Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [181]
“Good morning, everyone,” Clayton said almost gleefully, “It’s great to see everyone in such a good mood after all we’ve been through, and I’ll never be able to thank you enough for all you have done to achieve this victory. In many respects, however, the challenges we now face in reassembling a globally shattered economy will be every bit as difficult, though in a less threatening way. I’d like to start today with a casualty report. Admiral, could you give us a rundown?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. President,” Admiral Coxen replied snappily before giving his report. He reported that American casualties were remarkably light, Saudi military casualties were heavy, civilian casualties were held to a minimum, and nonmilitary infrastructure damage was almost nonexistent. Happily, there was little evidence of looting or civil unrest amongst the civilian population.
“Thank you for that information, Admiral,” Clayton said gratefully. “It’s a real testament to our armed forces that a conflict of this magnitude could be contained in such a manner, though war of any kind is terrible.”
“Moving on,” he continued, “I talked to Chairman Lin Cheng earlier today, and we agreed to issue a joint statement at six o’clock tonight, our time, announcing the cessation of hostilities. Jack, would you get on the horn with Wang Peng and work out a rough draft? It doesn’t have to be anything long, and I certainly don’t want it to say something that will haunt us later.”
Thurmond Thompson then gave a report on the disposition of military forces in Saudi Arabia. While a positive report, it prompted Clayton to remind everyone of the need to make sure the American footprint was kept to a minimum and Saudi culture respected.
“This has to be a Saudi deal if it’s going to work,” he said, “and we’ll need to give Prince Khalid all the support we can to stabilize the country and protect major institutions—including the oil infrastructure. Khalid’s postwar strategy is well thought out and should serve as our postwar operating plan to the extent possible. I want our presence to be kept low-key.”
Looking at Peter Canton, Clayton said, “Peter has some information on the oil situation that suggests we are not out of the woods by a long shot. Pete, the floor is yours.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” Peter said nervously. “As you all know, prior to the Saudi oil embargo, the United States was using about seventeen million barrels of oil per day, thirteen million barrels of it imported. With the embargo, our imports were reduced to roughly nine million barrels daily. We offset part of that shortfall through our strategic petroleum reserve. Unfortunately, our SPR is now used up, and there’s nothing more from which to draw.”
“The war’s over,” said Secretary Thompson, “and we’ll once again receive Saudi oil shipments, right?”
“You’re partially right, Thurmond,” Peter responded, “but here’s the rub: when Mustafa abruptly shut down production, he did irreparable damage to the wells. Our geologists have not had a chance yet to audit the health of the wells, but their best guess for now is that the Saudis will never again produce more than nine million barrels daily. That’s four million barrels less daily oil for the global oil market—roughly 5 percent of global production. America’s portion of that shortfall might be over a million barrels less of oil daily with no SPR to make good the deficit.”
Clayton interjected, “The American people will expect things to get back to normal now that the war’s ended, but normal has changed. I can see no way at this time to relax our oil rationing system with the oil shortfalls we’ll have for years to come. In fact, for national security reasons, we may have to consider replenishing our SPR with up to one million barrels per day. That’s a lot of oil to take out of our economy on a semipermanent basis.”
“How do you propose to break this news to the American people, Mr. President?” asked Vice President Cartright.
Pausing a moment, Clayton