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an organization he could turn to for things that needed to be done but that he didn’t necessarily want the federal government doing. And what he really wanted was an organization that, if it fucked up, he could say:
Hey, I got nothing to do with those guys.
He could have turned to the private sector, but he realized, being a good capitalist himself, that the private sector is profit motivated and what we do is not about making a profit. Plus, W wanted to be able to control this group, and no matter what kind of contract you write, the private sector will do whatever its little black heart desires when it comes to money.
    â€œThe president also had other concerns, which I think were totally justified. Government organizations, even ones like the CIA, are run by bureaucrats who are always worried that they’ll end up taking the fall if they get caught doing something illegal on the president’s behalf. So lots of times these bureaucrats balk when the boss gives ’em an order that’s just a little bit in the gray zone. And after Powell stood up in the UN and swore on a stack of Bibles that Saddam had weapons he didn’t actually have, the intelligence community became
really
risk averse. It was like they became afraid to do anything unless they were a hundred percent positive something couldn’t go wrong, which rarely happens in intelligence work.”
    â€œThey were willing to take some risks when they went after bin Laden,” Kay said.
    Callahan had the kind of eyes that seemed to literally twinkle, the kind of eyes Santa Claus was supposed to have. They twinkled when Callahan said, “It might surprise you to learn that the night Obama gave the order to invade Pakistan, he had some information other folks in the Situation Room didn’t have. “
    Kay had enough sense not to ask:
What information?
    â€œAnyway,” Callahan said, “Congress is also a problem when it comes to covert ops. The various oversight committees want to know what’s going on, they want to be involved in decisions even though they’re not qualified to decide anything, and the bastards control the purse strings. I mean, Congress is just a gigantic pain in the ass.”
    But Kay was thinking
: Covert ops
. Now, this was starting to get interesting.
    â€œSo that night,” Callahan said, “the president’s guy said the boss wanted me to set up an organization that he could call upon from time to time when he needed something done. In other words, like I already said, he wanted an
option
, and that’s what the Callahan Group is. It’s not a federal agency and it’s not really a private-sector company; it just looks like one.” Callahan smiled. “You know what I said when he finished talking?”
    Kay shook her head.
    â€œI said I want to hear this directly from the president. Well, the president’s pal said there wasn’t any way in hell that was going to happen. So I refused. A couple days pass, and I get called to the Oval Office. That was the first time I was ever in the room by myself, and the president’s not wearing any shoes, putting into one of those office putting cups. He smacks a ball, misses the cup by about ten inches, then he turns to me and says: ‘You had a discussion with a close friend of mine the other night, and my friend tells me that you wanted some assurance that I approved of what he said. Let me just say that I don’t disapprove.’”
    Kay said, “What?”
    â€œExactly,” Callahan said. “Complete gobbledygook. And you know what a lousy speaker Bush was, and I could tell that he’d memorized what he’d just said, but if push ever came to shove, he could testify that he’d never ordered me to do anything. But I was okay with that. I was satisfied that he was personally giving me the go-ahead and that’s the best I was going to get.”
    â€œWhy did the president pick you?”