[War] Special Post: "How Things Get Started"

[Michael Downey]

*[Khojavend Province, Azerbaijan, Five Years Ago]*

It seemed that wherever Bannister went it was hot. Not too surprising since
he was an oil prospector and oil tended to be in either some dusty Arab
desert of humid African jungle nowadays. He consoled himself with the
knowledge that he wasn't freezing his ass off in Siberia with those poor
slobs from Royal Dutch Shell. There was oil there too, just harder to get.

Really Azerbaijan wasn't too bad. Sure it was hot, but no hotter than it
probably was back home in Georgia this time of year. And for a supposedly
poor, ex-Commie, Muslim country the locals were pretty nice. Actually the
poor part wasn't too true either, because Azerbaijan had that great price
sought after by so many people.

This had been a known fact for several years now. Pipelines stretched all
the way across through Georgia, into Turkey and from there half the homes in
Western Europe. A nice bit of cash had been coming to the Azerbaijani which
probably explained why the country was a bit nicer than Bannister had
expected when the brass back at ExxonMobil had sent him here.

Taking a few last puffs of his cigarette, Bannister dropped the but to the
ground and headed back to the main control trailer situated in the middle of
the prospecting camp. Dusty and dirty from the dry summer winds currently
prevailing the interior was clean, full of computers and other fancy
equipment, and most importantly air conditioned.

"Please don't tell me we've just wasted the past five weeks," quipped
Bannister to his two comrades, Ellis and some local named Agera. "I missed
my daughter's birthday to run around this place."

"Well you can buy her a pony to make up for it," said Ellis with a smile.
That elicited a chuckle from Bannister.

"Yeah, maybe if my salary triples."

"It just did," replied Ellis, handing Bannister a printout. Bannister read
it over quickly, the shock registering on his face.

"This is…." Both Ellis and Agera nodded with broad smiles.

"Fifty billion. Fifty billion barrels of light, sweet crude oil."

"At the very least," added Agera, some ex-Gazprom guy that Exxon had hired
on a few years ago. "It's very deep down but the size of the deposit and the
purity of the oil will more than make up for any investment cost."

Was this how the prospectors in the old gold rush had felt? The thrill, the
satisfaction. That was how Bannister felt now, having hit black gold.
---

*[Somewhere in Iran, four months ago]*

Salim had never considered himself a terrorist. Like many Iranian Kurds he
did not share in the religious fanaticism of the Persian majority in the
country. Oh, he was a devout Muslim and did believe in God's presence and
will in the world. Who didn't? But when the supposed leaders of God's faith
tended to torture and murder your friends and family just for being a Kurd,
it sometimes made you cynical. Somewhat like Salim's father, shot outside of
Sanandaj as part of Khomeini's 'holy war' against the Iranian Kurds.

The Persians deserved this. This retribution, this punishment. He didn't
want to kill all of them, not destroy an entire people like that asshole Bin
Laden had tried before the US SOCOM had shot him full of holes and dragged
his body out of some cave in Pakistan. All Salim and his compatriots wanted
was their own nation, a home where they would be free from oppression and
tyranny. And if some drastic actions had to be taken in order to fulfill
that dream then so be it.

Gripping the AK-47 tightly in his hands, slick from nervous sweat, he and
his compatriots moved quickly through the hole they had cut in the chain
fence surrounding the oil pumping station. Salim seriously hoped he wouldn't
have to use his rifle. Their mission here was more dramatic than just
killing some oil workers and IRGC soldiers, though that would be the
ultimate outcome if all went well.

Saddam Hussein had learned the hard way that body counts don't mean much to
the religious zealots that controlled Iran. No, if Salim and the countless
others working in many different sights around the country at this very
moment wanted to hurt the Persians, they would have to bring the country low
and weak by other means.

It took them about ten minutes, slightly longer than what Salim would have
considered acceptable but the complacent IRGC soldiers watching this
facility weren't expecting any trouble. The Ayatollah had been blathering
about the infidel Americans, Jews and Europeans so much that everyone was
expecting an attack to come from the sky with 'USAF' marked on the side.

What a surprise they were in for.

Ten minutes, in and out. Once they had retreated back to their trucks hidden
a good two kilometres from the pumping station they broke out the radio
detonator.

"To you the honour, Salim," one of his compatriots said. Nodding and
accepting the small black box he turned the key and pressed the button. The
explosion lit the night sky for miles.
---
Supreme Leader Rushid Al-Kalil Malisaj was a very confident man. He did not
presume to be a prophet, for only Mohammed was a true prophet, but he did
 know that as an Ayatollah and the Supreme Leader of Iran the words he spoke
were the true intentions of God. Iran was the only true Holy Land in the
world, since those fat arrogant Saudis had corrupted the land of the two
Mosques by prostituting themselves to the Great Satan so many years ago.
Iran was the chosen nation, its people the chosen people.

"God tests us in many different ways," he said to the assembled council of
experts, the leadership of Iran. After Malisaj himself of course. Most were
clerics and generals but a few politicians sat at the table as well. Elected
officials had their use so long as they followed the will of God as laid out
by the Great Shiek Khomeini. "That we have been wounded in such a way should
not make us despair. God will give us salvation if we obey his will."

Calming words for such a dire situation. Last night someone, the IRGC
suspected Kurdish rebels, had simultaneously attacked one third of the oil
refineries and pumping stations throughout Iran. The death toll was in the
hundreds and worse still the flow of precious oil had altogether ceased.
Already chaos and panic were gripping the Iranian economy.

"It is not just simply a matter of a dip in oil profits," commented Finance
Minister Surhavi. "Despite our vast oil wealth, mismanagement in certain
sectors and continued theft of oil for sale on the black market has made our
country a net importer of energy for several years now. We do have strategic
reserves but those will only last so long. Not to mention that much of our
foreign capital has been spent acquiring new weapons from the Russians and
Chinese."

Was that a shot at the military? General Kezanari remained passive. Of
course they had spent much on the defence forces. The American pigs were
always watching Iran for weakness so they could attack their greatest foe in
the Middle East from their bases in Iraq, yet another puppet state of the
Great Satan. The Iraq War had shown them the need to be ever prepared for
war with the infidels, because someday it would come.

"How long will it take to repair the damage?" asked Malisaj.

"Years, at least. The pumping stations will be a rather straightforward
affair but refineries are much more complex. Not to mention expensive."

"I refuse to be brought low by these filthy Kurds," spat President
Soleimani. While Malisaj's devout faith was unquestioned, Soleimani was far
more of a firebrand than the Supreme Leader. "What solutions do we have for
this? There must be other sources of energy!"

"Iraq, Saudi Arabia, any of the other Arab states, even the Russians,"
commented the Foreign Minister, Javalar. "But our relations with those
states are not very cordial. They will almost certainly demand 'political
reform.'"

"You mean a corruption of our faith to satisfy their American masters!"
seethed the President. "Such a course of action is not acceptable!"

"There is of course another solution," spoke Kezanari, adding his voice to
the table for the first time. "We cannot supply our own energy demands nor
sustain our economy under these conditions. If we are to continue as a
nation we must acquire a new source of petroleum income. And God has indeed
offered us a blessing."

"The Khojavend oil field?" asked Javalar. "Are you proposing an invasion of
Azerbaijan?"

"Our survival versus theirs. Not a hard choice."

Considerable mumbling and concerned glances were erupted around the
conference table. Invading a sovereign nation was no trivial matter. To
conquer the Khojavend oil field would require the occupation of all southern
Azerbaijan, if not the entire country.

"An action that would draw the attention of the entire world, not to mention
the wrath of the Russia. Very likely the Americans as well, looking for an
excuse to attack us," warned Javalar.

"Russia is a tiger that can be distracted with a prick to the paw,"
countered Kezanari. "For years our Chechen brothers have languished under
the heretical yoke of their Russian masters. We could supply them with
enough arms and specific intelligence for them to launch a third
insurrection against the Federation. A similar method could be applied to
Abkhazia and South Ossetia where Russian and EU peacekeepers are stationed.
Perhaps they will not win, but it would certainly bog the Russian Army down
long enough for us to strike quickly at Azerbaijan. By the time the Russian
have realized what has happened we will have already dug in too deeply for
them to remove us without immense bloodshed."

"And what of the Americans?" pressed Kezanari. They were the real concern.

"What of the Americans?" the General shrugged. "They are a mere step away
from war with China. No matter how much their crazed Christian ideology
calls for our destruction China is the greater threat. They will not risk
war with us when war with China looms on the horizon. And do not forget that
in their hearts the Americans are cowards. They would be even less willing
than the Russians to suffer the losses required to dislodge us from
Azerbaijan. And the EU has always been a cowardly, toothless old lion. If
their American masters fail to act then so shall they."

"So many assumptions," observed the Foreign Minister. "I recall the apostate
Hussein making similar ones before invading Kuwait. And look what happened
to him." Kezanari shrugged.

"Hussein was an incompetent fool who didn't know how to properly run a war.
We boast the most powerful military force in the entire Middle East. We are
far more capable than the Iraqis were in 1990. Consider also the harsh
lessons learned by the Americans in Iraq thirteen years later. They know
that if they were to invade Iran, they would be years fighting our loyal
warriors and lose far more men than they did to the Iraqi insurgency. No,
Minister, now is the perfect time to strike. No one will have the strength
of the will to stop us. Perhaps the Chinese might even recognize our control
of Azerbaijan as a way to slight the Americans and the Russians. Not to
mention act as a market for our new oil wealth."

"We must justify the invasion somehow," Soleimani pointed out.

"We can fabricate evidence linking the Azerbaijan government to the Kurdish
terrorists that have killed so many of our countrymen. Once we have occupied
the country, we will further fabricate bases and training camps that we will
claim the Kurds used to plan and stage their attacks."

Again there was more hushed talk among the conference table as they weighed
their options. To do nothing would ensure Iran was made weak in the face of
its many infidel enemies, those godless heathens that worked tirelessly to
destroy Islam and dominate the lives of God's faithful as they had since the
19th Century. To act was to also invite destruction but also gain salvation.


"If we do not secure a new source of fuel and income then we will falter,"
said the Supreme Leader after he had thought over the situation. "Obviously
this cache of oil is a reward for our  faithful adherence to God's will.
That it has been placed in Azerbaijan is merely a way for God to test the
strength of our resolve. No doubt we will have to endure much and perhaps
even fight the Russians, Europeans and the Great Satan America. But God will
protect us and see that we prevail. General Kezanari, make the
preparations."
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