Ordering the Forced-Depletion Estimate for Khundu
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Charlie announces Bob Slattery's arrival to President Bartlet, setting up a critical briefing.
Bob Slattery briefs Bartlet on the lack of reliable intelligence regarding the situation in Khundu, highlighting the severity of the crisis.
Bartlet presses for an estimate on the death toll in Khundu, revealing his growing urgency about the situation.
Bartlet orders a forced depletion report to assess potential U.S. casualties in a peacekeeping mission, showing his strategic thinking and concern for American lives.
Bartlet and Bob discuss the trustworthiness of Jack Reese, emphasizing the need for discretion in handling the Khundu crisis.
Bartlet concludes the meeting by thanking Bob, signaling his approval of the plan and readiness to proceed.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not present; inferred urgency and concern for civilian welfare based on his network's reporting.
Referenced as the leader of the clerical network providing the best available intelligence outside Bitanga; his presence is implied as the critical local informant powering U.S. situational awareness.
- • (Inferred) Report civilian conditions honestly to external actors.
- • (Inferred) Protect local populations by making atrocities known to international authorities.
- • (Inferred) Clerical networks have moral duty to bear witness.
- • (Inferred) External attention can alter the course of violence.
Alert and deferential; cognizant of gravity but performing aide duties calmly.
Enters to announce Slattery, stands by unobtrusively, and facilitates the meeting—his presence marks normal White House procedure even as the discussion turns grave.
- • Ensure the President's meeting proceeds smoothly and confidentially.
- • Be available to assist with any follow-up logistics or requests.
- • The President's time and focus require minimal friction.
- • Sensitive orders should be handled discretely and efficiently.
Not present; inferred as engaged given the sensitivity of material her aide handles.
Referenced indirectly as Jack Reese's superior; her office's association gives Reese institutional placement at the Pentagon though she does not appear in the scene.
- • (Inferred) Ensure accurate, timely dissemination of national-security analysis.
- • (Inferred) Protect chain-of-command integrity and operational security.
- • (Inferred) Rapid, precise reporting is essential in crises.
- • (Inferred) Trusted aides are the key conduits for sensitive Pentagon tasks.
Not present; inferred defensive and likely to assert control if briefed publicly.
Referenced by Bartlet as the Secretary of Defense to be kept out of the forced-depletion loop; not present but functionally cast as a political obstacle.
- • (Inferred) Protect institutional prerogatives of the Defense Department.
- • (Inferred) Maintain oversight over casualty-sensitive military analyses.
- • (Inferred) High-profile knowledge of sensitive reports invites political risk.
- • (Inferred) The Secretary's office must control defense-related information flows.
Measured urgency — outwardly controlled but morally agitated, balancing compassion for victims with fear of political fallout.
Sitting at his Oval Office desk reading, Bartlet interrupts ceremony prep to absorb a national-security briefing, tests the intelligence estimate aloud, then issues a covert operational order to produce a forced-depletion casualty model while directing it around the Secretary's office.
- • Obtain a clear estimate of U.S. casualties for a potential peacekeeping mission.
- • Keep sensitive planning out of the Secretary of Defense's office and away from public exposure.
- • Humanitarian catastrophe requires immediate, concrete planning rather than public posturing.
- • Pentagon politics (specifically Miles Hutchison) will complicate a sensitive casualty assessment and must be circumvented to protect the mission and political standing.
Not present to display emotion; inferred as duty-bound and ready to comply with a presidential task if contacted.
Named by Slattery as the Pentagon officer who can produce the forced-depletion estimate; not physically present but immediately implicated as the executor of Bartlet's secret order.
- • (Inferred) Produce an accurate forced-depletion casualty estimate for a Khundu peacekeeping force.
- • (Inferred) Maintain professional discretion given the sensitive chain-of-command constraints.
- • (Inferred) Military analysis should be precise and apolitical.
- • (Inferred) Orders relayed through trusted channels will be followed without unnecessary publicity.
Cool professionalism masking the weight of bad intelligence — focused on transmitting facts and enabling decisive action.
Delivers a concise national-security summary: intelligence vacuum outside Bitanga, reliance on the Archbishop's clerical network, and a verbal casualty estimate. Identifies Jack Reese as the Pentagon contact and accepts Bartlet's instruction to keep the Secretary's office uninformed.
- • Convey the best available intelligence and quantify civilian casualties.
- • Enable the President's request by identifying a discreet and trustworthy Pentagon channel.
- • Clear, compact briefings serve the President best in crisis.
- • Operational work is cleaner and safer when handled by trusted, lower-profile officers than by politicized senior appointees.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet's Oval Office desk anchors the scene physically and symbolically; Bartlet reads there, receives the briefing, and uses it as the locus to issue his secretive order. It frames the intimate executive decision-making that bypasses public and departmental channels.
The 'forced depletion' report is ordered into existence here: Bartlet requests a classified casualty-modeling analysis to determine how many U.S. service members a Khundu peacekeeping mission might lose. Narratively, the object acts as the instrument that converts moral outrage into measurable military risk and institutional conflict.
Bob Slattery's casualty estimate (verbalized as 'Could be as many as 5,000') functions as the evidentiary trigger for Bartlet's order; though spoken, it operates like an objectified datum that justifies urgent planning and moral pressure.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Pentagon is invoked as the analytical and operational hub where Jack Reese will produce the forced-depletion casualty estimate; it functions as the practical source of military modeling and risk assessment.
The Republic of Equatorial Khundu is the crisis's geographical and moral center; Bartlet's order targets a hypothetical peacekeeping force destined for Khundu and frames the broader humanitarian imperative driving White House action.
The Secretary of Defense's office is named as the authority Bartlet wishes to exclude; its invocation creates a political constraint and identifies a potential source of public leaks and institutional obstruction.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Pentagon is the institutional site where the forced-depletion modeling will be produced. It is the practical partner for the White House's military calculations and the place where institutional constraints could reshape or leak sensitive analysis.
The Catholic Church is invoked as an actor with superior local intelligence through its clergy; its reporting compensates for U.S. gaps and drives the White House's understanding of civilian suffering.
The Archbishop's Network of Clerics is the specific on-the-ground intelligence source Slattery cites; their reports supply the casualty estimates and qualitative evidence that prompt the White House to act.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense is the political body Bartlet explicitly seeks to exclude from the forced-depletion loop to avoid politicization and media exposure; its potential involvement is framed as a political risk.
The Khundu Peacekeeping Force is the hypothetical military unit whose casualty profile Bartlet orders to be modeled. Though not yet formed, it is the conceptual target of the forced-depletion analysis and the operational thread tying humanitarian concern to military consequence.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo's briefing on the escalating violence in Khundu prompts Bartlet to order a forced depletion report."
"Leo's briefing on the escalating violence in Khundu prompts Bartlet to order a forced depletion report."
"Leo's briefing on the escalating violence in Khundu prompts Bartlet to order a forced depletion report."
"Leo's briefing on the escalating violence in Khundu prompts Bartlet to order a forced depletion report."
"Bartlet's order of a forced depletion report leads to Jack Reese's reassignment as political fallout."
"Bartlet's order of a forced depletion report leads to Jack Reese's reassignment as political fallout."
"Bartlet's order of a forced depletion report leads to Jack Reese's reassignment as political fallout."
Key Dialogue
"BOB: "Intelligence is thin outside Bitanga. In fact, the Archbishop's network of clerics is probably as good as it gets." BARTLET: "The Catholic Church has better intelligence than we do?" BOB: "It's a very small embassy, maybe ten people. And no Agency presence." BARTLET: "None?" BOB: "No, sir.""
"BARTLET: "How many are dead right now?" BOB: "We have no way of knowing." BARTLET: "Estimate." BOB: "Could be as many as 5,000." BARTLET: "Bobby, I don't want to make noise but I want to see a forced depletion report. I want to know how many we'd lose and I want to do it without going three rounds in the newspaper with Miles Hutchison. Who do we have at the Pentagon who could do this for us?" BOB: "Jack Reese, Nancy's aid." BARTLET: "You trust him?" BOB: "I do.""