The concise briefing

An excerpt of my next thriller to be completed soon "THE GLOBAL THREAT".

"The global threat"

An excerpt

The session at the secretary of defense office opened up at two forty five, when the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff arrived, they met the joint chiefs of staff Generals of the marine corps, the air force, the coast guard and the navy admiral were waiting for them.

'Sorry gentlemen to have kept you waiting, we'd a mechanic problem and that's why we're late.' The secretary of defense asked the small group to excuse him as he and the chairman took their seats. The delay reason was in fact a lunch in a restaurant on their way, as the luncheon in the Red Room did not satiate neither him and nor the chairman that accompanied him to the meeting with the president.

The four chiefs smiled quite composed, they were not bored while waiting to the arrival of the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, on the contrary they exchanged news in a lively prattle and gossiped and bantered each other, and the time past rather pleasantly.

But they welcomed the arrival of the secretary and the chairman with an expectant and tensed silence; it was high time to learn why they were summoned to this exceptional meeting.

'Okay gentlemen let's start our meeting.' The secretary of defense declared raising his voice to stop the low chattering of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 'The President has approved the annual training program, with emphasize on training the troops that returned from Afghanistan; and there won't be manpower cuts according to our demands. We have returned some of our boys back home except the Fifth Fleet and the combined task forces that serve in the bases in the Persian Gulf and in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and our base in South Korea too.' He knew that his superficial preface did not impress his small and well updated audience, but what has been accomplished already was not his main concern. The evacuation of Afghanistan of the forces that ware based close to Eastern Iranian border with the Russians' permission to fly over their territories, was not a very wise move; in any case that's how the combined deal with Putin over Syria and Iran was devised. A deal that the Joint Chiefs of Staff were against it, but they had to abide to the President's diplomacy conception and that's exactly how I felt and brought their assessments to the President but he didn't change his decision. The secretary of defense kept thinking watching his small audience, which he trusted and was proud to work with.

'We've had an intelligence update in the White House,' He went on and turned his small audience attention to what really bothered him.  'The chief of our intelligence agency updated us in general terms about their so called Atlantic fleet sail back to their home port at Bandar Abbas. Now then after they've signed the interim agreement and they gave us their word that they won't block the strait, they expect us or rather wish us, to withdraw the task force of the fifth fleet that anchors in the Persian Gulf.'

'We must keep on staying there, even if they signed at last the agreement, I don't think that they can be trusted.' The Admiral remarked.

'I do agree with you Admiral the agreement with them was signed after a dozen of years' talks, and I hope we won't regret pulling our troops out of Afghanistan. In my opinion the Taliban would topple the government that we've left there, and they'll join forces with Iran…'

'If a war will break out it will be much harder to defeat them in this would happen.' The chairman remarked cutting off the few seconds' silence that ensued.

'The President believes that they'll prefer economical prosperity over hostilities in which they'll be defeated.' The secretary of defense  hastened to sum up that doubtful issue, but his listeners knew that it isn't what the secretary of defense believes in.

The Admiral had no intention to end up so soon the discussion on the issues under his responsibility, and on the task forces on which he commanded, with that kind of casual discourse. 

'The president may believe in the Iranians aspiration for prosperity, but the commander of the Fifth Fleet sends me daily reports of Iranians provocations with fast patrol boats, which keep alerting our crews and drones that fly over our ships. These provocations can turn into a break of hostilities and develop into a war.'

'But they're performing these show off stunts some four years already Admiral, I'll ask our foreign secretary to tell them to stop it; but do keep me updated, if the situation will worsen. I do hope they'll stop their pranks the impudent idiots, the secretary of defense declared hopefully, he knew as well as the Admiral and the rest of the Chiefs of Staff that the President's diplomatic policy is a risk that might blow in his face, but these were the President's instructions and they've to obey to his commands.

'Well that's it gentlemen, let's carry on and hope that we won't need to force the Iranians to comply with the agreement's terms and conditions.'

© Haim Kadman February 2014 " all rights reserved.