Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [108]
Clayton saw that Elizabeth Cartright was smiling—That’s another person on board, he thought.
“The Saudis have given us our Pearl Harbor. The embargo poses a major threat to the global economy, and it can’t be addressed in a half-assed manner. We’ll use this adversity to galvanize the country in quest of something greater than all of us—a last chance to preserve our way of life and economic freedom. We’ll position it as an all-out effort requiring personal sacrifice, rationing, and the ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ that once drove Britain out of despair.”
Clayton detected rumblings of a new energy and hope in the team … his team. He poured more coffee and continued.
“What I’d like to do now is lay the groundwork for our discussion. Jack and I will start by giving you a rundown on our Camp David meeting with Chairman Lin Cheng and his chief of staff, Wang Peng. I’ll then ask Tony Mullen to review the CIA assessment on the Saudi oil crisis. I should tell you we shared the CIA report with our Chinese guests and they were in almost complete agreement with Tony’s assessment. Then I’ll ask Peter Canton to brief you on his disturbing climate-change memo, which you were all sent a few days ago, and I’ll then say a few words on the economy.”
Clayton paused for questions, but everyone seemed to be scrambling to take notes.
“At the conclusion of these presentations, I’ll ask Admiral Coxen to facilitate a discussion on how we can tie this all together into a strategic plan. It’s going to require your full-time effort for the next couple of weeks, and it’s our number-one national priority. We will use the code name Operation Safe Harbors to describe all efforts related to our grand plan. Think of it in the spirit of our end goal: we face a deadly storm, and we seek a safe harbor to shelter us from its threats. Corny, perhaps, but it captures the magnitude of the challenge and the effort required to overcome it.”
The SWAT team took their gloves off and, for the next four hours, spoke with a directness seldom heard in Washington. Voices raised and nerves frayed, but they made an enormous amount of paradigm-breaking progress. Sensing that they had accomplished most of what he had hoped they would, Clayton called for a break. He instructed Admiral Coxen to put together a meeting summary, and then asked that they reconvene at nine thirty.
The long overdue break was a welcome respite from the pressure cooker they had just endured. They helped themselves to the stack of sub sandwiches waiting in the kitchen and laughed nervously in their attempts to shake off the aftershocks of the meeting. Damage-control efforts were made to mend fences after the direct—and sometimes brutally frank—exchanges that had taken place. The break, like their meeting, seemed infused with a strong element of intensity and purpose.
When they had gathered again at the table, Clayton said, “Admiral Coxen, would you summarize the actions we’ve agreed to take?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Vice President. First, the code name Operation Safe Harbors will encompass all planning and operational activities relating to the strategic plan, which you will present to Congress on 16 October. NSC members will submit their plan drafts to me by 1700 hours on 11 October, and I’ll prepare a working document for review on 12 October. We will use the remaining time prior to the congressional address to fine-tune our plan.
“Second, with respect to the Saudi crisis, we will pursue the asymmetrical approach recommended in Option #1 of the CIA Report. Secretary of Defense Thompson and Secretary of State Cartright will coordinate planning in these areas.
“Third, we’ll await the response from China before finalizing plans. Jack McCarty will coordinate and oversee this initiative, but we will proceed with Operation Safe Harbors regardless of the position China takes.
“Fourth, oil and energy rationing will be an integral part of the domestic