FBI Director Quotes in The Siege (1998)

[a big discussion is underway about the fight against terrorism in New York City]

Chief of Staff: General?

General William Devereaux: The Army is a broadsword, not a scalpel. Trust me, senator, you do not want the Army in an American city.

Chief of Staff: But hypothetically... how long would it take you to deploy?

General William Devereaux: You know we can't go in until the President invokes the War Powers Act.

Chief of Staff: I understand that, General. Let's assume, for a moment, that the order has been given.

General William Devereaux: Twelve hours after the President gives the order we can be on the ground. One light infantry division of 10,700 men, elements of the Rapid Deployment Force, Special Forces, Delta, APCs, helicopters, tanks, and of course the ubiquitous M16A1 assault rifle. A humble enough weapon until you see it in the hands of a man outside your local bowling alley or 7-11. It will be noisy. It will be scary, and it will not be mistaken for a VFW parade.

Army General: I wanna remind you, General Devereaux does not speak for official Army policy. A police function has become accepted as our role in Haiti and Somalia.

General William Devereaux: Make no mistake. We will hunt down the enemy. We will find the enemy. And we will kill the enemy. No card-carrying member of the ACLU is more deadset against it than I am. Which is why I urge you - I *implore* you - do not consider this as an option.

Chief of Staff: I know just what the President's going to say: that's exactly why your the only man for the job.

[cut to a clip of unseen hands cleansing themselves]

FBI Director: I'd like to introduce Anthony Hubbard. He's my ASAC on the ground up in Brooklyn. His team was able to take out the first cell within 36 hours of the attack on the #87 Bus. He's also the man who took out the terrorist in that schoolhouse.

[This last sentence overlays a clip of the hands assembling an explosive charge]

FBI Director: Hub?

[Hubbard stands up]

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard: The job of the FBI is to - to respond.

[the mystery hands turn the key in the ignition of a van]

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard: The job of the Army is to defend. With the presence of the Army, our ability to investigate will be seriously inhibited.

[the van pulls out of a garage]

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard: It will push these criminals further underground. Most importantly, you can't fight a war against an enemy you can't see.

[the van makes its way through the streets]

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard: I think if we exercise patience and restraint - allow our men and women up in New York to do their job, I think it'll be effective.

[long pause; the van is seen coming off the Queensboro Bridge as it enters Manhattan]

Chief of Staff: Thank you, Agent Hubbard. I, too, think that we should proceed with caution. Some of you may not know Sharon Bridger. Sharon was posted in Iraq as part of our covert operations during the Gulf War. Sharon?

[Elise Kraft/Sharon Bridger comes in with several folders]

Sharon Bridger: Sir, if I may?

[She starts passing the folders around, intercut with clips of busy Manhattan streets, and the explosives packed into the back of the van]

Sharon Bridger: I'm sure everyone here knows the traditional model of the terrorist network: one cell controls all others. Cut off one head, the body will wither.

[Cut to clips of One Federal Plaza; Sharon continues in voice-over]

Sharon Bridger: Unfortunately the old wisdom no longer applies.

[We see the van make a right turn]

Sharon Bridger: The new paradigm is each cell operates independent of the other. Cut off one head, another rises up in its place.

[the van cruises slowly down the street]

Sharon Bridger: Bus 87 was the work of the first cell, whose remaining elements, we believe, the FBI took down.

[the camera pans down the side of One Federal Plaza]

Sharon Bridger: This then activated cell #2:

[the camera closes in on the van]

Sharon Bridger: the theater gala.

[Agents Frank Haddad and Danny Sussman leave the building and exchange some words with two agents in the plaza]

Sharon Bridger: At the most we believe there are three, possibly four cells.

Chief of Staff: Well then how much longer until we can take out the last cell?

[Long pause; the van speeds up, and jumps the concrete barriers in front of the plaza, on a collision course with the lobby]

Sharon Bridger: We don't know.

[the van crashes through the windows of the lobby. Flash cut to an aerial view over Manhattan. The camera pans down on numerous emergency vehicles in front of the ruins of One Federal Plaza]