The ISIS Gambit

XVIII

“…As I just mentioned, the Secretaries are on a trip to the Middle East to reinforce the President’s initiatives in the region with respect to Russia’s involvement in the attacks in Boston and New York earlier this week,” White House Press Secretary Chris Thompson reiterated. “They made this unscheduled stop at Incirlik Air Force base and, very shortly after they arrived the gunmen opened fire. They killed three Americans and wounded seven others. The Secretaries, I believe, are already in Riyadh where they will continue their trip.”

“Chris, do we know who did this? Has anyone taken responsibility?” the CBS reporter asked.

“At this point no one has taken responsibility and anything I could say would be mere conjecture at this point. We simply do not know right now.”

“Chris, as a follow up, isn’t the logical answer either Al Qaeda or ISIS?”

“Like I said, it’s way too soon for speculation, especially with Al Qaeda on the run and, as for that bunch of minor leaguers — to use Secretary Johnson’s terminology — we don’t believe that ISIS has the capability for something like this. Plus, this was way too spontaneous for anything organized.”

“Were any Turks hurt at all or was this simply targeted at Americans?” the NBC White House correspondent asked.

“To my knowledge, no Turks were injured in this attack. However, I cannot answer the second part of your question. Since we don’t know who did this, I really cannot address who was all targeted.”

“Do we know the condition of the wounded?” the correspondent followed up.

“Yes, we do. Six of them have already been transported to Landstuhl. To my knowledge, they have all been stabilized, and while I do not know their current condition, I believe they are all expected to fully recover. The base security officer is the seventh wounded American and she’s being treated at Incirlik. ”

“Do we know why the Secretaries stopped over at Incirlik?” the CNN correspondent asked.

“I do not. This was an unscheduled stop. The base commander received approximately a twenty minute notice so I’m not sure why they stopped. I’m assuming Secretary Axelsson may have simply wanted to pay a courtesy call on the base personnel as, immediately after the attack, the secretaries flew on to Riyadh to continue the original purpose of their trip.”

“Chris, shouldn’t they have returned home after this?” another correspondent asked.

“Absolutely not. This is a very important trip and, again, we believe this to be more of a spontaneous terrorist attack rather than anything organized by someone. As horrendous as this attack was, there is no need to cancel the trip.”

“Madam Secretary, it is so good to finally meet you,” King Khalid al Saud said as Secretary of State Andrea Johnson reached the bottom of the boarding stairs after deplaning from the C-32A.

“It’s good to meet you, too, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. This is Defense Secretary Axelsson, whom I believe you’ve met before?”

“I have. We met when he was on the staff of your Central Command. It is good to see you again, Mr. Secretary. Welcome to Saudi Arabia.”

“Eric, good to see you again,” Crown Prince Faisal ibn Saud said to Axelsson. The very personal familiarity the Crown Prince displayed to Axelsson clearly surprised Johnson.

“You too, Your Royal Highness.”

Turning to Andrea, Axelsson explained the prince’s familiarity. “The Prince and I became good friends when I was at Centcom. Plus, he’s an Eagle driver and I’m a Tomcat pilot so we had a good natured rivalry over who had the better plane, the Air Force or the Navy.”

“I am so glad both of you were able to make the trip,” the king added. “I’m so sorry to hear of what happened in Turkey earlier today. Please express my condolences to the families. That is a terrible tragedy. I cannot imagine how their loved ones must feel.”

“Thank you, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. We will pass on your condolences,” Secretary Johnson replied.

“I’m sure you are aware of the purpose of our visit,” Secretary Axelsson said, turning his attention to the prince.

“I think we are,” the prince replied. “We heard the President’s address and was very surprised at what he had to say concerning Russia’s involvement. However, it would seem that you have already addressed the immediate concern you might have with Russia’s involvement in Syria. If all of the reports we are hearing are accurate, they are done in the region for some time.”

“That brings me to the purpose of our visit, Your Royal Highness,” Secretary Johnson added, addressing the Crown Prince. “As you indicated, we have removed any kind of threat the Russian’s pose to the region. However, we’re not done, at least not in the strategic sense. Our military action is over, as far as it depends on us. However, we really want to put the squeeze on them so we are asking for your help, as well as the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council. We’re asking you, all of you really, to flood the world oil market.”

“I see,” the prince replied. “I was assuming your visit pertained more in terms of the rumored Russian arms sale that I know is making its way around the diplomatic circles these days.”

“We can certainly discuss that as well, Your Royal Highness,” Axelsson interjected. “However, we’re really thinking more strategically in terms of the international oil market.”

“Precisely,” Secretary Johnson added. “You see, Russia’s only real export is oil. And they need the funds from oil exports to not only fund their international adventures, but to simply balance their budget. We figure they need a world market price of roughly sixty-five dollars a barrel just to break even. We’d like you to drive the price of oil to less than forty dollars a barrel. You’ll still make a profit at that price but obviously not near the profit margin at the current price.”

“That is a big request,” the king replied.

“Yes, it is,” Secretary Johnson replied. “And we realize the impact this will have on you. We are prepared to make additional offers, especially regarding the ‘arms’ issue the Crown Prince just raised.”

“You see, Your Royal Highness,” Axelsson interjected, addressing the prince, “I know you’re aware that the F-15 production line is still open as we recently sold Qatar seventy-two of the fighters as part of a $12 billion aid package. We are prepared to make a similar offer to you at a substantial savings over what Qatar paid.”

“That is very interesting,” the prince replied after a short interval. “You would do this?” As an Eagle pilot, he knew perfectly well the significance of having an additional seventy of the F-15SA’s — the most advanced version of the aircraft. Plus, this would give them more of the advanced Eagles than anyone in the world — including the Israelis and the US Air Force.

“We will have to think about this. We will continue our discussion in the morning. It is getting late and you have had a very long day,” the King replied, clearly closing the evening’s discussion.