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  REAL-WORLD NEWS EXCERPTS

  Russians Operate Alone Now - European Stars & Stripes, July 26, 1999 - Russian troops in Chechnya are free to operate in the U.S. sector of Chechnya without an American presence. But NATO may never find a way to change the Russians' attitude about being Serb allies.

  Report Says Russia Supplied Serbs with Missiles, Breaking ZMbargo - London, Aug. 3,1999 - (Reuters) Jane's Defence Weekly said in a report to be published on Tuesday that Russia was believed to have supplied Serbia with air defense missiles before NATO started its bombing campaign against Kosovo in March.

  ... The report quoted a high-ranking Serbian officer as saying the first shipment of between six and 10 incomplete Russian S-30OPM missile systems entered Serbia by land, hidden in railway wagons carrying scrap iron, in early 1999. It quoted sources as saying an unspecified quantity of the missile systems was smuggled into the country in a Russian humanitarian convoy, hidden in what appeared to be fuel tankers.

  Xosovo Albanians Protest Russians - Philadelphia Inquirer - About 1,000 ethnic Albanian protesters marched toward a Russian base to show their opposition to Russian peacekeepers in the southeastern Kosovo town of Kosovska Kamenica while two U.S. Apache helicopters whirred overhead and American troops stood by. The march ended without incident.

  Russia's Stealth Fighter Makes Rare Appearance at Air Show - Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1999 - Russia's S-37 Berkut, or Golden Eagle, was the main performer at an intemational air show held near Moscow. The stealth jet, with its forward-swept wings, made only a brief appearance.

  Russia Flumes at U.S. Over Disarmament and XFOR

  - Moscow, August 21, 1999 - (Agence France Presse) Storm clouds gathered over U.S.-Russian relations Friday after

  sharp differences emerged on nuclear disarmament and the Kosovo peacekeeping effort, two pillars of cooperation between Moscow and Washington.

  "After the whole episode with Kosovo, the Russians feel that militarily they were disregarded and badly treated by NATO. The only way of making the NATO nations realize this is to remind them that Russia is a nuclear power," Viktor Kremenyuk, deputy director of the U.S.-Canada Institute, a Moscow think tank, said.

  U.S. Dovirnplays Incident with Jets, Russian Bombers - Washington Times, September 19, 1999 - The National Security Council said an encounter Thursday between U.S. jets and two Russian bombers flying near Alaska was "militarily insignificant." The Russian planes were in international airspace, taking part in a training exercise, and moved closer to the Alaskan coast than has happened during the past six years. Officials said the American jets scrambled routinely, as they always do when an unknown aircraft approaches U.S. territory.

  A Genocide, a Political Coup. Some Democrac3r - by Zbigniew Brzezinski - Wall StreetJournal, January 4, 2000 Vladimir Putin's accession to the Russian presidency was the work of oligarchs and army-security chiefs who wanted to preempt any semblance of a democratic vote scheduled for June. The attitude of Putin, as shown in Russia's brutal treatment of Chechnya, should be taken as a warning of future problems.

  NATO Exercise Znds in More Clashes - European Stars & Stripes, April 13, 2000 - Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit left Greece the same way they arrived for NATO's Dynamic Response 2000 exercise in nearby Kosovo: dodging rocks, red paint bombs and insults from anti-NATO demonstrators along the route. The 80-vehicle convoy made it to the embarkation point at Port Litohoro without injuries, but four vehicles had their windshields smashed.

  Washington in Brief - Washington Post, April 14, 2000 - For The Record - NATO is asking member countries to provide

  3,500 troops for the Kosovo peacekeeping operation to replace

  battalions that are leaving, but no additional U.S. forces are likely to go, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.

  s in Caspian putin 39yes Defense of Russian Interest

  - Moscow, Apr 21, 2000 - (Reuters) President-elect Vladimir Putin expressed concern on Friday that foreign competitors were eyeing the oil-rich Caspian region, where Moscow has traditionally dominated, and called on Russian firms

  to get more involved.

  "We must clearly understand that the interest of our partners, Turkey, the United States and Britain, in this region is not accidental," Russian agencies quoted him as telling a meeting of his advisory Security Council.

  ... Russia wielded economic mastery over the Caspian basin throughout the Soviet era when the oil-rich republics were part of a single state. But the newly independent states, with diplomatic support from the United States and Turkey, want to build export routes bypassing Russia, which would sharply reduce its influence in the region ...

  Russians Wounded in Kosovo - International Herald Tribune, May 25, 2000 - Two Russian soldiers were wounded when two antitank rockets smashed into their base in western Kosovo. Russian soldiers also came under gunfire overnight on five occasions. The attacks followed a Tuesday afternoon altercation between Russian troops and a former commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army.

  Putin, Schroeder Rail "New Start" in KeY Alliance by Martin Nesirky - Berlin (Reuters) - June 10, 2000 Russia and Germany declared a new and fruitful start to a vital European alliance Thursday when President Vladimir Putin, once a Communist spy in Dresden, met German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. ship with Rus". . . Germany is interested in a strategic partner

  sia," Schroeder said. "Not just Germany but all Europe has an interest in maintaining close and fiiendly relations with Russia." Putin said: "Germany is Russia's most important economic

  partner in Europe. We consider Germany to be at the core of European integration. As such, our conversation with the chancellor has a double significance for Russia."

  Ukraine Hosts Big NATO Exercise, Russia Missing

  - KIEV (Reuters) - 6/19/00 - Ukraine begins unprecedented 10-day naval exercises with NATO and several former communist nations on Monday, but Russia, still deeply suspicious of the Western defense alliance, plans to stay away.

  ... Russia, Ukraine's former imperial master, resents Kiev's warm ties with NATO and regular military exercises in the Black Sea region, where Moscow's might and influence have waned dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union in

  1991.

  This is no time to hear that we have violated human rights. This is not true. It is not good for my hearing. It is not good for my hair I know the real situation and think that Russia

  needs to be more cruel ... We will resist and

  use weapons, and not only nuclear ones. We will throw you into the English Channel. We will drive all the human rights advocates to the tunnel between London and Paris and brick

  them up in there.

  -VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY,

  RUSSIAN ULTRANATIONALIST LEADER

  (REUTERS, APRIL 7, 2000)

  PROLOGUE

  Blair ouse, Washington, D.C.

  20 January 2001

  "Well, what the hell are they doing in there?" the chief clerk of the United States Supreme Court whispered excitedly. He knocked again on the door of the Truman Quarters, the master guest suite of Blair House. Behind him waited the chief justice of the Supreme Court, along with several aides, Secret Service agents, and Blair House staff. Who the hell would keep the chief justice and most of the rest of the world waiting like this?

  A few moments later, the President-elect himself opened the door. "Come in, please, gentlemen," he said, his everpresent half-smile on his face. "Welcome. Hope we didn't keep you too long."

  "Of course not, Governor Thorn," the chief justice responded, with a faint smile. "Don't be silly-I'm the one disturbing you. This is your time. Probably the last real peace and quiet you'll have for a very long time."

  The president-elect shook his head and saffled as if he was completel
y oblivious to what was going to happen soon. "Nonsense, Your Honor. Peace is a state of mind, not a function of time, place, or sound."

  "Of course." The chief justice and the clerk looked at each other and exchanged a single silent comment as they entered: Yep, he's a strange one, all right.

  The clerk looked at his watch, then at the chief justice with not a little concern as they were admitted inside. The president-

  and vice president-elect were supposed to be at the west portico of the Capitol in twenty minutes for the start of the inauguration-day ceremonies. The festivities had in fact already started: a military pass-in-review in honor of the outgoing president and vice president, a concert by the Marine Band, the invocation, and various poetry readings celebrating the first peaceful transition of power in the United States of the new millennium.

  The vice president-elect would be sworn in first at ten minutes before noon, followed by a song or march of the vice president-elect's choice while the players on the dais repositioned themselves. The vice president-elect, who happened to be onehalf Seminole Indian, had chosen the "John Dunbar theme" by John Barry, from Dances with Wolves, with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the New World Symphony. The presidentelect's swearing-in was supposed to start at thirty seconds before noon, timed so that at precisely one second

  after noon, the president-elect should be uttering the words "So help me God." The swearing-in would be followed by the first playing of "Hail to the Chief' by the Marine Band, then the President's inaugural address to the nation, followed by a reception with the congressional leadership, Supreme Court members, and other dignitaries and guests in the Presidential Room of the Capitol.

  Then there would be the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House-the newly sworn President and Vice President and their wives were expected to continue the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter tradition and walk a good portion of the twelve-block parade route. Later tonight, there were inaugural balls scheduled all across Washington-about fifteen in alland the new President, Vice President, and their wives were expected at least to put in an appearance and take one turn around the dance floor at all of them. Everything was being coordinated down to the second, and there was intense pressure by organizers on everyone-even Supreme Court justices-to keep on schedule.

  Thorn extended his hand to the chief justice of the Supreme Court as the latter entered the room. "Chief Justice Thompson, good to see you again," he said. "Here to do the preliminaries, I presume?"

  "Yes, Governor," the chief justice said, a bit impatiently. "We're a little pressed for time, so we'd better---'

  "Yes, I know, I know. The precious schedule," the president-elect said, his smile disarming. The room was packed, but everyone was on their absolute best behavior, sitting quietly without fussing or any sign of nervousness. The president-elect had five children, all less than eight years of age, but there was not a peep out of any one of them except for polite whispers-everyone thought they were the most well behaved children on the planet. "We're ready for you now."

  The dark horse had a name, and it was Thomas Nathaniel Thorn, the former boy-govemor of Vermont. Tall, boyishly handsome, his wavy hair thinning but still blond-Thom was only in his mid-forties-with dancing blue eyes and an easy smile, he looked like anything but the fastest-rising star on the American political scene. As the founder and leader of the Jeffersonian Party, Thorn was the first alternative-party candidate since Abraham Lincoln and his fledgling Republican Party to be elected to the presidency.

  The vice president-elect, Lester Rawlins Busick, the former six-term senator

  from Florida, and his wife, Martha, were inside as well, with their two grown children. Busick, a former southern "Reagan" Democrat-fiscally conservative but socially liberal-was an old political pro and very well respected inside the Beltway. But he had parted ways with his party on several issues, and had soon come to realize that his message could better be heard from the forum of the hot new Jeffersonian Party rather than if he were just another veteran senator shouting against the political hurricane. Despite Busick's strong reputation and sheer physical presence, however, he was practically invisible in the crowded hotel room.

  The door was secured, and the onlookers gathered around, with an aide discreetly snapping pictures. The chief justice shook hands with everyone, then said in a rather rushed tone of voice, "As you know, Governor Thorn, the TWentieth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States prescribes the actual moment at which you take office, which is one second after twelve o'clock noon today. Article Two, Section One of

  the Constitution also mandates that you take the oath of office before assuming your responsibilities as president of the United States.

  "Therefore, since there is a big ceremony with a lot of people and a lot of things that can conceivably go wrong between here and the official swearing-in . . ." he paused slightly-they were very late already, so this was certainly a case of one of "those things that can conceivably go wrong"-". . . it is customary to administer the oath of office before the public ceremony, so that at the moment your term of office does officially commence, you will have already been sworn in and we avoid any constitutional questions. I'm confident you will have no objection to taking the oath twice." Thorn just smiled that peaceful, confident half-smile, the one that helped power him past an incumbent Republican, President Kevin Martindale, and a nationally recognized Democratic front-runner and all the way into the White House. "Very good. You have the Bible, I see, Mrs. Thorn. Let's proceed."

  Amelia Thorn held out an antique Bible, one that could be traced back to President Thomas Jefferson's family, in the direction of the chief justice's voice. Amelia Thorn had been blind since an early age, the result of childhood diabetes, but hers was a true story of perseverance and strength: she was an experienced jurist, a mother of five, and had held a seat on the New Hampshire State Supreme Court before resigning to help in her husband's presidential campaign. "Please place your left hand on the Bible, Governor Thorn, raise your right hand, and repeat after me: 'I, Thomas Nathaniel Thorn, do solemnly swear . . .' " Thorn recited the oath of office flawlessly, passionately, with his eyes on his wife, and hers on him, lifted toward the sound of his voice. The task was repeated with Lester Busick, with his wife Martha holding the antique Bible open to a passage in the Book of Isaiah.

  "Thank you, Governor Thorn, Senator Busick." The chief justice could still not legally call them "Mr. President" or "Mr. Vice President" yet, but he shook their hands and congratulated them nonetheless. "I wish you the best of luck and the prayers of a nation. Now, I think we should be on our way, or else the

  producers and directors choreographing the show today will all be very angry at us."

  "We're not ready yet," Thorn said.

  The chief justice looked aghast. "Excuse me, Governor?" "We're not ready."

  Thorn motioned to the seats arranged in front of the huge fireplace in the hotel suite, and quickly but quietly, Busick and his family and Thorn's family sat down and joined hands. "We have one task to perform before we leave. You are welcome to join us, or you can observe, or you can make your way to the Capitol." He led his wife to the love seat facing the fireplace, the White House visible across the street through the windows flanking it, then sat down and.nodded to those around him. "Close the eyes, please."

  To Chief Justice Thompson's great surprise, they all closed their eyes and fell silent, hands joined, heads bowed. He looked at his clerk, then at his watch, then at the amazing spectacle before him. "What ... what are they doing?" he whispered to a Secret Service agent assigned to the family. "Are they praying?"

  "I don't think so, sir," the agent replied quietly. "I think they're meditating."

  "Meditating? Now? The man's going to be sworn in as president of the United States in less than a half hour! How can he think about meditating at a time like this?"

  "They do this twice a day, Your Honor, every day," the agent said matter-offactly. "Twenty minutes. Exactly twenty minutes.
All of them."

  It was then that the chief justice realized that all the stories he had heard about Thomas Nathaniel Thorn were probably true. This was impossible . . . unacceptable! "Governor Thorn, please, we should be going." No response. Thompson raised his voice in his most commanding courtroom tone: "Governor Thorn! "

  One of the children opened her eyes, looked at the chief justice, then looked at her mother quizzically, but closed her eyes again when Amelia didn't react. "You may join us, you can observe, or you may leave," Thorn said in a very quiet but perturbed voice, keeping his eyes closed, "but you may not disturb us. Thank you."

  Chief Justice Thompson knew his presence was'demanded at the Capitol, knew he had to be there-but he couldn't make himself leave. He stood, transfixed, and watched in amazement as the minutes ticked by and the hour of transition approached. There were several urgent radio and phone calls, all answered by the Secret Service, but the Thoms and the Busicks, could not be disturbed.

  Thompson considered saying something, perhaps even ordering them to get their asses in gear and get going because the nation was waiting for them, for God's sake, but some unexplained force kept him from saying another word. He couldn't believe the children-even the infant seemed to be resting, and the toddlers didn't move a muscle. He had never before in his life seen toddlers sit still for so long-his own grandchildren, although very well behaved, seemed to have nanosecond attention spans.

  Precisely twenty minutes later, the Thorns opened their eyes-it was as if a silent command had passed between them, because they all did it together. The Busicks, opened their eyes when they detected the Thorns stirring. None of them looked sleepy in the least-in fact, they looked energized, refreshed, ready to power ahead. The older children quickly leapt into action without being told to do so, checking the younger children's diapers and helping Amelia Thorn pack up. Within moments, they were ready to leave.

  "Governor, Senator, we ... we'd better hurry," Chief Justice Thompson stammered, still not believing what he had seen with his own eyes.