The Mark of the Assassin

This is about sending a message to the terrorists of the world.
    The United States will not and cannot stand idly by and watch its
    citizens be slaughtered. To do nothing would be immoral. To do nothing
    would be an act of cowardice. "I have one thing to say to the Sword of
    Gaza and the governments that provide them with the tools of their
    terrorist trade." Beckwith narrowed his eyes. "Do nothing more, and it
    ends here. Kill another American, just one, and there will be a very
    heavy price to pay. On that you have my solemn word. "I ask for your
    prayers for the safe return of all those taking part in tonight's
    action. I also ask you to join with me in praying for the victims of
    this barbaric act and for their families. They are the real heroes."
    Beckwith paused and shuffled the papers of his script, a sign that he
    was changing the subject. "I want to be brutally honest with you for a
    moment. We can take steps to make certain that an attack like this is
    never repeated. We can keep a more careful watch on our shores. Our
    intelligence agencies can increase their levels of vigilance. But we can
    never be one hundred percent certain that something like this could
    never happen again. If I sat here before you tonight and told you that
    was the case, I would be lying to you, and I have never lied to you. But
    there is something this government can do to protect its citizens from
    terrorists and terrorist nations, and I want to talk to you about that
    tonight. "The United States now possesses the technology and the ability
    to build a defensive shield over this country, a shield that would
    protect it against an accidental or deliberate missile attack. Some of
    the same nations that provide support to groups of savages like the
    Sword of Gaza are also actively trying to acquire ballistic missile
    technology. In short, they want missiles that are capable of striking
    American soil, and slowly but surely they are getting them. If just one
    missile, armed with a nuclear warhead, fell on a city like New York, or
    Washington, or Chicago, or Los Angeles, the death toll might be two
    million instead of two hundred. "Together with our allies, we are trying
    to prevent nations such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea
    from obtaining ballistic missile technology. Unfortunately, too many
    countries and too many companies are willing to help these rogue nations
    out of greed, pure and simple. If they succeed and we are unprepared,
    our nation, our foreign policy, could be held hostage. We must never
    allow that to happen.
    "Therefore, I call on the Congress to rapidly approve the funds
    necessary to begin construction of a national missile defense. I
    challenge the Congress and the Department of Defense to have the system
    in place by the end of my second term in office, should you grant me
    another chance to serve you. It won't be easy. It won't be inexpensive.
    It will require discipline. It will require sacrifice from all of us.
    But to do nothing, to give the terrorists a victory, would be
    unforgivable. God bless you all, and God bless the United States of
    America."
    The camera dissolved, and James Beckwith disappeared from the screen.
    SENATOR ANDREW STERLING watched Beckwith's speech from a Ramada Inn in
    Fresno, California. He was alone except for his longtime friend and
    campaign manager, Bill Rogers. The sliding glass window was open to the
    pleasant evening air and the sound of traffic rushing along Highway 99.
    When Beckwith appeared on the screen, Sterling said, "Close that, will
    you, Bill? I can't hear the son-of-a-bitch."
    Sterling was an avowed liberal, a Humphrey-McGovern-Mondale-Dukakis
    tax-and-spend bleeding-heart liberal. He believed the federal government
    spent too much on guns it didn't need and too little on the poor and
    children. He wanted to restore cuts in welfare and Medicare. He wanted
    to raise taxes on the wealthy and on corporations. He opposed free
    trade. His party agreed, and it had anointed Sterling as its nominee
    after a long and bitter primary fight. To the surprise of the political
    chattering class, Sterling roared out of the Democratic National
    Convention five points ahead and stayed there. He knew his lead was
    fragile. He knew everything depended on holding California, where
    Beckwith had the home court advantage. Which explained why he was
    spending the night at a Ramada Inn in Fresno. Sterling's face turned
    red, then something approaching purple, as Beckwith spoke.