The Brink of War

Mr. President?

Mr. President.

Mr. President.

I Failed

I offered him the deal of the century human history.

He's walking away over one single word

Never should have trusted him

So the car is here ready to take him to the airport,

but it's not over not yet It's over

No world living on hope

Press will know by tonight

So when you recruited me you told me we could make a difference

He told me we could make America safer than when we found her.

It's over

Ask him to come to Washington.

For what? More talk that leads to nothing?

Maybe this place is haunted.

Ask him anyway, sir. Please, in spite of it all.

We have maybe a minute left until he comes out that door,

gets in that car, and he is gone.

Do not let what happened in that house, in that room,

over the last 30 hours destroy our entire future.

All teams, Rawhide has arrived.

He stays with the football.

- Establish position. -The Brits gave it up.

Pictures falling off the walls in the night the ambassador's wife refused to stay

They sold it back to the Icelandic government

Let me get this straight George of all the places on earth

You could pick for a meeting about the fate of the human race.

You picked a haunted house in Iceland.

Not me, sir Secret Service

perfect for security

Nothing around but lava rock in the North Atlantic

Total isolation

total isolation can't blame Nancy for staying home,

but I am blaming you. Yes, sir

Ready to begin?

Copy. All clear.

Hello, how are you good to see you?

Good to see you.

This is George Schultz

Should be in the same area.

We'll share this top floor, Soviets are down the hall,

and here is our conference room.

Any update?

Tight quarters,

I'm surprised you didn't shove me in the basement

You'll be pleased to know sir that the basement in the spirit of this summit status summit

We've been having summits of 40 years.

Nothing changes

Actions speak louder than words that this guy Gorbachev wants to bluster and bullshit

and We'll just walk

Call it a meeting and no press sir

We can say no press but the leaders of the two superpowers with 70,000 nuclear tipped

ICBMs IR BMS air-launched cruise missiles not to mention

5 million active-duty conventional troops at their fingertips are having a

meeting Mr.

President, whatever we call it.

We have two days

Perhaps you'd like to glance at the briefing binders.

What the basement you were saying?

What's in the basement that where you keep the ghosts?

Well in a manner of speaking sir, the CIA

Of course and the KGB together.

Oh, well, that's got a set a world record for awkward

or cooperation

Have you met the CIA and KGB?

George Where's our team? Yes

Quick gentlemen

Max Kappelman

Paul Nietzsche Richard Perle

and Ken Adam

entire State Department entire federal government at your disposal.

You could only find Democrats

I'm actually a Republican sir.

Well that makes two of us

I'm glad you're all here.

I I know you gave up time at home for a weekend and a house in Iceland But hey,

I hear there are ghosts. So...

Should be fun.

Let's talk about how we open this thing.

We've agreed to begin with formal statements, sir

This is our basic boilerplate plus a few other ideas

I'm gonna move up the human rights stuff.

I Strongly suggest we don't poke the bear first thing sir

You read the briefing binders

the Russians are focused on the strategic defense initiative

I think it violates the anti-ballistic missile treaty

But in reality SDI does nothing of the kind and they're violating the ABM already with a radar installation and crossing ours

Being underestimated is a tactical advantage gentlemen

Let's not make that same mistake with the new secretary-general

Gorbachev is relatively young for a Soviet considering the last three died before I could even meet them

I guess he must be well,

yeah, he acted for a while in high school then some in college

- No kidding. - It will not fill like you just stage plays explains

his bombastic speeches all those big hand

At least you have something in common, sir

Yes, except for the fact that we disagree about free enterprise freedom of speech

and freedom of just about any kind

Gentlemen, can you trust an enemy?

since the founding of the Soviet Union

they have concentrated their foreign policy on the coercion of other nations

in no nation

Not a single one that has become communist has ever turned back to democracy

and because of that we face an enemy that is ever Growing

an octopus stretching tentacles and even our own hemisphere

Some of you except for this former Marine

too young to remember the Second World War.

I am NOT a system

no matter fascist or communist

Subjugates every citizen

denying them not just basic rights,

but their God-given free will is a threat not just to one nation

but eventually to all nations

So...

We have rebuilt our military.

We have moved our Pershing missiles into Germany in defense of our NATO allies

We have funded those committed to the cause of democracy and freedom throughout the world.

And now finally we have begun

Scientific work on a missile shield to protect the American people

We have done all this

Even though I have been called a warmonger by the New York Times and even some of our allies

Even though the atomic scientists have the doomsday clock down to five minutes till annihilation we have done all this

Because I believed it would drive the Soviets to the negotiating table

But...

If we fail... if I...

Well, then I will be just a warmonger

I will have endangered the American people

Which is the absolute opposite of our goal

We Must find out if we can trust the Skoruchov if we can make a deal with him

if I can shake his hand at the end of all this as the

Photographers click and flash

If the capitalist press finds out

you brought so many clothes,

they will confuse you with Nancy Reagan.

That doesn't look like Karl Marx a...

"A nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought."

Who?

A quote from the leader of our main enemy

and he addressed the Japanese Parliament's three years ago

Don't get your hopes up Nellie.

It looked promising before in Geneva and it fell apart

"The production of too many useful things

results in too many useless people."

Karl Marx never had to deal with Paris and me Tehran.

Do you not remember?

I wore the same thing twice and their press treated me like a peasant

And the West people are on the streets begging yet.

I'm mocked if I repeat the dress

It'd be hypocrisy,

but I will remind them how sophisticated we are

How we are strong as you will show him in that room.

He gave Reagan the option of London or Reykjavik

He chose not the capital of his main ally

the British But this place

that is equidistant between us

This is a good sign

He chose it

Because the only airport is at their airbase forcing for the first time ever a Soviet premier to land upon NATO military territory

their Electronic warfare teams must have enjoyed themselves immensely

scanning all our communications

He is arrogant and uncompromising

We have survived the bloodletting of the

revolution the Onslaught of the Nazis and the purges of that maniac Stalin.

We will survive electronic warfare teams, my love

I Know we want to accomplish great things for our nation

Accomplish anything if we continue fighting this cold war with the Americans

The soil of the Ukraine is as rich as their Iowa yet

They continue to import more and more of their grain

40 million tons

last year alone

"Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."

-Tolstoy? -Goethe.

What a dissident reader you've become.

Well, thanks to you, Miliy,

we no longer need to be dissidents about what we read

No heavy coat take the light one

you look like you can't take the cold and you're Russian

Well, I see they made their own border.

CIA on one side, KGB on the other.

That's the spirit of cooperation?

Lao Tzu tells us

the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Mr. President

I'm Margaret Clancy.

How can I help you?

That's your real name?

It is as far as they're concerned, sir

Well, they miss Clancy I'd like to talk to my wife well,

sir The best option is a scrambler ours isn't set up yet

But there is one in the ambassador's residence and if I promise not to tell Nancy any classified nuclear secrets.

Well, sir

That'll be fine for the sat relay the

switchboard at Langley ought to be able to put you through to the Lincoln bedroom

Ronnie You look good on TV

NBC says Air Force One made a textbook landing despite the winds

Service would have brought the car.

It's got better armor

And the ambassador's car is fine.

I mean we