Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [119]
“What does that mean, Your Highness?” asked the ever-inquisitive Prince Bawarzi.
“It could mean many things. For instance, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE are all on the fence. Their leaders are fearful of losing oil revenues, but they couldn’t ignore their people’s outrage over a foreign-led coup. Now, however, as credible news sources call that fact into question, their people may pressure their leadership not to support our cause. We may need to more aggressively ‘persuade’ their leadership that working with us is in their best interests.”
“Will we invade?” Prince Bawarzi asked.
“Hopefully not, provided that they agree to ally with us and support our oil embargo. If they don’t, we’ll threaten an invasion or lob a dirty bomb on one of their smaller oil fields to show we mean business. I’ll make our expectations clear and outline the consequences of failing to follow our lead this week.”
As they further discussed the deployment of Saudi forces and their readiness to take action against their Gulf neighbors, the difficulty of occupying these countries with their limited forces became clearer. Bawarzi observed, “Even the Americans learned in their war with Iraq that winning a battle and occupying a country are two distinctly different things.”
“You are correct in saying this, Prince Bawarzi. I have known from the beginning that we lacked the troop density required for a successful occupation. My hope was that they would side with us as Arab brothers, but that equation may have changed with Khalid’s recent outburst. That is why I have always had a Plan B in reserve.”
“Plan B, King Mustafa?” asked Bawarzi.
“I have said little about Plan B because I had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary,” answered the irritated Mustafa. “In essence, Bawarzi, it is a power play. I will suggest to Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE that they request a protectorate alliance with Saudi Arabia. In such an arrangement, we will allow them to retain their sovereignty, but they will cede to us control over their foreign affairs and, to some extent, their oil exportation quotas. It will also provide us an opportunity to position military units in key areas of their country, if we so desire, under the pretense of protecting them against an infidel invasion. If they refuse my suggestion, I will threaten to contaminate their oil fields with dirty bombs launched atop our cruise missiles.”
‘That is brilliant, Your Highness,” responded the obsequious General Ali Jabar as the others all nodded their heads in smiling subservience.
“Thank you, General. Despite our lack of discussion on the plan, I feel we can accomplish all of our primary objectives with this approach.”
“There is no doubt that Khalid’s broadcast is a setback, but it’s not fatal. Our official position,” Mustafa said firmly, “will be that we are the true protectors of our land and our faith. The Zionists and infidels are our enemies, and we’ll gradually introduce the idea that the former royal government was contaminated by hypocrites, apostates, and polytheists. We must clearly establish that we are on the side of Allah, regardless of what Prince Khalid might say.”
“Allahu Akbar!” shouted al-Hazari in support, and the king nodded his approval.
“Honored Mullah, please report on your efforts to cleanse our land of the infidels’ influence.”
“It is a monumental task, given the years of benign neglect by the leaders we have deposed. Over time, they have allowed the infidel ways to contaminate large segments of our society. I only wish we could eradicate this contamination overnight, but we can’t. It will change, however.
“We will return our society once again to shari’a law as it should be practiced, not on a hit-or-miss basis, where personal indiscretions and the appropriate punishments have often been overlooked or minimized. We see what this has gotten us. Such laxity will now cease. From this time forward, the ulema will be elevated and religious police strengthened to aggressively enforce the law. We have already reinstituted the proper punishments for indiscretions, including beheadings,