“Sinai?” said Wells. “Freddie, that’s the other half of this whole scheme. It’s all about opening up the Suez Canal again. The bloody Yanks convinced Israel to commit to a major operation in Sinai. They’re calling it Operation Chariot. They crossed the DMZ in Sinai at 06:00 yesterday morning, and I expect you’ve been listening to anything BBC got hold of on the matter.”
“Rather ambitious, sir. The Egyptian Army is no pushover.”
“Indeed. Well, remember when this kicked off in the Med? Before we went south to clear the Canary islands, the Yanks moved in one of their Carrier Strike Groups, the Harry S. Truman, and just for this operation. Marvelous ships, those American carriers.”
“Not as smart looking as Prince of Wales, sir.”
“Perhaps, but damn efficient. Their air wing makes the carrier the Queen of naval combat. Ours is more like a Bishop. We just weren’t really ready when this thing teed up.”
“The F-35 does a good job, sir.”
“That it does, but we really need better standoff ordnance. SPEAR is simply too light. Oh, it served us well, but if we could have mixed in more heavier strike missiles, we might have done better. But look at us, Freddie. It’s like we’ve been wearing another man’s coat, hat, and shoes to this dance. The F-35 is American made, and here we are scrambling to lay in American made Mark-41 VLS systems so we can load in American made Tomahawks, and that wonderful Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile of theirs. Without those planes and US missiles, what would have become of the Royal Navy in this war? Look at the losses we’ve already sustained.”
“Yet we’ve evened the score a good way with this mission, sir.”
“Yes, I’ve learned. I sat with the Captain of the Roosevelt group, and picked his brain, yet the loss of all those ships getting up here still stings.”
“But we’re here sir,” said Sir Frederick. “We’re back in Aden, and we’ve handed the Chinese their hats and shown them the door.”
Wells nodded, a troubled expression still on his face. “Now it’s on to Djibouti,” he said.
“Should be a piece of cake, sir. Intelligence says this Nanchang we put down was the last of them. There are no more Chinese surface combatants in the region. All we have to do is move in the lads by helicopter and do what we just did here.”
“Yes, the Yanks get the heavy lifting now. The main Chinese Indian Ocean Fleet pulled back to Karachi, and word is that Pakistan is going to sortie with them if the Americans try to open the Persian Gulf. Of course they must do that, and so the battle there will make this one look like an appetizer before the banquet. We’ll clean up here, and effectively open the Red Sea to our traffic again. This business on the radio about Sinai is bigger than you may think, Freddie. You’re right. Tackling the Egyptians will be no small matter. We’ve just got our hands on an old British Petroleum facility here. That’s the game now—oil—and don’t forget we’ve another big BP operation that was seized by the Egyptians.”
“Sultan Apache?” said the Captain.
“That’s the one. Well, we’ve done our part here, but this is just one small piece of a much bigger puzzle. There’s a new war plan, rather ambitious, and this news from Sinai is Phase II. It’s all aimed at liberating Kuwait and defending Saudi Arabia, of course. So in the end, it’s really all about that oil. Don’t be surprised if you get some good news about Sultan Apache one of these days.”
Wells left it there, leaving Sir Frederick to raise an eyebrow. The Admiral did know a good deal more, but he could see that he wasn’t at liberty to discuss it. Rank has its privileges, he thought, wondering if he would finally make Commodore when this was over. Taking Aden was a nice feather in his cap, and now it was on to Djibouti—piece of cake….
Yes, there was a plan, he thought. There had to be a plan for how the war would progress in the weeks and months ahead. It had been all a naval affair up until this operation. They rooted the Chinese out of Socotra, and now Aden. Soon they would pluck another weed from Djibouti. But the Admiral was correct. This was just an overture. The real fighting is going to be in Sinai, and then what in God’s name will they end up doing about the Iraqi Army?
There had to be a plan, he thought. Yes, a bloody big one, too.
Part IV
The Best Laid Plans
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Chapter 10
“What’s the plan, gentlemen.” The President leaned back, arms folded, waiting for one of his Generals to speak.
“Sir, given the present situation in the Indian Ocean, with considerable enemy naval forces that have yet to be engaged, the Navy recommends that Able Sentry should immediately move to Phase II. To that end, Military Sealift Command has already accommodated the Army at our Eastern Seaboard ports for the rapid overseas movement of heavy divisions to Point Bravo.”
“Point Bravo?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said Admiral Gilmore, Chief of US Naval Operations, “that would be Israel, specifically the Ports of Haifa, Ashod and Eilat. Given that King Abdullah of Jordan has agreed to open his borders for movement east, Able Fire is now on the table as a viable option. Allow me to defer to General Millard, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.”
“Thank you, Admiral.” General Millard was decorated from shoulder to shoulder, his chest a menagerie of service ribbons and medals. Of medium height, but powerfully built, his well-worn face spoke of the decades of service he had given to the Army. It was a face that might have been chiseled in stone by those years, and everything about him spoke of command, as hard and implacable as stony Mt. Rushmore.
“Mister President. The operation we have dubbed Able Sentry was a standing contingency plan to move forces to the immediate aid of Saudi Arabia in the event of invasion. As we have seen, that threat was all too real, and both Marine Expeditionary Battalions that were already in theater, and our 82nd Airborne Division, have moved to the Kingdom and deployed as planned. That was the rapid reaction element of the operation, known as Able Forward. The heavy element is General Bergman’s 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, which is now in theater on the water and bound for Oman. The timing of its arrival there is contingent upon the naval situation. That said, the news delivered by Admiral Gilmore a moment ago is heartening, as it opens up an entire new avenue of approach, and permits a transition from the primarily defensive operation, Able Sentry, to its offensive end, designated Able Fire.”
“And just what exactly is that option?”
“Sir, that would be a rapid deployment through Point Bravo and Jordan into Western Iraq.”
“You want to invade Iraq? I thought these operations were intended for the defense of Saudi Arabia.”
“That is true, Mister President, but you will certainly be familiar with the phase the best defense if a good offense. In fact, President George Washington, a fighting General before he took that office, also said, and I quote, ‘offensive operations, are the surest, if not the only means of defense.’ That applies heavily to the strategic situation we now face in Saudi Arabia.”
The General looked over his shoulder. “May I have map one please?” The digital screen lit up, covering the entire wall of the conference room, and displaying a map of the entire Middle East.
“Sir, this is the present front line in Saudi Arabia, with forces friendly to the Kingdom in blue, and those hostile in red. As you can see, the Iraqi Army has overrun all of Kuwait and then penetrated 120 miles into Saudi Arabia, as far as Al Jubayl on the coast. They then attempted a surprise night movement of three Republican Guard Divisions east of Highway 75, in an attempt to flank the defensive line shown, and open an approach to Damman and the Ghawar Oil Fields from the southeast, but our 82nd Airborne Division stopped them here, at a point we coded Rivet Joint One, the junction of Highway 75 north with Highway 80 East.”
“They didn’t try to move on the Saudi capital?”
“No sir, Riyadh may have plenty o
f gold, but not enough oil there, and that is what every battle fought here for the last 80 years has been about. If the hostiles were to secure the Ghawar Fields, along with Kuwait and their own holdings in Iraq and Iran, they would effectively control almost 50% of total known reserves on the planet. So they won’t need the gold in Riyadh.”
“And this is the plan to prevent that. Invade Iraq?”
“Yes sir, that is our left hook, and offensive operation aimed at Baghdad, at the very heart of the Hussein regime. What we want to achieve is a withdrawal of Iraqi and Iranian forces from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There are two ways we can accomplish that. The first is to continue to move forces into the Indian Ocean to land at Oman, deploy them on the front you see here on the map, and then go over to offensive operations to drive the enemy north. It’s a long way to go, and the buildup of required forces would therefore be very slow. If we did it that way, we would also be facing the bulk of the Iraqi Army, which is now in the Kingdom, and have a long fight in front of us. If, however, we throw that left hook, we would compel the Iraqis to leave Saudi Arabia of their own accord. If they stay put, their entire Army would be cut off, bereft of supply, and in a very precarious position—out on a limb, Mister President, and one we can saw on day and night with General Goldman’s Air Force. It’s what Eisenhower did when we landed in Normandy, behind the German front at the time. That shook everything loose and forced them to retreat north. We want to do the same thing here.”
In another history, the General might have used MacArthur’s landing at Inchon as another good example, but there had been no Korean war here. That state had remained united and in China’s orbit since the end of WWII.
“Sir, with a strong force behind the enemy, we cut off everything they have in Saudi Arabia, and anything they might try to leave in Kuwait. It kills two birds with one stone. A bold man goes to Kuwait City in this operation, but a real man goes to Baghdad.”
“Alright, General, I see the virtue of the maneuver, but won’t the Iraqi’s see it as well? They will certainly know the essence of this plan the moment we offload our troops in Israeli ports.”
“They may have some inkling, sir, but may not know what the real access of our attack would be. Jordan shares most of its eastern border with Saudi Arabia. They may think we intend to only move troops into the Kingdom, where they could then move down both Highway 65 and 85 to flank the Iraqi Army from the west.”
“Well, wouldn’t that option get them to do what you want? They would have to pull out north to parry that attack.”
“True, sir, but that fight would remain inside Saudi Arabia, and again, against the bulk of their entire army, which is already there. If we take Highway 1 instead, which leads from Jordan, through Ramadi to Baghdad, we present a much greater threat to the regime. They would have to move substantial forces north out of Saudi Arabi from the moment we arrive in Israel. Once we muster on the border here, in northeast Jordan, they will see the route to Baghdad is wide open, and we have tremendous mobility. At that point, we think their retreat north will become a stampede. If, however, we move our forces into Saudi Arabia from Jordan, then we have only two chances to turn left off Highway 85, the road that runs parallel to the Iraqi-Saudi border. The first would be here, at Arar, which takes us into Iraq up Highway 22 to Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad. The second would be further down Highway 85 at the Saudi town of Rafha. A jog left there would take us up Highway 29, a much smaller road, and that leads to Samawah, which is 145 miles south of Baghdad.”
“I see…. General, it seems to me that if we take the most ambitious end of this operation, the advance up Highway 1, then we’d essentially be occupying Iraq. Wouldn’t we stir up some rather stiff resistance there if we do this? After all, they’d be defending their own home turf, and would likely fight us with everything they have.”
“Sir, most everything they do have is already well south in Saudi Arabia. Looking at this politically, what we also have here is a chance to unhorse the entire Iraqi regime. If we cut this army off, we can put it out of business. That’s different from simply compelling them to withdraw from the territory they’ve overrun, and leaving that army operational as a coherent force. We can’t leave our forces there indefinitely, and if we allow Qusay Hussein to keep his army intact, who’s to say he won’t use it again? If we go to Baghdad, and knock this guy off, then we change the entire strategic makeup of the Middle East. Remember that China is behind both Iraq and Iran. Our intelligence people believe they are all hand in glove, and that this operation is the heart of their present war plan. We can frustrate that with Able Sentry, but completely disrupt it if we move rapidly to Able Fire. This could end the war with China too.”
“Alright, assuming I authorized this plan, how long would our forces need to be in Iraq?”
“Sir, we believe we can achieve the desired end zone for this operation in two weeks, and thereby create political conditions that would force the surrender of the Iraqi armed forces in theater.”
“All of them?”
“Yes sir, their entire show. It would be a tremendous strategic victory, not merely a tactical operation aimed at restoring the old status quo. We’ve drawn a few simple graphics up for you to illustrate what I mean with that.”
“This is a fairly audacious plan, General. As I read the map, Highway 1 runs from Jordan to Baghdad, and then south from Baghdad to Basrah and the Persian Gulf. It’s the Operation the Germans attempted under their General Heinz Guderian in the last war, and they went all the way to Baghdad. But they didn’t stay there long, nor did they take that road very far towards Basrah, even though they forced the British to retreat there.”
“I see you’ve read your history, sir.”
“Indeed. Surprised you got a President that reads this time around? Be glad for that, General Millard. So forget the silly graphics. I’ll want the details: maps, objectives, timetable, charts, tables, orders of battle, logistics—the works, and I’ll want this from the Navy and Air Force as well. I assume you have all this in a briefing paper for me to digest.”
“Yes sir, this is the plan, Able Sentry, with its transition to Able Fire noted in detail in Part Three.” The General handed the President a thick briefing book, which he sized up with narrowed eyes.
“Very Good. General, I will read this tonight and think on it. In the meantime, and until I make a final decision, proceed with the preliminary aspects of this plan, which I assume would be the movement and mobilization of divisions and shipping required to get the damn thing to Point Bravo. Yet you never answered my question. Suppose we go to Baghdad, like General Guderian did in the last war, and suppose we knock off Qusay Hussein, and send him into retirement with his father, Saddam. We’ll be sitting in a country, with a quarter million men in their army suddenly out of a job, and we’ll be the sole authority and force for law and order. You want to sign your battalions up for state building? If so, we could be in for a long occupation. As I recall, we were in Germany into the 1950’s—ten years after the damn war ended. The other alternative is to do what we came to do, and then pull out, which could leave a godawful mess over there. Does your plan look at the aftermath—the consequences of this operation, even if it is successful?”
“Sir, we address that in Part Five of the plan I have just handed you. The short answer is that we would set up a coalition authority for a 90 day period, and then turn the matter over to the United Nations.”
“Coalition?” The President looked at his liaison from the Defense Secretary’s office now. Are you telling me we’ve actually got one of those?”
“Mister President, Secretary Davidson is optimistic that we will have the full backing of the European Union, and he’s working to get them to put that into a firm commitment now—a military commitment, sir.”
“You mean to say he thinks we can get the British, French and Germans to get off the couch and weigh in on this—and with tanks?”
“And the Italians, sir. Yet I was told to let the S
ecretary speak with you directly on that as soon as he returns. That would be at 18:00 this evening, sir.”
“Good enough.” The President nodded. “Very well. Thank you all, I have some reading to do, and I’ll certainly want to hear from my Defense Secretary as well. Getting the Europeans to move on something this bold is usually like trying to herd cats. That said, as this business is time sensitive, I’ll be in touch with you in short order.”
* * *
Once, in another telling of these events, he had fled with his brother to Mosul in the far north of Iraq, hoping to hide out in a nondescript home long enough to make arrangements to flee the country. His name and face had been printed on one of 52 cards in a deck that represented the most wanted men in the Iraqi regime. Qusay Hussein, the second son of Saddam, was the Ace of Clubs, and his older brother Uday was the Ace of Hearts in that deck, and in that time, they were on the run, tracked down by a US Special Forces Group, Task Force 121.
When the SF team approached the house, they came under immediate fire, and called for backup. Qusay, Uday and their bodyguards were well armed and were not going down without a fight. That battle lasted four hours, leaving the house a pile of rubble and both of Saddam’s sons dead on the 22nd of July 2003.
Yet that had never happened here. There had been no stunning attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, and no campaign into Afghanistan, no Gulf Wars to contain and then destroy the regime of Saddam. Instead, the US had kept a guarded watch on the region, roosting in Oman, and not in the heart of the Persian Gulf in Qatar. OMCOM conducted many small operations aimed at terrorists cells emerging in the region, but no major combat operations. An uneasy peace had been maintained between Saddam’s Sunni regime in Iraq, and the Shia Regime in Iran, and eventually, China had become the great benefactor and peace broker between the two, always with an eye on the oil reserves they controlled.
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