carry my granddad's creel." "Well, fishing's been pretty good out here, too, lately, huh?" "Three big catches in the last month?" "That's quite a record." "Our men are the best." "This fishing hole where you've had such good luck, where exactly is it?" "Now, you know a good angler never gives up his secret spot." "Besides, I was never good with maps." "See, it's just that some people back in Washington think that maybe when you took down al Azim, you were in Iran." "It's not like there's a big red line in the sand, sir." "If we accidentally cross over to the other side, so that our boys on this side don't get own up, well, sir, I can live with that." "And if the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ptures you, what then?" "Sir, my men know if it hits the fan, we're on our own." "They step forward anyway." "Look, I understand how tempting it is, but if you're leading your ODA into Iran, you're acting recklessly." "Sir, in all your time in the field, you've never bent the rules to accomplish your mission?" "Captain, you have acted with total disregard for the chain of command." "If you continue to lead your men into Iran, it will be the last thing you do in this man's army..." "you read me?" "Yes, sir, I read you C-F-B." "Now, if I'm dismissed, I'd like to go chow with my men." "Get out of here." "Sir, you received an e-mail from Major Tisnewski." ""Asses kicked, headed back, Dad."" "That's my boy." "Also, your 6:45 is in your office, sir." "The EIG investigator." "Oh, yeah." "Did he say which op they've got their boxers in a bunchver this time?" "Negative, sir, but I don't think she... wears boxers." "Good morning, I'm Lucinda Adler from the Inspector General's office." "Eli McNulty at your service, ma'am." "Colonel McNulty," "I'm here to inform you that a coworker within the Department of Defense has proffered sexual harassment charges against you." "I'm investigating the allegation under Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice." "Did Captain Shea put you up to this?" "Because this is a good one." "I beg your pardon, sir?" "It's payback for me convincing him that he was being transferred to Re..." "Colonel..." "I assure you, this is no joke." "Demi Moore." "Nah." "Too old." "Keira Knightley?" "Who?" "That chick, from the, uh..." "Johnny Depp pirate movie." "Oh, yeah." "Hah!" "Not enough ass." "J" " Lo?" "Not that much ass." "Halle Berry." "Oh, hell yes." "Now, that, sir, is what I'm talking about." "What the hell was that?" "!" "Don't stop in the kill zone!" "Whoa, whoa!" "Back it up, back it up!" "RPG!" "Who's the accuser?" "Some broad named Mary Caskey." "She worked SOD for about five minutes last year." "Never, in a million years, would I put moves on that broad." "Eh, doesn't have to be so overt these days, Eli." "For example, you can't call them broads anymore." "Really?" "Uh-huh..." "I got the name of a lawyer you should talk to." "A lawyer?" "He's good." "Repped a couple guys I knew after Tailhook." "Tailhook?" "Those Navy jet jockeys were playing an annual game of grab ass." "They were guilty." "I'm innocent, Jack." "Captain Shea." "Sergeant." "Colonel, Mr. Algazi is requesting you down in the NMCC." "right away." "Mm." "Ye-Yes... damn!" "My team just arrived on site." "ALGAZI Any idea who attacked them?" "We believe they were Ansar al Islam, sir." "But the insurgents bugged out before we could get there." "We have a Rapid Response Force searching the area and nearby villages." "But I wouldn't hold my breath that we're going to find them." "Do you know what this is about, Sergeant?" "I was due on the Hill ten minutes ago." "I don't know, ma'am." "Mr. Algazi didn't say." "Casualties?" "Five KIA, three wounded, one MIA." "Four dead insurgents." "According to one of the survivors, Major Tisnewski held off the enemy attack for several minutes before his position was overrun." "Something happened to Major Tisnewski, sir?" "His, uh, his convoy was ambushed on their way to Baghdad." "Oh, my God." "McNULTY:" "Captain." "Is Major Tisnewski KIA?" "Negative, sir, he's missing." "JT I say it again, this is Mongo One..." "I am wounded." "Location unknown." "Last confirmed checkpoint was Phase Line Orange, heading one-niner-five degrees." "Copy that Mango One." "Stand by." "McNULTY:" "Where the hell is he?" "!" "We don't know, sir." "A Navy Hawkeye picked up his transmission from the Gulf, but it was faint." "Sir, we should scramble a second AWACS so we can triangulate his signal faster." "Call JOD, and make it happen." "How badly is he wounded, Sergeant?" "We don't know yet, ma'am, but I like to be optimistic." "Me, too." "MAN Are there any identifiable landmarks in your vicinity?" "Affirmative." "Stand by." "Bearing an approximate distance of the tallest peak in your sight line." "Bearing is northwest, approximate distance six clicks." "The peak rises approximately 1,000 meters above my current altitude due west of me." "Stand by." "Damn it!" "This is Mongo One." "Unknown vehicle approaching." "I am in evasion now." "I am in evasion now!" "He's in Iran?" "Yes, sir." "Approximately 20 clicks east of the Iran-Iraq border." "We got to get him." "To launch a combat Search and Rescue team into Iran, you need presidential authorization." "So we get it." "Last time a U.S. president authorized a mission to Iran, it cost him his job." "Plus the lives of eight U.S. servicemen." "This isn't hostages in Tehran," "Mr. Gerrity." "This is a single soldier, my soldier, stranded in the damn mountains." "Colonel, you can't allow your personal relationship with Major Tisnewski to cloud our judgment." "It's not personal." "Major Tisnewski has top-secret clearance." "If the Iranians capture him, we have a nightmare on our hands here." "You're not suggesting he'd compromise what he knows?" "I'm suggesting that this is a race, sir." "If the Iranians get to Major Tisnewski first, we'll ner know what happens." "He'll just simply disappear, and nobody... can withstand torture forever." "Not even Major Tisnewski." "Look, I want the major, too, but what you are talking about could be perceived by the Iranians as an invasion." "Sonny, you want to back me up here?" "I say we wake up the president." "Take it easy." "Please, don't kill me!" "Take it easy." "Please, don't kill me." "You speak English." "What's your name?" "Mehra." "Mehra, are you alone?" "Yes." "Okay, now, listen to me." "I'm going to let you go, but if you run away, I'm going to shoot you." "Do you understand?" "Okay." "See?" "Easy." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Do you have any food?" "Food?" "On my day off, Brendan?" "It's about Major Tisnewski." "It's not what you think." "He just needed a place to stay, so..." "Yes, I know about your relationship, Angela." "I'm not here to blow the whistle." "Major Tisnewski was captured by Ansar al Islam." "We don't know how he escaped, but he's in evasion in Iran." "DOD's called in the other agencies to help in getting him out." "I'm headed over to the Pentagon now." "I'm going with you." "Ang no." "I told you because I know you and the major are... friends." "This meeting is... way above your pay grade." "And you got a big-time conflict of interest." "Brendan, you're not walking out the door without me." "All right, I'll get you cleared for the meeting, but keep your mouth shut." "Deal?" "Okay." "Give me a minute." "Americans are invading?" "Not today." "We are stronger than Iraqis." "If the Americans come... we will kill you all." "You're Shia, right?" "How many hours has it been since you prayed?" "Should be about time again, shouldn't it?" "Don't let me stop you." "What does a Christian know Islam?" "I'm not a Christian." "Jew?" "I'm not anything." "Then I am sorry for you." "Mecca's that way." "Who else comes here?" "My brother brings me food." "When?" "Not for two more days." "Please, when you kill me, bury me so that I may face Allah." "Got the wrong idea about me, kid." "I'm not going to kill you." "Now... if you ration this, you should be able to hold out until your brother comes." "You are going to Iraq?" "Unless you know where I can catch a flight to D.C." "There is a pass through the mountains." "It will save you two day's walk." "McNULTY:" "Two unmanned Predator drones have been tasked to look for the ground-to-air signs that all Special Forces operators are trained to leave along an evasion route." "Surely, the Iranians will see the Predators." "Yes, General, but we've had unmanned drones in Iranian airspace for some time now, monitoring their nuclear facilities." "They've never reacted before." "And once we've located Major Tisnewski, an electronic warfare element in the USS Truman will jam Iranian radar, allowing our combat" "Search and Rescue element to fly in and extract the major." "A combat patrol of F-15s out of Kirkuk will fly in support, should the Iranians scramble their fighters in response." "Jamming radar, sending fighters into their airspace... how are the Iranians going to know this isn't a full-scale attack?" "This is completely reckless." "We need to be pursuing a diplomatic solution." "You're Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense." "You know we haven't had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979." "Well, Iran has an ambassador to the UN." "Maybe somebody from State should be talking to him before we start planning World War III." "Iran's UN ambassador reports to the Iranian government." "The government of Iran doesn't actually rule the country." "The mullahs do, and the military unit that's searching for Major Tisnewski report to them." "So any diplomatic deal we cut won't be worth a bucket of warm spit." "Unless... you negotiate with the Grand Ayatollah." "I don't believe we've met, Ms..." "This is Angela Aaronson, one of my analysts from the Directorate of Intelligence." "The CIA have the Ayatollah on speed dial?" "His close friend is Hooshee Kazemi, professor at Georgetown." "Kazemi?" "He bashes U.S. foreign policy on any media outlet that gives him airtime." "He's not going to do anyone any favors." "That depends on who does the asking." "The Iranians are pretty cozy with one of our allies." "You know, Francois," "I always like to kid you people, but when it gets right down to it, we're hermanos, no?" "Colonel, we both know why I am here." "Professor Kazemi will not speak to a representative of the United States government, particularly, its military." "But our military needs to speak with him, and you're tight with him, right?" "Our daughters ride together every Saturday." "Well, then you could introduce us." "Not in any official way, just as..." "mutual friends of Francois." "I need your help." "It's my man that's neck deep into it over there." "So what's it going to take here?" "Your air force is purchasing a new fleet of tanker planes." "But they have closed the bidding to all but U.S. manufacturers." "Airbus wants a fair chance to bid on the contract." "Couldn't you just make me eat snails or something?" "America's lack of respect for other nations is the issue here, Colonel." "You would not find it necessary to ask for France's help in dealing with Iran if your foreign policy was not so black and white." "I'll run it up the flagpole." "You know, our countries may quarrel, Eli... but when times are tough, we stand by each other." "Come on, Tisnewski, move your ass." "Ms. Adler, Colonel McNulty isn't here." "He's working on a high-priority operation." "What operation?" "I'm afraid that's classified, ma'am." "Sergeant, Colonel McNulty has been evading me since this inquiry began." "But if the IG's office let every target of an investigation hide behind their job, we wouldn't be very effective at keeping this place honest, would we?" "He is not purposely avoiding you, ma'a" "I'm sorry, I don't mean to take this out on you." "I imagine that, uh... working for a man like Colonel McNulty must be stressful enough." "Ms. Adler, I have worked for the colonel for two years." "He may be old school, but he respects women." "If you ask me, this is all just a misunderstanding." "Well, I might be more inclined to accept that if Mary Caskey was the only woman to come forward." "But there's a second accuser." "So we want a small air corridor to locate our missing man and Iran's assurance that we won't encounter resistance." "And why should Iran trust that this soldier is truly lost?" "How do we know he isn't a spy conducting reconnaissance for an American invasion?" "Well, we have no plans to invade your country." "Really?" "Because you see, Colonel... when Persians look south to the gulf, they see the massive American fleet." "To the north, they see American bombers in Uzbekistan." "To the east, the American army in Afghanistan." "And to the west, your occupying force in Iraq." "You have the Islamic Republic of Iran completely surrounded, Colonel." "And yet, your... leaders call us evil." "Let's talk turkey here, Housh." "We're stretched to the limit." "And even if we had the troops, the mountainous terrain in your country makes a successful invasion all but impossible." "So there's a reason the Persian civilization has remained unconquered for thousands of years." "It is gratifying to hear that at least some in the U.S. military recognize the limits of its powers." "If France is asking for Iran's help, it will be my pleasure to raise the issue with the Ayatollah." "Thank you." "The Iranians will let us rescue Major Tisnewski under two conditions." "First, that no manned American aircraft enter their airspace." "So how do we get him out there?" "Iran will grant an air corridor to the French." "I have already spoken with Paris." "Our para-rescue unit in Syria has been put at your disposal." "Colonel DuBois, our government owes yours a debt of gratitude." "You said there was a second condition?" "The Iranians was us to bring a new Iraqi government to the table regarding the Shat-al-Arab waterway." "That's a disputed marshland that was part of Iran before the Iran-Iraq War." "Sadaam took it away." "They want it back." "Hold on a second." "We get Iran and Iraq talking about Shatt-al-Arab, who's to say they won't work out the rest of their differences?" "You say that like security in the region is a bad thing." "It is in our long-term strategic interest that Iran and Iraq remain rivals." "Two massive Shia populations start kissing and hugging, who knows?" "We could be looking at a Pan-Persian superpower with a stranglehold on the world's oil supply." "They're just talks." "No one's forcing the Iraqis to give up that marshland." "As I was saying..." "Ms. Aaronson has a valid point, Mr. Gerrity." "Of course, none of us are the policy expert that you are, but being a lawyer, I know one thing." "Talk is cheap." "And if all the Iranians want is talk, I say we give it to them, and get Mr. Tisnewski home." "I will recommend to the SEC DEF that he support this." "Colonel McNulty, you will coordinate with Colonel Dubois, and prepare to turn Major Tisnewski's rescue operation over to the French." "Why?" "No!" "Susan, the Secretary of Defense isn't gonna box himself in with a public statement like that." "No." "I want you to draft new language by the morning." "Okay." "Bye." "Black, two sugars?" "Should I be paranoid the CIA has a file on how I take my coffee?" "Your aide told me." "Oh." "Well, thank you." "Miss Aaronson, right?" "Angie." "Samantha." "Thank you for saving the deal back there." "Well..." "I was sure Mr. Gerrity was gonna get the mission killed." "Well, Aaron isn't used to be steamrolled by analysts." "I was out of line." "You also happen to be right." "Normally, I wouldn't have opened my mouth, but this one was different." "How so?" "Look, I, uh..." "I know the Major pretty well." "If I had to bet on anybody surviving what he's going through, my money would be on him." "He's too stubborn to quit." "What's his position?" "Approximately seven clicks from the border, sir." "Huh." "My man has made some serious tracks." "Let's call up a map of that valley and find a French landing zone." "Where's, uh, Colonel" "Dubois?" "Airman, page his escort." "They couldn't have gone too far." "Sir, we got a situation here." "Looks like an entire Iranian platoon." "They're less than two clicks from his current position and closing, sir." "What the hell happened to safe passage?" "It has been revoked." "I have just gotten off the phone with Professor Kazemi." "An Iranian patrol was found dead, appantly killed by your missing soldier." "Colonel Dubois, we need to explain to the Iranians that this may have been a tragic misunderstanding." "It won't matter." "Now that Persian blood has been spilled, the Iranians want your man." "Sir, the drone has been hit." "McNULTY:" "What the hell?" "It's down, sir." "I'm not gonna let him die, not when he's a stone's throw away from freedom." "What do you have in mind, sir?" "The bad guys don't play by the rules." "Neither should we." "Colonel McNulty?" "You need to come with me, please." "Lucinda, if anybody around here is guilty of harassment, it's you." "I will get to you when I have time." "You'll find time now, Colonel." "I am tired of your evasions and the disrespect you've show my investigator." "Sir, I'm in an emergency situation which requires my full attention." "Colonel McNulty." "I am giving you a direct order." "Now start walking." "Yes, sir." "Look, Pierce," "I like my C.O., too, but it doesn't mean I'd risk prison for him." "Colonel McNulty is a good man." "No one has ever filed a complaint against him before." "Now, two in a week?" "Something tells me this is more than just a coincidence." "I hope you know what you're doing." "We could both get court-martialed for this." "Heather?" "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a black woman serving in the military." "Okay." "So, over the years, I have been called names, watched much less qualified men get promoted over me, been the target of intimidation that would make the Taliban blush." "If this is about the charges that I filed against Colonel McNulty," "I'm not supposed to discuss it." "But my worst experience of all time... field exercise during basic." "My drill instructor climbed into a foxhole with me." "It was ten degrees." "He told me that Marines were supposed to share bodily warmth for survival." "What did you do?" "Not a damn thing." "I was a 17-year-old recruit." "He was a sergeant." "I just huddled there, humming my grandmama's favorite lullaby to block out the sound of his breathing while he put his hands all over me." "I guess we have something in common." "Except my story is true." "Excuse me?" "You made this whole thing up." "It was payback because my boss wouldn't let your boss and his defense contractor pals sell our soldiers a bunch of possibly defective SAT phones." "No, you're crazy." "So, you mean to tell me that it's just a coincidence that both woman accusing the Colonel have bosses who have an interest in having him removed from duty?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "You didn't think I'd find out about that letter of recommendation" "Mr. Gerrity wrote you for that six-figure job at the Patman Group?" "I never lied." "He did call me names." "Honey?" "Sugar?" "Girl, please." "You know, woman like you give every pig out there the cover to say, "My accuser lied, just like Heather Ross."" "You know what that does to real victims of sexual harassment?" "You almost destroyed a good man's life." "You know what?" "Give me one good reason why" "I shouldn't turn this evidence over and land your false, accusing ass in jail." "I have a family." "So do I." "And you messed with mine." "So, here's how this is gonna play out." "You're gonna call the I-G and have a change of heart." "And then the two of us... we're gonna get on the phone and have a little chat with your friend Mary." "So, what did I miss, Pierce?" "All efforts to revive Major Tisnewski's rescue have been thwarted, but CENTCOM has dispatched rescue teams to the Iraqi side of the border in case the major makes it across." "We have troops..." "here and here." "In the valley?" "!" "They've sent the rescuers to the wrong damn place!" "He's not gonna head west through that valley." "He's gonna turn north and cross the border in Northern Iraq about here." "Over the mountains?" "That's more than four times the distance of the other route." "That's crazy." "No, it's smart." "He knows that the Iranians will concentrate their search for him here." "So, he's taking the hardest route through the worst terrain." "What are you suggesting, Colonel?" "Well, we hedge our bets, sir." "Have CENTCOM position a team here at this pass on the border." "And I believe, sir," "ODA 132 is the team for this job." "Captain O'Brien's team?" "Yes, ma'am, that's affirmative." "Stay down, sir." "Stay down!" "Attention..." "Cease fire and withdraw, or we will engage you." "Colonel McNulty sends his regards, sir." "I never thought I'd be happy to be back in Iraq." "Iraq, sir?" "Iraq's about two clicks that way." "Then again, I was never good with maps." "The I-G's office sent this letter down." "Both accusers have dropped their claims, and the investigation is officially closed." "You smell that, Pierce?" "Victory, sir." "Damn straight." "What's this?" "A list of words that I have heard you in the past, and which you will no longer, under any circumstance, employ when referring to or addressing a female." "Honey?" "Sweetie?" "Sugar?" "You saved my ass, didn't you, Pierce?" "Yes, sir, I did." "I owe you one, buttercup." "It's not on the list." "Go back to work." "Go back to work." "It was my grandmother's." "Always brought me luck." "Well, thank you, Sergeant, but, uh," "I'm not a religious man." "Oh, that's okay." "Some good stories in there." "You know, when I was over there," "I found a Koran with a paper clip inside." "Used it to make a compass." "Helped save my life." "Mm." "Guess there's more than one good book, sir." "What kind of God allows so much killing, Pierce?" "Hmm." "Not the one I know, sir." "Welcome back, Major." "How are you feeling, kid?" "Fine, sir." "Docs in Germany patched me right up." "Well, I'm glad to hear that." "What were you expecting, a fruit basket, Jaworski?" "No, sir, not in the Pentagon." "Mmm." "That's delicious." "It's a new place in Georgetown." "Samantha Liston told me about it." "Hmm." "She was a big part of getting you out of there in one piece, JT." "Well, that's funny." "She said the same thing about you." "I guess we both really care about you." "Hey, in all the craziness, I forgot to ask." "Did I get that sublet?" "Oh, I-I checked it out." "And?" "One word." "Roaches." "Well, we can call an exterminator." "No." "I, uh, tore up the check." "Hmm." "I guess we're gonna just have to play house a little longer." "Mm." "Bummer."