[War] USA/UK: "The Special Relationship"

[Michael Downey]

OOC: This post was many days in the works, sorry if some stuff is
dated by this point.

"The Special Relationship"
President John Williams, United States of America
Prime Minister Owen Eckley, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
2 August 2006
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
<Near Capitol Hill>

When he heard the news of the attempt on President Bush's life, Eckley
had mixed feelings. He was certainly upset that the man had been shot,
always a terrible thing, but he was more concerned about Vice
President Cheney becoming President. Eckley had only met Cheney once
but did not like or trust the man. And when Cheney had had the good
grace to expire, Eckley felt less sympathy for the Veep than he did
for the still-living Bush.

As soon as news reached him in Ottawa, Eckley had delayed his return
trip home to visit DC. As a principal US ally, the British PM would be
expected to attend the state funeral for Cheney. But more importantly,
Eckley wanted to meet with the new President.

They had much to discuss. The change in power in their two nations and
how it would affect the Anglo-American alliance. They both were
fighting a war in Iraq, the Middle East was self-destructing (news at
eleven), and things were still tense in India.

Yes, they had much to discuss. And Eckley wanted to see what kind of
man Williams was.
---
<The White House: 0900 EDT>

Meanwhile, the new President sat behind the Resolute desk for the
first time, after his intelligence briefings, national security
briefings, and similar morning activity. Well, it wasn't his first
time behind the desk, strictly seaking, but it was the first time when
one excluded the 5 minutes he'd spent behind it on the day everything
went to hell.

At the moment, he was going over the briefing book on the coming visit
of Prime Minister Eckley from the UK, or trying to.

While, ordinarily, he'd be interested in the briefing book's
collection of newsclippings, biographical details, and intelligence
reports about the man (essentially, everything the US Government had
on him, true and not-yet-verified-but-credible), his attention was
distracted.

"I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be behind this desk," he muttered to
himself.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Rosen, his secretary that he'd brought over from
the House, heard him, and poked her head in. "Still shell-shocked?"
she asked quietly.

He blinked, looking up from the briefing book. "Er, yeah," he admitted.

"You're here. Whether you 'belong' here or not. Get used to it," Mrs.
Rosen replied.

"Point taken."

With that, he got back to reading, finishing the documents quickly and
locking it in the safe.

At the White House entrance, a Marine sentry opened the door to
Eckley's recently arrived limo. Unlike his state visit to Canada,
there were no photographers present. This was a more informal and more
subdued meeting, and neither Eckley nor Williams wanted to run the
press gambit right now.

Having never been to the White House, the PM relied upon the two
Secret Service agents to direct him to the Oval Office. Eckley waited
for the President's principal secretary to announce his presence
before stepping into the most important room on Earth.

"Mr. President, Prime Minister Eckley has arrived," Mrs. Rosen said
into the intercom as she noticed the PM.

Seconds later, the doors to the Oval Office opened, and President
Williams stood there, smiling and extending a hand as the PM
approached him.

"Mr. Prime Minister, congratulations on your appointment, and welcome
to Washington...Though I wish it were under better circumstances,"
Williams greeted, stepping aside to let Eckley enter. The fact
that 'better circumstances' would mean it would be Bush, not himself,
greeting the PM really need not be said.

"Thank you, Mr. President," replied Eckley, grasping Williams' hand.
The POTUS had a firm handshake, which Eckley usually took as a good
sign in a man. "And my condolences about the death of Vice President
Cheney." That was of course lip service, but there was no need for
Eckley to be coarse in this situation. "How is the prognosis for
President Bush's recovery?"

Williams led the PM to a comfortable set of chairs, endtables nearby.
The room was still furnished according to Bush's tastes; the only
changes visible thusfar were the lack of the usual knickknacks, and a
wicker basket filled with what looked like dog treats in a corner.

"We're still transitioning," he said by way of explanation. "Want
anything? Coffee? Tea?" Then, after his guest sat down, he
continued. "So far as Bush...It's expected to be a full recovery, no
loss of function on a permanent basis, but it's going to be a *long*
recovery; I tried to encourage him not to resign, but once the docs
said they figured it'd be six months til he walked again and could
return to duty, there was no persuading him. He had a point, if I'm
honest with myself; Nobody could afford this country going into the
holding pattern the situation would create," he replied with a
shrug. "I just...I dunno."

"Just tea," said Ecklety as he sat. "I respect President Bush' choice.
To give up office for the good of one's country is a sign of a man who
has more concern for his people than his own personal career. Few
politicians today are noble in that regard.

"But that said, the fact remains the world goes on. On towards chaos
now, I'm afraid. The situation in Lebanon. It's getting worse by the
day. Someone needs to talk to the Israelis."

"I've already said my piece to them, mostly that they need to be far
more accurate in their weaponeering," Williams replied as he tapped
something into his Blackberry. "Frankly, while I can see why everyone
is getting nervous, and I agree, I'm wondering if we really *want* to
step in. Hezbollah was dumb enough to throw the first punch, and
they've been acting like idiots since the Israelis left Lebanon in
2000. They deserve to get smacked down, eliminated if the Israelis can
manage it. I've told the Israelis to be limited in their operations,
and be a lot more careful in their targeting and their operational
execution, but while I'm *considering* telling them to knock it off,
I'm also wondering if that wouldn't encourage Hezbollah."

A smile then. "I'm finding that my thinking on the topic is probably
what my parents used with me and my brother: 'He was dumb enough to
throw the first punch, so let him get beaten up for a bit. Then we'll
step in,'" he quipped. "Besides, Hezbollah is still in the 'we can
take it!' stage. When -they- start screaming for mommy, then I'll know
the Israelis are just being gratuitous.

"Until then, while I'll be paying attention to the situation and
urging the Israelis to restrain themselves to only smacking Hezbollah
around without touching the rest of the Lebanese society, I'm inclined
to let this go on, let Hezbollah get knocked around a bit.

"Beyond simply not wanting to let Hezbollah get any unwarranted ideas,
I'm also of the opinion that, frankly, Ohlmert needs to prove his
security credentials to the Israeli public anyway, so if he has to do
something, at least he's using people who unreservedly deserve to get
smacked, Hezbollah, as the demonstration target."

At that point, a knock on the door was heard.

"Enter!" Williams called out.

A Navy steward - the White House mess being a Navy operation - walked
in, carrying a tray with a pot of tea, a teacup, and the usual
incidentals. "Sirs," being his only comment. After placing the tray on
the table between the two men, he nodded to the PM, exchanged salutes
with the President, then left quietly, as Williams sipped coffee from
a mug emblazoned with the Ranger tab, plus other badges that seemed
hard to decipher, as well as writing unreadable at a distance.

"I agree with you that Hezbollah is the problem in this situation,"
said Eckley as he took up his cup of tea. "I don't really think they
can accept a world where they have to coexist with Israel. They are
the ones that started all of this, probably in some vain attempt to
appear relevant and formidable to the rest of the world." The ironic
part being there probably wouldn't be much left of Hezbollah after the
Israelis were done.

"If you believe that letting the Israelis handle this situation is the
best course of action, then I will support it. For there to be lasting
peace between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah has to be taken out of the
picture. Israel doing it will be much easier for the Western powers to
stomach than a peacekeeping force being sent in to disarm them. But
only if Israel follows your advice. Because we both know that they
have a tendency to be...... well, utterly ruthless and exceptionally
heavy-handed. And I'm also afraid what could start as an Israeli
military operation in the Southern areas controlled by Hezbollah will
quickly expand to the rest of Lebanon."

Williams nods, then. "It's a rough neighborhood; Besides, what they do
may -be- utterly ruthless and exceptionally heavy-handed, but they're
angels in comparison to, say, everybody else in the region," he notes,
not mentioning the fact that the Israelis had learned their methods
from, well, Britain, "so I'm personally willing to accept that their
methods may not be as clean as we would accept normally. But I
understand your concern, and share it to an extent. Thusfar,
though...They've been using airstrikes and artillery, primarily, and
their tactical reasons for doing so are sound. You can get fairly
accurate in hitting a target with either, but I appreciate the fact
that both methods have a certain inbuilt error rate in where they
impact, simply because of wind acting on ordnance, and that when
you're stuck using indirect fires against targets in urban areas,
civilians tend to die and get hurt, no matter what you do. Shrapnel
does that." He shrugs, continuing. "Bombs and artillery shells are not
the cleanest methods of servicing targets, but in this case, I'd say
it's preferable to, say, Israeli troops going into southern Beirut and
fighting street-by-street. It's still a remarkably clean operation in
terms of civilian casaulties, even comparing it to, say, Kosovo.

"Next, as regards a wider operation: I've warned them on that.
However, I doubt they would in any case: Lebanon was their Vietnam,
and I don't think anybody in Israel really wants to go back in, at
keast not very far, and not for any really extended period. So far as
I can tell, their objectives with the ground forces that cross the
Blue Line are to take out as much of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon as
they can, push Hezbollah in general back so that they're only on the
far side of the Litani, then go home. Think 1978, not 1982. With that
in mind, I would focus on rounding up a replacement for UNIFIL with a
beefier mandate beyond simply -watching- Hezbollah taunt Israel with
rockets, better-equipped and better-trained troops, enough troops to
do the job, from countries that Israel can actually be reasonably
certain aren't going to turn a blind eye to Hezbollah's activities."

"India is a possibility," remarked Eckley. "I certainly can't speak
for their President, but there have been indications New Dehli is
considering sending troops as a peacekeeping force. The Indians
certainly have no love for Islamic militants like Nasrallah and his
thugs." The PM took another sip of his surprisingly good tea. God
bless the US Navy. "I can talk to President Kanchwala about that
issue. The Indian Army certainly has manpower behind it. They may not
be as trained as a NATO military force, but they're still competently
led, and there's always room for improvement.

"Given the nature of past peacekeeping operations in Lebanon, it may
be difficult to scrounge up more and better troops from the EU. Even
at home, I would face difficulties convincing Parliament.
Nevertheless, I would be willing to contribute a battalion of Royal
Marines."

"Your mention of the previous times people have tried peacekeeping in
Lebanon is, bluntly, the reason why I wouldn't get any support, from
the public or Congress, for contributing American troops to this
operation in anything except a support role, and even then probably
not on the ground in Lebanon; People remember our last time very
clearly, still. Which is also why I'm not sure the Royal Marines would
be a good idea, either. Or any British troops. One of the
organizations this thing will have to deal with is Hezbollah, the same
guys who bombed the Marine barracks in Beirut. How many of your
current mid-grade or higher officers had friends who died in that
bombing? I'm willing to bet a decent number. There's no way we could
be impartial, and nobody would believe us if we tried," Williams
replied. "Besides, Iraq and Afghanistan are enough major deployments
at once.

"Anyhow, I'll prod the Indians, you tap the Irish. We should probably
double-team the Chinese, guilt-trip em into contributing. Fiji has a
severe excess of young men, they've usually been good at peacekeeping;
Commonwealth, so might as well be you that goes begging there, I'll
see if we can do the equipping and training for em, maybe throw in
training and equipment for their whole force as a sweeteber, too.
Turks should probably get prodded, I'll do them; They have decent
relations with the Israelis, and they're Muslim, so that gives the
force a bit of extra credibility.

"Let's aim for 6,000 as a minimum force complement, the more the
better. HQ it out of Akrotiri under the Irish, perhaps," he suggested.

"We could also approach our Canadian cousins," suggested Eckley. "They
are quite capable as peacekeepers, and are not regarded with the same
misgivings by Muslims as our two nations are.

"As for the rest of the operation, I agree. We have to commit to the
idea that there WILL be attacks on the peacekeepers and there will be
deaths. Hezbollah will not allow itself to be disarmed quietly. The
incident in 1983 you brought up is a perfect example of what kind
of 'people' we have the misfortune to be dealing with.

"The next goal of ours could possibly be propping up the Lebanese
military. Dealing with Hezbollah is pointless if Beirut can't keep its
own house in order after the peacekeepers leave."

A grin spread on Williams's face as Eckley mentioned the
Canadians. "Oh, yeah, the Canucks. I tend to forget they haven't been
overrun by a horde of beavers," he quipped with a wink. "Yeah, I'll
throw a note their way."

Then he turns serious. "Do we have to, or the actual contributing
nations? I'm thinking particularly about Canada and the Irish.
They're...exceedingly risk-averse, even more than we are. That's where
I think we misapprehend our role. I won't be able to get a deployment
into Lebanon past Congress, period. Not when we're already stretched
thin as it is, and it doesn't look like we'll be likely to be able to
reduce our commitment in Iraq anytime soon. I really doubt you'd be
able to get a deployment through the Commons, either. Our role in this
needs to be as organizers, trainers for the peacekeepers, and, to be
frank, the peacekeeper's Wal-Mart." Providing everything you need for
peacekeeping at everyday low, low prices!

"As far as the Lebanese Army goes...They're 60 thousand. We have to
assume they're basically riddled with officers who are puppets for the
Syrians, too. Furthermore, what makes you think that, after the
peacekeepers defang Hezbollah, the Lebanese will move into the South?
They've had 6 years to do so, never have," he noted. "It almost makes
you wonder at what point a country can be deemed to have abandoned
territory."

"Anyhow...Let's put off dealing with them til we've gotten the
peacekeepers in. That's going to be a project very dependent on what
happens on the ground."

"As you wish," said Eckley. "The next topic I would like to discuss is
one that both of our nations are much more involved in."

"Iraq." Williams said bluntly. "I supported the war in concept, but
the execution has sucked. Mostly, I grant, because American troops
have forgotten how to do counterinsurgency, and we've tried to learn
on-the-job. If we should do anything, it's establish common COIN
doctrine and TTP for US and British forces."

"I never supported the war," Eckley stated with equal bluntness. "It
was a foolish, pointles grab for oil that has turned into a
meatgrinder. And my nation is just as guilty for following along. But
we are both committed now, and we have no choice but to finish what
we've started. I agree with closer integration between our own forces.
But what we also need to do is increase our efforts to train and equip
Iraqi security forces."

Williams shrugged. "They first need to not be going AWOL so often, or
all the training and gear in the world will be useless. But as far as
integration." At this point, he got up and pulled something from a
desk drawer. It was a book, entitled "Small Wars Manual 1940". He
handed it to the PM. "It's from the 40s, but is justly a classic, so I
had the jarheads send me a copy to give to you. I recommend reading it
on the flight back.

"What we should do is jointly write counterinsurgency doctrine for the
current age, to be used in both forces." he suggested.

"I'm not a military man myself," said Eckley, picking up the book.
"But my own Defence Staff has put forth the idea of using ex-guerrila
fighters as teachers and advisors. Mujhideen, Northern Alliance,
Kurds, Bosniacs. People who were once fighting the same type of war
the Iraqi insurgents are now."

"I know you're not. Read that anyway. Anyhow, both of us could use
greening, or regreening in my case. Go through a crash course in
military science, in your case, or a refresher in mine." Williams
replied. "Actually...Hm, wait, no, should check some things out
first," he added, as if suddenly remembering something.

At Eckley's idea, his eyebrows raised. "I was *going* to suggest
helping things in NI by taking various IRA types who've stood down,
bringing em over here to teach, and also get em away from bad
influences. Pluck away the guys with knowledge, set em up to teach US
and British troops; It's a fairly comfortable life for em, lets em put
their otherwise...unmarketable skills to honest use. On condition they
act to promote peace from here on out, they get a Royal Pardon, and a
pardon over here, if for some reason they weren't covered by the Good
Friday Agreement's amnesty, once we don't need em. I realize that
could be...problematic, but so could bringing over the Muj. It's a
good idea, one we should float with the joint chiefs on both sides,
see whether we get merely uneasiness or homicidal rage. I would also
offer it to the Unionist types, but I'm not sure how much they
actually fought the British Army, thus how useful they'd be.
Naturally, we'd do full checks on everybody we bring in as teachers,"
he replied.

Then, "Actually, since we're on the topic: I understand you have no
military experience. It's been a while for me, too. Sometime in the
next few months, we should see about a fairly long period, maybe a
week or two, where we can get together with our families in isolation;
While there, maybe while on vacation, we undergo a crash course in
everything military, much like how Lincoln basically taught himself
warfare. Basically, while we're obviously going to be getting most of
our info from the generals and admirals, and we'd still depend on
them, it would probably be helpful if we at least have a grounding in
things. I know a colonel on your end, he was an exchange officer and
my company commander waaay back when I was on your end, who would know
who could best teach us. Would you be interested?" he asked.

"I actually have already been planning sit downs with the Defence
Staff back in London," replied Eckley. "I was not so historically
inspired, but I did think it prudent to learn how to use the
proverbial military tools at my disposal. Perhaps another time."

"Alright," Williams replied, shrugging. "Next, to step back a few
topics...lessons learned from this whole...experience with Lebanon,
plus some other ideas that float through my head.

"First: We both need to rebuild our merchant marines, and just
increase our sealift capacity generally. Rebuild our own flag merchant
fleets to provide a degree of surge capacity, increase our organic
sealift capacity to provide a baseline. Few things I'm thinking might
help on that. First: We need to find a way to crack down on Flags of
Convenience. Eliminate them if possible, but I can see Panama,
Liberia, and a lot of the other FOC states screaming at the loss of
income. Cracking down on FOCs would require, or at least encourage,
shippers to register and flag their ships based on where they actually
are built or operate from. Cargo liners mostly, but also cruise lines.
Second: With rebuilt merchant marines flying the Stars and Stripes and
the Red Ensign respectively, we can rebuild the programs from the Cold
War that basically had shippers signing up ships and crews for us to
pull from for governmental and military missions in emergencies, like
the Civil Reserve Air Fleet does for airlift capacity here in the US,"
Williams put forth.

"Next: Not related to Lebanon, but something we should chew on anyway.
On October 22nd, Panamanians go to the polls to vote on an expansion
of the Canal. While neither of us could provide the external financing
needed, or guarantee the financing, on our own...Do you think we could
round up anybody else to work with us on guaranteeing the Panamanians'
bonds? It'd be a good idea to get this done and unveiled soon, so that
we could hopefully swing opinion in Panama; It looks likely to be
approved anyway, but I want better odds.

"Third: This KRF thing in North Korea. You've heard the same things I
have?"

"Expanding our merchant marine fleets will require a large amount of
funding," said Eckley after he considered Williams' proposal. "And I
can foresee much of our resources tied up in Iraq, Afghanistan and
military security in general. Not that I disagree, but England would
start on a slow but steady track. I wholeheartedly agree with your
proposal to crack down on Flags of Convenience. Some immediate steps
we could take are to ask the WTO, IMF, World Bank and other such trade
and finance institutions to issue written condemnations on FOC.
Furthermore, we pressure all WTO members to levy special port taxes on
ships and companies that use FOCs.

"Well I will certainly speak with the other leaders of the European
Union and ask that the EU help back the Canal expansion project. And
we should also consider approaching China. They can only benefit by
easier cargo shipment between the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

"As for the KRF, MI6 has learned some tidbits of information. A rebel
group determined to fight and destroy Kim Jong-Il's regime, led by a
man named Ryu. They've attacked several KPA army instillations and
convoys, stolen weapons, the usual tactics. Mr. C has theorized that
Japan might be taking an interest in the KRF due to Prime Minister
Sato's recent hardline stance towards North Korea, though that is only
a theory and we don't have anything to back it."

Williams nodded. "We're getting the same on KRF, and C is to be
congratulated on noting the obvious," he quipped with a grin. "On
Panama: While I am not as paranoid as some about China, I am concerned
about them. They'd get a share of influence over the Canal, and Panama
more broadly, that I don't like the thought of. They're already
playing the Great Game in Latin America. On FOCs: All good ideas.
Quick thought, for Greece among others, why not see what one can do
through the EU? It *sounds* like a violation of the single market to
me. And on the more general topic, yeah. This is a long-term effort; I
could care less about my legacy, but if a piece of my legacy is to
rebuild the US-flag fleet, I'll be happy with that.

"Next up: Ethiopia, Somalia. What are you thinking? My thoughts are
mixed. On the one hand, I wouldn't mind Somalia being quiet and
secular. But on the other hand, I'm worried they're just going to
trigger a jihad response, and I'm not really liking the idea of an
Ethiopian-Eritrean proxy war."

"I think that if the Ethiopians handle this in the right way, it could
be a good thing," suggested Eckley. "Somalia is stabalized, and an
African nation actually takes an active role in bringing stability to
the region."

"Let's define 'the right way', though. I mean, we risk another Syria-
Lebanon sort of relationship if Ethiopia chooses to pursue that sort
of path. That's part of what I'm afraid of," Williams replied, a
thoughtful look on his face.

"So, we tell them 'secure Somalia, but only to hold the line for
peacekeepers to deploy; After that, Ethiopia goes home.' Meanwhile, we
try to assemble a Chapter 7 force sufficient to crack heads in
Somalia."

Then, a sigh. "God help us. We could use, oh, 80, maybe 100 thousand
clone troops right now. With none of the long-term costs actually
increasing the boots on the ground would incur," Williams noted. "At
times like this, I wonder if we shouldn't scour the countries of the
world for excess young men to create a mercenary force for things like
this. I know, it's probably insane, but the idea has a mad sort of
appeal."

Mad was the word. Americans.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. President," said Eckley. "Let us
hope our two nations can keep some sanity to the world."
---

Actions:
1) Call for calm in the Middle East. Court India, China, Canada and
other nations for peacekeepers.
2) America and the UK will try to develop a more effective and joint
strategy to fighting the insurgency in Iraq
3) Try and crack down on 'Flags of Convenience.' Propose special taxes
and levies against ships that fly FOCs. Try and get the EU onboard.
4) Court China and the EU to help fund the expansion of the Panama Canal
5) Support Ethiopian activities, but watch the situation carefully.