Argo2012

[At a CIA briefing]

Jack O'Donnell:
The six of them went out a back exit. Brits turned them away, Kiwis turned them away, Canadians took them in. Traffic calls them the 'Houseguests'; they haven't left the Canadian ambassador's house since it happened.

Tony Mendez:
Why didn't we get them ten weeks ago?

O'Donnell:
Too dangerous. You've got Revolutionary Guards going door to door like Jehovah's Witnesses. Half of them think Khomeini's been too lenient on the ones in the embassy.

Mendez:
What about the White House?

O'Donnell:
Carter's shitting enough bricks to build the pyramids. The Canadians are done; they say they're bearing too much risk. Their foreign secretary corners Vance in Brussels and told him she wants the six of them out.

Mendez:
Who else knows?

O'Donnell:
Just the families. Meanwhile, some genius in our embassy was keeping a mug book on everybody who worked there.

Mendez:
Jesus Christ!

O'Donnell:
We think it got shredded before they got in. But now the bastards are using sweatshop kids to reassemble the shreds, and once they reassemble that book, they'll know six Americans got out and they'll know what they look like. Standing room only for beheadings in the square.

Mendez:
Who's handling?

O'Donnell:
State is coordinating in house.

Mendez:
State? They don't do exfils.

O'Donnell:
They do now. They want to run it by us, strictly as consultants. Engell says its a lose-lose. These people die, they die badly. Publicly. State wants the blame, we'll give it to them.

Mendez:
What does he want me here for?

O'Donnell:
So he can tell State he ran it by his best exfil guy.