Read Online December Ultimatum by Michael Nicholson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael Nicholson
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peace and stability to a vital economic area of the world—notification to Congress
‘Exactly, Mr President, the War Powers Act.’
‘It could just work.’ Johns again. ‘Not for long, but long enough.’
‘The Soviets will know what we’re up to,’ said the President.
‘Of course. Point is, Mr President, everyone will know what we’re up to, including our friends, but by then our men will be on the ground. We give Rahbar and the UN simultaneous ultimatums, Rahbar to resume oil supplies, the UN to declare the Gulf an International Zone and bar the Soviet fleet. And we give them twenty-four hours to respond, knowing they can’t or won’t in that time. Then our boys drop on the oilfields, ostensibly to stabilize the area until the UN, or Rahbar, or both, make up their minds. It’s not perfect, but it’s the only gambit available to us, simply appearing to be seen to be doing what’s best. A holding tactic to get us into those fields under the guise of a peacekeeping force—anything less than that and we can expect immediate Soviet response in a very physical way.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Mr President,’ said Sorenson. ‘You know that the seas south of the Persian Gulf are saturated with Soviet warships and re-supply ships. Remember those satellite surveillance photographs you showed us, Admiral, only a week ago? Eighteen ships of their Sixth Fleet anchored at Aden, eleven of their Third Fleet at Massawa in the Red Sea, including two battleships and a helo-carrier. At this very moment there’s a convoy of twenty-two south of the Gulf of Oman on warm-water exercises.’
‘That’s right, Mr President.’ Admiral Holliwell got up from the table and went to the wall-map of the Middle East to remind the others where Aden, Massawa and the Gulf of Oman were. The Admiral’s hand swept the area. He said, ‘This is the first time, Mr President, that they’ve had such a concentration of their fleets so close to the Persian Gulf. This convoy,’ he circled an area with his finger, ‘is certainly the biggest in fire and missile power we’ve ever seen in that latitude. The carrier Minsk is with them and it’s their largest carrier. The Ivan Rogov is with her. That’s an assault ship with helos and about a thousand combat marines aboard, battalion strength.’
‘What do you read into so many Soviet ships being so close to the oilfields at this time?’ asked the President.
‘Well,’ said the Admiral, ‘Moscow let it be known ten days ago that their Seventh Fleet would be on exercises in that area. They do warm-water training every winter. Last year it was in the Arabian Sea, south of Karachi.’
‘Extraordinary,’ said the President ‘that they just happen to be in there at the time of the coup. Are they close enough to be used against us?’
‘If they moved into the Persian Gulf, yes.’
‘What do we have there?’
‘An assault ship, sir. The Okinawa. It’s been on a show-the- flag visit to Bahrain but she’s on her way out. Should be moving through the Straits of Hormuz some time tomorrow.’ The President beckoned to Admiral Holliwell to sit down again and turned to Sorenson.
‘Tom, if we go ahead with your UN manoeuvre, how long have we got?’
‘Four days, maybe. Probably less.’
‘And then?’
‘That’s up to Johns, Mr President. I can buy us time at the UN, but it’s up to the CIA to use that time to get Fahd back. Make no mistake, the success of this thing from the moment our boys jump on those oil wells depends on us taking the King back to Riyadh. As Johns says he’s pivotal. I can get us into Saudi Arabia with the least damage internationally, but if we are going to stay there, it’s got to be with the Saudis’ okay and that means putting Fahd back on his throne. We have four days, as I’ve said—maybe less—but after that, combat troops of the United States army remain on foreign soil as aggressors and an army of occupation. And we can guess the consequences.’
The
‘Exactly, Mr President, the War Powers Act.’
‘It could just work.’ Johns again. ‘Not for long, but long enough.’
‘The Soviets will know what we’re up to,’ said the President.
‘Of course. Point is, Mr President, everyone will know what we’re up to, including our friends, but by then our men will be on the ground. We give Rahbar and the UN simultaneous ultimatums, Rahbar to resume oil supplies, the UN to declare the Gulf an International Zone and bar the Soviet fleet. And we give them twenty-four hours to respond, knowing they can’t or won’t in that time. Then our boys drop on the oilfields, ostensibly to stabilize the area until the UN, or Rahbar, or both, make up their minds. It’s not perfect, but it’s the only gambit available to us, simply appearing to be seen to be doing what’s best. A holding tactic to get us into those fields under the guise of a peacekeeping force—anything less than that and we can expect immediate Soviet response in a very physical way.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Mr President,’ said Sorenson. ‘You know that the seas south of the Persian Gulf are saturated with Soviet warships and re-supply ships. Remember those satellite surveillance photographs you showed us, Admiral, only a week ago? Eighteen ships of their Sixth Fleet anchored at Aden, eleven of their Third Fleet at Massawa in the Red Sea, including two battleships and a helo-carrier. At this very moment there’s a convoy of twenty-two south of the Gulf of Oman on warm-water exercises.’
‘That’s right, Mr President.’ Admiral Holliwell got up from the table and went to the wall-map of the Middle East to remind the others where Aden, Massawa and the Gulf of Oman were. The Admiral’s hand swept the area. He said, ‘This is the first time, Mr President, that they’ve had such a concentration of their fleets so close to the Persian Gulf. This convoy,’ he circled an area with his finger, ‘is certainly the biggest in fire and missile power we’ve ever seen in that latitude. The carrier Minsk is with them and it’s their largest carrier. The Ivan Rogov is with her. That’s an assault ship with helos and about a thousand combat marines aboard, battalion strength.’
‘What do you read into so many Soviet ships being so close to the oilfields at this time?’ asked the President.
‘Well,’ said the Admiral, ‘Moscow let it be known ten days ago that their Seventh Fleet would be on exercises in that area. They do warm-water training every winter. Last year it was in the Arabian Sea, south of Karachi.’
‘Extraordinary,’ said the President ‘that they just happen to be in there at the time of the coup. Are they close enough to be used against us?’
‘If they moved into the Persian Gulf, yes.’
‘What do we have there?’
‘An assault ship, sir. The Okinawa. It’s been on a show-the- flag visit to Bahrain but she’s on her way out. Should be moving through the Straits of Hormuz some time tomorrow.’ The President beckoned to Admiral Holliwell to sit down again and turned to Sorenson.
‘Tom, if we go ahead with your UN manoeuvre, how long have we got?’
‘Four days, maybe. Probably less.’
‘And then?’
‘That’s up to Johns, Mr President. I can buy us time at the UN, but it’s up to the CIA to use that time to get Fahd back. Make no mistake, the success of this thing from the moment our boys jump on those oil wells depends on us taking the King back to Riyadh. As Johns says he’s pivotal. I can get us into Saudi Arabia with the least damage internationally, but if we are going to stay there, it’s got to be with the Saudis’ okay and that means putting Fahd back on his throne. We have four days, as I’ve said—maybe less—but after that, combat troops of the United States army remain on foreign soil as aggressors and an army of occupation. And we can guess the consequences.’
The
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